USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > Town annual report of Middleborough, Massachusetts 1951 > Part 7
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To complicate the situation, teachers are disturbed by the rapid loss in the purchasing power of their salaries. They have less money for professional improvement and many feel that they must supplement earnings by part time work. Thus they in turn have less time and energy for their main job, the preparation for classroom teaching.
In spite of all these trying conditions, our faculty is most earnest in making the school a good one. There have been very strong teachers on our faculty who are here no longer, but no group has been more co-operative, more interested in growth nor any individual more ready to take the initiative in suggesting improvement in procedures.
The loyalty and professional spirit is particularly gratifying be- cause it is not universal and because there are so many situations to discourage a teacher.
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The Evaluation of the High School
There is a growing interest nationally in the evaluation of the services rendered by each particular high school. High schools have for some time been rated by the Department of Education of the Common- wealth and for which measurement new criteria are being developed.
Of the six associations of colleges and secondary schools, the New England Association has been least active as an accrediting agency. Since the New England College Entrance Certificate Board was dis- solved some years ago, because its services seemed to be no longer needed, a new conception of evaluation is current in this area. The New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, at its meeting in Boston - December 6, 7 and 8, 1951 - considered the assumption of the responsibility of being an accrediting agency .. Every effort to ap- praise the work of a high school as developed today proposes to meas- ure the school according to the extent to which it meets the needs of the pupils in its commuinty. This, again, is in keeping with the work of the National Education Association in its bulletin, Education For All American Youth.
It would seem that the recent legislation in Massachusetts, requir- ing towns to offer an adequate curriculum or to pay both tuition and transportation of pupils to trade schools in other towns, was intended to protect the rights of pupils in towns not providing opportunities in practical arts.
The Evaluative Criteria as set up by representatives of the six regional Associations of Colleges and Secondary Schools have the following purposes:
a. To establish what the characteristics of a good high school are.
b. To provide a practical way to evaluate a school in light of its objectives.
c. To determine means and processes by which a good school may develop into a better one.
d. To develop ways by which a regional association may stimulate secondary schools to continuous growth.
Your principal was last year invited to serve on a committee to evaluate a high school in this county and feels that no community can wisely ignore the requirements necessary for a commendable rating whether or not its school is to be officially evaluated.
In previous reports the major improvements needed in the program of education of the Memorial High School have been explained. It is my purpose here to explain more specifically what is happening to pupils in our school, whose needs are not being met.
There were 141 pupils in the present senior class when it entered high school in September 1948. Ten more pupils have entered from other schools, making a total of 151 different pupils. Of these, 21 are in schools somewhere and 29 have left school altogether leaving a class of 101.
One very important test which these pupils took in their freshman year measured their understanding of verbal meaning. To quote from
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the test, "Verbal meaning is your ability to understand ideas expressed in words. It is needed in activities from which you get information by reading or listening. This ability is especially useful in school courses such as English, foreign languages, shorthand, history and science." These subjects are typical of what is known as academic courses and constitute almost the entire program offered in the Memorial High School. Since all but four of the pupils who left were in the lowest fifth of all who have taken the test everywhere, and only one was above average, is it not safe to say that these children were ill-adapted to academic work and hence their failure to stay in school can at least be partly attributed to the absence of practical arts courses in Memorial High School? The fact that many of them got very satisfactory marks in shop work in the Bates School would seem to indicate that they were normal in a type of ability that does not involve verbal meaning.
As a group these pupils needed even more help than the average in learning how to make a living, to be competent voters, and to make good homes for their families. It cannot be said that Middleboro has "gotten along" without education in practical arts in the past. These twenty-nine or more pupils a year who drop out of school and a dozen more who are sturggling along have been denied the help they should have had in making their way in the world.
