USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Attleboro > Reports of town officers of the town of Attleborough 1923 > Part 14
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Respectfully submitted, JOHN LAING GIBB.
Report of the Supervisor of Drawing.
Mr. Lewis A. Fales, Superintendent of Schools:
As I review the year's work, we seem far away from the ideals I had when planning the work, but nearer than if we had worked without the ideals. I am glad another year is ahead of us in which to try to give the children a better vocabulary to aid their self expression.
Drawing should be taught so that the child has definite mental images ready for use. This imaginative work is always best in the first three or four years of school life, but I want it to continue through the grades and into the high school work. Good workmanship is not com- mon to all, but it should be.
We are trying to increase art knowledge and appreciation. If we fail to get creditable results from all children, but can get them to know and enjoy some of the fine things of life, we are giving them the best preparation for life. There is a great responsibility when we consider that art taste is established in the schools. Art should have a definite and positive influence on the life of the child. Not many will become artists, but art touches every phase of life. Almost everything we deal with has some art quality, and art training should give children some basis for judgment.
We are using a new course in picture study. There are ten pictures for each grade, so that a child who passes through all the grades will become familiar with eighty masterpieces. Colored miniatures are bought by the children and mounted in books which they make. Dif- ferent booklets are made in the first five grades, and from the sixth grades through the high school we have a simple problem in book bind-
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ANNUAL REPORT
ing. Some of the high school books have a personal touch with their block printed covers and end pieces. The purpose of this study is to make the pupils familiar with masterpieces of painting. Aside from the knowledge gained, we hope some appreciation of the masterpieces will be developed.
With new rooms opened this year, we have a full program. This means that when more rooms are opened, the schools cannot be visited every two weeks as we are now doing.
In one way, the high school work is more satisfactory than last year, that is, the freshman are in classes by themselves. In the other divi- sions, there is still the difficulty of trying to teach two or three problems in one period. Some pupils who have expressed a desire to take draw- ing cannot do so on account of conflicts. With as large a high school as we have, I believe a teacher could give full time there and have a class every period in the week.
Respectfully submitted, PERSIS A. CROWELL.
Report of the Supervisor of Manual Training.
Mr. Lewis A. Fales, Superintendent of Schools:
I have much pleasure in submitting my annual report of the manual training and mechanical drawing departments.
Mr. James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor, in an address given in Buffalo, N. Y., a few days ago, said, "The soundness of our whole eco- nomic structure depends upon the man who works with his hands. The world markets of the future will belong to the nation whose labor is most skilful and efficient. We must seek for the balanced education, for we have learned that the worker who, as he handles the materials with which he is working, can realize the completed piece of work, is a better workman and a better citizen. The purely academic education only pro- vides positions for 10 per cent. of our youth, while the other 90 per cent. are found. in some branch of work which demands labor."
With this in view, the time has come when we should try to broaden our manual training department by adding courses, for second year stu- dents, bench and machine work in metal; for third year students, per- haps electrical wiring and automobile construction; jewelry shop pro- cesses for the fourth year.
Manual training, giving clearer insight into the resources, tools and processes by which society maintains itself and disclosing the essential relations in which a student stands to his fellows in the active affairs of the world, clearly possesses significant social values, and hence is a very valuable aid in developing that Americanism which thinks of others as much as itself.
The country needs those who have ability to do creative work. In the manual training department, such an opportunity is provided.
The number of pupils electing manual training in the High School is as follows :
Freshman 43
Sophomores 13
Juniors
7
Seniors
7
Total 70
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ANNUAL REPORT
Number of pupils in Eighth Grade :
Bank Street 81
Bliss 43
Total 124
The added number of credits now being required for graduation prevents a number of boys from electing manual training, because five periods manual training give only two and one-half credits, while five periods in some other subject give five credits. The desire to elect man- ual training, however, is present because a number of high school stu- dents have asked permission to work in the manual training department during study hours or after school on some project they have in mind, either for home, family, friends or themselves. The instructors are always more than pleased to make arrangements for such.
Course of Study.
Freshmen: At the opening of school, the instructors explain to their classes the names, the construction and the uses of the tools. The care of tools is given consideration.
