USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Inaugural address of the mayor, with the annual report of the officers of the city of Quincy for the year 1914 > Part 17
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Considerable interest in music has been shown in the past year. Besides the regular instruction in chorus singing there has been a class in harmony for girls intending to enter State Normal schools, and also a Glee Club and an orchestra. The two latter organizations are composed of pupils considered qualified for the work and are under the immediate direction of the Supervisor of Music. For regular and punctual attendance at rehearsals and for faithful effort the members of the Glee Club and orchestra receive one promotion credit. Three concerts have been given during the year, two during the regular session for the pupils themselves, and one in the evening to which the public was admitted. Besides these concerts, the Glee Club and orchestra have furnished musical programs at several entertainments given by the school. All of these performances have been notable because of their marked excellence, and for this great credit is due Miss S. Maude Amsden, Supervisor of Music, who has been able to arouse throughout the school an enthusiasm for and a real appreciation of good music.
School athletics are receiving much attention at the present time from the public at large as well as from school authorities and the pupils themselves. It may be worth while to note what is being done in our own school. There have been teams representing the school in several different sports, and all have made a creditable showing, some of them having displayed unusual excellence. In connection with sports in this school two facts of value may be mentioned: one, that the scholarship is improved rather than impaired by them; and the other, that the sports are still indulged in from the love of true sport without any taint of commercialism. That athletics are a dis- tinct benefit to the boys and the school is due largely to the untiring efforts of several of the male teachers who devote much of their valu- able time to intelligent guidance of the boys in their sports and who have through this means gained the power of strong influence over the boys. It is very difficult to carry on the various sports in the school because of the very limited means at our disposal; in fact, it is some-
262
times impossible to provide funds for the purchase of absolutely necessary equipment. However, the citizens have seen fit to provide ample grounds adapted to nearly all sports and readily available not only to players, but also to spectators, and probably the matter of sufficient means to carry on sports will receive proper attention in due time. Up to the present time the boys have received practically all the attention so far as sports are concerned, but it is the intention to encourage sports among the girls also, and to devote to them the same effort as is given to the boys.
In closing, I desire to express my gratitude to the many who by acts of kindness and words of encouragement have made the work of conducting the school a pleasant task. To Col. Edward Anderson we are again indebted for additions to the already large contribution he has made to the school library. The School Committee and yourself are deserving of our gratitude for the facilities placed at our disposal and for the loyal support in all our efforts to promote the welfare of the school. Respectfully submitted,
ERNEST L. COLLINS, Head Master.
It is difficult in a yearly report to present all things in proper per- spective. A school department, as the members of this School Com- mittee can readily testify, has little of the routine about it. Education at public expense is constantly enlarging its field, has new objects in view, adopts new methods and goes farther each year in the way of public service. Each year sees some advance, sees new needs met and new wants supplied. That the public looks to the school department to cover this broad field is testimony to the faith which the American people have in their school system, a faith which inspires in school officials both enthusiasm and confidence. The past year, as this report indicates, has been one of advance and accomplishment. The coming years present problems for solution that are important and far reaching.
With a continuance of the harmonious spirit of co-operation in which, committee, superintendents, teachers and community have worked in the past, we may look forward to a pleasant and prosperous new year. Respectfully submitted,
ALBERT L. BARBOUR, Superintendent of Schools.
REPORT OF THE QUINCY INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
The progress of the industrial classes during the past year has been steady and consistent.
The Half-Time Class, which was the first of our undertakings, has done efficient work with a slightly smaller enrollment than for the previous year. The industrial depression which affected our månu- facturing establishments early in the year reduced the number of ap- prentices employed, with a consequent effect upon the school. În some cases, apprentices dropped from employment continued on full time in the school, awaiting re-employment; in other cases they left school when their employment ceased, and took up work wherever they were able to find it. It seems advisable and it is recommended that the school hereafter continue on a fifty-week basis, instead of
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forty, and six days in the week instead of five, in order that the factory may not be embarrassed with a double set of apprentices at any one time.
In conformity with the plans outlined in the report of last year, a Full-Time Department was opened in September with thirty-six boys in attendance, and a waiting list which was large and has since been increasing. Three new instructors were added to the school at that time, one to take charge of the shop work for joiners; one to take the shop work for the electricians, and one to take care of the academic work. All three instructors were skilled mechanics of the highest type and have begun their work with interest and enthusiasm. This department of the school will be maintained on a forty-week basis, five days each week, and is open to all boys who are fourteen years old, who have the requisite mental and physical ability to do the work. This school, therefore, does not require the completion of the grammar school course before entrance, but it should be stated positively that it is not a place for a boy of inferior mental power who has no capacity for academic work. The skilled artisan is a man of brains and without the brains he cannot acquire the skill.
