USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1930-1932 > Part 71
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This situation makes it necessary for our secondary school program to give our children a broad training which will fit them for some useful occupation and make them better citizens of the community in which they are to live. The straight, out-and-out, college preparatory program
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of studies which offers a very fine cultural training is just as valuable as it has been, and is particularly necessary for those who are to use this training as a means of entrance into collegiate work. Certainly we must consider them. On the other hand, the majority of our students, nearly 80% of them, are not going beyond High School, and the courses which they are now taking, those of a vocational nature, such as commercial studies, praetical arts work, home ceonomics for girls, courses in music, art, and science, are of inestimable value to them.
Mueh has been said, in these days of strict economy, concerning curtail- ment in our courses of instruction and cutting down the teaching of many of these practical subjects. Educators throughout the country are of one opinion and mind on this matter. With retrenchments necessary as they are, they must not come in this direction. There would be abso- lutely no saving to take students from courses in art, music, practical arts, gymnasium, or home economics, as far as the cost of education is concerned, for it would merely throw them into divisions of other studies, mostly academic, where additional teachers would be obliged to handle them. A room nearly filled to capacity can hardly assimilate many additional pupils. Furthermore, to follow the advice of some who have not made a study of education and who believe that all students should be required to study "the three R's" as the only useful subjects, would be a step back over the years by at least three or four decades.
I firmly believe that our course of study is a suitable one for the needs of our pupils, one that comprehensively covers the existing situation, giving what is necessary to so heterogeneous a group as we have here in Norwood High School. Diversified aims, objectives, and plans for the future cannot be met by the rigid and narrowing curriculum such as was offered twenty-five years ago. Present day eivilization must carry on, and its high school training must offer diversified opportunity for various kinds of education. This can be provided for only under our present curriculum, and if "education for all the children of all the people" is to be the continued desire of our taxpayers, we cannot get very far away from teaching the subjects now being taught.
Secondary school educators have been accused of "jumping at fads and frills" and "plunging into educational experiments" all along the way. I doubt the correctness of this accusation and challenge the statement with the following illustration: In 1916 Dr. Clarence Kingsley, at the time Deputy Commissioner of Secondary Education in the State of Massa- chusetts, issued, with the help of a commission, a pamphlet setting forth what seemed to that group of leaders in the educational field, the main objectives of our secondary school training. At the top of a list of "Seven Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education" came "Health," indicating that, beyond all academic book learning, beyond all training in the duties of citizenship, beyond all else worth teaching in the curriculum was the necessity of teaching health so that our country, were it to face such a
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rigid physical inspection as it experienced at the beginning of our participa- tion in the World War, would never again be put to shame and chagrined in the admission that many-a very large percentage of our young men in the country were found physically unfit. All that took place sixteen years ago,-and now, only last year, have we, the schools of Massachusetts, attempted an organized formal course of instruction in health education.
Norwood High School was one of four schools in the State, under the direction of the State Supervisor of Physical Education, to begin with this course of health instruction. Space does not permit me to give a full description of the work done by our Health Council and the beginnings of the health instruction which now is given to every Norwood High School student before he graduates. A very complete report of this is on file, however, and we are going forward enthusiastically with the development of this work through its second year. Can it be that some would, in their retrenchment program, have us do away with such a valuable and necessary piece of work, or can it be said of the above mentioned venture that we are hasty in accepting unimportant additions to our program of education?
The detailed reports as given by the supervisors of manual arts, home economics, freehand drawing, music, and physical education, very thor- oughly cover the splendid work being done in their respective departments. It is my candid opinion that cur High School students derive a great deal of valuable and useful instruction in these divisions. I believe, also, that they would protest, and their parents would vigorously protest, the removal from our curriculum of the advantages and pleasures offered through these branches of study.
Achievements of 1932
During the year 1932 certain academic and non-academic achievements of note have been accomplished, some of which are here enumerated:
1. The successful entrance into college of all students qualified to be certificated or to take examinations.
2. The receiving of college scholarship awards by many of our graduates.
3. Excellent reports of scholastic attainment by our college freshmen.
4. Participation in, and assistance with, the management of the Massa- chusetts Music Festival of May 21, 1932, here in Norwood. This was one of the finest things of its kind ever produced in the history of music festivals.
5. The outstanding performance of our Debating Society in its debate with the Boston Latin High School, resulting in a Norwood victory.
6. Participation of the school in the Washington Bicentennial Pageant.
7. Successful social activities and commencement programs by the senior class.
8. Marked growth and progress in higher scholarship attainment, with fewer failures than in the previous year.
9. An extremely valuable second year in well directed instruction
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leading to character building of all students by our Dean of Girls and Submaster.
10. The bringing together, through a Health Council, of the several isolated and disjointed agencies existing in the interest of health, so that a definite and well organized course of health instruction was given to the sophomore class.