Planing being the basis of all good woodwork, the instructors give thorough demonstrations and choose projects that depend mainly upon efficient planing for their success.
The work until December is mainly class work. Those showing ability to do the preliminary processes well are allowed to choose a spe- cial project of their own under the approval of the instructors. A work- ing drawing or a freehand sketch must first be handed in, so that the accuracy of the result may be tested.
Sophomores and Juniors: Advanced bench work, furniture making with inlaid work and wood turning. The wood turning course carries the pupils through the necessary steps to produce the turning of furniture parts, e. g., chisel and screw driver handles, vise handles, candlesticks, electric table lamps, floor lamps, card trays, bowls, spindle table legs, etc., inside and outside screw face plate work.
Seniors: Seniors do work of their own, generally in advance of the under classmen. They are called upon to do repairs around the school and to do work for the grade schools when it is within their power to do it.
Work Completed.
High School: Display racks for College Week in the Library, settees for the Lunch Room and tables for the sale of lunch tickets, partitioned basement for an office for the girls' physical director, made platform for the physical director, radio cabinet for the chemistry department, lum- ber rack for the manual training department, repaired desks, chairs, locks, etc.
Bank Street: Book shelves. Bliss School: Book shelves.
Some of the furniture made by the pupils : Library tables, ladies' dressing table with threefold mirrors, bookshelves, wall cabinets, dining tables, chairs, arm chair, radio cabinets, record cabinet, Console Victrola cabinet, fern stands, tabourettes, shoe boxes, inlaid tea trays, towel racks. travelling tea tables, floor lamps, table lamps, etc.
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ANNUAL REPORT
New Equipment.
New equipment has been added as follows: Six inch by 24 inch planer or surfacer with individual motor drive (American Woodworking Machinery Co.) ; the No. 1 Variety circular saw has been exchanged for No. 1-6 Variety circular saw with mortise and tenoning attachment and individual motor drive. Thus has part of the dream of the manual train- ing instructor become realized.
To further increase the efficiency of the work and decrease the noise, it would be well to exchange two of the present wood-turning lathes for an individual motor driven wood turning lathe having a 6 foot bed and outer head stock chuck for turning large pieces of work; exchange the remaining two wood-turning lathes for individual motor driven lathes; new machines-8 inch jointer (individual motor driven), and a 36 inch band saw (individual motor driven).
Bliss School.
A new department containing benches and a full equipment of touls for twenty pupils has been opened in this school. This is a distinctly forward step, as it eliminates the time pupils spent in going to and from Bank Street.
Course in Grade Eight.
The work planned in this department begins by making a working drawing of the project in hand. The earlier projects cover lessons in the use and care of a plane, to dissemble and assemble one correctly, to whet and care for the blade ; the use of the rip and cross cut saws, and the instruction in the use of simple woodworking tools. As a pupil's interest is of vast importance to his progress, he is encouraged to bring pictures, plans, sketches, etc., of whatever he might like to do. The instructor guides his choice according to ability shown, and then he is allowed to work out his project. The pupil is encouraged to work for others as well as himself. Under careful and tactful guidance, the social element in youth can be greatly stimulated, and it is found that he takes pride in doing many of the small things that can be done about a school building and home. During the second half of the school year, the instructor paid much attention to the construction and coloring of toys.
Mechanical Drawing.
The number of pupils in the High School electing mechanical draw- ing is as follows :
First Year
79
Second Year
25
Third Year
7.
Fourth Year
Total 109
The importance of drawing in its application to manual training can- not be overestimated. It is, in fact, the first step in manual training. Without drawing, the use of tools becomes a mere mechanical imitation, having little value as an educational factor. From the conception of the idea to its expression in the concrete material, the drawing is the description by which the mechanical processes are developed and brought to a definite and practical form, hence mechanical drawing and manual
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ANNUAL REPORT
training are correlated as much as possible. The student should under- stand the language of working drawings and acquire by educational experience the ability to use and interpret them.
First Year: Lettering, working drawings, geometrical problems, isometric drawings, development of surfaces, freehand sketches.
Second Year: Revolution of solids, intersections, sheet metal draw- ing, fundamentals of machine drawing, drawing of castings, use of trac- ing paper, inking, blue printing.
