HAPPY
EASTER
THE BLACKBIRD
Published by the Journalism Cl asses of Rocky Mount High School.
HAPPY
EASTER
Vol. IX No. 7
Thursday, April 6,1939
5c Per Copy
Model Home Triangular Contesters
Is Being
Finished
Shop Class Project Nears
Completion; Show Case
Displays Choice Work
The members of the industrial arts
i'^PHrtment have l>een doinK oiit-
standiim work this year.
The model home, beins' built iiy the
I'.iiildins trtid.-.s olass, is rapidly neir-
ing completion. The plastering, tlie
only job the class did not, and is not
.‘-.oinfi to do. has been completed. .\11
the plumbinfr and wiring has been in
stalled with the exception of the fix-
Itu-es. The big stone chimney is rap
idly taking shape. The basement and
f^'arase cement floors have been
poured and the trim work (started.
The ship cl.Tsses are undertaking
shop work and have completed aev-
tral out.standing problems. The
school sound system has l>een recon
ditioned. IVnelope Jenkins and .Jes
sis Knig^ht, together, iiave built four
period cedar chests.
The advance shop class is building
twelve tables to be used in any of
several class rooms for display pur
poses. Paul 'ivioorin.g is constructing
ten signs foi* the local garden club.
James Griffiii is building a chest of
Irawers'. Paul Stew'art, a Duncan
Phyfe coffee table; and Henry
Crumpler; a period cedar chest.
The addition of a forge has increas
ed the possibilities of metal work. In
this field James Strickland is build
ing a bench saw. Several small arti-
cjies such as Knives, chisels, and foot
scrapers are also being constructed.
Drafting
The drafting classes are studying
orthographic projections, isometric
drawing, architectural drawing, and
perspective drawing. Mr. L,. Russell
Harris, director of the beginning in
dustrial classes, says that the pro-i
greas of the beginning drafting class
es has been exoepttonal for
The industrial arts show case l\at:
been decorated with several pencil
sketches by Charles Bass along wit'i
problems by the shop classes. The
theme of the display is “Drawing as
a Hobby.”
Much Coin May
Be Collected
Several contests, offering valuable
cash prizes, are open to the student
body now with several students hav
ing already entered.
The North Carolina Association of
Elks recently sponsored an essay con
test of from 2000 to 2500 words.
Among those that entered the contest,
writing on the topic, "Obligations of
Citizenship” were Elizabeth Coleman,
Stella John.son, Mildred Martin, and
Paul Mooring. A first prize of ?50
is offered.
The American Legion is now spon-
•soring two essay contests. The sub
ject of the first is “A Comparison of
the Advantages of the American Citi
zenship” with a word limit of 1,000
words. The contest closes April 5.
Jack Wooten has entered. The sec
ond to be written on the topic, ‘‘Queen
Marie of Roumania-Ambassador of In
ternational Good Will,” is limited to
1,500 words and shall be submitted by
.\pril 10. The first contest offers
prizes ranging from $10 to $20; the
."second, $5 to $200.
The 1939 Citizenship essay contest,
closing two weeks before graduation,
is open to all .seniors. A prize of $5
is given to the winner by each school.
Each entry will be limited to 750
words.
Mrs. Margaret Th’gpen is in charge
of the contests.
Roles Cast For
Mystery Comedy
‘‘One Mad Night,” three act mystery
comedy to be given by Mr. C. M. Ed-
.Mon's dramatic classes, was cast Mon-
ii:'y and Tuesday of this week. Re-
hearsiil.s are already underway.
•Milton Henry as Dan Cutter, Bob
bie -Moore as Wing, Mildred Thomp
son as Pri.scilla, .laciiueline Denson as
I.Hdy Macbeth, D. B. I’owell as John
.-\iden, Hill Greathouse as Mr. Hyde,
Mike Carr as Dr. Bunn, Nancy Bean
"'S Mr. Kluck, Sister Speight as Mrs.
Finch, Mancy Hicks as Depression,
Bill Shearin as Artemus Burke and
Jack Purvis as Siletto make up the
cast in .James Reach’s mystery.
J s
Xv
Debating Team To Go
To Wake Forest
It*s Opinion
Representing Kocky Mount in the IrLangular debates and at Wake For-
e.st tomorrow are front row, left to right, Bessie Hollins, Frances Keel,
Marjorie Hollowell, and Teddy I'oplin. Hack row: Elwood Orr, I^^nore
IJurke, and Katherine Ciill.
RM Negative
Team Wins
'J’he Kocky Mount debating team
was eliminated from the state tri
angular preliniinaries, Friday, March
31. Wilson and Hugh Morson, Ral
eigh, also of the triangle, were losers
oy the same route, that is by the af
firmative. The negative teams in
each school was victorious.
Bessie lloiiins and Frances Keel,
Rocky Mount negative debators, de
feated tile Raleigli affirmative at Wil
son. The aitirmative of Rocky Mount,
Ted'dy Poplin and Margorie Hollowell,
lost to the V\ ilson negative in liul-
eigh.
In the liigh school auditorium here
with Mildred Marlin, president of the
debate club in charge, the Raleigh
negative defeated the Wilson affirma
tive. Amanda Stiiiey served as time
keeper.
