Waukegan High School - Annual W Yearbook (Waukegan, IL)

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concerning the need of citizenship training, in which the home as well as the school needs to help. (d) Systematic Budget-Making. Saving, Giving, Spending. A large number of students contribute systematically eacli week to their bank fund, and to the phil¬ anthropic fund, which is divided alternately from week to week between the Near East Relief (foreign), and the Salvation Army (home). (e) Health. The introduction of intra-mural sports has increased the num¬ ber of students who partake in physical sports bv over two hundred per cent. Limited facilities, instructional force and time, have been the only limitations. Gym¬ nasium space was engaged at the Hattie Barwell Settlement gymnasium and at the Y. M. C. A. gymnasium. Instructors have given freely of their time beyond the limit of their regular teaching program. Girl intra-mural groups have just been organized in Basketball; also in other competitive games. None of these are ex¬ hibition activities; no games are played with other schools. (f) Leisure Time Activities. During one hour in the middle of the day, the regular academic work is interrupted by the following activities ; The Relaxation and Play hour in the gymnasium is given to Seniors on Monday, Juniors on Tuesday and Sophomores on Wednesday; Life Interest and Hobby groups consisting of, Camera Club, Art in Architecture group, Shop Management group and similar groups are formed on Thursday. On this day all Seniors meet for a Conference in Fundamentals. On Friday an Assembly period for all Senior School students is set aside for high grade lectures. On Monday during the time the Seniors are in the gymnasium, the Juniors and Sophomores have a Student Assembly, during which programs of various kinds are put through by student committees; during the second semester, the various departments of the school put on programs illustrating the work of the department, partly to acquaint all the school with the work of the depart¬ ments, and partly to assist students in making better choices of studies for the com¬ ing semester. (g) A Men’s Faculty Club and a Women’s Faculty Club are active adminis¬ trative co-ordinating agencies. They minister to the social needs of the groups, and problems of education are discussed in the business meetings; frequently too, groups of business men, such as lawyers and doctors are invited in for a social and confer¬ ence evening. (h) Leadership Training. In the Student Council, in the Shops, in the De¬ bate Groups, and through the “W” list, the qualities of leadership are given an opportunity for expression and training. II. OUR SCHOOL TOMORROW (a) As our educational needs grow, more units of the quadrangle will be built. The next units will be the gymnasium, swimming pool, dressing rooms, and showers for both boys and girls, and the auditorium group including the auditorium proper, the central library, the central office with a board room and other confer¬ ence rooms, that can be used for special recitation rooms for testing and aiding stu¬ dents; the dental clinic and first aid and health rooms will also be included in this group. Added cafeteria facilities, recitation rooms and an expansion of the vocation¬ al unit now being completed, are additions that will follow soon. (b) The course of study and the curriculum will be completed after trial and re-adjustment based on experience. All courses will be worked out through the graded assignment plan, with variations to meet the needs of the courses. A diag¬ nosis department will be established. Through the work of this department, it is hoped to reduce the number of failures considerably, and so one hundred per cent pro- Eighteen

