USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Ipswich > Town annual report of Ipswich 1916-1918 > Part 22
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Instruction in housekeeping is correlated with that of the preparation of food. The pupils must acquire habits of neat- ness and efficiency while they are practicing cooking and house- keeping. Dish-washing, sweeping, cleaning, fire-building and in fact the care of all parts of the household equipment are taken up in the classes.
One class from both the seventh and eighth grades have special work in this course, and their work can include many
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things which the shorter courses cannot cover. In the fall a a great deal of canning and preserving is done, and the products have been placed on sale with the local dealers. In this way the pupils gain practical experience in canning and preserving which should enable them to take part in this work which is being done in their homes.
The study of household pests is an interesting and worthy subject to be taken up. They are studied in regard to their habits, methods of avoiding and destroying them.
The work in the High School is along the same lines as that of the grades, but is somewhat more advanced. The dishes prepared are a little more difficult, and menu making is studied by arranging and serving simple menus.
Any girl who takes this course should be able to carry on the duties of the home in an orderly and efficient manner,
ALICE K. LOCKWOOD:
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SEWING DEPARTMENT.
The work of the sewing classes is planned to give the girls a practical understanding of plain sewing and simple garment making. Here all the fundamental stitches are learned on a. practice piece and then applied on some useful article. The first article, however, is planned with the idea of the children finishing something quickly to encourage them, and it is a rice bag. When this is finished satisfactorily they may have their choice of making one of the following articles; sewing bag, school bag, duster bag and sleeve bib. Every articles which is begun must be finished before another one may be started. After this article is completed a petticoat or apron may be made.
The pupils of the sixth grade begin garment making and they learn to use simple commercial patterns. They may make a night-gown, apron, princess slip or kimono. The work here is all by hand, the chief problem being to acquire speed and to make more perfect stitches than made the year before. Besides the manual work, various material suitable for underwear are examined, and comparison is made between ready made and home made clothing with regard to durability and effectiveness. The object of the garment maker's and the designating label is explained.
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
In the seventh grade the use of the sewing machine is a special problem. Here the pupils learn about the mechanism of the machine and how to care for it, as well as how to use it. The work of this class is to make the outfit to be worn in the cooking class, which consists of apron, cap, towel and holder. The long seams are stitched by machine and the greater part of the remaining work is done by hand. There is a special class in the seventh grade that has more work, and the members of it do some extra work, making more underwear, blouses, etc. They also make a study of the various textile fibers, and are taught to distinguish imitations and adulterations in materials.
The work of the eighth grade and High School is of a somewhat broader scope, and quite a variety is made from un- derwear to dresses, waists, middy blouses and smocks. Be- sides the articles made in the prescribed course, special work is done at Christmas time, the girls making some useful article to give away. In this way the Christmas spirit of giving may be encouraged.
Repair work and darning has its place in each class. The method is learned on practice pieces and then" an article is brought from home to be mended or darned.
A knitting club has been formed which meets on Tuesdays after school, Many useful articles have been knitted by the girls for the soldiers, including sweaters, socks, mufflers, wash cloths and bandages. Squares for an Afghan have been knitted and are being crocheted together by different girls .in the club. Tho yarn for the Afghan was collected by the children who asked the townspeople for scraps of yarn? The many different colored yarns worked up together have made a bright covering for some soldier's hospital cot. The spirit of the children is ex- cellent and they enjoy being able to help in the great cause of supplying our men with comforts.
ALICE K, LOCKWOOD.
MANUAL TRAINING DEPARTMENT.
To the Superintendent of Schools,
Ipswich, Mass. Dear Sir :----
In presenting this my seventh annual report of the Manual Training Department of the Ipswich schools, I wish to call attention to a point that has not hitherto been emphasized to great extent, namely, the use of mechanical drawing.
