USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Ipswich > Town annual report of Ipswich 1920 > Part 10
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The routine of school work is not far different from last vear.
The study hall has been done away with, and all pupils are seated in the rooms of the two lower floors. This saves much time and walking for both teachers and pupils, and also does away with the services of a teacher for the study hall alone.
The program has been divided into six periods rather than seven, allowing more time for each recitation. Each pupil is
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given some time for study supervised by the instructor of that particular subject.
Each pupil is required to learn the spelling and definition of ten words each day. This lesson is written by every pupil at the beginning of the afternoon session and requires only five minutes, but we feel that results are beginning to show through- out the school.
A systematic study of grammar is taken in each English class and although such work is taking time from the required work in English we feel that the time is well spent.
All pupils entering the school this year were required to take algebra. I feel that each pupil in high school should have a year's training in algebra as a foundation for any work he may wish to take up.
The pupils, for the most part, are interested in the school and a large proportion is doing creditable work, even though very few are reaching the 90 per cent rank.
Some pupils are doing satisfactory work with almost no out- side study but the average pupil cannot expect to prepare for a creditable graduation without some home study. I cannot say how much time a pupil should study at home, but unless the pupil is obtaining a rank of 80 or over he is either failing to ap- ply himself to definite study or he is not prepared for the work he is attempting. The pupil is in school only five hours and and forty minutes a day and twenty minutes of that time is given over to relaxation and physical exercise. If necessary I believe the pupil could study at least two hours at home withcut injury to his health.
I have placed the responsibility largely upon the pupil for I believe we should teach the value of individual responsibility. However, the parent can help definitely and I believe we are justified in asking the co-operation of the parent.
First, to see that the pupil is never allowed to stay out of
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school unless absolutely necessary.
Second, to see that the pupil starts to school on time.
Third, to provide a suitable place for home study and set aside a definite time when the pupil may study undisturbed.
Fourth, to visit the school, know the teachers, and under- stand the conditions under which the pupil works.
Along with the routine of school work the average pupil de- mands some other interest, and first of all I wish to speak of school athletics as that undoubtedly gives the maximum change from study.
Regular physical exercise is held daily under pupil leader- ship and no doubt this not only serves the greatest number of pupils as a regular physical exercise but develops leadership and spirit as well.
Foot-ball, at best, serves only a very limited number of boys, and I doubt the personal gain to the boy from foot-ball un- less regular practice is held under a qualified coach. In fact I feel that very little value is gained from any school athletics with- out regular instruction and training. We have, during the fall, had a series of inter-class games in which many took part We had one interscholastic game with Manchester High, and even though the team played hard and showed the best of sportsman- ship we were unable to win from lack of definite training.
The girls entered into basket-ball with much enthusiasm during the fall, but were unable to continue the practice as the weather became unsuitable for outside work. An effort was made to secure a hall, but there seems to be no available place for basket-ball or other indoor athletics.
Hockey seems to be the only opportunity to sport during the winter and, as thisis governed wholly by weather conditions, there is little to encourage regular training.
The prospects for baseball are good for I believe the boys realize that first of all they must be representative of the school
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in scholarship. A pupil, to represent the school in athletics, must have passed at least three of his studies during the ranking per- iod previous to the period in which he wishes to compete.
The school has undertaken various other activities with the hope of aiding pupils to better adjust themselves in the school and community.
The English Club, under the direction of the English de- partment, has a membership of those who have attained a rank of 90 or over or shown excellence in some special line of Eng- lish work. The school was represented in the Boston Traveler Short Story contest and we are pleased to say that two of the 125 stories, given honorable mention, were those of Julia Dough- ty and Dorathy Shaw. There were 1107 stories submitted from all over New England and we feel just a little pride that the pupils of this school should enter the contest, and make a cred- itable showing.
During the fall the English Club has given a series of enter- tainments, including debates, original parts and a play.
The French Club holds regular meetings under the direct- ion of the French teacher, with the hope of aiding the pupils in the speaking of French.
Each member of the school has taken part in some form of speaking exercise during the fall. Some of these exercises have been in the form of declamations, but more have been given as entertainments or lectures.
The school has made general use of the lanterns and slides owned by the town, but in addition we have had three sets of slides loaned by Fogg Museum of Harvard University. These were along lines of Ancient and English History.
Many of these exercises have been public with the hope that parents would come to the school, for I wish the parent to realize that the daily work of the school is public, and if we, as teachers, are to do our best work parents must visit the school
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and co-operate with us. I sincerely hope to see the person, in- terested in each pupil. as a visitor at school before the close of the school year.
In conclusion allow me to express my sincere appreciation and thanks for the helpful co-operation of pupils, teachers, and you as Superintendent of Schools.
