Valparaiso High School - Valenian Yearbook (Valparaiso, IN)

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MISS MINMK C. McI.XTYKE HISTORY DEPARTMENT. INGS and Queens may die, nations may rise and fall, wars rage and cease, but History continues. For culture and mental discipline there is no more important subject than History and knowledge of it, both ])ast and present should be the possession of every individual. The important place given it in the Valparaiso High School course of study is in recognition of its great value. One term of English History is otfered as an elective; the rest, consisting of two tenns of Ancient one each of Medieval and Modern and one of Civics is required. Altlio emphasis is placed upon live topics of the day, which relate most to life and upon History in the making, yet knowledge of the Ancients — even of the i)reliistoric milleniums — is necessary and required. It has taken thousands of years for man to develop from his early stage of savagery and helplessness to the conditions in which we now live, and in order to understand our present life it is necessary to study the slow growth of mankind through these past ages. Although Ancient History covers over four thousand years, from the time when we first know man, from reliable records, to about eight hundred years after the birth of C irist, only those nations are studied, that have done most in developing those ideas which have given us the present civilized life— the life of Europe and America. Those nations which made the greatest contributions to civilization were the Egj- tians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Hebrews, the 14

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this term in our English VIII. Each member of the class selected some good magazine and reported on it each month. Do you have a course in public speaking? asked the guest. No, we don ' t, answered the Senior, But a few steps have been taken in that direction. Every member of the High School is required to make one public appearance a year. The class of 1915 has greatly distinguished itself in this work. Some members of the class prefer to remain in the background by taking minor ])arts and are content with one api earance a year, but there are others who would })erform every Friday if given the opportunity. These irrepressible ones, how- ever, are held firmly in hand by Miss Benney and cause no serious dis- turbance. We have a number of born orators who acquitted them- selves nobly at our Oratorical Contest in February. There goes two of those ' irrei)ressible ' ones now, observed the guest, looking out of the window. Let ' s join them, cried the Senior, I believe they are going to the picture show. The two girls laughingly departed and the conversation was ended. GAIL FEHKMAN. 13

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Oreeks, the Eomans and the early Germans. In the study of each and every nation the })riniary idea is to be kept in mind — that the historical significance of the i)eople is to be estimated by wliat it contributed to the general civilization and the conditions which made that contribu- tion possible. When the student has completed the study of Greece, he has learned that the historical importance of the nation rests upon its eontril)utions to political liberty and to the develo])ment of a superior intellectual life and he realizes that under existing conditions its con- tribution could not have been otherwise. The same significant study continues throughout the Medieval Age, when Church and State are contending for Supremacy, and through the Modern when more liberal principles of government are being devel- oped, with more stress on the industrial and cultural than ])olilical or military. Perhaps the most important and interesting of all the work is the half year of Civics, in which the city, townshi}), county, state and nation are studied, each in relation to the other and to the citizen. The aim and purpose of this work is especially intended to train for membership in the community. The idea is kept constantly before the student that he is a citizen now with real civic relations and duties which require knowlege of what the government does for him and how, and what it has a right to expect from him in return. A term i aper is required of each student, upon some imjtortant subject which appeals to him. Some of the topics chosen are: Pub- lic Health, Causes and Prevention of Crime, Our System of Taxa- tion, and Prison Reform. Some of the most interesting and liel])ful exercises given are: Experience in casting ballots in regular elections; observations made on court and council proceedings; trials conducted by the students and visits to the City Hall, to county farm and factories. Contemporary History is studied throughout the entire course and constant use made of magazines and papers. A weekly digest of cur- rent events is made, of local, state, national, international and foreign affairs, and special assigned topics reported upon frequently. The one great handicaj) in the work is the lack of ecjuii)ment. The department has provided what visualizing material it could by collect ing, mounting, classifying and preserving pictures from various sources; but there is great need of illustrative apparatus. The depart- ment looks forward hopefully to the time when the History room will be a laboratory, as fully equij ped for the study of History as the Science room is for the study of Chemistry. Miss Mclntyre, the head of the deiiartment, knows her subject thoroughly and is a very proficient teacher. She insists that the pupils make History and Civics a part of their every day life and not study them abstractlv and as a result her classes are wide-awake and ]u-ogres- sive. ' VERNA SUMMERS. 15