We are following the same plan as in previous years, with carefully graded models, suited to the needs and capabilities of the different classes; but the tool work, or bench work, now is preceded in every case by a study of the model, followed by a carefully prepared drawing, After which a blue print is made.
The relationship between drawing and other manual arts in school should be the same that exists between drawing and the other arts in the great world of industry outside the school.
The aim of manual arts in school is educational; outside it is commercial. In school the result or product is of little value in comparison with the result in increased power in the worker.
Outside, the important thing is the product, and the worker is far foo often left out of consideration, But since education is to fit for living, the relationship which exists between the arts in school should be such as may be carried over profitably into
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after school life. While arranging is an art in itself, it serves as a language for transmitting thought with reference to the other arts, and it is this power to serve the others that gives it the chief place among the manual arts.
Drawing is more convenient and economical than the other arts. The architect studies his design for a house, and corrects its defects while it is still on paper. The engineer first experi- ments with his machine while he is drawing it, before it takes form in expensive iron and steel.
Thus will be seen the importance of teaching pupils to draw with ease and correctness. They must acquire a knowl- edge of forms and materials and at the same time a knowledge of the technique of drawing. The two are best acquired to- gether. Drawing acquired independent of the other manual arts lacks point, spirit and quality.
If then the relationship between drawing and the other manual arts should be the same inside and outside the school, the practical problem before the teacher of manual training is to organize his course of instruction in such a way that he will be enabled to give the fullest, broadest, most practical training in this graphic language, while keeping its natural relationship to the other arts.
In applying these principles to our own work, we use the reproduction method. The pupil examines the model in detail, taking the necessary dimensions, then making a complete and carefully figured working drawing, and finally making the ob- ject from that drawing.
This plan we are following even with the youngest boys. The simplest models are first drawn, then traced and a blue print made:
I think we shall find that this time is well spent, even though the output of finished models is not quite so great.
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After all, the boy is the only article to be put upon the market.
Respectfully submitted,
WINFIELD W. LUNT.
MUSIC DEPARTMENT.
Mr. Joseph I. Horton,
Superintendent of Schools, Ipswich, Mass.
My dear Sir: -
I am sending you, at your request, my report as Supervisor of Music in the public schools of Ipswich for the past year.
The course of study throughout the grades is fundamentally the same as last year. There has, however, been a slight change-for the better-in grade I. In previous years I have always started music reading after the child had been in school for approximately three months. I was not entirely satisfied with the results. It seemed better to wait until the child entered Grade II before giving him anything but rote songs, and accord- ingly, at the present time, nothing but rote singing is given in Grade l. And I have yet to hear any argument advanced that is strong enough to convince me that I should go back to the old method of teaching. The results under the present system are much more satisfactory and the work is more in accordance
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with the intellect of a first grade child. Grade I, then, devotes its entire year to rote songs; and music reading, scales etc. are not presented until the second year.
From then, until the pupil enters the Junior High, we en- deavor to create a love for good music, to cultivate the child voice and to teach him the fundamental principles of music reading. This requires many years of hard and consistent work both for teacher and pupil and I am satisfied that our work in the grades is somewhat above the average. Your Supervisor visits every grade once each week, which is DOUBLE the amount of time given the first four grades by more than 75 per cent. of the Supervisors. This fact can be easily verified. I wished to bring this to your attention, in order that you might know that the lower grades of Ipswich receive more time from the Supervisor than is the case in a very great majority of other towns and cities.
And now may I say just a few words for our work in the Junior High. The two seventh grades are combined for their music each day. This is also true of the two eighth grades. A half hour lesson is given four days each week. This is very fine but FIVE days would be better. Last year, Grade VIII. gave the cantata "Indian Summer" assisted by Miss Marion Brown and Mrs. Harriet Shaw as soloists with Mrs. Arthur Harold Tozer as accompanist. This was a distinct advance in the right direction and it is understood by all Junior High pupils that a concert is to be given by them each year.