In dealing with pupils who are not book minded, the faculty is faced with two alternatives. Either the work may be held up to strict academic standards or it may be watered down to a level at which the pupil may get some growth from accomplishment. Neither alternative is a solution because the first causes the pupil to fail and leave school. The second plan is not entirely sound either because no amount of diluting or simplifying will make the usual academic subjects useful to a person who will always work with his hands. In fact, much of the serious criticism that is leveled at high schools over the country stems from the ineffective attempt of teachers to make courses meet the needs of pupils by watering down the subject matter.
Ruthless failure is a harsh procedure and not in keeping with present day educational philosophy. On the other hand, if a child has little aptitude for or natural interest in a subject, a little of it is not likely to be more valuable than a lot of it.
As principal of the Memorial High School, I would like to know whether citizens want their children or other children to be ruthlessly made to fail or do they want them to be given a diluted program of work which will be of little interest and value to them while the law requires that they be in school?
If we are told to get along as we always have done, do citizens mean that Middleboro children are to be given strictly academic work that will cause them to fail with all the damage failure does to a child's confidence in himself; or do they mean they want Middleboro children held to tasks of little value, bearing little relation to the work these pupils will do in life?
If we are told to continue to do as we have done in the past, it is well for the public to know that, with much concern as has been stated in previous reports, we shall see pupils leave school branded in their hearts as failures and needlessly so. With equal concern, we shall
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Recommendations
1. That New Music Horizons song books be provided for the sec- ond grade at the Union Street School and that the fifth and sixth grades be supplied with new books of this series.
2. That an appropriation of three hundred fifty dollars be made for the construction of two sound proof teaching rooms for the instru- mental teachers at School Street School. -
3. That an appropriation of five hundred fifty dollars be made for the complete overhauling of the instruments procured at Camp Myles Standish.
4. That some plan be formulated whereby the music supervisors will receive remuneration for use of their automobiles while on school business.
In closing I should like to especially thank you and the school committee for electing Miss Charbonneau as my assistant. She has proved herself to be a very able and well informed supervisor of music and possesses a personality that appeals to the students, whether they are in the first grade or in senior high school, a trait seldom found in individuals teaching in all of the grades. I am enclosing a short report of Miss Charbonneau's activities which may be of interest to you.
The elementary instrumental program has begun with enthusiastic response. Homogeneous classes have been organized of each of the four choirs of the orchestra - string, brass, woodwind and percussion. Each of these classes with the exception of the percussion group meets with Miss Charbonneau for one hour each week.
The string class is comprised of nine violins; the brass class con- sists of nine trumpets and one French horn; the woodwind class in- cludes seven clarinets, two flutes, and one alto saxophone.
The percussion group totaling twenty-seven is instructed by Mr. William Flanagan of Brockton.
Following their first year of free instruction by the Music Depart- ment, the students who wish to continue their instrumental study may be accommodated by teachers who are available for private instruction during, and at the end of the school day. These instructors are a most vital element in the Music Department, since private instruction is a requisite for participation in the instrumental groups of the secondary level -Junior and Senior High Schools.
This year a new performing group has been organized, the Elemen- tary Boys' Choir. This group is made up of forty-five boys from grades four, five and six. Their first public performance was a program of Christmas music sung at the Hannah Shaw Home on Wareham Street, and at the Montgomery Home on South Main Street. The Choir also recorded Christmas music to be broadcast from the Town Hall during the Christmas Season. Their second performance will be made at the A Cappella Choir Concert on March 14, 1952.
A Music Appreciation Program has been started in the elementary and primary grades. Record albums have been purchased that comple- ment the New Music Horizons series which are in these grades. They
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stress spontaneous singing and uninhibited rhythmic response. Another series of record albums has been introduced into the lower grades. These give the children an understanding of each instrument, its back- ground and functions. The information is presented in a story form and is very appealing to the students.
AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT William H. Tufts, Head of Agricultural Department
The enrollment on January 1951 was 31 boys. Several boys left school during the past summer because they found it difficult to keep up with the rest of their class in their academic subjects, and, probably, were attracted by the high wages which are presently a constant inducement to lure many young boys away from school when they become 16 years of age. However, many parents of the youth of today will recall the past war years of World War I when employers were quite selective of the young men they hired. The graduates of high schools and colleges were preferred by many of the larger companies in all parts of the United States.