It is the present intention of this school not to teach the whole trade in the school but to carry the boy along in his trade until at the age of sixteen he is able to secure employment in a shop, where he will be able from then on to complete his apprenticeship under shop conditions and with attendance every other week in the Half-Time School.
To meet all the demands which are being made upon it, the Full- Time School should be enlarged in September by the addition of two more departments, the machinist's and the sheet metal trades. This would accommodate thirty-six more boys and the school could there- after be kept at the constant maximum of seventy-two boys and would furnish proper preparation for the trades most commonly plied in this city.
The evening trade classes both for men and women have been the most diversfied and the best attended of any year in our experience with this form of evening instruction. New classes formed this year that have never before been given included drawing and blue print reading for electricians, naval architecture, roof-framing and stair- building, while the classes for women were reorganized this year on a unit basis, so called, for certain specific objects, with increased attend- ance and enthusiasm. This evening work will vary from year to year both in amount and in kind according to the conditions of employment among the skilled trades which it serves. The School Department is trying each year to meet such needs as arise, with the hope of pro- viding for the skilled artisans in the various trades the opportunity to broaden their grasp on their work.
Provision should be made as soon as practicable for the opening of an industrial school for girls. Such a school would differ from the present Household Arts Department of the High School in several essential particulars, and would undoubtedly fit the needs of many of our girls much better.
Any girl would be admitted to this school who had passed the age of fourteen and had the requisite mental and physical maturity. It would have a course of two years instead of four and would devote half its time strictly to practice in the home making arts, with the remaining half of the time given to related academic subjects.
The session of such a school would belonger than that of the common schools, with a definite amount of time given to related home projects done under the advice of the teacher. The school might very well be
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carried on in the High School building where the lunch counter would serve as laboratory practice and would, like our other vocational schools, be under the supervision of the State authorities who would pay one-half the expense of maintenance. No doubt the greater number of girls who would attend this school would be of the type now attending the High School, so there would be practically no additional expense entailed. The establishment of the school, however, and its successful operation would mean one more step taken in the direction of affording to every child that kind of education and training which she most desires.
The report of Mr. J. G. Spofford, the Principal of the Industrial School, follows and will interest those who are following this type of work.
ALBERT L. BARBOUR, Superintendent of Schools.
Quincy Industrial School, Quincy, Mass.,
January 5, 1915.
MR. ALBERT L. BARBOUR.
Superintendent of Schools, Quincy, Mass.
My dear Mr. Barbour:
I herewith submit my third annual report of the work in the Quincy Industrial School.
The co-operative department began the year with an attendance of sixty pupils aternating between school and factory. This number remained about the same until May 16, when, on account of business depression, ten pupils were laid off or transferred from the trades which they had chosen to other trades where they could be used to better advantage. Of these ten boys, eight were on their trial period in the shop, showing that they had not worked the required six months of their trial period.
In practically all cases, these boys were placed in the industries in this city at the trade which they had started to learn or in a trade of their second choice. The average attendance in the operative- department was ninety-four per cent.
We have made an exhaustive study in the past two years of the relations of the school to the factories, and have found it to be necessary to place the co-operative school on a five and one-half day week pro- gram.
I have talked the matter over with the various superintendents and have stated that the school was in a position to run on a five and one- half day week and fifty-two week year program if they deemed it advisable to do so, and in every case the reply was in favor of the longer week and year.
I have observed that, in order to have the closest harmony between the industry and the co-operative school, the school must run in unison with the industries. We must operate the school so as to cause the smallest amount of friction possible in the industry - therefore, the co-operative school opened in September on the five and one-half day week program. I would earnestly recommend that the school be placed on a fifty-two week basis. This, of course, will entail extra expense during the summer months, but I feel that the proposition
265
should be maintained to make the work of the school efficient and in harmony with the industries.
In September the co-operative school opened with forty-eight pupils in attendance, and an account of the business depression and con- ditions in the city, we have been unable to increase that number to date; however, I expect that in the course of two or three weeks the school will have its full complement of sixty-two pupils.