Third Year: Section view of drawings, paths of motion and cams.
Fourth Year: Architectural drawing, architectural lettering, con- struction details of garages, cornice details, window and door details, how windows are figured, isometric views, etc.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM F. EASTWOOD.
Report of the Teaching of Sewing.
Mr. Lewis A. Fales, Superintendent of Schools:
Looking backward over the year, I find the work accomplished in sewing to be practically the same as the previous year. That there is danger of falling into old ruts and remaining there is as true of sewing as of any other subject, so we are constantly on the alert for new ways and original ideas to vary the presentation of the subject, although the fundamentals must of necessity remain the same.
The interest of the beginners in the fifth grade is always keen, as it is something entirely new. To train the fingers and to begin good habits in doing careful work, making small even stitches, fastening the thread thoroughly, making square corners, straight seams and narrow hems is the work of this grade. After five months of training, the small fingers rapidly gain control of their muscles, and the results begin to be grati- fying.
In grade six, the stitches are reviewed and applied to the making of a pillowcase, apron, bloomers and a simple dress. Darning stockings is taught, and many of the girls report the care of their own at home.
Mending is strongly emphasized in grade seven, together with the making of a nightdress and cooking apron. If any repair work for which the girls could be responsible is noticed, it is called to their attention, and if possible, repaired under our supervision. Some good work of this kind has been done on winter coats this month.
Success, to a certain extent, depends on the way a thing is begun, and the time spent wisely on the fundamentals in the earlier grades proves time saved when the girls reach the eighth grade, where much of the work is independent and the pupils are made to act for themselves. Dresses are the feature in this grade, and each girl is required to lay on her pattern and cut her own, under supervision.
On account of the division of time between cooking and sewing, the girls will receive but twenty lessons this year, which will necessarily make a great difference in the amount of work accomplished.
.
ANNUAL REPORT
Perhaps the following items may be of interest. Work for the year was as follows: 1 bureau scarf, 3 bathrobes, 4 camisoles, 15 cooking aprons, 2 dustcaps, 100 dresses, 24 dress skirts, 81 dress bloomers, 39 gym bloomers, 25 fancy blouses, 7 fancy bags, 13 fancy aprons, 14 kimo- nas, 161 kimona aprons, 8 middy blouses, 11 kitchen aprons, 141 night- dresses, 13 petticoats, 191 pinballs, 191 pincushions, 167 pillowcases, 159 sewing aprons, 159 sewing bags, 143 princess slips, 202 dish towels. Total 2,035 articles.
Number of girls 379.
Respectfully submitted, MINNIE A. WALKER.
Report of Director of Physical Education.
Mr. Lewis A. Fales, Superintendent of Schools:
Not so many years ago, Physical Education had no place on the school program, and even after it had been established it was considered by many only as an unnecessary fad. Now, fortunately, opinion has changed and thinking people are realizing that any system of education that does not train and develop the body cannot adequately train and develop the mind. If Physical Education is to be properly accomplished, it must begin with the young child, so a program has been arranged beginning with the second grades and continuing through the eighth.
The work in the second and third grades has consisted of simple drills with story plays for variety.
In the fourth and fifth grades the work has been fundamentally the same, with the exception that the drills increase in difficulty, more attention being paid to form. In these grades, Folk Dancing has taken the place of the story play.
The policy of work in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades has been for precision of form in the regular drills and for proficiency in organ- ized games. Throughout the grades, organized play during the recess periods has been tried out with marked success. This has been due in large measure to the splendid co-operation of the principals and teachers who go out with the pupils daily.
After School Athletics.
Football: Number of pupils taking part, 40. Bank and Bliss eighth grades. Practice sessions twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Three game series played between the two schools. All lower grades had use of football and practiced passing and kicking.
Baseball: Grammar School League comprising six teams, Sanford, Bliss, Richardson, Tiffany, Hebronville and Farmers. Fifteen game schedule played.
Bank and Bliss eighth grades. Outside schedules of twelve games for each school. Instruction periods on Tuesdays and Fridays. Many informal class and room teams. It is interesting to note here that two schools had girls' teams. Number of pupils taking part, 200.
