Thomas Jefferson High School - Democrats Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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engaged in doing only a minute part of the complete process. This division of labor has been effective in normal times in the rapid production of com- modities, but it has been defective in that it has not resulted in the develop- ment of skilled all-around men. Society demands that something be done to counteract this defect. This is the challenge of today in the educational field. This is the chal- lenge that Jefferson High School is trying to meet. To this end vocational courses have been introduced for both boys and girls. These are divided into two groups-one course requiring two years for completion and one requiring four years, these are respectively: the Mechanical Arts and the College and Normal Preparatory courses. The department of Home Economics is essentially for girls, and offers work in cooking, sewing, and millinery, with allied subjects, such as, math- ematics, chemistry, and English. The students in the Home Economics course have two periods a day for cooking to prepare for cafeteria management, and two for sewing, thus being fitted for both domestic and business life. This is a two-year course. Practical work of this sort contributes toward a better home life, con- sequently to a higher social order. The courses especially adapted to boys are the machine and auto shops. The work in sheet metal, forge and printing offer practical work in particular lines. What is known as Shop,' includes work in the regular machine and auto shop, forge, and sheet metal. The students are here given the fundamentals of the machinists' trade, practical work in auto repair, and the making of ar- ticles in the sheet-metal courses. There is an increasing demand for mechan- ics who understand the fundamentals of the trades. The electric course equips the student with the fundamentals of this in- dustry, including ignition and battery work, as well as home and stage light- ing. The course in wood-shop teaches the proper use and care of tools and the construction of furniture and fixtures, and the finishing of project work. The course in printing gives to the student the fundamentals of the trade in generalg acquainting him not only with the work of the compositor or pressman, but with all phases of job and newspaper work. The commercial department offers two one-year courses. The steno- graphic course includes work in shorthand, typewriting. penmanship, arith- metic, business English, adding machine work, mimeographing, filing and office practice. The book-keeping course is like that in stenography except that book- keeping and commercial law takes the place of stenography and mimegraph- ing. This work ,thorouhgly done as it is, is of necessity, rapid and intense. The agricultural course trains students for practical farming. Each stu- dent has a farm on which he works one-half of each day. Work on ranches in summer is secured for those who wish it. Agriculture, Shop Work and Home Economics are under the Smith- Hughes Law. All teachers having charge of applied work'in the vocational department have had extensive experience and know the needs of the indus- trial world. A certificate, not a high school diploma, is given to those who complete any of these courses. ten fy

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3...--.Yi-in Hnratinnal Flraining The vocational depart- ment of Jefferson High School is largely indebted for its extension to Miss Carey. She believes thor- oughly in vocational training and is in touch with its every phase. With her sympa- thetic viewpoint she is able to bring the .student to the Work, the to the Stu- dent. She herself is actively engaged inifithe part-time teaching recently begun in the city. Vocational training at Jef- ferson is emerging from the stage of experimentation and is entering the field of successful accomplishment. It is through the untiring efforts of Miss .Carey that this has been achieved. In the evolution of society from the baser to the better, the various ac- tivities of life, whether in play or in labor, constantly undergo change. No stage of development, however efficient or satisfying today, can be considered permanent. Our unfolding humanity demands institutions that are not static, but capable of adapting themselves to rapidly advancing ideas. Educational institutions have responded, though somewhat tardily, to these changing demands. At Hrst purely academic, appealing only to persons of leisure, culture and wealth. The schools have gradually broadened their curricula to include the technical and practical in order to prepare earnest and eager men and women to do the work of the world in the most efficient way possible, and at the same time to enlarge their vision, to make them masters of their trade, not slaves. When, in the middle of the twentieth century, instruction in sloyd was offered in the schools of Sweden, an innovation occurred which established a new era in education. Since then many additional courses of a practical nature have been introduced. Thinkers in the industrial and educational fields have seen the necessity of trained hands as well as trained minds. The work of the world is not performed now in the primitive way in which it was done until fifty years ago. The marvelous development of labor-saving de- vices has produced a new kind of society. Instead of having shoemakers, blacksmiths and cabinet-makers, each one of whom produces a complete ar- ticle, we have thousands of individuals employed under one management and nine

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eleven EDWIN RICHARD SORENSON A member of jefferson High School faculty from September 11, 1918 to February 16, 1920. As a teacher he was efficient, faithful, and beloved. As a man he was honest and sincere, kind, helpful, and loyal.