Respectfully submitted, R. C. WHIPPLE.
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL.
To the Superintendent of Schools,
Ipswich, Mass. Dear Sir :-
This year the work of the Junior High School has gone along with less interruption than in previous years. We are fortunate in having very good teachers but on account of illness there has been considerable absence among them.
Early in the fall, Miss Nason, our Drawing teacher, became ill. Her four periods a week have been willingly taken by the other teachers who occupy the time for extra drill in other subjects.
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The Junior High School has again increased in numbers; so much so that we were obliged to make three divisions of the seventh grade in order to accommodate the pupils in any one room. This necessitates our using the hall or dressing room for recitations part of the time. With the use of settees we get along very nicely. With these five classes we were obliged to have the aid of another teacher and Miss Abby Smith came to our assistance.
The attendance throughout the building has been exception- ally fine the last four months. In some rooms it has been very nearly perfect. Tardiness is mostly due to the parents sending their children on errands to the store or Post Office. This is es- pecially the case before school in the morning.
We have tried to lay more stress on three subjects this year, - Oral Composition, Writing and Civics. The work in Oral Composition is conducted in the same manner as was dem- onstrated at our graduation exercises last June. The class is divided into groups, each group with a leader. The leaders conduct the recitation receiving criticisms of the class and teach- er. Each group has a different type of composition every week. This manner of conducting the recitation creates much interest and those reciting take much pride in doing their best, They are very careful of their English as they know they will be criti- cized; and in return their classmates are very attentive and on the alert every moment.
The improvement in writing under the direction of the su- pervisor with the effort of pupils and teachers is very gratfying.
Some of our pupils are excellent writers and all are improv- ing. In most cases the regular teachers have persistently urged and demanded good position in all written work. This is the only way by which good writing can be obtained.
In previous years the eighth grades have studied Civil Gov- ernment and Civics. This year the work in Civics has been
.
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along the line of Community Civics. The amount of civic infor- mation that boys and girls need, in general, should be such as to lead to an appreciation of community welfare and of the means by which such welfare may be attained.
It has been the aim of the lessons this year to teach the boys, and girls, that efficient democracy requires a high level of civic intelligence; that apathy is as formidable an enemy to de- mocracy as ignorance; that efficient democracy requires spirit and habit of co-operation; a source of personal responsibility; loyalty to community ideals and a habit of obedience.
The knowledge of the working of the government, - local, state, and national, comes as the logical sequence of a thorough understanding of the responsibilities that these young citizens have in relation to their homes, their school and their com- munity.
The Civic League, as a part of this study, gives the pupils their first insight into Parliamentary law and the manner of conducting a meeting.
Very few children have been promoted into higher classes this last quarter. The few to whom this opportunity has been given are doing very good work and will pass the required standards if they continue in the good work already started.
At the end of the month each teacher in the building is re- required to submit a summary of the work accomplished during the month. In this way we hope to keep in touch with the work of each grade and each teacher. Teachers of the same grade may consult these outlines to compare work.
We are trying to cover more work in the sixth and seventh grades in Arithmetic, or rather, to do the work more thoroughly, that we may have more time for the advance work of the eighth grade, and a general review of the subject together with the re- quired Business Arithmetic.
The seventh grade pupils are greatly enjoying their new
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Geography. The topical method of study is used with much map study. The children bring in outside information from newspapers and magazines.
The teachers who have the Spelling in charge have worked to familiarize their pupils with the dictionary. The words are looked up. their meanings and pronunciations given, and then the words are used in sentences.
Miss Stewart, the school nurse, has been giving, each week, to the seventh and eighth grade Physiology classes, very inter- esting and useful talks on practical Hygiene. The object of these talks is to instruct the children in the care of their health and impress upon them the habits of right living. Review ques- tions on these lessons are included in the quarterly tests given in Physiology by the regular teacher. Talks suitable to the age of the pupils are given by Miss Stewart each week throughout the grades of the building.
Some two years ago the Junior High School sent a column to the local paper. This was continued for some time, but, with the lack of interest on the part of the pupils, it was dropped. The work has been resumed again this year and for several weeks the eighth grade pupils have furnished a column or more for the paper. The class has elected an editor, an associate editor, and ten secretaries. These officers obtain the material used from the regular school work and from clippings brought in by their classmates.
It is hoped that the interest of the pupils, which is great at present, can be maintained during the year. This kind of work gives them excellent training in the selection of what's worth while, and in the construction of good English.
