Springfield High School - Capitoline Yearbook (Springfield, IL)

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C H E M I S T R Y for the various courses offered. Helping Mr. Barnes in his teaching of this science are Mr. Cox, Mr. Cavitt, and Mr. Teuscher who instruct students in the art of Algebra. Miss Pinkerton, Miss Clapper, Mrs. Rein, and Mrs. Dunlap are the teachers who give instruction in geometry. Mr. Wentz is the teacher of advanced arithmetic. Elementary algebra and plane geome- try are offered as one year courses. Col- lege arithmetic, solid geometry, advanced algebra and trigonometry are all one se- mester courses. SOCIAL SCIENCE In the Social Science classes of Spring- field High we have a most complete study of all phases of this subject. In this course all the information necessary for a full and complete understanding of the sub- ject is on hand. Maps, charts, a very complete reference library, current news- papers, pictures, etc., are all put in the hands of the students to enable them to gain a better appreciation of history and its companions, economics and civics. Sophomores are offered the course of ancient and medieval history. This deals with the life and accomplishments of man from the days of unrecorded his- tory to the time of the Commonwealth in England. Juniors who take Modern European History study about the events T :writi- of Europe through the World War and also study special modern topics such as the League of Nations and the World Court. The Seniors learn United States History from Columbus to F. D. Roose- velt. LATIN In our high school six instructors teach the beginning and advanced courses in Latin and about six hundred seventy- seven students, which composes a fourth of the total enrollment in Springfield high, are signed up for this course. Mod- ern methods of instruction are employed which are developed through a four year course by the use of textbooks which in- clude a wide range of reading selected from many famous Latin authors, both of prose and poetry. From the beginning of the first year, through the fourth, connected Latin is read, the aim being to grasp the thought of groups of words, each successive group throwing light upon what has gone be- fore and is to follow in the narrative. From the first lesson attention is called to the remarkable similarity of Latin and English wordsg prefixes, suffixes, com- pound words, and English derivatives are noted daily. Ability to read Latin at sight with steadily increasing accuracy and grasp of the thought is the aim of our instructors.

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of course. Then the intricacies of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in all its old English style is studied. Classes follow through Shakespeare, Milton, Words- worth, Byron, Shelly, Keats, Goldsmith, Austin, Thackeray, Lamb, Dickens, up to the very modern English composers as Yeats, Singe, and Shaw. Although these latter really belong to the Irish Rennais- sance they are included in this category. This is a two-semester course. English S is a one-semester review of the above. Other elective subjects include drama. This, as its name implies, is a study of plays. Miss Margaret Rourke is the in- structor and, as she is recognized as one of the outstanding dramatic coaches in this part of the country, her students have an excellent opportunity to study dramatics. Class room plays, directed and acted by the pupils are given throughout the semester. Miss Rourke also has charge of the Senior Class Play given by a cast composed mainly of Senior drama students. Courses in news editing and journalism give students practical experience by their work on the High School Bulletin. Editorials, athletics, club news, personals, and news items are all included in this work. Public speaking is a course devoted to developing speech and oral work. It is a fine training for those students who intend to become lawyers or radio an- nouncers. 'Uv'-1mZOmC3 5953-2 35m RDP S'2?1'3:.f 5 3252.2 Oggtya' Se-rf'fg gash? WHS. aa5,':7'o.-li C or-if' 95-H353 Swain Piga'-E again 242053 PC0052- P-Hsu-1-,M 3233 90535. Q- 1'U H 35227 5O'5:.f-,L viii- MATHEMATICS With Mr. Barnes as it head the Mathe- matics department offers to every mathe- matics student the opportunity to be in- structed in one or another of the various branches of this subject that are taught in high school. For Freshmen a two-semester course in Algebra is required of all courses but Gen- eral. This subject teaches the funda- mentals of higher mathematics. Sopho- mores learn the intricacies of Plane Geometry which enable them to study the principles of courses in College Alge- bra, a continuation of everyday Algebra, and Solid Geometry which deals with divisions of space or solids. Senior Arith- metic is an important course in rapid cal- culation. It stresses the ability to think a problem through to its correct solu- tion. Trigonometry is a course treating the relations between the sides and angles of triangles, and of those of arcs and other angles. It is a highly advanced course in Mathematics. Over one thousand students have sig- nified their intention to learn different branches of mathematics by signing up

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MGDERN LANGUAGE An understanding of at least one for- eign language is essential to the cultured mind. This is becoming the belief of more and more people of the English-speaking race. And evidently the students of our high school believe in this also. This year, for the first time, a third year was added to both the French and Spanish courses. The aim of both classes is to give students a good understanding in modern languages. A closer contact with the history, customs, costumes, architecture, geography, and heroes of France or Spain is gained when studied through the original language. In the first year grammar is given the emphasis, but in the second year study is broadened to include, beside the essen- tials, the study of some writer in that language. The clubs of the two classes conduct their meetings in the language, play games, sing songs, in short begin to think in the language they are studying. COMMERCIAL Many of the students who enter Springfield High School have no chance T11 rnli-I T . Y P I N G of continuing their education in a col- lege or university. For this reason the commercial courses are offered so that these students may equip themselves to immediately take part in the business world upon their graduation. Bookkeeping, a course in business mathematics is offered to the sophomores and juniors. There are two years of typing given during which the funda- mentals of the operation of the type- writer are taught. Business forms such as letters, telegrams, etc., are practiced. In the shorthand classes the much-short- ened method of writing is learned and the pupils write and transcribe dictation to help them obtain a mastery of the sub- ject. For Seniors who do not take shorthand an applied typing course is being taught. It is an intensified study of typing short- ened to one year. Commercial law, in which the students learn fundamental laws governing commercial and social relationships, is another interesting course being given in Springheld High School.