The Full-Time School
The full-time school, as authorized by the School Committee and Advisory Board, secured the equipment for the woodworking shops and electrical department during the early summer. The equipment in the woodworking department consisted of one No. 112 American Variety Saw, one 36-inch American Band Saw, one 12-inch American Safety Cylinder Buzz Planer, one 8-inch by 24-inch surface planer, one emery wheel stand, one automatic hollow chisel mortiser, one pattern maker's lathe, 11-inch swing, 6-foot bed, one hand trimmer, 10 horse power General Electric induction motor with starting compensator for same, and the necessary hand tools for the bench work, all of which were ready for use when school opened in September.
We secured the belting from L. Grossman & Sons, who made us a present of same.
The electrical department was equipped with such tools as cutting pliers, screw drivers, hammers, soldering coppers and the necessary materials of that trade for electric light wiring, bell wiring, etc.
The course of study for the full-time division comprises arithmetic, trade mathematics, trade drawing, civics, English, and geography.
The time allotted to the shop work is 50%. The time allotted to the related work and cultural subects is 50% of the total time in school.
This school operates from 8.15 in the morning to 2.30 in the after- noon with twenty minutes, from 12.10 to 12.30 for lunch; is in operation five days per week for forty weeks, maintaining the same vacations as the public schools. The attendance in this school has averaged 96% for the four months. We have thirty-six pupils in attendance and a waiting list of about eighty, who wish to take up the work. In September, when school opened, we had to select thirty-six boys from an application list of seventy. This would seem to indicate that a large per cent of our boys or their parents realize that it is only a matter of a comparatively few years when their boys must enter into some wage earning occupation, and therefore, have endeavored to start their boys right by giving them the opportunity of taking up the work under expert instructors in a trade school.
The work carried on in the school is of strictly commercial type, as will be seen from the following record of the work accomplished, or in the process of accomplishment at the present time:
4 drawing stands for Evening Indstrial School (completed).
Wiring for 14 lights, Evening Industrial School (completed).
7 drawing tables, 8' x 30", Evening Industrial School (completed).
1 drawing table, 10' x 30", Evening Industrial School (completed).
Wiring for 10 bells with transformer, Day Industrial School (com- pleted).
Wiring for joiner shop for 20 lights (completed).
Repairing 32 drawing boards, Evening Industrial School (completed).
Work bench for electrical department, Day Industrial School (com- pleted).
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Inspection and repairing electric circuit in attic, Day Industrial School (completed).
Wiring cellar for 6 lights, Day Industrial School (completed).
Laying soil pipe, making cement floor, proper drains for Electro- Plating Plant for Day Industrial School (completed).
7 electro-plating tanks, Day Industrial School (completed).
8 double work benches, for joiner shop, Day Industrial School (com- pleted).
4 straight edges, 21/2" x 4' 6", Evening Industrial School (completed).
16 splines for mold loft class, Evening Industrial School (completed).
18-30" cherry tee squares, Evening Industrial School (completed).
1 trestle for 8 boards, Evening Industrial School (completed).
2 lights for drawing room, Evening Industrial School (completed).
18 cherry tee squares, Co-operative School (completed).
1 delivery body for Ford Automobile, outside party (completed).
1 double molders bench, Day Industrial School (completed).
1 photograph cabinet (completed).
36 pencil sharpners, Co-operative School (completed).
1 drawing board, 5' x 3', outside party (completed).
Cabinet for inspection report, Day Industrial School.
Patterns for emery grinder, Day Industrial School.
Patterns for grinding fixture, Day Industrial School. '
Bench for the electrical department, Day Industrial School (completed)
2 paper towel racks, Day Industrial School.
1 kitchen table, outside party (completed).
Drawing patterns for speed lathe, Day Industrial School.
1 portable blackboard, New Adams School.
1 oak table, New Adams School.
2 cutting tables, 21" x 32" x 35", New Adams School.
8 sewing tables, 26" x 42" x 29", New Adams School.
1 folding ironing board, New Adams School.
12 bases for work baskets, outside party (completed).
Drawings and patterns, emery wheel stand, Day Industrial School.
2 printing frames, Day Industrial School.
Drawings and patterns, gas forge, Day Industrial School.
3 bases for work baskets, outside party.
1 work bench, outside party (completed).
The prices for work outside of the school have been figured very carefully and a regular commercial rate charged to prevent any friction on the part of the manufacturers or local union. We guarantee our work to be of first quality and endeavor on every project to keep in mind that the school is for the purpose of instruction rather than production but in order to have the instruction real, it must be accom- plished through the boys work in on a commercial product.
