Thornton Township High School - Thorntonite Yearbook (Harvey, IL)

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Board zz-'ark in geometry D Q fb: , 9 P523 7' s o Q j if CLfAQIfIfLCtiiC6 Amazing, isn't it, the influence that a man living thousands of years ago can have on our lives today? A Euclid, a Pythagoras, long since dead and gone, evolves a process that enables us to work and construct in a complicated soci- ety. The theories which these ancients proved to be true, the system of mathematics, a heritage of Arabs, of Greeks, of Romans, form the basis for all our quantitative thinking today. Since the slogan Keep 'Em Flying has become the byword of the day, it has been brought home to us to an even greater extent the important part that mathematics plays in our lives. Many a boy who has scoffed and sneered at algebra and geometry while taking it has re- ceived a rude shock, when entering the armed forces, to learn how important mathematics is considered there. He learns that in the army, in the navy, or in the air-corps one of the most vital qualifications is a thorough ground-work in mathematics. We, who have learned this in time, have been devoting a much greater share of our time and our interest to the procurement of a thorough foundation in this subject. Mathematics is the foundation for all of the rest of the sciences, it determines our business transactions, it is the basis for our monetary sys- tem, it controls a good deal of our thought. Have you ever stopped to think that every time you say larger, bigger, greater,,' that you are enter- ing upon the field of mathematics? Is it any wonder that so important a group of conceptions is given first place in so many lines? A number of courses in mathematics are given to the students at Thornton. For the sophomores algebra is offered. Most of the juniors in the Academic and Technical courses take geometry. Those who wish to take up a science or a branch of engineering later in school are offered courses in advanced algebra, solid geometry, and trig- onometry in the senior year. This group of courses is for those who intend to pursue an advanced course of study upon graduation from high school. For the students in the Industrial Arts department who will have completed their education after four years at Thornton, courses in shop mathematics are offered. In the Business department courses in business arithmetic are taught. Every student in Thornton comes into contact with mathematics before he finishes his high school days. For the students who find mathematics es- pecially difficult additional time is granted. The teachers in the department, led by their head, Mr. Phillips, have set aside two afternoons a week during which extra help is given to those students for whom the class period is too short. All of the classes take departmental tests at the end of each six weeks period, and at the end of each year the National Standardized tests are given. To assist in the placement of students, aptitude tests in algebra and geometry are given before the students start the course. The boys and girls who finish the work in the Mathematics department are prepared to seek their future occupations and to assume an impor- tant place much more easily and in a better fashion than those who have neglected their work in this vital subject.

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Qlliwiikr A- l.,R,ll.' U'E' 49t between life in a democracy and life under a Hitler or a Mussolini, we come to appreciate to a much greater extent the blessings which we are so prone to accept with little or no thought of how precious they really areg We begin to understand just how fortunate we are that our ancestors worked, toiled, and died that our form of government might be retained. Intelligent citizenship, which includes the ability to weigh issues and debate public ques- tions, requires a knowledge of civics. In order to vote and participate in government to a use- ful degree we must understand the formation of that government, the system of checks and balances established by the Constitution, the role that each official and each citizen must play if our government is to function as perfectly as it should. These courses in civics, under the guidance of Mr. Zimmerman, give us this neces- sary knowledge. The study of government- state, local, and national-enables us as future citizens, future voters, and future statesmen to perform our allotted tasks in a manner which will reflect credit upon us. Humanity thrives in an environment which yields to it some measure of the things neces- sary for its existence, and conducive to its well- being. Such things as air, natural beauty, and water are free to all, but in order to live sub- stantially and enjoy life we find it necessary to seek our food by work. In earlier times our forefathers hunted for food, Hshed the streams, selves. Now our system is complex. Each one of us takes care of one highly specialized task and depends on someone else for all of the things he himself is unable to produce. The courses in economics give us a working knowl- edge of our economic system and the inter- dependence of each of us. For those students who hope someday to prac- tice law, and those who desire a practical knowledge of legal processes and laws, we have established our commercial law courses. In these courses the students obtain a knowledge of the general laws which control the average citizen in the social and commercial life that he leads. But behind all and above all we must, in the end, return to the department presided over by Mr. C. C. Stegmeir. For it is history, after all, which gives us the knowledge of these laws, which enables us to interpret our economic sys- tem, and which shows the forces that produced our government. To history we turn time and again for an interpretation of economic, legal, or political events of the present time. In his- tory will be recorded the events of the days in which we are now living, to be ,pored over in the years to come by the students of some future day, who, in their own turn, are trying to understand the system by which they are gov- erned, and the society in which they live. tilled a small plot, hewed down trees for shel- ter, and thus were able to live for and by them- are welcome ndzliliomr to the texlbooh rmllerirll, giving rfirmzl pirmrer of lbe Infer of people nz olher muer ,112 .M...rv- ff V

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.Jfjoraaearfrcr img A man's home is his castle. True, indeed, and to help make this castle as comfortable as possible is the aim of the Homemaking depart- ment. To train the girls in the more efficient management of the home, to secure a greater respect for the home, to create line habits of right living, to establish skills in household oper- ations, to present ideals of family life, and to emphasize the true relationships of home and community, these are the aims which the Home- making department holds before it in the train- ing it gives to the girls at Thornton. Through these courses it is hoped that the home may truly be made a castle in which are found all of the worth-while things. In order to make true these aims two years of homemaking courses are offered to students. The cooking, or A courses, include units in nutri- tions, foods, meal service, hospitality, and con- sumer-buying. The sewing, or B courses, study units on clothing construction, textiles, per- sonality development through clothes, family relationships, housing, and consumer-buying in relation to clothes. Because of its affiliations with the State Board of Education, girls in the homemaking department also take courses in Physiology, Biology, Art, or Chemistry. Another 'im '- Own -W ilverf V be was I . 0 f , ,W eww o11ff1ZgAfm1t1r1cn Them gl il1lrNr1v5'l'wkl A new zlrerr for 1Vlademoi.relle rereiver ilr jirml l1'0h'IIlg requirement is the Directed Home Experiment, in which the girls apply in a practical way the knowledge and the theories that they have ob- tained in the class-work. The apartment is a three-room suite which is furnished in the taste and the full equipment desirable in the home. The girls are proud of these rooms, and keep them looking their best. It is here that they serve their meals, hold their meetings, and receive real experience in care of the home. Besides the apartment there are two com- pletely stocked food laboratories, with stoves and the paraphernalia of the kitchen, and two clothing rooms in which are found the sewing machines and the equipment of the sewing department. So well-equipped and so cheerful are these rooms that the girls find it fun to work in them. Under the supervision of its head, Miss Reed, the Homemaking department is ably performing the tasks which confront it. Lucky, indeed, will be the man who secures as a wife one of the girls who has received her training in our home- making classes, His home will become a castle that he will leave reluctantly to go towork, and to .which he will eagerly return at night. , ta 1 5 If x l X l QP-