USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Ipswich > Town annual report of Ipswich 1929 > Part 8
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
Through the generous assistance of Mrs. Walter Hay- ward and IZiss Bates, evergreen shrubs have been plant- ed about the front of the building, and a half-dozen Mugho pines have been set in the grass-panel between the driveways. When a good grass sod is thoroughly established, and the borders of the roads are finally locat- ed and sown to grass, the whole appearance of this en- trance will be somewhat in keeping with that of a modern school building.
I would recommend that the Town be asked for an equal appropriation this year that the work of grading may be completed as soon as possible.
This is the year of our celebrations, and the present unfinished and unsightly condition of this project, would not leave a favorable impression upon the mind of a visi- tor even if he were a native son.
The Linebrook School will need new blackboards and a few loads of gravel about the doorsteps.
Enrollment
A glance at the enrollment sheet to be found on an- other page shows for a second time that the expected did not happen. The total number enrolled for 1929 is smaller than last year's by only twenty-eight. .
From the view-point of our present industrial con- ditions this is a remarkable showing,-a genuine and gratifying surprise to every right-minded, public-spirited citizen. Obviously, it shows one or two things most con- clusively, viz :- First, that the people have a growing confidence in our schools,-they are better meeting the needs of our people, and second, that our people are more willing and desirous to keep their children in school even at the cost of tremendous self-sacrifice. Economic necessity may have been the driving force in bringing
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about these results, but it simply goes to prove that such conditions have been wisely met, and to an unusual de- gree of completeness.
Again, when we consider the growing preponder- ance in our schools of the children of foreign-born pa- rents, we must admit that some of our institutions have found acceptance with these people and that the work of Americanization is still going forward-a most grati- fying and encouraging situation.
Scanning our enrollment sheet a little more closely, we find there is more uniformity in the age and grade group totals than is to be found in previous years. Those great gaps formerly existing between the grade groups have largely disappeared. Not so many pupils are crowding into the first grade as formerly, and more are continuing on into the high school. This is an evidence of a healthy, normal growth, and points the way to a great- er rational expansion later on.
The following table will give the pupil membership according to schools in a more condensed form :
High School
333
Winthrop School
407
Burley School
324
Shatswell School
327
Payne School
107
Linebrook School
18
1,516
Text Books and Supplies
With the exception of the Junior High School, a partial recovery from the 1928 famine has been made in the matter of text books for the different schools. In this
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particular instance the deploraable condition of many of the books in use and the long term of service they have rendered make it advisable, from every point of view, to substitute new and more modern texts for the disrepu- table material now in use.
Not only are these books deficient in quality but they are lacking in quantity. In not a few instances two pupils are making use of a single book at one and the same time. We have been painfully cognizant of this condition form the beginning of the term. But we did not have the funds in hand to supply the deficiency. As soon as the new appropriation is available, the matter will doubtless receive the immediate attention its impor- tance so unquestionably deserves.
More books are needed in the lower grades. Form- erly a book was a book. One reading book frequently served for the whole family. More consideration was given to the content than to the difficulty of the text. It served but one purpose, to develop skill in the mechanics of reading. A skill developed by an unending grind and repetition, as meaningless and devoid of interest as can be imagined.
The modern type of reading book though not perfect by any means is, first of all, intensely interesting to the child, and makes him aware of a new field beyond. They tempt him to fresh adventure. Meanwhile his vocabu- lary is increasing and if his powers of comprehension are not neglected, he adds daily to his stock of information.
We need more reading material for the first three grades. It is here that we should try to establish the reading habit and begin the development of a right choice and an appreciation of those books that would be most serviceable to the child in after life. He needs many books and should know what they contain.
Let me not be misunderstood. All reading is not profitable. Some of it is most destructive and stultifying.
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It unfits one to meet the duties and responsibilities of life and dwarfs both the mind and the soul.
Books are companions. They should be wisely chos- en. It is the teacher's first duty to see that the pupil makes the right choice. Such a foundation is the best guaranty of an education well begun and of a life that will be both serviceable and satisfying.
We need other material in these elementary grades -something to take the place in part, at least, of too much of this so-called "busy work." This is rightly named and its chief function and value are implied in the name itself. But it never can be classed as profitable employment. To be sure it furnishes a little relaxation, and provides a market for the manufacturers of such material.
Carleton Washburne, the founder of the Wenetka System, has provided some excellent substitute material and I strongly recommend that it be given a trial in some of our elementary grades at once.
Maps, and charts are greatly needed in the 'grades above the fourth. I trust that ample provision will be made for all these items, each under its proper heading in the budget.