11. A very successful year, in terms of mass participation, in sports, seasons' results, and building of school and team morale. Our chief difficulty here lies in our inability to secure financial support for our athletics, and it is only a question of a short time now when some of our interscholastic athletic competitions must be curtailed in the absence of some source of income to maintain them.
12. Notable achievement in many of our extra-curricula and activity groups.
13. Awards and prizes given our students for outstanding work in the Game Plan project of Town Planning, completed in December, 1932.
Summary
In the closing days of his administration at Washington, President Hoover, speaking of education, has said: "Our nation faces the acute responsibility of providing the right of way for the American child. In spite of our economic, social, and governmental difficulties, our future citizens must be built up now." From these remarks we can all agree that at all costs the children must not suffer. They are to be the citizens of the future, and as such we shall look to them, in part, at least, to set up a social order capable of averting a repetition of the present world-wide catastrophe. Thinking men and women are not asking for drastic re- trenchments in education, for they well know that through education alone can we find an answer to our existing evils.
Be that as it may, the faculty of the Senior High School appreciates greatly the steady and unfaltering support it has received from you and the School Committee to the end that progress has not been hampered, subjects have not been dropped, and necessary supplies, materials, and textbooks have continued to be ours in spite of what appears to be un- paralleled and most distressing times. We can stand ready, as a faculty, to co-operate in any way possible, to share to the utmost, and to give our very best in the interest of the boys and girls so that the high standards of work now enjoyed may be maintained through the coming year.
Very sincerely yours,
HERBERT H. ARCHIBALD, Principal
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Mr. L. W. Grant, Superintendent of Schools, Norwood, Massachusetts.
My dear Mr. Grant:
In 1931-1932 the Junior High School enrolled 911 pupils as against an enrollment of 928 pupils in 1930-1931, a decrease of 17 pupils. Two teaching positions were eliminated because of the smaller enrollment. The enrollment is distributed as follows: Grade seven, 276, an increase of 15 pupils over the estimated number of 260 in June, 1932. There is an average of thirty-five pupils per class in grade seven, only two classes numbering less than thirty-five pupils. Gradc eight has an enrollment of 291, and grade nine, 334, giving the ninth grade the largest enrollment in the school.
It seems to me that the school should be reorganized as to the number of classes in each course, especially in the ninth grade. At present we have two College, one Technical, four Commercial and three Practical Arts divisions. A great many pupils have found the College and Technical courses too difficult for them, and have come to us and want to change to either the Practical Arts or Commercial Courses as they imagine that these would be easier for them. This year we have had fewer of these changes than formerly, only seven pupils having made the change, some of them as late as the middle of the second term, although we have made a rule that no changes may be made after the end of the first term. It has been almost impossible to make the changes, as the Commercial classes are already too large, numbering as high as thirty-eight pupils to a class. In some cases, these changes have made for an improvement in scholarship.
The curriculum distribution in the ninth grade shows ninety-thrce pupils in the Practical Arts division, one hundred forty-five in the Com- mercial division, sixty-seven in the College division and thirty in the Technical division. The large enrollment, 21% of the grade, in the Practical Arts division shows how unfounded all this talk is about doing away with courses offered in this work. Rather I should say, we ought to be buying more equipment and hiring more instructors for these divisions, for every pupil in the seventh and eighth grade is engaged in this work to some extent and wants more of it.
Extra Curricula Activities
The extra curricula activities in the Junior High School consist of thirty- one clubs. One of the outstanding clubs is a boys' cooking club, numbering twenty-four members in which the boys are given a regular course in cook- ing. There is always a great deal of enthusiasm in this club.
The school paper "School Activities" issued monthly is being mimeo- graphed this year to save expense. It is under the direction of Miss Eleanor Drew, and the paper has thus far been very successful.
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Welfare Aid
Since September 30, 1932, the Junior High School teachers have made monthly contributions of one dollar each for welfare work among needy pupils of the school. We have bought for pupils such things as rubbers, shoes, clothes, sneakers and gym suits. About seventy-five pupils have benefited, not including eleven pupils each week who receive free milk from this fund.
At Thanksgiving the Home Economics Department prepared and sent four baskets to needy families in Norwood. The teachers in the Junior High School contributed to help fill the baskets.
Athletics
The "Special Exercise" group contains about twenty to twenty-five boys. They are in charge of Mr. Connor, the gymnasium instructor, and are held each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon during the home room period. The boys receive instruction in exercise to develop weak muscles which tend to make a faulty posture.
After school activities are held the entire year with suitable games being played for the particular season. Every pupil may take part in the games with these two requirements: they must not receive a low mark in more than one subject; and activity dues, which are five cents a month, must be paid. This five cents also entitles a pupil to the school paper.
