From the November 9, 1942 edition of Life Magazine
US high schools train students for specific roles in war effort
This fall the War Manpower Commission requested US high schools to organize their students into Victory Corps to ‘give them the opportunity to take a definite place in the war effort through a voluntary enrollement plan.’ On this and following pages are pictures of the Victory Corps at Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Md. which was one of the first schools to mobilize students on a military basis. According to US Commisioner of Education John W. Studebaker, it is also one of the best.
The student body is organized into one battalion, divided into companies, platoons and squads. Corps members must spend an hour a day in military drill and calisthenics. The curriculum includes intensive courses for boys and girls in metal work, blueprint reading, airplane riveting, and drafting. At noon daily, 60 seniors leave classes to work in factories, stores, restaurants and on farms. Other student act as school janitors, bake and cook, run nursery schools, collect scrap, learn first aid. When they graduate, each Victory Corps member will be prepared to make a specific contribution toward winning the war.
Pre-sea service students
Victory Corps Clean Up Squad
Clean-up squad reports for duty in the high school’s cafeteria. Each day one squad is assigned to do cleaning and sweeping so that school has virtually no janitor service.