Basketball: Grammar School League for both boys and girls. Six teams comprising each league. Both played a fifteen game schedule. Bank and Bliss eighth grades, boys and girls. Outside schedules played
177
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ANNUAL REPORT
for boys, and inter-school matches arranged for girls. The eighth grade candidates were out once a week for coaching.
Many Inter-room and Class games. All league games played at the High School. To give an idea of the work being accomplished, the following schedule shows how much the High School Gymnasium is used.
Monday : 5:30 to 7:00 Boys League Games. 7:00 to 8:00 Bliss Seventh Grade Boys.
Tuesday : 5 :30 to 7:00 Bliss Seventh and Eighth Grade Girls. 7:00 to 8:30 Richardson Boys and Girls.
Wednesday 5 :30 to 7:00 Sanford Boys and Girls.
Thursday : 5:30 to 6:30. Girls League Games. 6:30 to 7:30, Bank Street Girls. 7:30 to 8:30, Tiffany Boys and Girls.
Friday : 5 :30 to 6:30, Bank Street Boys. 6:30 to 7:30, Bliss Eighth Grade Boys.
Saturday Morning : Game period, 9:00 to 12:00.
Person in charge : Monday, Friday and Saturday Morning, Mr. Cooney ; Tuesday, Miss Snow, Mrs. Ricker, Mr. Norton, Mr. Studley ; Wednesday, Mr. Witham; Thursday, Miss Bryant, Mrs. Hill.
Number of pupils taking part, 125.
Soccer.
Interest in this sport centers at Dodgeville and Hebronville. Inter- school teams: Number of pupils taking part, 40.
Tennis.
One organized team at Bank Street School. Number of pupils taking part, 10.
Special Activities.
Skiing, Skating, Hockey, Hiking, Hare and Hound Chases, Treasure Hunts. These events usually take place durng vacations.
No pupil can participate in the above mentioned activities unless he has been pronounced physically fit by the school physician and has secured the consent of his parents.
In closing I would say that I am trying very seriously to make Attleboro second to none in physical work. My whole hearted interest is in my work, and will continue to be.
Respectfully submitted,
J. RAYMOND COONEY.
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ANNUAL REPORT
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL PHYSICIAN.
Mr. Lewis A. Fales, Superintendent of Schools:
I submit herewith my report as School Physician for the year ending December 15, 1923.
The health program as carried out in the schools, has been promoted on a broader scope than in former years.
The Nutrition work has been done, almost entirely, by the school nurse, she having the responsibility of the monthly weighing and measur- ing of all children, ten per cent or more under their normal weight. Instructions were given in each school for the recording of the collective weights of the mal-nourished children, showing the relative loss, or gain, in the under weight group of that particular room.
I cannot help feeling that our present arrangements for the teaching of health, which limit the ability of the nurse to do more, are inadequate to properly meet the needs of the situation.
The results of the physical examinations demonstrate that a closer contact between the school and the home is necessary in order that the defects may be remedied. This may be brought about, both through the medium of the school nurse and by co-operation with the family physician. A plan for closer co-operation is under consideration. In this connection, I would recommend that all notices for physical defects be mailed to the parent.
During the year there have been varied special clinics held at the schools. In the Spring, children who were ten per cent or more under- weight were examined for signs and symptoms of tuberculosis by expert clinicians. This clinic was held under the auspices of the Bristol County Health Association, at the Richardson, Tiffany, Sanford, Hebronville and Dodgeville schools. The findings of these examinations were placed on file and will be of great value in determining which children shall be enrolled in the open air room at the Bliss School, when ready for occupancy.
The School Physician has co-operated with and assisted the Health Officer in introducing the Schick Test in the schools. Over 400 children were given the test in the schools, and more than two-thirds of these took the necessary immunization treatment. These clinics will be resumed from time to time as conditions warrant.
Mentally defective children were given special examinations during the year, by Dr. Patterson of the Wrentham State School. Each case was classified and the record, placed on file. Some provision should be made at an early date for the proper care of these unfortunate children.
I wish to call your attention to the prevalence of carious teeth in the average school child. About fify per cent of all school children have dental defects needing attention. Any arrangement, whereby the dental work could be done in the school would tend to remedy this condition of affairs. The situation of adequate dental care is not clearly defined, but perhaps a solution might be found in the employment of a dental hygienist who would spend her entire time in the schools.