At the present time, the combined grades are planning to have a "Patriotic Concert" which will be given in the very near future. If the townspeople of Ipswich would take simply a SLIGHT interest, which does not exist at present, in the music of their schools, perhaps some knowledge of what Ipswich chil- dren are doing might be obtained. Even at our concert of last year, many who should have supported it were very much in
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evidence by their absence. I sincerely trust that sometime this community may realize what music means to the child and to support the teachers who are faithfully trying to drive this fact home to them.
Before leaving the grade work, may I suggest that from three o'clock unti! three thirty is no time for a music lesson in the public schools. The child has or should have completed a hard day's work. He enters upon his lesson with anything but the proper spirit. It becomes a period of relaxation instead of work. Until this is changed, very little progress can be looked for in music.
I am of the opinion that the work in the High School has progressed more than ever during the past year. We have a new piano, which is due to the efforts of the Glee Club. We have a chorus of over a hundred voices. Also a girl's Glee Club of thirty voices. And at the present writing, plans are un- der way for the forming of a school orchestra. This is another decided advance tor the Ipswich schools, as no town or city of importance is without these essentials. But we could go even further. Courses in Harmony and Music Appreciation should be adopted. Modern and up-to-date High Schools already in- clude these subjects in the school curriculum and why not Ipswich? May I ask that you give this matter the consideration which it deserves?
Through no fault of the principal, Mr. Marston, our chapel exercises are very limited. Until some arrangement can be made whereby the Rowley pupils can arrive at the opening of schools. I am very much afraid that they must remain limited. Twenty minutes each morning should be devoted to these exer- cises but this can not be done under existing conditions. This seems to be another matter for serious consideration.
The combined "chorus" and "Glee Club" are to give a con- cert in the Spring and I think that our citizens should assist us
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in every way possible. It is the first attempt of a public con- cert by the High School chorus and it should receive the hearty support of everyone, I am sure that a study of the above conditions will show that our High School is making progress.
May I state in closing that your Supervisor is one of a com- mittee of seven, to arrange for the Eastern Music Supervisors Conference to be held in Boston May 8-9-10-11. A feature of the conference is a concert to be given in Jordan Hall, Boston, May 8, 1918, to consist of groups of pupils from the various high schools in the vicinity of Boston, making a combined cho- rus of 400 voices and I am pleased to say that the Ipswich High School will be represented by some of its students. Still more evidence that music in the Ipswich schools is appreciated by at least a few people, though strange to say, they are strangers to the Town.
May I thank you and the teachers for the very kind co-op- eration which I have received during the past year?
Respectfully, Arthur Harold Tozer, Supervisor of Music, Ipswich, Mass.
DRAWING DEPARTMENT.
Mr. Joseph l. Horton,
Superintendent of Schools,
Ipswich, Mass.
My dear Sir :-.
I herewith submit my report on Drawing. Art education in the schools of Ipswich has aimed during the past year to produce two distinct results: (1) practical, (2) cultural. The purpose of the practical work in drawing is to devel- op the pencil habit, the power of drawing freely and fluently, those basic forms of practical utility that the majority of people find it useful to represent. For this the common tool is the pencil. This phase we may call the "common-use" phase.
This is the day of discovery of the vigor, vitality, and inter- est of common things. The field of common needs, the needs of the mass of people of ordinary talents and abilities, is so clearly marked out, that we can easily select the particular object that we are sure the children will need to draw in later
life. We know perfectly well what they will be, for we know that the majority of these children will have homes; that the carpenter is a man often consulted by the rural home-maker, and when he is consulted by word of mouth and word of pencil, the right outcome of the result is doubly assured;
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that the clothes problem positively demands a pencil for its solution; that in the greater part of these homes there will be children, and the unfailing demand "draw something for me" needs to be answered by one or both of the parents.
The purpose of the cultural work is to see that every child, with or without talents, is taught to recognize the differ- ence between refinement and crudity in the ordinary aurround- ings of his every day life; the surroundings that contribute to his happiness.
