Woodbury High School - Warrior Yearbook (Woodbury, CT)

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Page Twenty-Eight + FRENCH CLUB The French Club held its meetings under the leadership of the French teacher, Miss Clark, for the purpose of learning to speak French with ease and without thinking of the language as only another difficult subject. In the course of our French Club meetings we enjoyed French games and cross-word puzzles. The club took much interest in puppets and several of the members made these small Marionettes in the true French manner. The Marseillaise and many other French songs were sung at meetings. DRAMATIC CLUB The purpose of this club, under the direction of Mr. Coombs, was to give to its members a deeper appreciation of drama, and the ability to distinguish between good plays and plays with little or no value. Every member read several plays, and some outlined plots for original plays. Members of this club presented “The Worm,” and as a result the Senior Class was greatly enriched. POETRY AND NOVEL CLUB The Poetry Club, led by Mrs. Coombs, met in order to appreciate modern poetry, mainly nature, religious and character poems. Poems were collected by members of the club from magazines and papers, and poetry note books were made. In this way the group enjoyed the newest poems. They also made a study of the poems of Robert Frost, a typical American poet. The Novel Club of Woodbury High School held its meetings under the leadership of Mrs. Coombs, with the purpose of reading some of the modern novels by well-known authors in order to appreciate fully the type and style of the average American novel. Among the authors and their books discussed were Booth Tarkington, Sinclair Lewis, Mark Twain, Oliver LaFarge, and Willa Cather. In connection with Novel Club was Short Story Club with an aim to learn what a short story should consist of, and how it differs from a novel. In this club a study was made of O. Henry's type of short story in particular. THE MAGAZINE AND DEBATING CLUB The Magazine and Debating Clubs were organized by Mr. Coombs for the purpose of reading and discussing the current topics of the day. The club is scheduled to meet at 3:00 p. m. every other Thursday with Robert Brinley, the President, presiding. Russell Coburn is the Vice-President and Bessie Partridge, Secretary. Each member makes a report of an interesting article he has read, and the group discusses the topic in general. As a result the members have become more interested in what goes on in the world about them. NATURE CLUB Purpose: To study nature. At the first meeting held, we elected Helen Travers as President. During the meeting it was decided to have a different group take charge of each meeting. At first we were assisted by Miss Jagger, who later left the school on account of sickness, and her position was taken by Miss Brucker, who gave talks »n the lifferent kinds of rocks she had collected during her college years. AGRICULTURE CLUB On November 7, 1930, at 3:00 o'clock, with Mr. Clark as temporary chairman, the Vocational Agriculture boys of Woodbury High School, organized a chapter of “The Future Farmers of America, which is an agriculture club that has certain requirements which members must meet, such as having a project and a definite amount of earnings in the bank, obtained from the project. Mr. Clark called the meeting to order and the following officers were elected: Burritt Curtis, President and Adviser; Kenneth Minor, Vice-President and Treasurer; Sidney Platt, Secretary and Reporter; Mr. Clark and Philip Scoville, Advisers.

