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

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ScAottiAA of the older ones still widely read by the students. Besides the English rental library Thornton is proud of its other library con- taining more than ten thousand volumes. There students spend hour after hour do- ing reference work under the guidance of Miss Ruth Glass and Miss Mattie Gard- ner, librarians. The senior will remember too his soph- omore year when he struggled through a sea of verbs, adverbs, and conjunctions; his junior year when he gave a speech in public speaking or wrote a composition and felt a tinge of self-satisfaction over a piece of well-done work. Then came his last year ! There he had a chance to splurge on his English course. The only problem is which to choose. If he wants to look behind the scenes, if he wants to charm an audience into breath-taking quietness, then he will cer- tainly choose to study dramatics. There he will be taught stage craft, lighting, and make-up, as well as acting. The senior course in radio workshop instructs in writing radio scripts and in voice culture. The name of creative writ- ing reveals its nature. Pupils write numer- ous essays and short stories. Then there is the debate class. This is especially interesting now because of the many world-wide problems open for dis- cussi on. Clear thinking and skill in ex- pressing ideas is every debater ' s goal, and after this comes the desire to gain mem- bership in the National Forensic League. Senior students may also choose to take part in the publications, the weekly news- paper or the yearbook, both entitled The Thorntonite .

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axo t When it comes to choosing an English class, the senior has all the luck! He may select a course from several different ones. The English department, under the supervision of Mr. O. F. Umbaugh, is the largest department in the school due to the fact that all Thornton students are required to take at least three years of English. Sixteen teachers make up the department. In his last year the student may elect the kind of English he chooses. This last year of English is sometimes far from the fundamentals of reading and writing. Perhaps the student will choose to work on the yearbook, take part in plays, or write radio scripts for the workshop. The senior probably recalls his first days at Thornton, his freshman year, when his English consisted of acquiring a wider knowledge of litera- ture through reading many books from the English rental library. This library, which as far as is known is one of the few, if not the only one of its kind, contains more than 19,000 volumes of both modern and classic books. Although these sets of books are used chiefly by the freshman classes, any pupil may charge out a book upon requisition of a teacher. One of the most popular books among Thornton ' s students at present is Lloyd C. Douglas ' The Robe, of which the li- brary contains 200 copies. The Human Comedy, See Here, Private Hargrove, Thunderhead, The Bright Land, and My Friend Flicka are some of the newer books which are also popular. The Hoosier Schoolmaster, How to Win Friends and Influence People, and The Education of Hyman Kaplan are some

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u4uteA4, ei ty6 We need stenographers, bookkeep- ers, comptometer operators ! We need workers! is the constant call at the door of Thornton ' s Business Depart- ment. With more and more men going to the armed forces, the vacant seats of business and vital industry must be filled, and Thornton is doing its part giving thorough training to its stu- dents. Under the guidance of Miss Eva L. Lieber, the department not only pro- duces fast, accurate typists and speedy shorthand writers, but it trains stu- dents in the use of the adding machine, dictaphone, ditto machine, mimeo- graph, and other machines found in the business world of today. There are also relative subjects, such as economics, bookkeeping, and salesmanship, which further the training of efficient workers. After completing four years of the Business course, a person isn ' t a stu- dent any more, but a trained individual ready for the business world. He can accept a position with confidence, knowing he has been well trained to do an efficient and accurate job. Thornton is also conducting night classes for those who want additional training to better themselves in the field of business.