Wethersfield High School - Elm Yearbook (Wethersfield, CT)

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We now have our education. What we do with it depends entirely upon ourselves. What we are in later life depends upon our ability to apply theory practically, and upon our ambition. - G. Y., '30. THE NEED FOR STUDY ROOMS What Wethersfield High School needs is more study rooms. It has been necessary during the past school year to make pupils study in rooms where classes are being held at the same time. This has proved to be very unsatisfactory, both to the pupil and to the teacher in charge. If a pupil Hnds that he has nothing in particular to do, he immediately starts to divert the attention of someone in the class or one of the study pupils. Thus the teacher is interrupted from her explanation in order to reprimand the persons causing the commotion. It is also very hard for a student to concentrate upon his work if the class is having a gen- eral discussion. Studying in class rooms has proved inefficient to the teacher, to her class, and to the study pupils. Let us hope that when school re-opens in the fall, there will be separate study rooms. -C. H. PRACTICAL ARTS DEPARTMENT At the beginning of the school year of 1928, a department of Practical Arts was created at Wethersfield High School. Mr. Alfred M. Anderson was engaged as instructor. The capacious shop-room was equipped with benches for woodworking, four benches for metal work- ing, and with the necessary hand-tools. During the year 1928-29, students of the Junior High School carried out simple projects in woodworking. A few members of the Senior High School elected two periods a Week for instruction in this course. The keen interest evinced in this department was responsible for the inauguration of a regular ten period program in September of 1929. The shop-equipment Was increased by the addition of a power- saw table and an electrically powered wood-turning lathe. A try-out course, conducted in the seventh and eighth grades, en- ables the pupils to discover whether or not they have aptitudes for in- dustrial vocations. These boys elect printing, woodworking, and the supplementary course in mechanical drawing. Many useful articles for both the home and the school have been completed. Students in the ninth grade and Senior High School have executed projects of material benefit to the student body. They have constructed bleachers, stage scenery, and bulletin boards. They erected the baseball backstop and have made repairs on the school furniture. The printing phase of the department has made very great progress. The students engaged in this work have produced the tickets and pro-

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EDITORIAL Now that this Elm is published, we feel that it is fitting that those people who labored upon it get the recognition which is their due. The pupils in the Senior typing class and the Art department have done a great deal of work upon this book. The Senior typists stayed after school for hours, copying the work of the contributors. Theirs was not the kind of labor which commands its own reward. It was, rather, an extremely dull and uninteresting task. The authors of the stories used have the satisfaction of seeing their own creations in print, and are able to take pride in their Work. The typists have not this feeling, for there is no pride of creation in mere copying. The pupils of the Art department have faced a similar problem, al- though they do get a little more recognition than do the typists. Their task has not been free from drudgery, for some of the more delicate work requires the utmost patience. K It is with a feeling of real respect that we of the Staff extend our thanks for and appreciation of the excellent co-operation given us in these departments. EDITORIAL We have often been told that there is a great value in an education when one looks at it from the business point of view. Many of us are not satisfied with letting the usefulness of our education stop at this point. We want something more. We want our education to improve us culturally. An education is like a searchlight. When it is used properly, it brings many obscure but important things to view. If it is not in the possession of a person who knows how it should be used, its power of revelation is often wasted. When a person has finished school, his thoughts are usually centered upon his work. He is quite likely to allow his finer feelings to stagnate while he pursues his business in too diligent a manner. It is up to each of us to cultivate a taste for the beautiful and to keep this taste alive by feeding it with the best. Trash will kill finer sensibilities just as quickly as it will kill young plants. Once we have acquired a keen sense of the beautiful and have learned to nourish it properly, We shall find that our lives have become richer and fuller and that our feelings have been so attuned as to give us an understanding of things we had not realized were in existence. When We are happy, our happiness will be a deeper happiness than we had been capable of previous to this time. When we love, our love will be a greater love. We will live more in the same length of time than we formerly would have done. Our sole aim during the formative period should be that of develop- ment in all directions and the cultivation of well-rounded interests.

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grams for various activities, and also the many school-forms, among which are the report-cards. A Press Club was organized early in the school year of 1929 and since has produced many interesting issues of the Spot-Lite,', the bi-monthly school paper. The student-printers, trained in the shop, are greatly responsible for the success of this project. Due to the needs of this paper and the rapid growth of the printing class, an up-to-date Chandler and Price platen press was installed to supplement the Universal cylinder press. This addition was purchased jointly by the School Board and Student Fund. It is an electrically pow- ered machine, equipped with a device that provides for the even distribu- tion of ink. Next year the Practical Arts department will offer still greater op- portunities. A Home Mechanics Shop for the Junior High students will be instituted in the new addition. The original shop, for which new machines and benches have been purchased, will be used exclusively by the Senior High School. An instructor will be engaged to share with Mr. Anderson the trials and tribulations of imparting shop-knowledge to aspiring carpenters, architects, and printers. A large share of credit is due to Mr. Anderson for his kind assistance in supplying much of the material contained in this article. -Edmund C. Taylor, '31. SHAKESPEARE TALKS IN HIS SLEEP C1411 Imitation of a 16111 Century Lyricj O fair one, prithee speak but once to me That I may dwell in rapture at thy spell, That I may live my life in reverie, For I, perchance, shall straightway be in Hell. Hi-diddle-diddle-dee-ay! Methinks I was a fool to marry Ann, Although-Gadzooksl-she has no little charm. I would that I had stayed a single man, That I might feel about me thy sweet arm. Hi-diddle-diddle-dee-ayl 'Od's blood! Thy lips, thine eyes, thy supple form: They rouse me 'til I fear that I may burst! What ho, my sweet! Come hither, or I storm And beg thee speak, and utter then thy worst! Hi-diddle-diddle-dee-ayl Alack, a lass! Poor lover that I be! O may the Sprites remove this curse from me! Hi-diddle-diddle-dee-ay! fThe darn foollj -A. Nonymous.