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 Page Twenty-Seven ics, and Principal of the school, have all been faithful, and to them we hereby express our gratefulness. Miss Jagger, history and science teacher, left after a short illness, for which we were sorry. Miss Brucker has taken her place. We are grateful to Miss Harvey, who was ever ready to help us out in any shortage of teachers. Miss Sweet, history and English teacher disappeared sometime around Valentine’s Day, and Mrs. Coombs has since been in our midst. ♦ ♦♦ BASKETBALL NOTES As usual, it took the girls’ team half the season to “wind up” sufficiently to come within reach of their opponents. Newtown and New Milford won over Woodbury by very few points. Washington received one slight victory over the team, and after the second game with us, went home badly battered. Bethel came out at the head of the league. In the non-league games with Thomaston, Shelton and Naugatuck, the team learned the futility of playing teams, used to practicing on larger floors. The girls' squad consisted of: Irma Judson, captain; Estella Dickinson, Phyllis Sharrow, May Swanson, manager; Gertrude Smith, Melvina Welles, Alida Warner, Emily Klatka, Helen Travers, Barbara Isham, Elsie Dickinson, Dolly Wight, Lillian Hicock, Ruth Burton, Candace Thompson, Dorothy Thomas, and Margery Butler. The team was coached by Mrs. Coombs. The boys’ basketball team played 20 games, winning 6 and losing 14. The members of the squad were: Bennett, Canfield, Coad, Coley, Fowler, Fray, Gwiazdowski, Krakauskas, Lock-wood, Lovdal, Rowley, Salokas, Scoville, Swanson and Tarbox. They were coached by Mr. Coombs. The baseball team, coached by Mr. Coombs, has played nine games and has won six. The batting and fielding of the team has improved and it should be near the top of the league at the end of the season. The usual lineup is: Davis 3b, Fray p., Salo-ka '. c., Krakauskas l.f.. Gwiazdowrki r.f.. Lock-wood lb., Tarbox 2b.. Coley s.s., and Scoville c.f. Subs., Reichenbach, Lovdal, Coad. THE MIRROR Our weekly paper, the Mirror, has given us practice in writing editorials, poetry, stories, and nursery rhymes. The Juniors and Sophomores have proven their skill as artists as we notice from looking at the portraits of sportsmen and teachers. We hope the Mirror may be as successful next year as it has been this year. May you also find an editor as co-operative, literary, and influential as Lillian Hicock. You will also lose Dorothy Morgan and James Lockwood from your staff. Mae Swanson and Oscar Lovdal have had practice enough so they should be able to do their best next year. We hope Raynal Coley will not lose his famous pencil with which he has drawn his contributions so welcome, yet humorous. THE SCHOOL CLUBS A welcome addition to school life this year and of great benefit to all are the numerous clubs which have been meeting bi-weekly for the greater part of the year. They have added interest to the routine of classes through their informality and deviation from the established curriculum. Through them we have been enabled to learn things which might have been missed in our regular courses. They are interesting as well as educational and have given to many an opportunity for taking part in school life, hitherto unavailable. The clubs organized are as follows: Girls’ Glee Club, Boys’ Glee Club, Violin Club, Latin Club, French Club, Dramatic Club, Poetry Club, Magazine and Debating Club, Novel and Short Story Club and the Nature Club. ♦♦♦♦♦♦ GIRLS’ AND BOYS’ GLEE CLUB These clubs, under the direction of Mrs. Coombs, were organized for the purpose of obtaining a deeper appreciation of music. The Girls’ Glee Club sang before the Woman’s Club and between the acts of “The Worm.” The clubs combined with the Violin Club to present a concert March 31 and April 1. The concert was very well received, and wre hope it may be a forerunner to others in the years to come. The Glee Clubs made a trip to station WTIC in Hartford in order to have an audition. There are possibilities of their broadcasting in the future. The Glee Clubs will also furnish music Commencement Week at Baccalaureate, Class Night and Graduation, so we also have them to thank for saving extra expenditure for an orchestra. THE VIOLIN CLUB A violin club was organized by Mrs. Coombs this year with seven members starting. Four girls continued throughout the year and took part in the concert. It gave the members a chance to practice and learn together many new selections. THE LATIN CLUB Estella Dickinson, ’31,—President. Louise Smith, ’34,—Secretary. This club, under the guidance of Miss Clark, held several meetings throughout the year, all of which were used to the best advantage. Latin crossword puzzles were solved and many Latin songs learned. A motto selected as suitable for a school club was “Age quod agis” (finish what you attempt). Pins in the shape of a Roman shield were purchased with the initials L. C. (Latin Club) and 1931 on them. 4..j. .5. 4. .5. .5. 5 ❖ ♦♦♦ ♦ 5 2 2- 1- -I- -5 2 2- 5 !• 5 -2- -I- -I- -I- ❖ !• 5 -I- ❖ -I- 4»

