Weaver High School - Portal Yearbook (Hartford, CT)

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■ WiiffluiiaMirmniit ■ MiniiuiiiawuutuiiatuiuiiiiiQuiitiiiiiiiauiniiiiHiaminnininiUKiinmninuitii CLASS BOOK OF NINETEEN TWENTY-FOUR the baseball game of the day before. “Our team, wasn’t very good at hitting yesterday. They didn’t hit at the right time. That umpire wasn’t fair, either, he favored the other side.’’ The girls are elated over their victory over the teachers. One girl, who appears to be a member of the winning team said, “I am so glad we won. The teachers are the best teachers, but we’re the best basketball players.’’ Another group of girls are discussing the play they gave at the last meeting of the English Club. As the onlooker walks down a little farther, he notices a group of boys in one corner. Every¬ one seems interested in the speaker. As he draws nearer he learns that the subject of discussion is the debate of the day before. “The negative side didn’t stick to the point.’’ “How could they when they didn’t have any point to stick to,’’ says another. Two members are debating upon a point when the bell rings which means that recess is over. After the final bell has rung, the students come rushing out, the moderns first and then the anti-moderns. And soon, if the onlooker walks down the corridor, he sees only a vast opening of empty space.

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THE COHKIDORS | i Strolling leisurely down the corridors before school, between classes, at recess, and after school, the onlooker may see many groups of students, and overhear various kinds of conversation. Among the Weaver- ites there are pupils whose ages range from twelve to twenty years, who are from two to seven feet in height, and whose subjects of conversation range from toys to college “proms.” During the first week of our occupancy in this new school, no outstanding groups were discerned by the onlooker, because the pupils felt strange in their new home so that they clung together. This condition is more or less similar to the first days of attendance at any school. Each pupil had questions to ask the other, whether it was for information concerning the locality of a certain room or teacher or concerning the building itself. As time went on this immense mass sub¬ divided into groups. If the onlooker should study the student body now, he might classify them into two definite groups: the moderns and the anti¬ moderns. The most distinguishing traits of them are their style of clothes, their actions and their conversations. Upon entering the school at 8:00 o’clock in the morning one sees a group of students the majority of whom are from the two lower classes with a few members from the junior and senior classes. The girl of this clique usually has her long curls trailing down her back with a big tow on her hair while her dress, which is most always ging¬ ham, is very short. Although her arms are full of books, she wears an innocent smile. One of the group who appears to be worried to death, says, “I couldn’t do two of those algebra examples. I’m afraid Miss Blank will scold me.” The anti-modern toys, who are seen at the other end of the hall, are clothed in short trousers. They are dis¬ cussing a Latin translation. When, upon seeing a group of girls, one exclaims, “I hate this school.” “Why?” asks one of his friends. “Because there’s too many girls here. They spoil it.” The anti-modern toy’s bashfulness prevents him from con¬ versing with anti-modern girls. At 8:20 an entirely different class of students comes trailing in. These are the moderns. The male, with his flapping bell bottomed trousers, and the miss with her long skirts, come along together. As they approach one hears the male say, “Went to a dance last night. Didn’t get home until early this morning. You ought to hear the bawlin’ out I got. My dad was furious.” To which she says, “That’s nothing to worry about. I went out with the cutest fellow; I forgot all about my formal theme which is due today. If I don’t pass English I won’t graduate.” As the warning bell rings at 8:29, a couple of modern girls come rush¬ ing down the corridor, calling, “Anybody got a comb? Let’s take yer powder puff? Thanks, you’re a life saver.” After she has adjusted her dress, arranged her boyish bobbed hair and powdered her nose, she trots to her session room. In between classes we see this modern boy relating the story of his last night’s en¬ tertainment when suddenly he exclaims, “She was the berries! And could she dance? Oh Baby!” But realizing that they are ap¬ proaching a classroom, one hears many ex¬ clamations of sorrow: “Let’s see your trig.” “Got yer history done? Holy smoke! I have a special topic due today. What shall I give for an excuse? Was I sick? No, that’s the old stall. I know. My mother was sick and I had so many errands to do I didn’t have time to prepare it.” The anti¬ moderns are walking fast, discussing the class that they just left or the one which they are going to. On account of the necessity of having two recesses the pupils have to stay in the lunch¬ room during the whole recess. Therefore at this time the lunchroom takes the place of the corridor. School activities are some of the things in which these groups have like interests. This is very evident at recess when the onlooker observes that these groups are talking together. As he walks along, he hears a group of toys discussing

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a «9 THE AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL | The evolution of secondary education in the United States has been a rapid and striking one. The past twenty years, especially, have seen an unparalleled growth of interest in higher education. During this short time the attendance in high schools has increased two hundred and ten per cent while the population has increased but forty-seven per cent. This rapid increase in attendance is a marked indication of our belief in secondary education. This quite astonishing growth of high schools may be attributed to two causes. The first of these is a growing belief in education in general. The other cause, which is undoubtedly the most important, is the twentieth century idea of democratic educa¬ tion. The educational policy in the United States was established by our early English ancestors. Their educational ideas, prin¬ ciples and habits greatly influence our modern day education. The first secondary schools were started in New England, and from thence spread over the entire country. Schools sprang up spontaneously in the first years of the settlement, the Boston Latin Grammar School being the pioneer. In 1647 the famous rescript of the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony put the matter on a legal basis. It said that every community which contained one hundred families must maintain a grammar school. Thus began the first secondary schools of America, the grammar schools. The next period in education was marked by a decline of the grammar school idea. The academy, which was a great step for¬ ward, replaced the grammar school. The greatest advance was the period of the growth of the high school. It was really the beginning of what we would call high school education. The Boston Latin Classical High School, which was founded in 1821, was the first high school to be started in this country. The manner of its coming was in itself significant. In the first place it was an extension upward from the elementary education of the period. It was thus an outgrowth of the popular education that was auspiciously started by the laws of 1647. Secondly, it was a local school, con¬ fined to narrow limits of territory. Again, it was introduced to meet special needs. The last but most important feature of all is that it was a public school. The high schools, however, still taught the classics with little or no variation in the courses. There were no practical courses and a high school education was of little avail unless the student attended college. This fault was remedied during the period which followed, known as the Period of Differentiation in high schools and high school curricula. This was the beginning of the real modern school. The high school was first established to develop pupils by mental discipline so that they might fill usefully and respectably public and private positions for which the facilities had not been adequate. The main aim of our present day high school is to make a true citizen of the world, one who shall have a cementing and unifying power, and not be a mere member of a group with disintegrating tendencies. The universality of high school education is the most astounding fact of all. This twentieth high school, after adapting itself wisely to all secondary school interests and organizing itself in close harmony with social, industrial and cultural conditions and opportunities, provides facilities for the attendance of all children of secondary school age and for all others who desire secondary school privileges. At present there is a growing tendency to make the facilities so worthwhile that they will not onlv attract attendance but almost compel it. ' Social unity is greatly benefited by high school education. The secondary school is the foundation school for starting these ideals. The very psychology of the secon¬ dary school period shows that it is the vantage time of life for developing those habits of thought that make for industrial peace and true democracy in all directions. As a social instrument, high school is expected to