8
SCHOOL-OF-WEEK
Spirit
Marks
School
- By SARA HESLEP
Montgomery IIIIU Reporter
On a September day in 1937,
240 teen-agers trooped into the
Jua t - completed Montgomery
Hills Junior High School.
Into their new classes and
activities they brought a re
sourceful spirit which has been
passed on to. Montgomery Hills'
students today.
That first student body set
about making a school of
which future classes could be
proud. Many activities were in-
which have become a
~part of the traditions of the
school. Today Montgomery
Hills enjoys a well-balanced
school life stressing high scho
lastic standards, active parti
cipation in school affairs and
co-operation with teachers,
parents and community.
In 21 years the school has
grown from one building to
five, the newest dedicated this
March; from 12 teachers to 48.
and from 240 students to an
expected 1,000 next fall,
w "Come to school to learn” is |
Montgomery Hills' theme for |
scholastic effort. About 80
pupils each grading period
make the honor roll, which re
quires a high average. In then
Interests of education many
fine speakers have been ob- i
talned to lecture. l
'Unique Fair'
Annually, a unique all-school (
fair Is staged, entitled the t
“Scholastic Panorama.” Ex- $
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SCHOOL SCENE—Posing in front of the
Montgomery Hills building are (left to right)
Susan Robbins and Carol Byrd.—Star Staff
Photos.
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SERIOUS STUDENTS—AIIen Garroway (left) and Jeff Kremen study
a frog in a Montgomery Hills science laboratory.
, amples of students’ work in all
: fields of study are displayed
in the gymnasium and a live
show by the ninth grade
chorus, band and home arts
department Is given.
A central part of the school’s
scholastic life is the library.
Dropping into the library one
is impressed with its size and
facilities. Containing about
6.000 books and capable of ac
comodating two classes slmul
taneously, it was expanded !
greatly since its beginning as '
THE SUNDAY STAR, Washington, D. C.
one shelf in the original offices
Citizenship, an integral pari
of school activity, is accented
in the Student Council. Meet
ing once a week, representa
tives elected to the Council
from homerooms practice self
government.
The Council is the voice of
,the school and acts as co-ordi
nator between students and
'teachers. Among Council proj
ects are the handbook, to serve
as a guide to newcomers, and
a proposed awards system, to
recognize scholarship and lead
ership.
The Student Court, a branch
of the Council, tries students
who break regulations and sug
gests corrective measures to be
taken, much as a regular court
does.
How is there a better way to
learn citizenship than by vot
ing? Yearly school elections for
Student Council officers with
candidates running individually
on their personal qualifications
resemble adult elections, »with
a polling place and secret
ballots.
Another aspect of school life
is service. Each fall the library
conducts a book drive. The as
sembled books are sold at the
book fair and the money
donated to the library. Also, the
student body contributes gen
erously to the Red Cross drive
and the Easter Seal drive.
Journalistic effort is a part
of the school program. Although
a newspaper, the Mo-Hi-Ju-Hi,
portraying events around the
school, was printed in the early
years of Montgomery Hills, to
day memories of school activi
ties are. captured in the year
book, the Drumbeat. The an
nual. of which the students are
proud, is only four years old
and has advanced rapidly to be
a first-rate book.
Sports Important
Athletics play an lmportapt
role at Montgomery Hills. There
is an intensive program of in
tramurals for both boys and
girls, plus our basketball and
softball teams which compete
with other Junior highs. The
school participates in the coun
ty area track meet and has won
it the past three years. Earlier
this year, the Ninth Grade
Council conducted a pep rally
to stir interest in basketball
games.
The Girls’ Athletic Associa
tion sponsors several programs
for the student body. The
Christmas program features in
terpretive dances to seasonal
classes. The annual talent show.
. gives students with individual
t abilities or groups which work
I up novel acts a chance to be
• seen and heard.
For girls only! The school is
1 fortunate to have a representa
• tive from Simplicity Pattern
Co. moderate a fashion show.
' | The home arts students model
' teen-age styles.
Music also is a facet of the
well-rounded program. The
band and the orchestra, for
mally known as the String En
semble, give joint concerts dur
ing the year. The ninth grade
chorus sings at assemblies and
other events.
Extracurricular clubs accent
developing individual interests
in career choice and hobbies.
Among Montgomery Hills
career clubs are: The Future
Nurses Club, the Future Teach
ers Club and the Future Doc
tors Club, the only one of its
kind in Montgomery County
| junior highs.
Chorus Group
The eighth grade chorus,
founded this year, is a prelimi
nary training group for boys
and girls who like to sing and
wish to enter ninth grade cho
! rus the following year.
Montgomery Hills has an
active PTA. It is the policy of
George R. Hitchcock, the prin
cipal. ’ and his staff to work
closely with parents to provide
an understanding of the roles
of the school and the (amity
in making the oest possible
opportunities available for the
students.
Getting students adjusted to
life at Montgomery Hills is a
large job of the guidance de
partment. Its work in famil
iarizing sixth graders with the
school and ninth graders with
high school is a service to all.
