USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > Town annual report of Middleborough, Massachusetts 1947 > Part 7
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Another feature of the instruction is the trips taken by the groups for educational purposes. A Boston trip included a visit to Squires' meat packing plant and the New England Sportsmen Show; other class trips were local to farms and bogs.
The Future Farmers of America program presents many opportunities for local chapter participation in instruction, competition, travel, and enjoyment. The main feature of the year was the trip in October of four students and the instructor, at their own expense, to Kansas City for the National F. F. A. Convention. It gave opportunity for the many educa- tional aspects of cross-country travel and for accumulation of ideas from farm boys from all over the United States.
Another program had two boys representing Middleboro in the F. F. A. public speaking contest in the state, held at the Jamaica Plain High School. They did creditably for the time that they had for preparation.
Something new was tried this year in the form of a summer schedule of a meeting and a social event each month. It is felt that such a program could assist in keeping the boys school-conscious at a time when they are out on the job and apparently most tempted to sever school relations and withdraw.
The judging competitions at Fairs and at Amherst found Middleboro representatives placing well, both in individual records and as teams.
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At Brockton Fair, the Dairy Cattle Judging Team finished fifth; one boy was second man in the contest, with two others among the leaders. At Amherst, this same team finished fourth of nineteen teams, but only ten points of 1,500 out of first place. All three contestants were in the top twenty, making them eligible to return to Amherst in March to try for the State team. A Milk Judging Team of three boys finished sixth of twelve at Amherst, with two of them eligible to return in March for the State team try-outs.
The place of the American Farmer in his business, in his community, and in his country are changing. In contrast to the days when the farmer lived on his own farm, using the methods taught to him by older genera- tions, being self-sufficient, and so busy making a living that he lost con- tact with the world, the trend is now toward a need of knowledge of crop and stock production with more machinery, understanding of marketing methods, and a corresponding interest in his neighbors' activities. Thus, the farmer is growing out of his acres and becoming an active social and political factor on a worldwide scale. It is the attempt of the local depart- ment, by its many-sided program of activities, to so shape the character of its today's youth as to assist them to be tomorrow's successful performers.
The community with a healthy agricultural program supported by thrifty farmers is usually a progressive place where fine looking schools and churches are supported by folks who possess a great deal of pride in their town.
Institutional On-Farm-Training Group
During the past year, nineteen veterans were enrolled in the Middle- boro Institutional On-Farm-Training Group Agricultural program. Twelve worked under Farm Trainers who operated commercial cranberry bogs. The objective in most cases was to gain the fundamentals in cranberry culture and acquire a bog of their own. However, like most everything else, good cranberry bogs and good bog land went sky rocketing in price so several veterans dropped out because inflation dimmed their hopes of getting started in cranberry production right away. Since they were so intensely interested in cranberry culture, I look to see the time come when they eventually will get established in the cranberry business. In the meantime, they are tentatively employed at other work.
Two veterans already own bogs of their own and have made excellent progress. Two veterans are enrolled in poultry work on their own farms. One veteran in North Middleboro is enrolled in the dairy division as of October 20, 1947. One of the local veterans has a greenhouse and the increased business he has done during the past year is testimony in itself for his achievement.
Each veteran's program during the year calls for fifty assembled hours of class instruction, one hundred hours of individual instruction on the farm, and two hundred fifty hours of assigned related home study accom- panied by a full time work program.
Working with veterans has been one of the most pleasant experiences in my teaching career. The courage and seriousness with which these fellows pursue their duties is very stimulating to every one associated in any way with them. The ordeals that many of the veterans have experi- enced during the war makes them want to make up for lost time and get things done in a hurry. They seem to feel they are growing old fast and have no time to waste.
Therefore, anything we can do to eliminate red tape and help the veterans to speed along towards their final objective, is a move in the right direction. Everyone of the veterans enrolled in this program at Middleboro appreciate what you folks are helping to make possible for them.
