The Volunteer, 1940
My, how PDS has grown!
Peabody Demonstration School keeps getting bigger and better - and the 1940 Volunteer shows it! Forty teachers and staff are listed by name, as well as 49 graduating seniors – five of whom entered PDS in Kindergarten, and two in Nursery school.
Photos abound of students of all ages participating in clubs, organizations, sports and intramural teams; celebrating at fairs, banquets, formal dances, and picnics; and expressing their creativity at operas, concerts, and dramatic celebrations. There are some new traditions being made, too: a senior has written “A Song to Peabody;” the words and musical score is included in the yearbook. And it’s obvious a new pastime is sweeping PDS: photography. There are more photos in this yearbook than ever before... and more photos of students taking photos, too.
It’s interesting to see how the outside world is beginning to affect PDS students’ daily lives. It's clear that they want to be part of this bigger picture: for their Senior Trip, the graduating class traveled by bus to neighboring states to examine economic and social conditions in the South; a Student Government was formed, in order for students and faculty to work together to improve the school; and the Creative Dramatic Group allowed students to develop their voices “in the modern manner.”
Additionally, several student groups sent participants to outside conferences, competitions, and cultural events. USN students today are collaborative, creative and engaged in their school and world; perhaps this spirit of action and participation may be traced back to the legacy of the Class of 1940.