Thomas Dale High School - Reflector Yearbook (Chester, VA)

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Ciiestkh High School

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The Reflector : 1 924 7 EDITORIAL STAFF Margaret Bishop Editor-in-Chief Leon Grant Assistant Editor Elvin Hightower Business Manager ' Lena Branch Literary Editor ASSOCIATE EDITORS Percy Chalkley, Gladys Huband, Cornelia Cox, Frances Miller, William Miller, Hose Trueheart.

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The Reflector : 1924 9 HISTORICAL The Chester High School was first established in 1906, and at once mod- estly and industriously set itself to the task of supplying two years of High School training to the youth in this immediate section of Chesterfield County. Its growtli was so rapid that within a few years it received recognition as a standard high school and became, by State appointment, tbe Agricultural High School for the Third Congressional District of Virginia. An Act of the Leg- islature of Virginia, finally approved on March 16, 1910, provided the condi- tions under which the Congressional District Agricultural high schools were to be conducted, and the attention of teachers and school officials was centered upon the carrying out of these provisions. A farm of twenty-three acres was selected for a new site, the new build- ings were erected, special teachers for the department of Agriculture with shop work and Home Economics were secured, and the school continued to expand in its large field of service. Two courses were offered the practical in the two subjects above mentioned, and the standard academic course covering in- structions in all branches that met college entrance requirements. The school had entered upon a stage of pronounced usefulness to its community and to the more distant parts of the county. It attracted pupils from other counties. In 1917 Congress enacted the Smith-Hughes bill to provide for the promotion of vocational education throughout the States of the Federal Lhiion. Specifically, it provided for co-operation with the States in the promotion in agriculture and the trades and industries, for co-operation in the training of teachers of voca- tional subjects, and to appropriate Federal funds and regulate their expen- diture. The Assembly of Virginia in 1918, passed a law accepting the conditions under which the Federal aid provided by the Smith- Hughes Act may be secured, and made the appropriations necessary to receive its benefits. The former Congressional District high schools were made to conform to the Smith-Hughes conditions and became Countv Agricultural High Schools. The Chester school promptly adapted itself to the changed condition, and has steadfastly endeavored to meet every requirement of the said act. while con- forming to the increasingly more strict demands of the State Board of Educa- tion for the Academic course, the school has, in both departments, received and maintained full recognition as a standard four-year high school.