There is an established minimum amount of agricultural hours each pupil is required to work on a supervised job as the carrying out of a home project approved by the pupil's parents and his instructor. The real ability of an agricultural pupil becomes very obvious when he is on the job during placement training because it is here that many of the personal characteristics are evident for the first time.
The Middleboro Agricultural Department has become of age, and it is increasingly noticeable as the years go by the fine record so many of the graduates are making.
During the past year, two of the pupils from Middleboro in the Poultry Class were chosen at the Interscholastic Judging Contest when 20 pupils, with the highest scores in the state, were selected for another contest in March 1952.
Furthermore, these boys don't just graduate and rest on their laurels, but continue to produce the food for an undernourished world. Our military men for years have been aware of the fact that an army marches on its stomach, and our schools are fast catching on to the importance of proper nutrition for its pupils.
The enrollment for the agricultural department in Memorial High School last June promised a much larger freshman class than we have ever had before. It was shortly after this influx of new recruits that the School Committee decided to expand the Agricultural Department: to a two-man arrangement rather than cut back and throttle the inter- ests of what is proving to be one of the finest classes the writer has ever been privileged to work with. Mr. John Chambers, a World War II veteran formerly an instructor of veterans enrolled in the Institutional On-Farm Training Program, accepted the position the School Commit- tee made available. Mr. Chambers is now able to devote full time to the teaching of Horticultural subjects and we will be able now to offer- all major agricultural courses every year.
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watch pupils try to stay in school and graduate, with a patched up pro- gram of work that has little relation to the work they will do in life. We shall continue to see many girls go out to make homes in which children will be ill fed, ill clad and poorly prepared to meet their prob- lems. While the majority of parents do prepare their girls to be home makers, today with the increasing number of broken homes, and homes in which mothers work, more girls need help in home making. If it were ethical to report the large number of home problems concerning which the school staff is called upon for help, an appalling picture of need could be presented.
With discussion at hand of increased facilities for meeting the needs of all pupils, is it not proper to ask for a clarification of policy? Are teachers in high school to plan work that will cause non-academic pupils to fail or are they to plan watered down work which is still not suited to the aptitude or interests of many pupils?
ART DEPARTMENT Sylvia G. Matheson, Supervisor
In the elementary and secondary schools we have tried this past year to make the work in art a vital part in the life of the child, an en- richment to the school curriculum, and to the community. It has been made a practical and pleasurable experience for every pupil. We have correlated other subjects and activities which helped offer the op- portunity for individual self-expression.
Our art program was based on broad general objectives such as:
(1) To develop the power of discriminating observation.
(2) To develop visual memory.
(3) To stimulate creative imagination.
(4) To train an appreciation of the beautiful.
(5) To add to the child's vocabulary of form.
(6) To educate for leisure time enjoyment of the arts and crafts.
. Art education has become increasingly important to the enrichment of the school curriculum. This was inevitable as we devoted more attention to the needs and interests of the pupils. Art, today, is a cre- ative experience. Today, the child learns about the art with which he lives. He uses art to supplement other learnings in the curriculum.
During the year, besides teaching at the high school three periods every day, visits have been made regularly to all elementary and junior high grades in all the schools. In the elementary and junior high school grades I have given a lesson in each classroom, on the days scheduled for visits and also left instructions for follow-up work with the grade teacher. The grade teachers exhibit the pupils' art work in their rooms in a most artistic manner. There has always been a chance for visitors to see the art work produced throughout the whole year.
As the pupil moves on into secondary education in our high school, he finds the opportunity for more specialized and technical instruction
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in art according to individual interests, talents, and skills. In addition to becoming an ever-increasing popular area in the curriculum for its selection as a major field of study, many students find the art curricu- lum a most desirable and valuable field for the selection of elective subjects.