After school activities for girls include basket ball, volley ball, hit pin baseball and liberty bat ball. A cup is awarded to the winning team in basket ball.
After school activities for boys are tag football, baseball and basket ball. The members of the winning teams receive numerals.
Milk Service
The school is at present serving milk to one hundred and twenty-five pupils. The milk period is held in the middle of the morning, when every pupil in the school who wishes milk goes to the lunch room where it is served. Thirty-one pupils prescribed for by the nurses receive free milk; twenty of these are paid for by the School Department Milk Fund and eleven by the Junior High School fund for needy children.
English
A committee headed by Miss Manchester and having all the ninth grade English teachers on its roster is engaged in revising the ninth grade English course. The new course will be completed for September, 1933.
The seventh grade English teachers this year are teaching the library work that was formerly taught by Miss Elvera Bianchi. One period each week is taken out of the seventh grade English classes for this work. Teachers in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades take care of the reference work in the library for pupils who wish to use the library for study.
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Game Plans
To commemorate the George Washington Bicentennial, Governor Ely appointed a commission to plan a program in which school children could participate. Since Washington was a master of planning, it was decided to invite pupils to plan their town as they imagined it would be one hundred years from now. The response in the Junior High School was most grati- fying. About one hundred pupils decided to participate in this and we actually got sixty-five plans. The ninth grade classes wrote compositions on "Norwood Today and One Hundred Years from Now," to be combined with the maps of the Town. In order to complete the project a study of their Town was necessary. Classification of industries, business centers, residential sections and zoning laws together with the development of unused territory had to be studied. The ability and originality of ideas shown in this game plan project proved to be far beyond the expectation of both the townspeople and teachers. An interesting fact noted was that no pupil had a poor house, saloon or slum section in Norwood, all of which proves that the outlook of these young planners is most optimistic.
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE W. ALLEN, Principal
Mr. Leonard W. Grant, Superintendent of Schools, Norwood, Massachusetts.
My dear Mr. Grant:
I herewith submit the annual report of the Practical Arts Department for the year ending December 31, 1932.
Our program of practical arts in the elementary grades during the early part of the year was carried on under a very capable and efficient instructor, and the results attained by him were highly satisfactory, as he came in contact with every boy in the fifth and sixth grades. The projects con- structed were excellent cxamples of creative ability in woodwork.
In June this instructor was dropped, also the Beacon School was aban- doned, which made it necessary to distribute the equipment of that school to others which needed it. All fifth grade instruction was eliminated, allowing the sixth grade to continue with the work. Mr. Wynaught, who formerly taught woodwork in the grades, was again assigned to carry on the instruction, making visits to three schools for one hour a day of each week. Miss Connolly, of the Balch School, took over the practical arts work there.
All boys entering Junior High School in the seventh grade were given two courses of instruction, working in the fields of woodworking, and a
.
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laboratory course in the general shop, for young craftsmen who received instruction in metal work, simple electricity, glazing, soldering, and sheet metal work. An added feature was the forming and twisting of mild steel, which required a knowledge of drilling and riveting as well as wiring for sockets and plugs for the table lamps and bridge lamps that were made in the shop. In woodworking the boys continued the processes learned in the sixth grade but on a more advanced scale, and made larger projects, such as cutting boards, broom holders, clothes dryers and pedestals.
The work in the eighth grade was of an exploratory nature, and involved participation in two courses, printing and mechanical drawing. Drafting is the universal language of industry, and wherever construction work is carried on, its use is of fundamental importance. This course was given as a try-out and covered only the elementary parts. Ten plates were required of each boy and accuracy and neatness were stressed. Wood- working as a try-out was dropped this fall to allow the instructor to cover the work formerly taught by the instructor who was sent out into the elementary schools.
Printing was required of each boy and after learning his case, and taking simple exercises in justification of lines, letter spacing, centering, and indenting, he was allowed a short poem of his own choosing to set up, applying the principles learned in the early lessons. These projects carried the boy through the stages of composition, imposition (stone work), make ready and press work.
Practical Arts in the ninth grade was elective in any one of three courses, woodworking, printing or drafting. Undoubtedly the majority of boys elected printing because of its great fascination and interest. The boy carried a job through to completion, designing his own layout, choosing type faces, cutting stock and actual running of the press. The bulk of the year's printing was done by these ninth grade boys and consisted of all school forms, requests received from various school departments, and the publishing of the Junior High School paper, which appeared monthly.
In woodwork each boy was required to complete a project consisting of bench work with the use of hand tools, turn a lathe project, refinish some object brought from home, and sharpen chisels and plane blades which he used. Many advanced projects were turned out, such as end tables, sewing cabinets, smoking cabinets, costumers and smoking stands. This fall we were deprived of the use of our paint shop by the installation of an incinerator, and the shop is now without a finishing room. This is a serious handicap to all boys who take pride in seeing the products of their efforts completed, with a lasting and beautiful finish. It would be possible to arrange such a room in the present work shop at little expense and relieve the situation which now exists.
