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

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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

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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

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These boys are working in the new electronics course set up this year. Industrial Education Through the new I. C.T. program, Judy Drewey assists Dr. Simpson during the afternoon school hours. This year progress at Warwick is very evident in the new In- dustrial Education Department. Many changes have affected the former Industrial Arts Department. The teaching personnel has been increased to a total of five. Four years of drafting, wood work, and metal work are provided under the instruction of Mr. William E. Jones, Mr. Albert F. Pinkham, and Mr. Ted C. Smith, respectively. Franklin G. Hardison, head of the department, is the in- dustrial C o op e r a t i v e Training Coordinator. I. C. T. , as this program is called, is a form of cooperative part-time education, designed to provide vocational training opportunities for high school juniors and seniors. It is a cooperative enterprise between business and industrial establishments in the community and the public high school. Through their employment, the students learn the manipulative part of their jobs under actual working conditions. Simultaneously, the school furnishes the technical subject material related to the job being learned. Mr. Hardison serves as a qualified teacher-coordinator who directs the students in their study of related technical information and visits them periodically on the job. There are over two hundred and fifty different occupations at which the student may work in this program. Mr. Charles A. Brown teaches the new courses in electronics and electricity. Through class discussions, demonstrations, laboratory experimentation, and home assignments, an intro- duction to electronics is provided in the first year of the course. A complete line of test instruments is introduced to the students through use and practice. In the second year course of electronics, students acquire extensive knowledge and skills using tools, instruments, and machines. Through the construction and oper- ation of electrical-electronic devices, wiring and repairing of electrical circuits, and use of test equipmentthe students further their knowledge. The course in electricity provides a basis for any further studies in this field. Technical, general, and occu- pational material is provided.