Withrow High School - Withrow Annual Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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FOREIGN LANGUAGES f HE Foreign Language Department of Withrow includes Latin, French, Span- ish, and German. Each language has its own peculiar value to the student, and each opens a different field of literature and cul- ture. The Latin department is headed by Miss Alice Donnelly, and offers a four years' study of that language. Latin is valuable because, since seventy-five percent of the words in the English language are derived from the Latin, a knowledge-of it makes English more vivid. Latin students become acquainted with the lives and customs of the Romans, and with Roman culture. Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic Wars gives them history from the pen of a maker of history. They explore the fields of oratory and literature with Cicero, and Vergil's Aeneid and Ovid's Metamor- phoses give them Latin poetry at its best. Miss Catherine james heads the French department. Since French comes third in the list of languages that are spoken most widely in the world, a knowledge of French is valuable to one who travels, as it enables him quickly to adapt himself to his sur- roundings in French-speaking countries. In classes, parts of Victor Hugo's Les Miser- ablesf jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, short stories of Guy de Mau- passant, and stories of Alexandre Dumas are read. Famous authors like these are the out- standing figures in French literature, and their works are not only entertaining, but instructive. The Spanish department, directed by Miss Mary Louise Perkins, is one of the most pop- ular in Withrow, judging by numbers. Spanish is essential in business and in com- merce carried on in Latin countries, and for this reason many commercial students study this language. Spanish students become familiar not only with the history and legends of Spain, and with stories of' its gay and colorful people, but they study, too, the customs and current affairs in modern Spain and read about her great and famous cities. They gain a more fluent speaking knowledge by singing Spanish songs in class. The German department, of which Dr. Schoenle is the head, is becoming increas- ingly popular year by year, it is regaining its pre-war status, and recovering from the arti- ficial decline in interest it suffered during the World War. The study of German opens up the rich field of German literature and culture, and the rich storehouse of German history. Next to English, ,German is the most widely spoken language and therefore is almost essential for travel and foreign business. German also has a peculiar value to English students, because it is the key to those words which have come into English from the Saxon. A German students read the lyrics and bal- lads of the great German poets whose names are known everywhere, Goethe, Heine, and Schiller. They read the memoirs of a Ger- man who served both his fatherland and America, Carl Schurz. They learn the cus- toms of Germany and her many old legends. In each language section, the students or- ganize clubs and add further to their knowl- edge of the language. ANN MCELFRESH.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION HYSICAL EDUCATION at Witlirow has as its purpose, both in the boys' and girls' departments, the advancement and building of a more sturdy and finished body. Witlm this view in mind the instructors have, with the excellent facilities available, planned a most helpful and thoroughly en- joyable program of work. In both gyms two periods of work each week are required of every student. In both groups this work is given in the nature of competitive and corrective exercise. This work is divided into two periods. In the first two years the gym work is almost entirely instructive. During this period the student learns how to acquire grace and ease both on the Hoor and apparatus. The last two years are spent in the acquisition of pro- ficiency in the many sports in which the stu- dent may participate. In addition to its ob- vious value to the student, this work has often been helpful to the department, for many a real athlete has been discovered in this manner. One period of swimming each week is also required of boys, and the plan and result of the work in the natatorium is almost the same as that in the gym classes. Swimming after school, under competent instruction, has been one of the more popular of extra- curricular activities in the past few years. Before taking any physical education work physical examinations are given, and special help is offered to those who need it. In the girls' gym additional interest is created by competition in such group games as hockey, basketball, track, swimming, volley-ball, and kickball. In this work native ability is polished up, and the competition teaches the girls the essence of good sports- manship and fair play. Probably the greatest drawing card of the girls' gym is the Girls' Athletic Association. This group encourages girls to shoulder re- sponsibility so that they may become capable and efficient leaders. It also offers the op- portunity for a girl to win her all-round W, the acme of athletic achievement for girls at Witlmrow. The chief outside interest of the boys' de- partment is the sponsoring of the school teams which compete against other high schools of the city and state in well-planned and well-organized schedules. Deserving members of these teams are awarded a NW in their respective sport. This is a most cherished honor. In addition to the regular gym classes and interscholastic teams, the boys' gym sponsors intramural athletics. This type of work offers opportunities to boys who, because of weight or other handicaps, are unable to gain a position on the squad. Remarkable team and group spirit has grown up in this type of game, and suitable rewards to the winners has added zest to the competition. So it may be seen that at Wfithrow the physical education work is not narrowed to any small group or groups, but is far reach- ing and comprehensive in its scope. This obviously should be the purpose of the physical education work in any school. NANCY GORDON. BOB BUTLER.

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ENGLISH LITERATURE NE of the most important and best known departments in Withrow is the English department. Every student in the school, regardless of the course he takes, must study English in each of his four years. The purpose of the department is three- fold. It aims to prepare students for college work, to offer pupils knowledge of the best in English literature, and to give them con- trol of the English language in both speech and written composition. In preparation for college one must know something about English literature and its history. He must be acquainted with essays, poetry, plays, novels, and short stories, and know the fundamental principles for writing them. A student entering college should be able to speak correctly, clearly, and force- fully. All of these things are taught in the English department through literature, com- position, grammar, and elocution. The friends made in books never change, and in the study of literature one finds many such friends. By reading the works of the best writers, the students taste is guided toward the selection of worthwhile literature with which to beguile his leisure hours. Withrow's finely equipped library is ready with its hundreds of fascinating books of fiction, science, history, fine arts, travel, and biography, to satisfy that hunger for good reading which is thus aroused. In the daily period of English many new ideas are suggested by the book or poem under study, and vitally interesting discus- sions, sometimes occupying the whole period, are awakened by perhaps just one short line in that book or poem. Some- thing intangible, yet immensely valuable, thus is brought into being. Both in literature and in composition is one taught closer observation and keener ap- preciation of the happenings in the world about him. Through literature one experi- ences all kinds of adventures vicariously, through composition one learns to organize and record his observations and adventures in an interesting, imaginative, and informa- tive way. Creative composition nourishes the new ideas and flights of imagination which are springing up in the mind. Enough grammar is taught to enable the student to speak and to write his native language correctly. The study of grammar is continued in high school not to make periods boring, but to help the individual pupil. One must know how to talk properly no matter what one's vocation may be, and the purpose of teaching grammar is to pro- vide that essential knowledge. Elocution, too, is part of the English course. In this study, which is required of juniors and seniors, one learns how to speak fluently, clearly, and purposefully before a group. It is here that the need for grammar study is most apparent. Poise and ease of manner are developed, and latent dramatic talent often is aroused in the weekly elocu- tion class. And so, the important English department prepares one for college and the outside world, arouses a love for the finest in liter- ature, fosters new and interesting ideas, and gives one control of both the written and spoken English language. VIRGINIA WEBSTER.