As we have such a large number of applicants waiting, it would seem advisable to open this coming September two other departments in the full-time school, namely, the machine shop and sheet metal and coppersmithing trades. Last year we felt it advisable to open the school with the woodworking and electrical trades on account of the expense necessary to open same, but as there are so many appli- cants marking time in our public schools with practically no interest only to stay there until they can get into the Industrial School or the industry, I think it an advisable expenditure to open these two trades if possible.
We will undoubtedly have a waiting list, unless this is done, of from one hundred to one hundred and fifty boys. I would, therefore, recommend that these departments be opened in September.
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· Part-Time Division
The Saturday afternoon class has been in progress over a year and has shown distinct signs of advancement. We have at present ten boys enrolled, five in the Fore River and five in the Boston Gear Works. To show to what extent some of these young men value the instruction received on Saturday afternoon, I have known on several occasions of one young man coming to the school in preference to work- ing on the job where he would have earned from $1.75 to $2 in the afternoon. This particular young man has been in attendance practi- cally every Saturday since the school was organized and probably on 75 per cent of the Saturdays would have been able to receive for his Saturday afternoon's work the above amount. There seems to be an increasing demand on the part of some workmen who have not at- tended this school on the co-operative basis to make the request to be admitted to the part-time class. As yet I have not felt it advisable to enlarge this class to a greater number than twelve in order that I might give each young man absolutely individual attention, and attend to their individual needs in the problems which they bring from the industry to the school.
Distributions of Pupils by Shop
Co-operative
Part-Time
Total
Fore River,
36
5
41
Couch Telephone,
10
0
10
Boston Gear Works,
2
5
7
-
48
10
58
Enrollment of full-time department,
36
Total enrollment in day schools,
94
Applicants waiting for admission to full-time department,
80
The average wage of the co-operative pupils for the past year is as follows:
Couch Telephone
$247.51
Boston Gear Works
243.28
Fore River
239.58
The total earnings of pupils in the three shops is $12,505.13. This seems to be an opportune time for me to express my deep appreciation to you for your helpful advice and hearty co-operation in the past year. I would also express my sincere appreciation to the several managers and superintendents for their help and co-operation in the past.
I wish to thank my instructors for their hearty co-operation and the whole-souled backing which they have given me in carrying out the added program this year, in running the school during the vacations which the others schools have, and on Saturdays. This has meant a considerable sacrifice to them in many ways, and I certainly appreci- ate their efforts.
Respectfully submitted,
J. GOULD SPOFFORD,
Director.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
Board of Directors and Superintendent OF THE
Woodward Institute
1914
CITY OF QUINCY
Massachusetts
270
WOODWARD INSTITUTE Organization of the Board of Directors for 1915
Chairman REV. ADELBERT L. HUDSON
Vice-Chairman REV. BENJAMIN A. WILLMOTT
Secretary REV. GEORGE M. BAILEY
Superintendent ALBERT L. BARBOUR
THE FACULTY
Principal
HORACE W. RICE
Latin and History
Teachers
CHARLOTTE J. BURGESS Commercial Subjects
GEORGIANA C. LANE. .Art
JOHN D. BUCKINGHAM Vocal Music
MARTHA E. MACCARTY Physical Training
GRACE L. BURKE Mathematics
MARY W. DINEGAN English and Latin
VIVIAN A. TABER.
.English
LILLIAN M. ANNIS Natural Science
MINNIE L. SHEDD French and German
[Engineer and Janitor ALLAN W. WALKER
271
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT
Gentlemen: I submit herewith my sixth report as Superintendent of Woodward Institute. The past year has been one of consistent and steady work characterized by no important changes in the course of study or the conduct of the school.
At the close of the spring term, Miss Gertrude F. Holland, teacher of French and German, resigned her position and was succeeded by Miss Minnie L. Shedd, a graduate of Smith College with successful experience in Swampscott and Westfield. .
Miss C. Louise Steele of the English department was granted a leave of absence for the present year and her place is being filled by Miss Vivian A. Taber, who comes to the school fresh from post-graduate work in Teachers College, Columbia, after successful experience in the Springfield Technical High School.
The feature of the school's work most worthy of note at the present time is the steady and marked gain in its attained standards of scholar- ship, especially as shown in the records of successive entering classes. The record made by the present Freshman class for its first term of school is much the best of any entering class the school has ever had and if this steady improvement can be maintained and continued, Woodward Institute will soon be brought to a standard where its efficiency in scholarship will be generally recognized. This regular and marked advance shown in the work done by recent entering classes can be attributed in varying degrees to change in courses of study made two years ago and to the better preparation which the grammer schools are giving each year. There is to be added, too, the fact that the resources and energies of the school are now being directed to a slightly narrower field, which of course leads to intensity and efficiency.