Judges of the VV'ilson Raleigh de
bates Here were Maurice Barnhill,
-Vlis. lieorge Daniel, and Dr. Francis
Bishop.
Miss lola Pariiei', coach and advisor
of the clui), accompanied the affirma
tive team to Kaleigh. Mrs. Margaret
Thigpen and Superintendent R. M.
Wilson went to Wilson with the ne
gative.
Alternates wore William Bennett,
i^eiiora Burke, Elwood Orr, and Cath
erine Gill.
The topic; for tiie contest was "lie-
solved that the United States should
form an alliance with Great Britain.”
Commercial Contest
To Be Held April 14
"All commercial students will com
pete in the commercial contest on
April 14,” states Miss Mary Liou Barr,
one of the commercial instructors of
R. M. H. S. There will be contests
given in Bookkeeping I and II, Junior
Business, Salesmanship, and Short
hand 1 and II. The test is given to
^ach member of the class in hla or
her respective commercial study.
Three of the best and most highly
ranktd papers in each contest will be
sent to Greensboro for further judg
ment and also to compete in the state
finals.
In previous years Rocky Mount
commercial students have iopped
high honors in the state contest.
Baird^s Room Gets
Honor Cup Again
Miss Virginia Baird’s homeroom
won the scholarship cup in the Jun
ior High School for the first six weeks
of tile spring semester. There were
13 on the honor roll in the winning
room.
The cup which is pre.sonted by the
.funior National Honor Society each
six weeks to the homeroom having
thf hi.ghest scholastic record was pre
sented to George Valentine, president
of Miss Baird's homeroom, by Ruth
Ann Duffy.
Students Enter
French Contest
Fifteen outstanding French students
participated March 24, in the state
li'relich contest according to an ann
ouncement made by Miss Dorothy
Craighill, teacher of French.
The contest of the second and third
year classes each an honor student
with A or B average. The contest
participants were Elizabeth Coleman,
Ida Harper, Jim Johnson, De Lon
Kearney, Ella, Mae l^ane, Mildred
Thorp, Caldwell Ward, Mary Louise
VV’omblc, Louise Aycock, Betty Know
les, Nell Gaither, Stella Johnson, Bet
ty ^nivrttfr, iSv,
aiKl Mabie I’ackard.
The papers were graded by Miss
Craigiijill. The three best papers
were submitted by Stella Johnson, a
senior, who received the highest
grade; Mary Louise Womble, a junior,
who received second place; and Louise
Aycock, a senior, who received third
place. These papers will be sent to
the Department of Romance Langu
ages in Chapel Hill where they will
compete with the three best papers
from fifty-seven other high schools.
Constance Sweeney won an honor
able mention in the contest last year.
Rocky Mount Takes
Honors At Drama Event
Rocky Mount high school won two
first plaies and an honorable mention
at the drama contest held recently In
Chapel Hill.
The scrapbook contest for Junior
high schools was won by June Warton
of the ninth grade.
lOthcl Tyree won the poster contest
for high schools with a poster adver
tising "Little Women.”
Haywood Taylor won honorable
mention in the make-up contest as
the character "Hilebrand” in the Sen
ior high contest play, "Saint Agnes’
Eve.”
"Oh Golden Weed,” the three act
play that opened the festival, had a
numlier of high school students in
It.
The Junior high produced “So Early
In The Morning” during the festival.
Mr. C. M. Edson served as president
of the Carolina Dramatic Association
during the last year. Next year’s exe
cutive committee was chosen and Mies
Claude Aycock and Mrs. Jameson
Bunn Dowdy w'ere included.
Helen Drummond Is
Shorthand Champ
A nation-wide shorthand contest
was won by Helen Drummond, a com
mercial student, recently. She gained
this award by obtaining 142 words a
minute in shorthand. This is the first
time I hat such an honor has been
confeired upon a Rocky Mount high
scool student. Miss Mary Lou Barr,
Shorthand teacher, states, ‘‘We feel
very proud of Helen, for this is the
greatest award in shorthand that can
be given high school pupil."
in a recent Time Magazine nues-
tionalre given to the first periO(3
journalism class, they were asked their
reactions and opinions of various
world situations.
The majority said that if they were
Jews, living in Germany today, they
would endeavor to escape the coun
try, providing they could enter the
United States.
Five of the nine students in the
ctas.s decided they would extend the
government “made work” policy and
cut oif all direct lelief, thereby re
quiring every man to work for a liv
ing; however, only two of the nine
thought it wise to arm to the limit
of the national resources.
Strangely enough, it was the un-
anmious decision of the entire class
that if they were members of Con
gress, they would consider every pro
posal made by the President in turn
of its merits and support those which
they believed to be beneficial to the
nation and oppose those regarded as
detrimental.
Seniors Set
For Finals
The dignified seniors have at last
received some privileges, or to make
it more specific, the 12th graders have
received two privileges, these being
the "seniors steps” on the old build
ing, and the honor of strutting up the
aisle first in assemblies while the un
der-graduates look on with a rather
nonchalant attitude.