There were no epidemics of any seriousness during the year, except for a number of cases of chicken pox and mumps, at the Tiffany school, in the Fall. On notice of a case of broken quarantine in the Plat neigh- borhood, forty-two throat cultures were taken at the Plat School.
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ANNUAL REPORT
It is absolutely necessary that the school nurse have proper means of transportation, in order that she may carry out her work to a high degree of efficiency. If this is not provided, the employment of another nurse will be necessary. This fact may be easily demonstrated by an investi- gation of the amount of work accomplished by the nurse when proper facilities were granted. I would recommend then, that a small automobile be purchased for the use of the school nurse.
I recommend that in contemplating future building programs that consideration be given to the construction of open air rooms in any building of eight rooms or more.
I wish to acknowledge the co-operation afforded by Dr. W. O. Hewitt, Health Officer, during the year, and also wish to thank Dr. A. C. Conro for services rendered gratis to children, both at his office and at the Sturdy Memorial Hospital.
A detailed report follows.
Examinations by School Physician.
& January
February
March
67 G& April
May
15 17 9 556 June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Total
Schools visited .....
14
15
22
25
:
24
28
22
8
189
Vaccinations
3
1
. .
Vaccination Certifi- cates
4
. .
4
11
12
28
2
Physical tions
794 254
72
486
88 485 462 343 2984
Certificates for work 37
50
64
55
62
82
74
80
61 82
44 49
13 708
Office Visits ..
60
90
96
65
98
54
86 57 3
1
18
First Aid.
2
3
. .
1
1
14
94
Ether
Administra-
20
16
11
33
5
tion
2
3
2
33 19
32
38
1 169
Exclusions
19
Examina-
52 104 117 4 514
Special examinations 48
8
31
68
2
48
.
28 679
Prescriptions (Impe- tigo)
2
12
5
Home Calls.
2
4
Exams. for Athletic Teams
Respectfully submitted,
JESSE W. BATTERSHALL, M.D.
71
56
5
12
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ANNUAL REPORT
REPORT OF SCHOOL NURSE.
Mr. Lewis A. Fales, Superintendent of Schools:
I hereby submit my report as School Nurse for the year ending. December 31, 1923.
During the early part of the year an epidemic of measles manifested itself in the Tiffany School. An increase in the number of cases was noticed upon the opening of the school at the beginning of the winter term. Other cases were noted in the Washington, Briggs Corner and Farmers Schools.
Chickenpox and mumps were reported at the Tiffany School during the past month.
Health talks embracing proper care of the teeth, nutrition and other health subjects were given in the various schools.
Five hundred and seventy-six tooth brushes were sold to the pupils at actual cost, this number representing almost double those disposed of last year.
Home visits were made in each of the one hundred and twenty-five cases of children three years or more retarded, who were examined by Dr. Patterson of the Wrentham State School. Home visits were also made during May and June on selected cases resulting from the Clinics held under the auspices of the Massachusetts T. B. League. Forty-nine cases of tonsils and adenoids needing operation were followed up, and each case was reported to the family physician.
New first aid emergency boxes were constructed, filled and placed in each of the schools.
The School Nurse assisted in the Schick Test clinics during the fall.
The nutrition work as carried out this year depending upon the School Nurse for weighing and measuring the children, as well as giving health talks and instruction, is to my mind deserving of more time and attention than can be given under the present arrangements.
In making my general inspection in one of the schools, I discovered a boy, eight years of age, with club-feet. I immediately made a home visit and received the consent of the parents to take the boy to Boston to the Children's Hospital for examination. An examination was made by the Chief Surgeon and an operation was advised. The boy was entered last February and both feet were operated on, which proved successful, the boy returning home in July. Today the boy can walk and run like other boys without the aid of crutches or braces.
I wish to take this opportunity to mention the co-operation afforded by the local physicians, district nurses, Board of Health and Associated Charities.
The summary of the work follows :
Schools
Visits Schools
Visits
Bank Street.
19
Plat
14
Bliss
30
Pleasant
17
Briggs Corner
20
Richardson 46
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