Western Military Academy - Recall Yearbook (Alton, IL)

Page 21 text:

the For acti nr every i opposite and equal reac- tion. Explosion ... 7 The commercial building ' s new classrooms, Major Suhre in charge. The meeting will please come to order. The Lower School carries on parlia- mentary procedure. The new military leadership class gets a lesson in blitz- krieg. — 17 —

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The library in action. “Six cents, please. Captain Leurig checks books in and out. Possibles and UNusuals — grade cards are issued by Lt. Koefod. Cadets build model civic center under Captain Gould’s supervision. Soaking in the solid, in Lt. Marchand ' s math class. Capt. Savage, the new principal of the lower school. These instructors ably replaced those called to du- ties elsewhere. Lt. Gary contributed to the cause by instructing a special group in algebra. Because of illness Capt. Schrantz was temporarily unable to conduct his classes in physics and chem- istry. Miss Gebelein, Col. Jackson, Miss Watkins and Lt. Marchand carried the torch until Capt. Schrantz could return to his work. Equipment was added to many classrooms this year. The newly opened biology lab in the basement of C barracks received additions of an acquari- um and several specimens of wild life. Capt. Wil- liams ' language classes were the proud possessors of a recorder for special instruction. Many new refer- ence books were on hand in the classrooms and a sys- tem was worked out by which cadets might subscribe to such publications as Time and Reader ' s Digest. The basement of B barracks was converted into a military classroom. The music studio was moved to its new location adjoining the field house and under the able direction of Capt. and Mrs. John- son, the department grew by leaps and bounds. In- dividual practice rooms were made available to students. This year there was a new study hall arrangement. In years before only seniors and certain selected students could study in their rooms during the day. This year anyone who made his potential average was permitted to study in his room during both night study hall and day study halls. Some cadets were permitted to leave the study library at 8:30 instead of 9:15. The lower school boys had their own study hall in the basement of C barracks. They were dismissed at 8:30 and taps for them was at 9 o ' clock. — 16 —

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Let ' s get to the point. Lt. Panhorst unfolds history before our eyes. Lt. Dailey snares specimens for future use of biology students. Major Wilkinson confers with algebra students on difficult problems. Everything went along smoothly until the first grades came out. Then the cadets found out what they were really doing. A home grad came out every four weeks during the year; progress grades between these informed students of the condition of their work. The ratings were Ex for excellent, with a point value of 4; G for good, with a point value of 3; M for medium, with a point value of 2; P for poor, with a point value of i, and Un for unsatis- factory, with a point value of 0. Potential averages were assigned by Major Persing. Those who made these averages were allowed to study in their rooms during the evening and day study halls. Those cadets who made 4.00 as an average fcr a home grade were eligible for membership in the Club 400. The Club 400 is the academic honor society of Western. The club began in 1938, when a constitu- tion was drawn up. According to the constitution cadets were eligible for membership on making an average of 4.00 on a home grade. The constitution also set the procedure for taking in new members. The officers of the club were a president, a vice- president, and a secretary-treasurer. Members of the club were given the honor of wearing the club pin. Membership in the club was really a privilege as it entitled a cadet to attend special activities of the club. In the fall the club members went on the annual show trip to St. Louis. At the final meeting of the year in the spring, the old officers retired and the newly elected ones took over. A new feature of Western ' s academic program this year was the importance of the Lower School, consisting of the 6th, 7th and 8th grades. Capt. Savage was principal of the school which functioned as an independent unit. He was ably assisted by Lt. Jackson. Special att ention was given to the younger boys with a view to preparing them ade- quately for high school. The lower school was given exclusive use of two classrooms to make its independ- ence complete. It had its own schedule for the day with an extra recreation period of an hour. The usual procedure for a school day was to have a half day of school on Wednesdays and the re mainder of the school day on Saturday mornings. This arrangement was changed during football sea- son so that the players would not miss their classes. There was a full day of school on Wednesdays and while the football games were being played Satur- day mornings those who were behind in their work went to extra-help classes. These classes aided stu- dents considerably. As always, the traditional aptitude tests came as a surprise to the cadets and a shock to Major Per- sing. All cadets in school took the tests for the pur- pose of determining their general knowledge and as a basis for the potential averages. 18 —