This fall at the Senior High it became quite evident that there would be more boys wishing to take shop than ever before, and as the shop was limited in its accommodations, a problem was apparent. It appeared at
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first that all seniors would be deprived of any shop work, because of the large sophomore class. However, the difficulty was overcome by assigning each of the two upper classes to the drafting room for three periods per week and allowing two periods for shop work. The sophomores were allowed three periods of shop and two of drafting. By this arrangement a double load was thrown on the supervisor, and also lessened the efficiency of the instruction given the boys who took drafting as a single subject. It also became necessary to conduct two classes at the same time, although each was doing a separate type of work. The shop classes were taught shop sketching, with the proper layout for any job in the shop by a working drawing.
Our Composite Shop followed the previous year's outline, but during the latter part of the year, with only a short time in the shop each week, the program had to be somewhat modified, as considerable more time is needed for completion of projects. We are finding it quite difficult at the present time to collect money from the boys for materials used, which of course is due to the economic situation that exists everywhere.
Once again I should like to mention our tremendous need for a finishing space, free from dust and interference by other workmen. Our only space for this work has been the boiler room, in which the lighting conditions have been so poor that a perfect finish has been impossible.
Many times during the year the department has been called upon for assistance in various ways, and we have cooperated in every way possible, and have endeavored to make our results effective.
Respectfully submitted,
CLIFFORD H. WHEELER, Supervisor Practical Arts
Report of the Dean of Girls, Norwood Senior High School, 1931-1932
I. Attendance
As in former years, absent, tardy, and dismissal cards were used which had to be signed by girls' parents.
The home of each girl who had a telephone and whose name was on the absent list was called each morning.
There were three known cases of truancy. (One of these was for two periods only.)
Girls were encouraged to come to school tardy rather than be absent if they were unable to report at the opening of school.
Absences were permitted this year which would not have been approved . in ordinary times. Pupils were allowed to be absent or dismissed, on occasion, in order to work or to remain at home so that a parent might work.
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Following is a comparison of this year's attendance record with that of last year. Record is made from September to June 1. (June attend- ance record is not included since the fact that the Seniors are not in at- tendance during the last two weeks makes June statistics misleading.)
Registration of Girls Absences
1930-31
279
1721
Tardinesses 148
Dismissals 97
1931-32
328
1874
1SS
124
II. Scholarship
The importance of high scholarship has been kept constantly before the girls.
Some of the same methods of securing high scholarship as have been employed in previous years were used; such as, personal interviews, ad- justments in programs, and investigation of home conditions for study.
Twenty-five senior girls again assisted sophomore girls in becoming adjusted to High School.
The "Opportunity Study Hall" which had been conducted for the last two years was not held this year for the following reasons:
1. Last year the parents of 33% of pupils who received failure marks objected to pupils being detained for the extra period every day. If the parent objected, (in writing) the pupil was not required to attend the study hall. Therefore, this method of bettering scholarship effected only 67% of the people for whom it was intended.
2. Of the pupils who attended the study hall, from 55% to 61% passed the following term. This percent was not satisfactory.
In place of the "Opportunity Study Hall," a Scholarship Card was adopted this year.
This card was given to each pupil who failed in any subject either at the end of a term or at the mid-term period. The pupil was required to report to the Dean at stated intervals during the following term with a written report of his progress made by the teachers in the subjects which he had failed.
Usc of these cards seem to have been a more effective help in the matter of scholarship than the "Opportunity Study Hall" because:
1. Every girl who failed was required to report.
2. From 67% to 72% of those receiving failure marks passed the next term.
3. Pupils liked the card. It gave timid pupils an opportunity to find out just where they stood at more frequent intervals than if they had had to approach the teacher on their own initiative. Pupils have requested that they be allowed to report more frequently than was required of them.
Parents approved and commented favorably upon the use of the card. No senior girl failed to graduate.
Five girls who had been in High School for three years but who had had junior rating were graduated.
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No girls failed to be promoted to the senior class. Six girls failed to be promoted to the junior class.
III. Extra Curricula Activities
Following is a list of the extra-curricula activities in which girls could take part during the school year.
Group A
Group C
Basket Ball
Arguenot
Baseball
Senior Play
Hockey
Orchestra
Tennis
Band
Group B
Group D
Arts and Crafts Club
A. A. Ticket Sellers
Home Economics Club
Lunch Counter Sellers
Biology Club
Traffic Officers
Camp Fire Club
Cheer Leaders
Dramatic Club
Quest Club
French Club Glee Club
Sophomore Play
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