Weequahic High School - Legend Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

Page 30 text:

26 Study: As the second bell rings, a small group of stragglers disperses, as each student dashes to his auditorium seat. The period starts, the laborious period of watching the clock tick on and on until, forty minutes later, the passing bell will ring again. Study. Some students use this time constructively for finishing homework, reading the N. Y. Times, or cramming for next period’s test. Others stare out the window into the courtyard or try to see their friends in near-by classrooms. The more courageous and agile souls grab surreptitious bites of the sandwiches they had brought for lunch. Friends, separated by rows of seats, communicate by passing secret notes. As the period nears its end, two people in the back start talking, then two in the front, and so on, until the room becomes filled with the conglomerate noise of a roomful of whispers.” In exasperated tones, the teachers uniformly worn everyone to be quiet. For those students who are bored with auditorium or room study, there is the dangerous cut” to be spent in the toilet, or the opportunity to spend the period in the library is provided. In filling out the little white library slip, the student takes upon himself the obligation to use both his time and the library facilities constructively. At times, however, even this alternative does not satisfy a student. For other possibilities, under Mr. Epstein’s new policy, Honor Society members may decide for themselves how they will spend this period: they may go to the labs, art rooms, or non-scheduled classes. During the senior year, most students flock to get appointments in the College Office.

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For those who demonstrate the ability and desire to do advanced work in the field of social studies, an honors course is available. The same topics are studied in this as are in the regular program, but the coverage is more intense, with an emphasis on voluntary reading of the works of authorities on the various subjects. Through the classroom and through its extra-curricular organ, the Contemporary club, the Social Studies department strives to inform as to not only our way of life but the ways of others, both in theory and in practice, past and present, that we may be better equipped to combat the problems confronting us.

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 The Library: Established in September, 1933, our library has grown to 8,500 school owned volumes, plus about 1,000 public library books here on indefinite loan. In addition, wc have the tremendous resources of the Main Library available to us upon request through a weekly delivery to the school. Our library has been made the beneficiary of several gifts, most notably the memorial collection established by relatives and friends of the late Judge William M. Untermann. This fund has already purchased hundreds of books on American life and history. We have a mathematics collection in memory of Saul Seid and a science collection in memory of Mrs. Elsie S. Roux, both former teachers in our school. Our first principal, Mr. Max Herzberg, donated approximately 800 books; and Helen G. Stevenson, former head of the social studies department, gave us a collection of history textbooks. The Board of Education gives the library an annual appropriation of about $1.35 per pupil for the purchase of books and magazines. In addition, the library serves as a center for research and enrichment materials such as motion pictures, filmstrips, phonograph records, and tapes. The machines for using these materials are supplied by the library and manned by the student projection staff working under the librarians. Our very complete collections of college catalogues and vocational and professional literature in books, magazines, and clippings, is used by individual students for personal research. Close co-operation with the guidance department makes this collection especially valuable for interview and study purposes. 27