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In tlie “W” of last year, under the caption of “Quadrangle Towers,” I out¬ lined the educational program under four headings: 1. The Needs of a Growing In¬ dustrial Community; 2. The Three Types of Schools Under the Present Plan of Organization; 3. The Building Plan Made to Conform to Educational Needs ; 4. The Economic Situation to Sustain this Program. The ideal of the “Quadrangle Towers” will lead us on as we grow and build; this year, under the captions of: 1. Our School Today; 2. Our School To-mor¬ row, I wish to give something more in detail concerning the outstanding things in the program as it is being worked out today, and as we hope it will develop in the days to come. I. OUR SCHOOL TODAY (a) Quadrangle Growth. During the year a new unit has been added to the Junior building, and the Vocational unit was started. These units make provision for: a large Art Room to accommodate two groups, one in Drawing and one in Metal Craft; a Biology group of two rooms for recitation and laboratory purposes, and one room for plans; four recitation rooms; an Assembly for Junior Groups; an Auto-Me- chanics Shop; a Mechanical Drawing Room; a Distributing Store-Room; a Print Shop for try-out courses. (b) Curriculum Rebuilding. Curriculum study and readjustment has centered around the idea of making the daily class-hour more efficient. The chief feature of the present practice, is the working out of graded assignment material which can be placed in the hands of students in order to make individualized instruction possible to a larger extent than has hitherto been possible. This is the first step to bring about a reduction in the number of failures in the various courses. At the pres¬ ent time six courses are in the process of being printed in mimeograph form. In these courses the units have been fixed and the graded assignment cards have been prepared. Try-out courses are now in operation in the Elemental Science classes of the Freshman year, and in the first year of Manual Arts. The first steps in formulating the courses of study were taken by having each department determine the objectives, which should obtain in that particular depart¬ ment: the specified objectives for the various courses in the departments were also fixed. The Illinois Objectives for Secondary Education and those of the National Association of Secondary School Principals were used in this work. Every effort is being made to stimulate interest in scholarship, and a high grade of work in shops and laboratories. From time to time a brief ceremony is given to honor those whose records are high. A carnation is given to each student whose name appears on the honor list. An appropriate talk is given at the time to impress the alue of fine Craftsmanship in any kind of work; a word of encouragement is given also to those who find academic work difficult. (c) Citizenship Development. The foundation for this wmrk lies in the gen¬ eral instruction given in the Government Groups, including all of the Junior and Sophomore Classes. This work is given to each group once a week throughout the year. This course is given informally, and is kept abreast of the times. Through home visitation by the Personnel Officer for the schools, as a whole, and by teachers of the Vocational School for that school, the contact with the homes ' is made very effectively. Through these agencies the parents are fully informed Seventeen

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motion will be brought about approximately. The try-out courses will develop into in-and-out and trade courses. The evening school for adults, especially in the prac¬ tical subjects, will soon find its place in the system. An industrial community is very much in need of such supplementary educational opportunities. 1 o stimulate interest in scholarship and fine craftsmanship, the school awards a craftsmanship shield to the Senior who ranks highest in the following: love of work, perfection in work and service. A division of the National Honor Soeietv may someday be established in our school. The carnation will give way to the golden key which symbolizes the goal of the diligent capable worker. (c) The Health and Play Activities will be further expanded through the pur¬ chase by the Board of additional land to enlarge the Present “W” field. A football field, baseball diamond, hockey field, and tennis courts, running track and field house , will provide physical training for every boy and girl in school. The intra-mural sports will be extended until every able-bodied boy and girl in school is in some sport all the year ’round. The courses in dramatics, public speaking, and debate will be further extended. Ihe new Junior Auditorium which is just being completed, will enable us to give all groups wishing dramatic training an opportunity to develop this most important talent. The Music groups too will have a better opportunity to give their programs than has been possible in the past. The band, consisting of forty members, makes a very creditable showing, but in a school of our size we should have a band of one hundred. This is a possible goal in two years. In this Auditorium a modern radio set will be installed. The programs for schools will probably be given next year, during one hour of the day. When suitable material is being broadcasted, the school will be able to “listen-in” on it at this hour. (d) The next step in organization will, no doubt, be the Junior High School in all the township schools, including the seventh and eighth grades of the elementary schools, and the upper groups of the rural schools. Just how the Junior Schools will be fully articulated with the present system, will depend on the legislation that can be secured in the next few years. Some type of organization which includes this type of school, must come if our schools are to remain progressive and up-to-date. Junior High School work is now being given to the Freshman group; it is necessary, however, to extend this work and this program to the seventh and eighth grades of the elementary schools in order to give them the benefit of a modern course of study and the benefits of the Junior High School organization. (e) It is hoped that the Parent-Teacher Association which now meets once a year, at the time of the Educational Outlook activities in the spring, will expand into a larger organization that will meet at least once every two months. In the years to come the agencies now at work on the enlarged program for our schools will produce a better and finer system of education, and so make a worthy contribution to a better and greater Waukegan. It is worthwhile to note again: “The government, the art, the industry, the cul¬ ture, the spirit of a great people, are in the hearts of the people, not in its wealth, its power, its buildings, nor in any other material things. The economic power of a people must be controlled not to create wealth, but to make people happy. This happiness lies in the understanding of the meaning of life and not in mere possession of the material things of life. Serenity of spirit is a higher and more satisfying end of life than comfort of body.” May the Quadrangle Towers give us all an inspiration to have courage, and give our best in the interest of this kind of education, for the youth of greater Waukegan. M ay “W” spirit never waver in this worthy endeavor. Nineteen