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Night School

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Parent Issue
Day
18
Month
February
Year
1955
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
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Night School--

From Metals To Mathematics

There is more to learn than the “3 R’s’’ in Ann Arbor Public Evening School classes. In fact, whether the individual is interested in the homey art of rug hooking or stock market fundamentals, there is a class for him. And the emphasis is that learning is fun,” J. Kenneth Greer, principal, says.

Instead of being an evening high school, the night school is aimed more at furnishing training in cultural and leisure time activities and practical aid in homemaking, business and industry to increase skills, efficiency and job opportunities.

That type of program is more in demand here, night school officials have found. For those who desire it, however, high school credit can be earned in some courses if added assignments are completed, or University extension courses may be taken for high school credit under supervision of night school instructor.

A visitor wandering through Ann Arbor High School’s halls any night, Monday through Thursday during the next few weeks, might find a class making jewelry, another discussing Aristotle, and a third learning to play the piano.

In still other classrooms are students brushing up on mathematics, learning to develop pictures, operate office machines, knit, bathe a baby, weld or read blueprints.

Other classes meet behind the wheel of a driver training car, in the machine or auto shop, art department and home economics rooms.

Looking in on language classes, the visitor might find persons of foreign extraction preparing for citizenship or learning to speak English, while fellow local residents in other rooms are practicing German, Spanish or French.

And incidentally, there is a class in the “3 R’s” for adults who never learned reading, writing and arithmetic.

For comparatively small fees, the night school offers Ann Arborites a big opportunity to enrich and broaden their interests.

Besides the perennially popular courses given term after term, new ones are continually added as interest indicates. There is a standing offer that new courses can be given if 15 enrollees can be found.

MEN FROM MARS?: No, they’re students of welding in the Ann Arbor Public Evening School learning how to operate an electric arc welder. The piece of metal on the welding table is not visible because of the brilliant glow, the only light used by News Photographer Eck Stanger in making the picture. Behind the masks, worn to protect eyes from the blinding light, are (left to right) Jerry Marsh, Richard Straith, William Maier, Lewis Walther and Richard Gillespie. Welding is one of about 45 courses being offered adults in the spring semester. Courses include culture and leisure time business, homemaking and industry subjects.

LAPIDARY STUDENTS AT WORK: Lapidary, translated means cutting and polishing of gems. The beginning classes work with agates, jade and opals, learning to round into shape for jewel settings. Shown (left to right) are Mrs. Gordon DaCosta, Mrs. Norman Gardner, L. D. Elliott and Harold Lockwood. Lockwood’s stone is cemented to a “dop” stick to facilitate polishing. A perennially popular course, it's a leisure-time activity with no age barrier, Stephen Chick, instructor, says.

KNOW YOUR AUTO: That’s the title of a night school course designed to help the average car owner—women as well as men— understand the mechanics of their vehicle. It also helps them detect and make simple repairs. Donald Staebler (right), the instructor, identifies parts of an automobile engine for his class. Students (in clockwise order) are Dian Brockmiller (foreground, back to camera), Rosalyn Bondy, Tom Corkin, Helen Rocheleau and Maxine Clapper.

SHAPING JEWELRY: Dr. Harold L. Wright, jr., a University resident physician, shapes heavy silver wire into a bracelet in the jewelry class. In night school classes, persons from all walks of life —professional, housewives, business, factory, clerical, retired—develop new interests. Mrs. Pearl Sellards, jewelry instructor, notes that some students come to her class to mount gems cut and polished in lapidary classes.

CHECKS SEAM: Tailor Max Aupperle checks a skirt seam done by Mrs. Perry Brown, a student in one of his tailoring classes. Aupperle, the teacher, is a tailor and designer for Wild & Co. Teachers of other courses are drawn from various fields in the community—some public school teachers, some professionally employed in jobs related to their courses and others with special training or experience in the field.

INTO THE KILN: It’s not clay but enamel on copper that Mrs. James D. Corfield, jr., is putting into the kiln to fire at 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Enameling on copper is one of the skills learned in the metalcraft class where students learn to shape, hammer and decorate metal into household articles. Small items being fired above will be enamel earrings. There also are ceramics classes where students work with clay.

A PICTURE OF CONCENTRATION: Tending closely to their rug hooking are Mrs. Richard Leggett (foreground), Mrs. Earl Peterson (left, background) and Mrs. John Lunden. With a simple awl-like tool, shreds of material in various colors are transformed into intricate and colorfully designed rugs for the home. A hoop, similar to but much larger than an embroidery hoop, holds the working area taut.