Change of Teachers
This is a perennial subject and, from present indica- tions, I expect it will remain so for sometime to come. This year has been a disastrous one to us. Six of our very best have been enticed away and have entered other folds. One was married, and the other five accepted positions in larger school systems with generous increases in salary, both present and prospective.
We wish them both success and happiness. We share their joy when they come back as they usually do,
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and tell us of their love for the school home that set them on the road to educational advancement. Ipswich may be indifferent and apathetic to the progress of those who occupy our teaching positions, though I hope not; but the cities and towns to which our teachers go, are ex- tremely pleased to receive them. I cannot, at present, recall a single instance in which these teachers have not made good and have not done honor to Ipswich schools.
But what was their gain is our loss. Yes, a distinct and telling loss. What business, individual or corporate, could long maintain its reputation and prestige if from 10 to 20 percent of the best of its employees were taken from it every year? The overturn in business is consid- ered as one of the most wasteful and damaging in its whole list of evils. Many an employer willingly reduces his profits in order to hold the men upon whose skill and integrity the success of his business so largely depends. It is his only safety, and he knows it.
The same principle applies with greater force in the conduct of a school system. In business and manufac- turing you are dealing with insensate commodities; in school, with living boys and girls which we expect are to become the hope of the world.
No permanent standard of excellence can be main- tained nor expected where such an excessive drain of its very life blood is made upon it year after year.
I still affirm, as I have frequently done before, that this is, in part, a preventable condition. Had our appro- priation been large enough one or two of these teachers could have been retained, and the break in the system as a whole been saved by so much the consequent inter- ruption. A few hundred dollars set aside yearly to meet just such exigencies would relieve the situation and as-
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sist in maintaining a reasonably high educational stand- ard.
The action of your committee in filling vacancies last year commends itself to every fair-minded person and puts the stamp of sincerity upon our work of American- ization. I doubt if your action can be duplicated any- where in the State, even in cities and towns having a genuinely cosmopolitan population.
One Greek, one Pole, and one Italian, have been added to our teaching force. I use these terms simply for the sake of clearness, and at the risk of befogging the fact that these persons are in truth unhyphenated American citizens. We feel that they must appreciate what the land of their adoption has done for them in freeing them from old world oppressions, and in provid- ing them, in trust, with such wonderful advantages and opportunities for personal advancement and patriotic service. May that trust never be betrayed, and that ser- vice be an outstanding example of simple justice and of national strength.
Salaries and Professional Advancement of Teachers
The relationship between these two items in our educational inventory is growing closer and closer each year. The normal school and the college term require- ments are of about equal length. The former wide range in salary paid the graduates of the two schools cannot much longer have any justification in theory or in fact. This advance in the scheme of equalization of prepara- tion for all grades is of the utmost significance in solidify- ing the whole teaching body into a professional entity- a profession of which none may be ashamed. A profes-
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sion, barring none, which measured in terms of import- ance and wholesome influence stands second to none.
This change of status will impose more exacting re- quirements on each individual teacher if she is to main- tain her place, and automatically reduce the number of entrants into a field already overcrowded. Only the fit and the most progressive will survive. These may de- mand better salaries, and should receive them.
The day of the millenium has not yet arrived, and those who wish to attain to the front rank will and must do more work along professional lines. Thousands are doing so at the present time, and many are the devices in use to encourage this laudable enort.
Sufficient recognition has not been given the prac- tical benefit accruing to both teacher and pupils from this line of work, but we should do so. In many cases this work has imposed a financial hardship that should not be borne by the teacher alone. Reimbursement in the shape of an increase in salary should be made to all those who elect to do this work and all should be required to do so, at least, once in three years. Some such re- quirement would prevent the rust of mental inaction and give our teaching a freshness and vitality which it some- times lacks.
Some such program is becoming more necessary each year to counteract the senseless tendency to employ only resident teachers and to compel all teachers to become residents of the cities and towns giving them employ- ment. Such a policy has its origin in the narrowest sort of provincialism and will result in mediocrity if not dis- aster.
If competition is the life of trade, it is equally so in every department of life. Said a representative of the State Board of Education at a School Committees' Con-
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vention that I attended, "If you know where there is a good teacher, go out and get him," and the meeting gave its approval. It is the infusion of new life that will not only save, but will build up to a degree that we little realize. How about the country of Japan, for example, or, to begin a little nearer home: Is it wise for the Pres- ident of our local Chamber of Commerce to use every last ounce of energy and to employ every means at his command to induce outside industries to locate in our midst? We think he is right, and commend him for the strenuous efforts he is making to build up the town. He should have a large following.