Tills clfe '^eiiior class oiiobt) for
its invitations a lovely old-fashioned
“When Pa was A Courtin’ Ma” script
rather than “ye olde tyme” English
print. The delicate script will show up
beautifully on white paper.
Since the seniors have heard so
much about finances until they had
really hard pains, they selected the
fragrant, yet inexpensive carnation
as the senior flower. The carnation
also emphasizes the white in the sen
ior colors.
The graduating class chose a philo
sophical motto "Step by step one goe^
a long,way.” (Some students not only
think that it is a saying, but also it
(Continued' on page four)
Griffin, Edson Speak
At English Meeting
'I'he English teachers of the Rooky
Mount high school had a meeting
April 3, at which there were two
speakers, Mr. C. M. Edson, director
of dramatics, and Miss Hazel Griffin,
Engli.sh and journalism teacher. Mr.
]>>dson sjioke to the teachers on
"Traching Appreciation of the Radio
in Scliools.” Miss Griffin spoke on
“Teaching Appreciation in the School
for Photo Play.”
Each English teacher gave a brief
summary of the year’s work.
Among Selected Sdhools to
Feature in Speech Contests
There This Week-end
At the first annual North Carolina
High School Speech and Debate tour
nament which is to be held in Wake
Forest Friday and Saturday, April 6
and tT Rocky Mount high school will
be represented by Teddy Poplin and
Marjorie Hollowell, the affirmative
debate team, and Bessie Rollins and
Frances Keel, the negative debate
team. William Bennett and Catherine
Gill, the affirmative alternates, and
Elwood Orr and Lenora Berk, the neg
ative alternates, will also make the
trip. No one has announced intentions
of taking part in the oratory and the
extemporaneous speaking, therefore
Rocky Mount will probably have no
representative in either of these con
tests.
Prizes Offered
To the winning debate team at this
tournament, a beautiful eighteen-inch
loving cup will be presented. Medals
will be given to the best debater, and
to the winner of the oratory and ex
tempore speaking contests certificateii
of distinction will be given to the ton
best debaters, to the schools advanc
ing to the finals, and to the second
and third place winners in the con
tests.
The tournament will differ from the
state triangular debates in that the
judges will give oral criticisms, there
by letting particij)ants know why tney
won or lost. The purpose of the tour
nament is to encourage better debat
ing and to get away from “canned”
speeches. Judging will be done by col
lege debate coaches, thus insuring ex
pert judging. Invitations to the tourna
ment was limited to Group I Standard
High Schools, thus permitting larg«r
and ^stronger schools to compete
against schools of their own standard
rating.
The tournument offers debate con
scious schools another chance to de
bate as it does not conflict with the
state triangular debates which were
held March 31; nor does it require ad
ditional work as the same query Is
used. The query is resolved that “the
United States should establish an al
liance with Great Britain.” The finals
will be broadcasted over WPTP, Sat
urday evening at eight o'clock.
Glee Club To Go
To Greenville
The Rocky Mount high school cho
rus will make its only trip this spring
on April 28 to a concert festival held
in Greenville at the Eastern Caro
lina Teachers’ College.
The event will become an annual
affair, this being its first year of
existence. The festival is under the
direction of Dean Tabor of E.C.T.C.
and was organized by H. T. Parry,
vocal director of R.M.H.S.
Various schools over Eastern Caro
lina will be represented at the fes
tival, each rendering four selections.
Two of the four v.’hich the Central
Hi glee club will give are: “Steal
Away” by Novel Cain, and “Morning”
by Oley Speaks.
.Although this is the only appear-
(Continued on page four)
Seniors Select Supers
Those aged spinsters and bachelors
of wi.sdom and education, generally
referred to as seniors or diploma get-
ter.s reached down to the unfathomed
depths of their mental recollection
and with many a scribble and “who
did you pul” segregated from their
eo-sufferers their idols of superlatives.
Ijeading with the “Charlie McCar
thy" award in wittycism Eveline Loo
ney also was their ideal of the best
all round girl. Co-starring with Eve
line is “Snappy Comeback” Thomas
Easterling who is left holding the bag
contaning garrulousness and talent.
Dillard (.Snow White) Bulluck with
out one of his so-famous chapel
speeches, copped the position of best
all round boy, best sport and most
athletic.
Emulating to the letter the traltp
of Venus, Norma Dozier also finds
herself the most popular fem.
President Nelson O’Quinn leads In
comeliness and co-occupies the posi
tion of most school spirited with Phil
lis Perrltt.
Lillian "Scoop” Bell is considered
as best sport and most athletic.
Betsy Powell rides to fame in the
art of talktiveness and flirtism. Whe
ther it’s his talking or not William
Glover doesn’t run second to Betsy
in her fair art.
Indulging- in the flair and flourish
of color and dress are Betty Warren
Savage and Billy Young.
In the lives of “you first’* and
other such courtesies are Betsy Owen
and D. B. Powell.
The lad and las.=ie of wisdom and
intellect, Paul Mooring and Stella
Johnson catch the public eye as does
the talented Ethel Tyree.
Catherine Breland and Paul Moor
ing have deligently pursued the course
set by the title of most studious.