A new plan of visiting day has been inaugurated in the Winthrop School. It was with some misgivings that we started these parents' afternoons for fear that the friends and parents would not respond to the invitation. But we were very agree-
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ably surprised. On the first visiting afternoon held in November we had over fifty visitors. Our second was held on the Thurs- day before Christmas. Over twenty-five friends came to help their children enjoy their Christmas exercises.
We propose holding these visiting afternoons the last Friday of each month during the school year. All paernts and friends are cordially invited. The regular work of the school will be shown, unless, perhaps the day may precede some holiday wben appropriate exercises will be held.
Our pupils are expected to do more or less home studying every evening. Special work in some one or two subjects is given each day. Monday evening is the time given to Englishs Tuesday is allotted to History and Geography; Wednesday to Arithmetic; Thursday to special studies; and Friday to Physi- ology and Civics. Occasionally a parent reports that his child gets no home work. If such is the case the child is deceiving his parents, and will, no doubt, fail promotion.
Our club work has been growing less since the close of the war. Three clubs were organized this year, -- the poultry, can- ning, and bread-making clubs. Early in the year Miss Norris, the State leader, and Mr. Bergstrom, the county leader, organized a bread-making club. This club held an exhibition in May and three of the girls were awarded prizes, - Evelyn Webber, Nat- alie Brown and Elizabeth Bruce. The poultry club is quite large and is still doing good work. Mr. Bergstrom has made several visits to encourage the members, and Mr. Nodine of the Essex Agricultural School has given talks illustrated by stereop- ticon pictures. In connection with the club, Rev. Mr. Ward has very kindly given two very interesting addresses before the school on Poultry Keeping.
Late in October the canning club held an exhibition, while some of the members had not completed the required work. those who did, had had an excellent exhibit. The first prize
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was awarded to Margaret Phelan; the second to Ruth Denning- ham; and the third to Marjorie Gillis.
On December twenty-first, in Manning Hall, the Junior High School held it's Forefathers' Entertainment of songs, drills and dialogues. The attendance was very good and we are grateful to those parents and friends who came out to encourage the children. The eighth grade pupils who gave the entertainment, with the help of the seventh grade singing, have shown a won- derful spirit of helpfulness and co-operation. A rehearsal was held one afternoon when school had closed on account of a heavy rainstorm. Not a pupil absented himself that afternoon. This kind of school spirit is very gratifying to the teachers and makes the work with the children a great pleasure.
Many of the pupils, who entertained, spoke for the first time in public. Every member of the eighth grade had some part in the program
Physical Training, including setting-up-drills, supervised play and folk dancing, has been faithfully carried out by the teachers under the direction of the supervisor. Competitive set- ting-up-drills between boys and girls are occasionally held. The pupils try hard to excel in this work.
The boys of the Junior High School, with foot-ball, base- ball, dodge-ball, and other games, always find some healthful enjoyment. Many of the boys belong to the " Boy Scouts. " There are no games or club work in which the girls are especial- ly interested so they have been anxious to form a club of some kind. Acting on Mr. Horton's suggestion, we are organizing a troop of " Girl Scouts." We have several teachers who are wil- ling to lead the girls. The meetings will be held in the school building with one of the teachers as leader. In this way they will be under the control of the school, a part of the school. Where all the girls may take part in this work the movement should help toward the moral and physical betterment of the
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children and of the school.
' The teachers of the Junior High School have, this year, aimed not only to train the children thoroughly in the means of acquir- ing knowledge and expressing it; but also to open the world to the mind of the children by information drawn from many fields of human activity, and to acquaint them with some of their dut- ies and privileges as citizens and as members of society.
Respectfully submitted, KATHARINE F. SULLIVAN
Department of Medical Inspection and Hygiene.
Report of the School Physician.
To the Superintendent of Schools,
Ipswich, Mass. Dear Sir :-
While the object of this report is to present to you as briefly and as clearly as may be the facts pertaining to the work performed by this department together with certain pertinent deductions therefrom, it has the further object of trying to make them plain to the average reader.
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It is to be regretted that the average person does not take the trouble to read town departmental reports, and it is therefore not to be expected that this report will be read to any great ex- tent. That fact, however, does not excuse one from trying to make the report as comprehensive as possible; and in order to give it a foundation, the synopsis recently submitted to you from this department in answer to inquiries from schools in other towns regarding what Ipswich is doing in educational health work, is herewith given:
CONSTRUCTIVE HEALTH WORK.
What the Ipswich Public Schools are doing along the lines of medical and sanitary inspection, general hygiene and phys- ical training.