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Our Program in Music (From the report of Luther Churchill, Supervisor)
Vocal music in the grades continues as in the past. The teachers are following closely the course of study provided for them and this year I am visiting each room every three weeks.
In the sixth grade at Bates School, one finds a very difficult situation which cannot be corrected at the present time. These children receive a total of eighty minutes a week in two periods of forty minutes each. I visit the combined sixth grades once each month and every effort is made to keep up with the course of study for sixth grade. Every music teacher knows that fifth and sixth grade children can absorb more theory and learn more songs than at any time during their entire school life, therefore, it is disheartening to me to find our sixth grades retarded in musical growth. This is not the fault of anyone but rather due to our crowded school conditions.
Seventh and eighth grade vocal music is closely following the regular program of part songs and lessons in music appreciation. The eighth grade presented their annual operetta before an audience of appreciative parents and friends, and I should like to commend Mr. Burkland again for the wonderful work he does with these children. This is the most difficult year for teaching vocal music. The voices of the boys and girls are changing so rapidly that they have difficulty in singing, yet every boy and girl in the eighth grade has a definite part in the operetta. Without Mr. Burk- land's motivating energy, I am sure our eighth grade music would not measure up to the average.
One of my ambitions in the teaching of public school music has been to have an a capella choir in high school and this year I have had my ambition realized. In addition a training choir of about eighty voices meets once a week. The method of good voice production is discussed, vocalises by parts are sung, individual singing and microphone technique are also a part of our high school vocal program.
The course in harmony which was inaugurated in the 1946-47 pro- gram has already produced results. Alma Mater, M. H. S. was composed by a member of this class while the words were written by a member of the class of 1948. It is also of interest that one of the members of this class succeeded in entering Syracuse University Music School where the requirements for entrance are notably high. She was one of the fifteen students accepted from a total of forty-five applicants.
Any student attending high school having the third, fourth, fifth or sixth periods free may attend a class in music appreciation. This is the second year of this course and introduces the students, through a step- wise process, to a better understanding of symphonic literature. Not only do they attain a better understanding of the four choirs of the modern orchestra but they learn how to listen to music in order to get the full benefit of what the composer intends to portray.
The instrumental program in our schools has reached a stage of tre- mendous proportions. The high school orchestra is becoming more and more difficult due to the lack of students studying stringed instruments. This condition exists throughout the country and is mainly due to the band programs that have superceded the orchestral programs. It is of interest to note that at a recent meeting of music educators in Boston an entire morning was devoted to a discussion of the causes of the lack of interest in orchestral music and what we, as music educators, should do about it.
Much is being done in Middleboro to offset this serious condition. Middleboro offers free lessons in the strings to students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades and I have made a special effort to interest children
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in studying violin and cello. This year I am rehearsing a group of sixth grade children during the noon hour and have formed an orchestra which should stimulate this activity. The Bates School Orchestra meets every Tuesday after school and `consists of twenty-eight players, only five being violinists. I expect to form a small orchestra at the School Street School very soon.
The personnel of the High School Band consists of 94 students. Seventy-four are playing members of the band, the rest are members of the Twirling Corps, managers, custodians, etc. There are thirty-nine players in the Bates School Band and a Twirling Corps of about twelve. This band continues to provide good material for the High School Band. However, there is a serious situation developing when these students reach high school and are admitted to the High School Band. There are no rules of any kind governing the requirements for admittance to the High School Band. Therefore, we have several on the band roster that have taken a minimum of instruction, have been admitted to the band, and then stopped their lessons. With such a large group to direct this has become a problem. It is a stupendous task to direct 74 players when several of them are not proficient. In order to rectify this, I should like to recommend adoption of the Medford High School Band Test printed below for entrance into our High School Band.