The same principle is applicable to the schools, and should always be kept in view. No political favoritism nor personal desire for popularity nor the specious argu- ments of intriguing friends should ever prevail against the inalienable right of every American child. The founders of this Commonwealth realizing that the safe- ty of our political institutions depended upon the intelli- gence and the integrity of the electorate, wisely estab- lished the system of free public schools, as the surest way to individual prosperity and national greatness. Let no child therefore be denied the best teachers in his efforts to secure these objectives.
At the present time there is no special call for this warning. But such a narrow system should never be adopted. Great changes sometimes take place suddenly, and the way back is hard and troublesome. Let there be no retreat. Let the "Best that can be obtained without reference to place, creed, or matrimonial alliances," be our school slogan for all time.
The recent additions to our corps of teachers are doing exceptionally well. They are enthusiastic, indus- trious, and conscientious. They are keenly alive to the
-
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best interest of the school, and they love the children. In womanly conduct and in character, I consider them well above the average. The start they have made is very promising. But let them beware-and may our older teachers as well,-of the time when social functions, and the inordinate love of pleasure, shall draw them away from their chosen occupation and degrade a noble pro- fession to the level of a job. Eternal vigilance, continual striving for the best, and everlasting hard work will as- sure you not only of professional success, but will bring with them that everlasting happiness as its own sure reward.
Ranks and Promotions
Any school system that fails to provide and system- atically maintain a rational standard of achievement for promotion soon loses its prestige and becomes a nonentity among kindred institutions and even in the community where it is located. This is a principle of universal appli- cation, any violation of which is usually followed by com- mensurate failure in kind and degree.
More than this, such standards are not of our own selection. They are determined first of all by the State and any concession to local sentiment is usually offset by some compensating restriction or forfeited assistance.
Parents should remember this. The well being of the whole is of more importance than that of the indi- vidual; and while we sympathize with them and shall do all in our power to assist them in their difficulties, there are limits beyond which we cannot go.
On the whole, here as elsewhere, preventive mea- sures are best. If the child, from the beginning, is given
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to understand that his advancement is dependent upon his achievements, that he must remain in the grade until. he is prepared to do the work of the next he will soon. learn to accept that dictum as final. Again, too, if the parent would acquaint herself with the limitations of her own child and adopt a reasonable attitude towards the situation, she might in many cases through the coopera- tion of the teacher, bring lasting benefit to her child and save herself many anxious moments. A sympathetic at- titude and whole-hearted cooperation are the remedies to be employed here.
But there is another side to this story where the parent appears in a better light, and that is where the parent is deceived by misleading marks. Plainly here the teacher is to blame. It is past comprehension why a teacher, after being warned and scolded and threatened, fails to realize that, in this particular phase of her work, she is dealing with an element that has no equal as a real trouble-maker.
What explanation can be given of the situation. Does the teacher wish to place herself in good standing with her principal or with the parent? Does she wish to outstrip her competitor in the same grade, and thus cover herself with a veneer of glory? Does she consciously set herself to deceive and cover up her failures by invok- ing an A or a B? In some cases, being human, she may avail herself of one or more of these subterfuges as cir- cumstances may dictate. But on the whole and speaking generally, she does none of these foolish things. I have too much confidence in the integrity of our teachers to entertain a suspicion of such conduct. But the condition exists, and there must be a reason for it. I feel that it is employed sometimes to smooth out trouble-a foolish and utterly senseless expedient,-and, lastly, through
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
sympathy for the child the teacher lets herself down hop- ing by such methods and trusting that something in the future, wholly unforseen, may arouse him to greater ef- fort. The child's home evironment and the parents in- difference to his welfare may be a compelling cause. But I don't know. I hope this last surmise may be correct.
Retarded Pupils
Since the beginning of the school year steps have been undertaken to organize a class for the better indi- vidual instruction of these pupils. Dr. Yerbury of the Danvers Insane Hospital, who is a specialist in this line of work, has been consulted and has given us many valu- able suggestions, as to the line of procedure. A canvass of the schools has been made and a sufficient number of these pupils are still awaiting the final move.
Two necessary factors are wanting and nothing fur- ther can be done until these are supplied, viz: an extra room and money for the teacher's salary. This teacher must have special preparation for her work and be sup- plied with abundant material equipment. Of course, her salary would be above the average paid to the regular grade teacher and her class would not be more than a third of the size of the ordinary class, and would embrace all grades.
Patience is still a virtue, but I am wondering how much longer the powers that be will postpone action.
Character Building
"Necessity is the mother of invention," is an old
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adage that may be amplified a thousandfold, and still be true in each and every individual aspect of the situation. Whenever a serious occasion arises, it is necessity that forces us to adjust ourselves to the changed condition or else to prepare ourselves for the new in view of the gen- eral "moral subsidence" throughout this country, it will not be necessary to urge upon you the claims suggested by the above heading. In fact one of the very last bulle- tins issued by Boston University advertises a course of instruction in this subject. Yes, both the occasion and the necessity are with us.