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Page Twenty-Nine The purposes of this club are to have judging contests, create a greater interest in vocational agriculture work, to have the farmers of the community become acquainted with the work of their boys by giving banquets, fairs, and other activities that bring the farmers in contact with their sons and the sons of their neighbors; also to have the boys become men who are interested in community work. The activities have not been great this year, but we expect them to be greater next year. Meetings have been held every other Friday since organization. After the business session the meeting is turned over to the program committee which gives short interesting programs. It was voted at one of the meetings that a Father and Son banquet be given. Mr. Clark was elected chairman of the banquet committee. The banquet did not turn out to be a financial success, but it was a success otherwise. Prof. Roy E. Jones, the speaker of the evening, spoke on The World Poultry Congress. We also had with us Prof. C. B. Gentry of Storrs Agricultural College, and Mr. Coombs, both of whom gave a short talk. The High School girls served the dinner, and Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Minor prepared it. We were fortunate enough to have Mr. Horace Ericksson give a short talk to the club at one of our regular meetings. His talk was on Arbor Day and Forest Fire Prevention. THE SENIOR ENGLISH CLUB One of the most interesting features of the year to any Senior has been the Senior English Club, otherwise known as the “Curriculum ad faciendum meliorem anglicum.” A constitution modeled after the constitution of the United States was formed. Meetings were held every Friday afternoon during English class period. A schedule was arranged whereby each member had to be responsible for one program and one other program jointly with someone else. There have been many interesting programs by the members themselves and many interesting talks by outside speakers. The speakers whom we have enjoyed hearing throughout the year are as follows: Rev. Edward Hickcox of Southbury, whose topic was “W’ho Is the Lover of Good English?” Mr. Harmon Boyd, who spoke on the subject of “Credit Instruments.” Rev. M. E. N. Lindsay of South Britain, who spoke on the “Effective Use of English.” Mr. P. R. Savage of the Woodbury Telephone Co., who explained to us the workings of the telephone system. Mr. A. E. Knox, who told us of the newspaper of today and that of fifty and sixty years ago. Dr. Harold E. Travers, who spoke on “Ancient Diseases.” Mrs. Hoadley Willes, who spoke on Social Service Work, and the duties of a Police Woman. Mr. William Burton of Woodbury, who spoke on Insurance. To them we express our gratitude for the trouble they took to give to us these interesting and educational talks. The English Club has enjoyed several social events also, among them a farewell party for James Lockwood when he started for Florida, and a kitchen shower and party in honor of Mrs. Coombs. Each member feels that the formation of this club has been of the greatest benefit, and we heartily recommend its continuance in the future. FRESHMAN-SOPHOMORE NOTES As for social activities, these two classes have not had many, but they have given to Woodbury High School a number of promising athletes, actors, actresses and singers. We sincerely hope that they will continue to improve and expand in order to give our school and town something of which to be proud within the next four years. ♦♦♦♦♦♦ JUNIOR ACTIVITIES 1930-1931 Many of the Juniors have taken part in either basketball, baseball, track, glee clubs, or the school play. One of the largest Junior activities of the year was the Junior dance, at Christmas. The hall was decorated in the class colors, Maroon and Silver. The posters were also painted in these colors. Paul Buckmiller's Orchestra furnished the music for the evening. A faithful few did the decorating, and it is hoped that more of the Juniors will participate in the work, preparatory to the Junior Prom, which will be given in honor of the Seniors. ♦♦♦ SENIOR NOTES The class of 1931 has just completed a very happy year, and we are sorry to say, our last. We have been kept busy writing for the school papers, playing baseball and basketball, acting in plays, singing in concerts, so the year has been a full one. The class traveled in to Waterbury to Gualtieri’s Studio one fine day, and had an experience that none will forget. We are still haunted by that momentous word “Next!” We gave a number of dances during the year which were very successful, and which we enjoyed planning. We hope all future Seniors will have as enjoyable and interesting a year, as the one we have just passed, and we wish them success in all their undertakings. ++++ ++ + + ++ + ++++++ ++ + + ++++ +