"MEDFORD HIGH CONCERT BAND TEST"
1. Student must be passing in all major subjects.
2. Illustrate the following band postures: Pre-concert rest; Concert rest; Attention; Playing.
3. Demonstrate the ability to breathe correctly.
4. Demonstrate the ability to tune instrument.
5. Construct eight measures using the following signatures: 4.4; 3.4; 6.8; 2.4; 3.8; 2.2; 12.8; 6.4. None of the measures to be alike. Make use of the following kinds of notes and rests: whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, dotted half, dotted quarter, dotted eighth, dotted sixteenth and double dotted sixteenth.
6. Sustain a tone for forty-five seconds. 30 seconds on the tuba.
7. Play the chromatic scale ascending and descending the practical range of the instrument; half staccato and half legato.
8. Play from memory the following major scales: C, F, Bb, Eb, G, D. and A.
9. Direct the following time: 4.4; 3.4; 2.4; 6.8.
10. Compare the following tempi: Grave, Largo, Lento, Adagio, Andante, Andantino, Moderato, Allegretto, Allegre, Presto.
11. 200-word theme on the proper care of your instrument.
12. Be up to grade in Practice Report Card.
The expense of carrying on the instrumental program is running into larger amounts than the music department can earn. Many of the school owned instruments have been in use since the band was organized in 1930 and are in constant need of repair. At the end of the 1946-1947 school year, the music department was $360 in debt. This has been repaid with the earnings of the band since September 1947, so we are starting the year without any funds with which to pay our bills. One can readily see that as this program grows the expense of carrying it along rises, and I am making a recommendation to assist with the expenses involved. .
A recent check of the number of students studying with private teachers was most encouraging. Mr. Donald Hayward of South Easton has extended his program so that he is teaching flute, clarinet and saxophone on Monday, Tuesday and a part of Thursday. Mrs. Belmont teaches'
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violin at the School Street School on Tuesday mornings and has a full schedule. Luther Churchill, Jr., of Elmwood has a class of pupils on brass instruments on Thursdays. Mr. Myron Thomas has a large class of pupils and several other teachers have small classes. I have also started three members of the High School Band teaching beginners.
This has been a very busy year for the music department. The various bands, orchestras, vocal groups and soloists have made twenty-six appear- ances before the public. Your Supervisor again managed the All New England Festival Chorus which was held in Brattleboro, Vermont. Also, he was a speaker before a conference of Maine Music Educators held in Lewiston, Maine. The High School Band played three concerts, Memorial and Armistice Day parades, Tabor Academy graduation, Boston Garden for basketball finals, dedication of the playground flag pole, five home football games, Fenway Park for the Colgate-Boston University football game, Massachusetts School Music Festival at Medford and the New Eng- land School Music Festival at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The High School Orchestra played for the Teachers' Play, Senior Class Play, Senior Class Graduation and two assembly programs. The Bates School Band played in the Memorial and Armistice Day parades. The Bates School Orchestra played for the P. T. A. night at the high school, Bates Operetta, Teachers' Play and Bates Promotion Exercises. The High School Choir assisted the band in the spring concert and sang for several assemblies at high school. The new a cappella choir sang for an assembly at Bates School, for a meeting of the Middleboro Alumni Association and for two assemblies.
Recommendations: (a) That the pianos at the Union Street School be tuned and adjusted. (b) That the School Committee accept the song Alma Mater, M. H. S. as the official song for Memorial High School. (c) That the School Committee adopt the Medford High School Band Test as official requirement for entrance into the Memorial High School Band. (d) That the School Committee request in the annual budget the sum of five hundred dollars for the use of the Music Department in the purchase or exchange of obsolete instruments and the repairs of instru- ments now being used. This would also care for the periodic cleaning of the band uniforms.
Our Program in Art (From the report of Sylvia G. Matheson, Supervisor)
Every child has a natural desire and need to create. Our art program is planned to give the children an opportunity to fulfill this need, and in so doing has helped to develop a certain phase of his personality that no other educational program can bring out.