Unfortunately this subject cannot be taught by the textbook alone. It is a matter of training as well as of teaching, and the teaching can be best done through ex- ample. The characters of such men as Washington, Lin- coln, and Roosevelt are a heritage of which every Amer- ican schoolboy should be proud and from which fresh inspiration may be drawn as an incentive to nobler living.
So biography becomes our best source of supply, though we try to correlate it with every subject. It has, of course, a closer correlation with civics in a unified course of history, geography and civics.
Efforts are made to give concrete propositions in every ordinary situation, and nothing is so small that it cannot furnish useful material for such a purpose. Some- times these situations are quite involved, but we have al- ways found some pupils who could point out the way to a moral solution of the problem quite as well as we our- selves could do it. Do any of us live up to the light we have, or do the best we know how to do?
Lastly, if the pupil load required of our teachers was reduced so that they might be able to check up each ex- ercise, and could reasonably insist that all assignments should be correctly done, much would be done towards
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establishing the habit of right thinking and doing.
No subject in the whole curriculum can equal it in value to the individual or to society at large. Nothing else can take its place or give such a valuable return in clean, honest, manhood.
There are many other matters that should be touch- ed upon in this report, viz :- Home work, attitudes and aptitudes, absence and tardiness, Field Day, Boy and Girl Scouts, enrichment of courses, the coming celebra- tion, Red Cross Work, etc., but space forbids, and I hasten on to the presentation of those things that are of more importance to the community in general.
Health
I am convinced that a large majority of our worldly troubles are due solely to ignorance; and that fully one half of these are self-inflicted. A sad commentary, I ad- mit; but isn't it so ?
Here is a case in point. Let me tell it to you, as it was told me. It certainly set me thinking.
A father returning to his home in the early evening found his little girl suffering from a raging headache and a sore throat. He called the doctor on the phone, des- cribed the case as best he could, and asked to be advised as to how he should proceed in the case. The doctor rec- ommended some simple treatment and requested to be called again if there were no signs of improvement with- in a short time.
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Two hours later, having been called again, the doc- tor said, that he would come and see the child. On his way to the home the doctor stopped at the druggists and procured some toxin-antitoxin which was administered immediately upon arrival. Two hours later the child died of black diphtheria. He was too late. Had the in- noculation been made before, the child's life would have been saved.
Just four hours between a prosperous, happy home and a home made desolate because one was taken that could never come back. Small comfort is it, it seems to me, to make an alibi of the Almighty and say that God took her, when the only factors involved were human shortsightedness and negligence.
This story gripped me and made me aware that I had a duty towards this community that should not be evad- ed. I determined to give you the message; whether you respond or not is wholly your affair. But for the sake of your children, and of humanity generally, I hope that you may do so promptly and generously.
Now for a few facts in reference to the disease :-
"Diphtheria stands first in the United States as a cause of death among children from 3 to 9 years of age, and is a menace above that age. It also leaves many who sur- vive it with seriously weakened hearts and other physical handicaps."
"Up to six months of age 80 percent of infants are immune. This immunity is conferred upon the child by the mother. From nine months to three years, practically all children are susceptible, and from three to five years, the same holds true. From five to fifteen years, one- third of the children are susceptible. So every child should be immunized."
"The anti-diphtheria campaigns of recent years have
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produced a marked effect upon the diphtheria death rate. Auburn, N. Y. is perhaps the most striking example of the effectiveness of diphtheria prevention through concerted efforts. In 1921 this city had a death rate of 38.4 per 100,000 from this disease. In 1925 and 1926, it was 0.0 from this disease."
"San Joaquin County, California, with a death rate of 51.0 per 100,000 before the use of toxin-antitoxin in 1921 reduced the death rate to 2.6 after its toxin-anti- toxin campaigns in 1926."
"Science has pointed the way to eradicate diphthe- ria. Preventive treatment with toxin-antitoxin is sim- ple and harmless. Ten year of experience in immunizing have proved its practicability. Whether or not this dis- ease will continue to take its toll of child life depends on the initiative, public spirit and personal responsibility of parent, teachers, and community leaders.
The method of immunizing is very simple and re- quires but a few minutes of time :-
After the first inoculation a period of a week or ten days is allowed to elapse when another treatment is giv- en. At the end of another period of the same length, the third and last inoculation is given. Let it be understood that this is wholly a preventive measure which requires another testing as to susceptibility.
After another interval of rest, the child is given the Schick test which shows whether or not he is susceptible to the disease. If there is no reaction to this test, the child is considered immune for all time. He is then given a card certifying to that effect, and will be allowed to at- tend school even in times of epidemics.
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