The guidance counselors make
information on high school
courses available to eighth and i
ninth graders in various ways. i
particularly through outside
, speakers. i
Montgomery Hills’ students
are proud of their school and i
its good reputation. Selection I
by the National Educational :
Association to make a safety i
movie shows that it rates high <
in its field. This junior high l
emphasises scholarship, etti- <
zenship, sportsmanship and a I
bit of after-school relaxation i
—in short, developing a well
rounded .person. i
Each individual can find a t
place among the variety of op- s
portunities available at Mont- 1
gomery Hills Junior High i
School. I
PLAY BACK
From TEEN Readers
Letters-to-the-editor must
carry writers’ correct names,
addresses and telephone
numbers. Pen names will be
used if requested. All letters
are subject to condensation.
Address your letters to TEEN,
The Washington Star, Wash
ington 4, p. C.
A Kind Gesture
I am not a teen-ager, but
I read the TEEN Section.
I would be glad to send my
copy of TEEN to Betty Erick
son of Los Angeles, if she
would care to have me do so.
—MRS. L. M. LOGAN
Washington, D. C.
Editor's Note: Betty, who
wrote last week saying she
wanted to subscribe only to
TEEN after moving to Los
Angeles, lives at 7442 West
Eighty-eighth place, Los An
geles 45, Calif.
CAP Address
Correction, please! The
address to which inquiry
.about Civil Air Patrol should
go is: Headquarters, Civil Air
Patrol USAF Auxiliary,
Bolling Air Force Base.
Washington 25, D. C.
I offer the above address
because National Capital
Wing serves the District only.
M. D. TALLEY.
Lt. Col., CAP.
How Embarrassing!
It would be greatly appre
ciated by the teen-agers of
suburban Maryland if you
would publish the Top Ten
picks of some of the smaller
radio stations such as WPGC,
WINX, WEAM, WOOK and
WGAY as many of us are
constant listeners of them.
Everybody reads Mrs. Rick
er's column and I feel it
answers a great deal of teen
age problems. And by the
way, what happened to the
WHAT YOUNG PEOPLE THINK
Car Makes the Man
By EUGENE GILBERT
Gilbert Youth Research Co.
In Grandpa’s day, long
trousers used to separate the
men from the boys.
In Dad's day being allowed
to smoke in the house and
maybe stay up past midnight
on prom night heralded the ap
proach of manhood.
Today it's the . automobile
that makes the man. or at
least the young man. Eight
out of 10 teen-agers we inter
viewed in a Nation-wide sur
vey indicated that their first
turn at the wheel of the family
car meant more to them as a
sign of maturity than their first
kiss, their first date or their
first crashing of the midnight
curfew.
To the modern teen-ager the
sweetest thing about being 16
is that most States allow
you to get a driver's license at
that age. In fact, nearly six out
of 10 lost no time whatever in
their driving careers and dashed
down to pick up the opera
tor’s license on the day they
were 16.
“Getting a driver’s license
means that you can be en
trusted with a grownup re
sponsibility,** said 16-year-old
Barry Endipo of St. Louis
when asked to explain the im
portance of the driving license.
June 15, 1955
Quizzie in the June 8, issue?
SUBURBANITE.
What an embarrassing
question! Our Quizzie for
June 8. which we purchase
from Australia, did not ar
rive in time for our edition.
We had a cablegram saying
it was “on its way"—but it
wasn’t on its way soon
enough. Incidentally, what
are some of the other TEEN
features you especially enjoy?
Ode to Miltie
The favorite DJ of the year is
plain enough to see.
They call him Uncle Miltie of
WTTG.
And when he spins those real
gone tunes each eve
ning at five
All the joints throughout the
town really come alive.
Pepsi-Cola. candy bars. Sir
Loiners, and such
It certainly is a puzzle how
he eats so much.
Just ask ANY teen-ager I’m
sure they'll agree
That dear ole Uncle Miltie is
the BEST in all TV.
LYRICAL TEEN.
Votes for Lopez
I read in your Letters-to
the-Editor column that teen
agers in the Westbrook area
feel that you should publish
the Top Ten choices of Ralph
Lopez on WINX, and I thor
oughly agree. Most of the
kids out this way listen to
WINX exclusively.
Also, it seems to me that
most newspapers are con
stants dwelling on the de
linquent things that the
minority of teen-agers do.
It’s gratifying to see TEEN
stress the constructive things
we do. Thanks for a great
magazine.
LINDA JMMEL,
Chevy Chase, Md.
Thanks. Linda. Now, what
about the rest of you? Who
are your favorite disc
jockeys?
By age 18. our survey indi
i cated, nearly one boy In 20 but
‘ less than one girl out of 100 had
\ their own car. Os these, two out
of three were in the jalopy class,
1 1061 models or earlier, and al
most all, with few exceptions,
came from a used car lot
rather than a family hand-me
down.
From the time he has a car
to call his own, a young man’s'
life begins to revolve around
his most treasured possession.
Besides the dating and outing
opportunities, the younr driver
begins to take an interest in
the mechanics of his car. Ap
proximately 25 per cent of the
young car owners said they had
read up on automobile repair
either at the library or by buy
ing automobile magazines and
booklets.
To the teen-ager, then, the
automobile, whether family car
or jalopy, represents a whole
new way of life, the first big
steps on the road to adulthood.
Knowing how to drive means
social prestige, new found inde
pendence and a man-sized
chunk of responsibility.
Concluded Seymour Brandice
of New Haven, Conn., “Driving
is the first real indication we
have that older people recog
nize at last that we are grow
ing up.”