It allows the child to express himself in the media of art while he is still young, and will intensify his experiences and give him a self- confidence which will carry over through adolescence. Appreciation comes to this child and grows with him if he is able to recognize the good from the bad and if he is able to know good design when he sees it. This is not only when he sees it in the finer arts of sculpture and painting, but also in architecture and the industrial products with which he comes in con- tact every day. To the elementary school child, this appreciation comes more easily if he develops it in relation to the things he and his fellow students create.
It teaches the child to use leisure time in doing interesting, creative and constructive work. It leads him to discover that art is closely integrated in our daily life, in our furniture selections, homes, interior decorations, gardens, clothing, silver ware, china, textiles, automobiles, airplanes, ships, etc., and that, therefore, good taste is the application of art principles in pleasing form to these practical appliances.
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It uses composition, color sense, design, arrangement, and develops skills in these. Art application makes the regular subjects more interesting. An understanding of the principles which govern beauty prepare the child to be a more confident producer.
It teaches a respect for materials and an appreciation of the crafts and skills by which a useful and beautiful object is made out of presum- ably ordinary materials. It allows a child to acquire good taste through knowledge of harmonies in line, form, and color in order to develop more intelligent and confident consumers and to be better equipped to improve his environment. A child understands that the art of the people expresses the spirit and customs of the times.
The course of study was planned with the above objectives in mind. In each phase of the work, practical problems were worked out to meet the child's age and need.
The work accomplished in all the schools this past year reflects the progressive methods in teaching art and the talent that has been brought out by so many pupils is most gratifying.
A full-time course in Freehand Drawing for seniors in high school has been introduced for the first time this year and has proven very helpful for the student wishing to further his education in the field of art. The courses in high school are planned to stimulate a desire to use art in. everyday life and to prepare the student to continue his study in a pro- fessional school to become an architect, commercial artist, portrait painter, craftsman, costume designer, stage designer, textile designer, window deco- rator, a buyer of art objects, interior decorator or an art teacher. Art as a phase of the present-day educational program is growing in popularity especially noticeable in the interest shown by the number of students electing art in the high school. The total enrollment of the students taking art in high school is 245 - 84 boys in the Mechanical Drawing classes and 159 boys and girls in the Freehand Drawing classes. It is wholly satisfying to realize that the early training that has been given has de- veloped and produced some very fine artists in our town of which we should be justly proud.
Thirty-four prize awards were received by our schools in the annual poster contest sponsored by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals last Spring. This is an excellent measure of the artistic talents of our pupils.
Our Program of Physical Education (From the report of Henry E. Battis, Supervisor)
This past year saw the accelerated wartime program level off to a more workable one for all classes in the high school. The seniors had the same number of periods each week as the other classes and the trend was toward recreation rather than regimentation. In the transition, the main objectives of a well-rounded physical education program were still very much in evidence.
In the spring and fall the play area at the playground was fully utilized. Fundamentals of football, soccer, softball, track, field hockey and tennis were taught. Teams were picked; leagues formed; games played; records kept; and interest was higher than ever before.
Weather conditions made the winter program shorter than usual. As a result, we were unable to devote as much time to each activity, but man- aged to cover them all. Classes were held in marching, boxing, wrestling, tumbling, calisthenics, apparatus and dancing. Games of basketball, volley- ball and many others were carried on in the same manner.
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The Army Air Corps Physical Fitness Index Tests were given all boys in the fall and spring. The results showed an improvement in nearly every boy. Much time was spent experimenting with additional tests, in an effort to standardize a record that would mean more to each boy. All these records were kept on individual cards for future reference.
An improvement which has been of great benefit was the addition of a towel system where, for a fee large enough to cover the cost of laun- dering, the pupils may secure clean towels. Many favorable comments on this new service have been received, especially from mothers.
As to the future, some improvements are essential if the Middleboro School System is to have a real, up-to-date physical education program. While these things cannot be done all at once, they should be taken into consideration in any long range plan.
