Technical High School - Tech Tiger Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

Page 28 text:

Lee Crabtree Tech Band Girls Chorus MUSIC Yes, our music department is developing. The Boys’ Chorus of sixty voices, heard at the P. T.A. Band and Chorus Night and in Tech Turns to Music, is Tech’s first such chorus in five years. Congratula- tions go to Mr. Crabtree and the chorus for an excellent performance. Another noteworthy group is our orchestra, an organization missing from Tech for many years. Start- ing in the 1950-1951 season with but eleven instru- mentalists, it now numbers some twenty members and is still growing. The Tech Band has been increasingly busy. In addition to the regular school activities, assemblies, special programs, games, etc., the band participated in such civic activities as parades and concerts. Noting the long after school hours of practice and drill, we don’t wonder that this forty piece group is one of the busiest and most popular local high school bands. The Tech Chorale, our largest musical group of one hundred voices, is admired for its fine renditions of both classiscal and popular choral arrangements. Starting three years ago as an after school organiza- tion, it is now an established class. Besides these groups there are the forty voices of the Girls’ Chorus which performs during special pro- grams, and the recreational music class which studies popular, semi-classical, and classical music from both recordings and sheet music. That Tech is progressing in the music field was evidenced by superior ratings at the Western Massachusetts Music Festival. Mr. Crabtree, who is essentially a musician, holds two degrees in music education and at one time directed the Wachogue Church choir. His fine work and genial personality have won the hearts and re- spect of both students and faculty. 22

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Working with line and color Well, here we are making out our program and stumped by the problem of which art course to take. Say, why not visit the art rooms and get a bird’s eye view of the situation. First, in 313 Miss Roy’s design class-is studying the use of color and lines and spaces in the advertising field. On the bulletin boards are some fascinating abstract designs. In the back room are two girls, one busy stenciling a bureau scarf, the other block printing a luncheon set. Whoops! There goes the bell; but here comes a free hand drawing class. In no time they start sketching a pose of Patty Bennett, using any medium, pencil, pen, lithograph pencil, water color, or crayon. Meanwhile Miss Roy shows us some sketches and explains that the class teaches the structural quality of objects. Pupils work out original Miss Norrgard’s Poster Class compositi ons which help prepare them for advertising, book illustration, and other fields. After lunch, we find in 312 Miss Norrgard’s costume design students engrossed in designing gowns for a prom. Everyone’s most careful to draw her figures proportionately and make her facial expressions alive. Fourth period a poster class is neatly lettering gay posters advertising Tan- trums. Wandering around, we notice brightly painted vic-lac trays made from old records, tiny dolls, attractive plaques, and small scale models from an interior decora- ting class. At least we know just what goes on in Tech’s art rooms, but now the trouble is we want to take all the courses. Preparing for art exhibit Front, Left to Right: Nancy Sears, Patty Black. Second Row: Lola Heartzell, Carol Danti

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION Although in school our gym teachers enjoy teach- ing us the techniques of sports, their outside activities are not entirely centered upon sports. They enjoy such sports as golf and other outside activities but their main interests lie in music, especially that of the piano, genealogy, and their children. Along with these interests they belong to many clubs, among them, the Springfield Community Council, The American Legion Post 449, The Lions’ Club, and the Knights of Columbus. During their years here, they have been occupied . anne ag with gym and the coaching of teams, such as Left to Right: Thomas Carey, John Kalloch, Milton Orcutt, football, basketball, and soccer. Before coming to William Lawler Tech they taught at schools in Rhode Island, Massa- chusetts, New York, and Minnesota. Also, they them- selves have done some studying with the result that they have B.S., A.B., and M.E. degrees among them. As the school year opens, the lawns of the armory are covered with many young people playing various games. The boys are usually occupied in setting-up exercises or in some other way of acquiring the fresh air. The girls have a little more organized play. The two games that prevail during the fall are field hockey and soccer. As bad weather comes around, the armory be- comes deserted, and the gym again becomes the noisy place that a gym usually is. During the winter both boys and girls enjoy basketball, volleyball, and appa- ratus. The girls also take modern dance during the winter months. When the good weather comes around again, the armory once more is put to use, where the girls and boys play softball, and in other ways acquire more fresh air. Left to Right: Larry Biondo, Vin DeLorenzo, Dick Goldich Apparatus work Left to Right: Mary Gray, Barbara Richardson 23