In pursuance of the suggestion embodied in the report of last year, the amount of time devoted to music has been increased, and one girl will this year be certified for college on the work she has done in music in our school.
To make the work in music more profitable and in order that the pupils may be brought to an acquaintance with music that is worthy and worthily performed, a Victrola has been added to the equipment of the school. This instrument will be of valuable assistance to the director in teaching musical appreciation and will add greatly to the enjoyment of the work. The pupils will become acquainted with the best things in classical and modern music as they could do in no other way.
A few weeks ago a questionnaire was submitted to the pupils of the school for the purpose of getting an insight into a number of factors that have a bearing on the development of childhood and youth, such as habits and hours of study and the kinds of extra-school activities which enter into the lives of our pupils, either to co-operate with our efforts or to nullify them. The result of a study of the answers to these questions is very satisfying. In the main, and to a far greater degree than popular opinion would lead us to suppose, habits of study and attitude toward school work among our pupils were shown to be remarkably good. Moreover the forms of outside activity which might work against us were surprisingly few. There is an apparent tendency when girls enter the school and find their outside lessons and their school lessons competing with each other for time and attention, to give up their outside instruction in favor of the school work. An
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interesting and an encouraging fact, too, is the large proportion of our girls who have some regular and specific work to perform in con- nection with the conduct of the home. Such a condition is the healthy and normal one but in many communities it does not prevail. It is a fairly safe assertion that the girl who has a reasonable amount of burden to carry in the management of the home will be helped rather than hindered in her development toward womanhood. It is of exceed- ingly rare occurrence that home duties interfere with proper school work; it is more often the case that the absence of home duties accom- panies slipshod, poorly done school work.
The choice of courses by our students continues to indicate a high percentage who are planning to go on to other schools and colleges. When such is the case, necessarily a fairly high standard of scholarship is required for preparation either to pass the entrance examinations or to receive the principal's certificate which will admit to those colleges which allow that method. Those of our graduates who go to college continue to reflect credit on the school and the school in turn takes more and more pleasure in this side of its work.
The science department of the school deserves mention in this report as an instance of the manner in which skillful teaching is able to adapt subject matter to a special type of school. In Woodward Institute it is very rare that a girl wishes to prepare for college in science, so that the teacher is relieved of this rather sharply defined duty and is left free, in general, to shape her instruction to the science to be found in the common, every-day things of life, especially those which have a direct interest for girls. In a general high school or any mixed school, it is rarely that this can be done or that the attempt is made. The course which is given in our school, however, turns off the beaten path of instruction in theoretical science and by applying itself to the ample material to be found in practical science which has that direct interest, achieves results which are commensurate with the ingenuity and enthusiasm with which the work is handled. The course is both distinctive and praiseworthy.
The school property and equipment have been maintained in their usual excellent condition during the past year and there are no interior improvements immediately pressing.
The class of 1917, following the example of its sister preceding classes, presented the school with one slab of the Parthenon Frieze, which has been placed on the walls of the assembly room.
Respectfully submitted,
ALBERT L. BARBOUR.
INDEX -
Administrative Boards 1915 3
Assessors' Report 171
Auditor's Report 18
Auditor's Statement 42
Building Inspector - Report of 187
Burial Places - Report of Managers
93
City Clerk - Report of
102
Births of 1914
103
Deaths of 1914 135
Election Returns
147
Marriages of 1914 123
City Council 1915 7
204
City Government
3
City Physician - Report of
98
City Treasurer - Report of
78
Commissioner of Public Works 212
Dock and Water Front Commissioner
169
Fire Department - Report of Chief
99
Health Department - Report of Board 178
Inspector of Meats and Provisions 186
Inspector of Plumbing 183
Milk Inspector
185
School Physician 185
Mayor's Address 11
Park Commissioners - Report of
176
Police Department - Report of Chief
84
Poor Department - Report of Overseer 95
School Department 247
Sealer of Weights and Measures 164
Tax Collector - Report of 154
Thomas Crane Public Library 233
Woodward Fund - Report of the Treasurer 81
Woodward Institute 269
City Engineer - Report of
City Solicitor - Report of 230
THOMAS CRANE PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1641 0095 7988 3
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