By whom the work is done, under the direction of the Su- perintendent of Schools:
1. The School Physician examines all pupils annually and makes records of each on a form that provides a complete health history from the first grade to the last year in the High School; inspects all schools each term, makes visits for special examina- tions and diagnosis, when called upon by the teachers, the school nurse, or the Superintendent of Schools; inspects the san- itary conditions of buildings and grounds, and acts as an advisor to the Superintendent of Schools, and the School Committee; examines pupils for industrial certificates.
2. The School Nurse assists the school physician at all exam- inations, keeps all records of the same, makes a daily inspection of pupils, gives daily instruction in hygiene through health talks in the various schools, co-operates with the attendance offi- cer in cases of absence, makes home visits to children absent be- cause of sickness, keeps a record of all contagious diseases and co-operates with the Health Department regarding the exclusion from school of such cases; gives first aid and treatment in minor injuries and sends notice to parents of conditions revealed by
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the examinations, which may require medical advice; takes chil- dren to dental and other clinics.
3. The Physical Director has charge and direction of the physical training which is carried on by the teachers and the group leaders under them. The various things above mentioned are not necessarily in the order of their importance. but in the order in which they were introduced into the schools. Physical training is of the highest importance, and the value of the con- structive health work now carried on is due to the harmonious co-operation that exists in the three divisions of the work.
The work as a whole is well organized and functions smoothly. When the State establishes a standard for towns, as it doubtless will in the near future. Ipswich should be able to ad- just itself to that standard with little difficulty.
In the nurse's annual report, which is to follow, is 'given in detail a large amount of information dealing with the findings of the department as a whole.
These findings show that of the 1079 children examined, 427 showed health defects of sufficient gravity to necessitate sending to the parents the forms of notice provided by the State. These forms show what the defects are and advise the parents to consult a physician or dentist as the case may require. There is nothing compulsory about these notices and the parents mav ignore them if they wish -- but generally they heed them and as a result many of the defects are corrected. The examinations each year show that a goodly percentage of the defects recorded the year before have been treated, thereby preventing further development of diseased conditions, in many instances effecting a permanent cure.
Two cases of incipient tuberculosis were disclosed by the examinations in September, and as a result measures were taken whereby the children may be restored to health. Had these cases not been early discovered, it might have been a different story.
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Another result of these examinations is that 72 children were treated at the Dental Clinic at the Cable hospital, and 114 by private dentists, making in all 186 children who received treatment for defective teeth. This is a part of the practical in- tensive work performed by the school nurse. There were also performed 32 tonsil-adenoid operations, and treatment was fur- nished for a number of other conditions which the examinations revealed. All of which results were obtained by the painstaking care of the nurse.
It would be impossible in a report of this kind to state in detail all that has been attempted and all that has been accom- plished through the work of this department. The instances cited above, however, are fairly representative of the conditions which the department is trying in a practical way to meet.
The most serious single problem met with among the. chil- dren is that of underweight, which is in many instances due to impaired nutrition. It is the same problem which the army found in the draft, and in about the same proportions. It ranges about the same among the school children of Ipswich as in other places. The records of the army show that the training exercises to which all recruits were subjected had a martial beneficial in- fluence upon all those of relatively poor nutrition, and a gain in weight was the almost universal result. In the physical training as carried in our schools with the setting-up. exercises, semi-mil- itary in character, results are already apparent in improved nu- trition, and if it were possible for school children to be fed in the same scientific way, their ages considered, as those who re- ceive military training, there would doubtless be still further improvement. Of course this is not practical, but it does suggest certain things that may be done to help, which other places have tried and found to be beneficial. One of these is through school lunches.
School lunches are served in Boston and most of the sub-
.
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erbs. Notable results have been obtained in Brookline and other places throughout the State. Some places, notably Chico- pee, a fair sized citv, and Falmouth, a small town, have tried it in group units and have found that, as a result of morning recess luncheons, the pupils in these units have increased in weight considerably bevond the children outside these groups. Many other places could be mentioned where this has been tried with like results, but these places are mentioned as good examples of an industrial city and a rural community of widely varying con- ditions, where similar good results were obtained.
The lunches were simple in character, soup, milk. and cocoa being served, sometimes one, sometimes another. All of the things mentioned could be served without much expense or trouble even in what might be called rural schools. Any system of schools having a well organized domestic science department is in a position to try this experiment on the group unit plan with a minimum of expense. It is certainly worth the thoughtful care and consideration not only of the school authorities, but of the parents of the community as well.
Suggestions: Closer co-operation between the departments of hygiene, physical training and domestic science, and also with the teachers as a unit. Such co-operation would work to the advantage of all in a health educational sense. Occasional talks by the school nurse and the school physician to the teachers would help to an all around understanding of the problems in- volved, and out of the free discussion that would be sure to arise at such meetings, all could gain a little something more to pass on to the benefit of the children,
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