First: Provision should be made for more gymnasium space. The present space is entirely inadequate. The classes are much too large, sometimes with 40 to 45 pupils. With the gymnasium used every period every day, there is still no time for junior and senior girls. Two gymnasiums are necessary if all are to profit.
Second: Additional space for locker rooms is badly needed. At the present time there are plenty of lockers at the high school, but no place to put them.
Third: A program is being started in the Bates School, although no facilities exist, it being generally agreed among people interested in physi- cal education that a junior high program is even more essential than one in the high schools.
Our Program in Health In Memoriam
Resolutions on the death of Helen B. Pasztor, R.N. School Nurse - January 2, 1927-March 11, 1947 Adopted by the School Committee - April 3, 1947
The untimely passing of Helen B. Pasztor closes a period of twenty years of unselfish service to the boys and girls of our town. During two decades she ministered unto their pains and ills, listened to their troubles real and imagina- tive, and counselled their troubled mind. Officially and privately she helped feed the hungry and clothe the needy. Whether the need was eyeglasses or hospital care, rubbers or summer-camp, each child received her loving attention. Free milk to the undernourished and dental care for all was close to her heart and through her efforts mainly the program flourished and progressed. These children were her children and she loved and protected them all. A noble work well done.
The vacancy caused by the death of Miss Pasztor was ably filled for the remainder of the school year 1946-1947 by Elsie M. Dow, R.N., of Lakeville, but who refused the permanent position. The town is deeply grateful for her service.
On June 19 the School Committee unanimously elected Miss Ila P. Jackson, R.N., as the new School Nurse, her duties to begin September first.
(From the report of the School Nurse and School Physician - Ila P. Jackson, R.N., and Dr. A. Vincent Smith)
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With the coming of the Fall term, all pupils in all schools were examined by the School Physician, Dr. A. Vincent Smith, and assisted by the School Nurse. Parents were notified of any physical defects found.
Our Lip Reading Class still continues to help those more unfortunate children who have hearing difficulty. This is the sixteenth anniversary of this valuable class financed through the generosity of the Chandler Ford Fund.
The hearing tests were given by the use of the Audiometer in grades three and six and nine children were found with a definite hearing loss. All high school pupils were tested.
In the Diphtheria Clinic held during March and April, 718 children were immunized against the disease.
The vision tests were given in the Bates School and some lower grade groups with the new Massachusetts Vision Testing instruments provided the schools through the courtesy and interest of the Middleboro Lions Club.
Since February first, 481 children have visited the office of the School Nurse; 20 have been taken to family or School Physician; 65 have been ill and taken or sent home; 62 excluded because of pediculi, 2 impetigo, 10 scabies (3 families). The School Nurse has also made 46 visits to the homes of our children.
The Annual Milk Fund Tag Day held in October was unusually successful and free milk is again assured the needy and undernourished children in our schools. Five of the central schools have been registered in the National School Lunch Program for the present school year making milk available to the children at $.035 per bottle.
Our Program of Attendance Supervision (From the report of Clifford S. Lovell, Supervisor)
Cases of suspected truancy and cases of unexcused absence are reported to the Supervisor of Attendance upon the incidence of occurrence. Through this immediate contact with the home cases of truancy have been held to a minimum.
The Supervisor reports each school day at the Superintendent's office and collects any calls from the individual schools and after investigation reports his finding directly to the Principals of those schools. In many cases two or three visits to the home are necessary that day to contact the parent or guardian.
The fact that the high school yearly attendance rate was 95.7%, the Bates School rate 96.6%, and the School Street School rate 94.6% is certainly encouraging and justifies our program.
Our Teacher Problem
The teacher shortage is as critical nationally as during the war years. Locally, however, we have been most fortunate during the past year and have only lost four teachers from our faculties and none of these from the high school staff. The adoption of a new Salary Schedule in December 1946 and effective since January 1, 1947, has done much toward the reten- tion of our fine teaching group.
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