The culture of the average man begins at home and at the workshop and office, in the refinement of his furniture. his clothes, books, magazines, papers and his garden. The color of his house and barn, in their setting of geeen trees, the ar- rangement of the shrubs and flowers are matters of intimate concern. and provide him with a tremendous amount of pleas- ure. His cultural needs are as clearly defined as his needs of drawing. They are so apparent that the art teacher's task of choosing what objects to teach children to select and arrange is already practically done.
(To return to drawing.) As the purpose of the work is utilitarian, every subject has been eliminated from the drawing course that does not lead obviously and directly to either the use of graphic description in the home for constructive pur- poses, or the use of graphic description as an aid in amusing the children.
In selecting the forms to memorize for our graphic vocab- ulary, we find that the majority of them are built up on the rec- tangle, triangle and circle.
The house and barn furnishings and their accessories are really made on the type forms and their modifications. For ex- ample, the bed, the bookcase, grain bin, and cupboard are all modifications of the square prism. If the typical form is mem- orized and can be turned in any position without reference to
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the model, that is, if the form is really a part of the pupils own mental (furnishings) furniture it is an easy matter for him to add the structural details and complete the story.
Our subjects then have been the large class of constructive forms such as the implements in use around the kitchen, house, barn, garden, the vehicles, the buildings themselves and the furnishings of the building and the people, birds and ani- mals.
While the work in free-hand drawing has been done along lines as practical as possible in work of this nature it is in the mechanical department that most of our efforts and time have been put.
This year for the first time this phase of drawing has been introduced into the elementary grades, beginning with the fourth. The success attained in these grades has been even greater than we had hoped for. The work has been done as part of the course in manual training, the two courses being so fitted one to the other as to make possible a practical appli- cation of the work in drawing to the subsequent problems in manual training.
The work which, of course, has been confined to the boys entirely has resulted in each boy having a definite knowledge before he begins work of each model he completes in the shop. This work has been of inestimable value to the boy, teaching the importance of strict attention to small details and putting his work in the shop on a basis farther removed trom the school atmosphere and brought more closely to shop conditions than ever before.
Each boy before starting his shop work had to complete his working drawing and work from that. In the case of the older boys a great many succeeded not only in making the re- quired drawing on paper but in transferring these to regulation tracing cloth, from which the boys themselves made blue prints.
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This of course stimulated greater effort on the part of the boys, besides lending vastly more interest to the work gave it a shop touch which it would be impossible to get in any other way.
Special attention has been paid in all departments to let- tering, as we have considered this to be one of the most import- ant phases of this work. In this as in other branches the work has been carried out along practical lines.
It has been the aim of the work in all branches to make the problem as practical as possible and to correllate all depart- ments with the work in such a way as to make drawing not "a. thing apart," but a helpful and in fact a necessary part of the school life of the child as well as a thorough preparation for the problems of his later every day life.
WILLIAM M. MURPHY.
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DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL INSPECTION.
REPORTS OF THE SCHOOL PHYSICIAN AND SCHOOL NURSE.
To the Superintendent of Schools.
Ipswich, Mass.
Dear Sir :--
The school physician's report this year will be brief. Its keynote will be conservation, and its essence, facts. Its rec- ommendations, which have been carefully considered, will be in few words.
As to conservation: Paper and space cost money. There- fore, many interesting details will be omitted. They are in our files, however, and anyone who cares to do so may see them.
