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

Page 29 text:

A Tale of Two are still widely composition are Harris ' Trumpets at Dawn. Other popular books that the students enjoy reading are Irving Bacheller ' s A Man for the Ages, Marjorie Rawlings ' The Yearling, Jim Davis, by John Masefield, and Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. Charles Dickens ' Cities and Great Expectations read by many students. Essentials of grammar and taught during the second year. Students learn how to express themselves clearly and accurately in written compositions. Using proper grammatical construction, students learn to speak well, another mark of an educated person. Literature and speech constitute one semester of third year English. Forms of business communica- tion, letters, creative writing, and composition are stressed during the other semester. Although students having an A or B aver- age their first three years are not required to take fourth year English, many of them take one of the elective courses: radio workshop, creative writing, dramatics, or journalism. The journalism class includes the publishing of the newspaper and yearbook. All students who receive less than a B average during their first three years ' work are required to take the fourth year English course, which offers English literature and further work in composition.

Page 28 text:

Along with the ability of man to talk came his necessity for written communication. With these fundamentals plus the skills of reading and listen- ing, Thornton ' s English Department is concerned. Teaching students to become more proficient in oral and written communication is the aim of every English teacher. The English Department is the largest depart- ment in the school, due to the fact that all stu- dents are required to study at least three years of English. Under the supervision of Mr. O. F. Umbaugh, the department is made up of sixteen teachers. During the first year of English the students are presented with a wide reading program and are led to enjoy it. The year is spent training and developing good reading habits. Some of the best iterature studied during the first year English course is secured from Thornton ' s rental library. As far as it is known the library is one of the few, if not the only one, of its kind; it contains about 21,000 volumes valued at $25,000. Lloyd C. Douglas ' The Robe, of which the brary has two hundred copies, is again one of the popular books among Thornton students this year. Some of the newer books which are also popular are Ernie Pyle ' s Here Is Your War, Rackham Holt ' s George Washington Carver, Johnnie Tremain by Esther Forbes, and Cyril

Page 30 text:

Everything from how to measure ingredients for cake, and how to place the fork on the late after using it to how to act as hostess at one ' s own table is taught in the homemaking classes which have to do with cooking. Clad in neat nets and aprons, the girls are busy little- bees as they learn through actual experience the do ' s and don ' ts of food preparation and consumption. Each girl in the advanced classes takes upon herself the job of planning, preparing, and being hostess at a dinner to which several guests are invited. The girls completing this course have an excellent start toward becoming good homemakers. The conservation of material and the recon- version of old garments to new is especially important during wartime. That is what the other half of the homemaking department, the sewing classes, is learning to do. Each year those girls have the opportunity of showing their efforts at the annual Mother- Daughter Tea and Style Show. The girls model the clothes they have made. Since the Homemaking Department, which is headed by Miss Wilma V. Reed, is affiliated with the Illinois Board for Vocational Educa- tion, it is necessary for each student to take at least one related subject, such as general sci- ence or biology.