Warwick High School - Warwick Yearbook (Newport News, VA)

Page 26 text:

mathematics This year under the direction of Mrs. Daisy Bright the Mathematics Department has undergone a thorough renovation. A different approach to mathematics was instituted with a new series of textbooks in which the set concept was used. As this concept was introduced, the student found it easier to isolate solutions to problems because he had only to consider the set of numbers in which the answers must be. Since sets have be- c o m e a vital part of the course of study, they should help to make mathematics more meaningful to all the students. Many levels of mathematics were offered in the curriculum this year. Three years of general math were available. Many students took first and second year algebra. Plain, solid, and coordinate geometry were combinedin asingle geometry course, while a course which included a semester of solid geometry and a semester of trigonometry was also taught. Advanced high school mathematics was offered in preparation for college work. Students concentrate on Geometry. Science This year the Science Department has increased its emphasis on laboratory activities spending forty per-cent of the time on experiments, movies, projects, and demonstrations. They have also reinstated the advanced science courses in biology, chemistry, and physics. The first semester course was an ad- vanced biology course in genetics and the second semester course was an advanced physics course in space science. This year the physics classes had a new book entitled Physics , a Basic Science , and their laboratory has been equipped with new tables, chairs, and microscopes enabling them to undertake many worthwhile student experiments. The outlines for the eighth and ninth grade science courses and tenth grade biology courses have been revised on a city-wide basis. The classrooms also have been equipped with new furniture. 22

Page 25 text:

Students acquire fluency in foreign language as they use the lab, foreign Language The Foreign Language Department, which includes both modem and classical languages, has offered this year four levels of instruction in French, Spanish, and Latin. German, which was new in the curriculum last year, was offered on first and second year levels this year. Instruction in all levels of modem languages includes in- creased practice in audio-lingual skills, at the same time main- taining the more traditional skills of reading and writing. Many technical devices are utilized to promote progress in the ability to understand and speak the language. A thirty-booth language laboratory, c o mp 1 e t e with earphones, microphones, and re- cording equipment, is used weekly by the French, Spanish, and German classes. Supplementing the laboratory are portable tape recorders, phonographs, and movie and slide projectors available for daily use in the classroom. New textbooks, Cumbres de la civilicacion , espanola , Espana , and Lanque et C ivilisation Francaises IV have been added this yeai as well as additional tapes, records, maps, dictionaries, supplementary readers and reference books for use in the study of literature and other aspects of culture and civi- lization. 21

Page 27 text:

Distributive Education The high school Distributive Education Training Program, which involves thirty students this year, derives its name from the cooperative working arrangement between the school and distributive businesses in the community. Students were selected for the D.E. program only after careful study of standardized test results, school records, attendance records, and recommen- dations of school counselors and subject teachers. Early in the school year there was a joint banquet of students and coordinators for the purpose of installing officers for the seven district schools. Classes were taught before Christmas by the D. E. coordinators with approximately one hundred students participating for the purpose of placing them in part-time jobs over the Christmas holidays. In the early spring there was an- othe r banquet to express appreciation to the employers for the training they gave the students. At this time awards were given to any student who had shown unusual ability or accomplishment. Distributive Education students, Wayne Davis, Sandra Crisp, and Dick Osborne open the bookstore where students may pur- chase supplies before school. Business Business Students obtain skill in working with complicated machines such as these. In VOT the girls practice office skills in the classroom. The Business Department, headed by Mrs. Burcher, has at- tempted to teach interested students the fundamentals of business, as well as specialized courses for those who plan their future in business. A new book 20th Century has been used in the typing classes and two new electric typewriters have been added for ad- vanced typing. This year Clerical Practice was combined with Vocational Office Training, better known as VOT. Warwick High was the fi rst school to offer VOT for business seniors, in 1948. Since that time the program has grown, not only at Warwick, but in five other area high schools. VOT is a terminal course for seniors who are planning to enter the business field upon graduation. A student must have had two years of typing, one year of shorthand, and it is recommended that they have general business, record keeping, or bookkeeping as prerequisites. The course is divided into three parts: office procedures, business machines, and work experience. This year students are working in banks, doctors ' , lawyers ' , and insurance offices. They are also working for the school board, the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company Credit Union, and for local merchants. This course offers an opportunity for the student to become a full-time employee upon graduation. 23