Now as to facts: Our system of medical inspection has
been in operation ten years. For four years its findings have been recorded in a card index system which is a permanent record on file, of each pupil examined. Much has been done to remedy defects shown by these examinations, but much sit !! remains to be done. What has been accomplished is the result of ten years' consecutive work, and the efforts of the school
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nurse, who has taken up these matters with the parents, and in- duced a material number of them to have the children's teeth and throats looked after, as well as many other defects the ex- aminations have shown. I cannot too strongly emphasize the value of the school nurse's work. It is carried on from several angles, and the school department knows the reason when a child is absent one day. This is through co-operation of the nurse with the attendance officer, whereby the nurse visits the child's home and the reason for such absence is ascertained and checked up in the superintendent's office. The nurse also visits the schools regularly, and in addition assists at all physical ex- aminations. The nurse's report which is appended, will show the scope of her work,
The new equipment provided for the medical inspection department includes a first-aid outfit and was installed before the beginning of the school year in a room in the new Winthrop annex, provided for that purpose. It adds much to the econo- my and efficiency with which the work of the physician and nurse can be carried on.
Equipment for the Dental Clinic has been installed at the Cable Hospital and I have been informed by a member of the dental staff that they will be ready to begin work soon. The children are ready, and I assume by the time this report is pub- lished the work will be going on.
To conserve and develop the health of the children I would recommend organized play for the small children along line; I am prepared to suggest. For the older children, physical train- ing through calesthenic exercises, and athletics such as base ball, foot ball, basket ball and tennis for those who can take them. Athletics I am aware can be taken only by the few, but the scheme as a whole would be for the benefit of all.
I would also recommend that as a part of the instruction in hygiene that "Sanitary Squads" be formed in each school to look
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after their own buildings and grounds and see that they are kept clean. Even the youngest children can take part under the direction of their teachers and different squads can serve in rotation so that all may have a chance. This will develop power of observation, order and a sense of responsibility in the individual child to an extent that is bound to be beneficial in after life.
The State departments of both Health and Education are studying the question of standardizing medical inspection in all the schools of the commonwealth, and surveys have been made. This is a large question that must be solved in the near future, and these war times have emphasized its need. I feel that what has been done here in constructive work in building up our system places us in advance of the average town of our size and resources; and we should aim to so develop the work here that when the day of standardization comes our demon- strated efficiency will place us well towards the top of the list. It can be done, and if public sentiment calls for it it will be done.
Respectfully Submitted, G. E. MacARTHUR, M.D. School Physician.
Ipswich, January 15, 1918.
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REPORT OF THE SCHOOL NURSE.
To the Superintendent of Schools.
Ipswich, Mass. Dear Sir :-
Since the beginning of the present school year I have de- voted more time to the work than in previous years and now have it arranged upon a systematic basis. In addition to regu- lar visits made to each school, I have followed up cases of sickness in the homes and also absence reported by the attend- ance.officer and have thus been able to check up the reason for every case of absence. I have also assisted the school physician in the physical examinations and have tabulated the results of these examinations. I have also under the di- rection of the school physician sorted out from these lists the names of these in need of dental treatment.
I am much interested in the study and development of this work and extend hearty thanks to teachers, pupils and parents for their co-operation. Below is a brief summary of the work done.
Visits to schools, 192. Every school, every school room twice a week.
Visits to children in their homes, 669.
Children taken to dentist, 14. 30 visits.
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Children taken to hospitals, 4, for tonsils and adenoids, 12. Dressings for minor injuries, 5.
Exclusions from schools:
Chicken Pox 49.
Measles 24.
German Measles 6.
Whooping Cough 39.
Pneumonia 8.
Diphtheria 1.
Scarlet Fever 1.
Total 128.
Respectfully submitted, MARTHA J. STEWART, School Nurse.
Ipswich, January 15, 1918.
REPORT OF ATTENDANCE OFFICER.
To the Superintendent of Schools, ·Ipswich, Mass. Dear Sir :--
The number of absences from the various schools has been somewhat greater than usual during the past few months, on account of the prevalence of measles and whooping cough which have been quite widespread since the opening of the schools in September. The teachers of the different schools are required to report to the Attendance Officer each morning the names of all absentees and I have endeavored to look up all those who are thought to be absent without just cause.
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