The courses offered in the art program at high school are as fol- lows: Freehand Drawing and Mechanical Drawing two periods per week - Interior Decoration, Costume Design, Senior Art and Industrial Design are full time courses which meet every day. The Industrial Design course was newly organized this past year.
Art acts as a backbone for activities in service to the school and community. In addition to the regular work that was carried on, here listed are some of the ways in which the art department has been helpful this past year. We made posters for all school organizations, civic clubs, campaigns, dances, food sales, senior play, citizenship, stu- dent council convention and the school magazine drive. The decorations for all school parties as well as senior banquet, junior prom, senior reception, assembly programs, senior play stage setting and lighting. One hundred Christmas cut-outs were made for Camp Edwards to dec- orate the wards at Christmas time. Also, a fourteen foot stained glass window, seven life sized angels, ten large lamp shades, five panels depicting Christmas scenes were made and taken to Camp Edwards to decorate the Recreation Hall during the Christmas season. Last spring, the costume design class sponsored a fashion show at the Mother and Daughter Night for the Girls' League.
Twelve art students of Memorial High School entered the art contest sponsored by the Regional Scholastic Art Exhibition at Boston. Two of the students received the certificate of merit and a gold key. Their paintings were sent to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the National art awards at the Carnegie Institute, and they are now on display there.
Three students from Memorial High School's graduating Class of 1951 are attending art schools.
The climax of the many helpful and outstanding achievements of the art department was the finishing of the Christmas scene which adorned the Town House lot the past two years. The present senior art class added the two new features which were the three wise men mounted on three camels and a group of boys and girls kneeling in prayer under a large tree arranged in a semi-circle. On the tree was a scroll, with the appeal, "Let Us All Pray for Peace." Due to the present condition, this appeal was very timely. The excellent work done by the pupils brought much praise and appreciation from the townspeople. This project has shown the public the values of their art education not only as a lesson in painting, but also a lesson in being of service to the community on such a very beautiful occasion.
Miss Ann Minott, art teacher at Bates School, and Mr. Leonard J. Anderson, art teacher at Memorial High School, have been of great assistance to me in carrying out this worthwhile work of this depart- ment. They are to be commended for their efforts which have greatly facilitated the number of students desiring art; thus allowing me to devote sufficient time in making specified plans for all the pupils in the schools and to those who are interested in specializing in the fields of art.
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It is with sincere gratefulness that I thank those who have so kindly and generously cooperated with me in my earnest efforts to make art so progressive in Middleboro.
MUSIC DEPARTMENT
Luther Churchill, Supervisor
The aim of this department is to educate our students in the various fields of music so that they may participate in making music for others to enjoy, play an instrument, sing for their own amusement or be a part of the large group of people who enjoy listening to music of all types.
The vocal program in the grades has been supervised by my assistant Miss Patricia Charbonneau. New music books in the second, third and fourth grades have been appreciated by teachers and pupils alike. An Elementary Boys' Choir has been formed and rehearses every Wednesday evening in the high school auditorium under Miss Charbonneau's direction.
The a cappella choir has had a very busy year giving several com- plete programs including soloists. During the year they memorized twenty-six choral pieces, both sacred and secular, and the composers covered the entire field of choral composition from Palestrina to Ran- dall Thompson.
The orchestral program is showing a slight improvement in that we now have a larger number of pupils studying stringed instruments. Several of the students in the high school orchestra are studying with fine teachers, seven pupils playing in the Bates School orchestra are now taking private lessons and Miss Charbonneau has recently organ- ized a class of nine beginners. The cello which was donated to the music department is now being played in the Bates School orchestra.
Band instruments continue to attract a large number of our young people. Most of the teaching is being done in the basement of the School Street School and has reached the point where some form of sound proof teaching rooms are imperative. I have made a study of this situa- tion, have visited schools where individual teaching cubicles are being used and believe that we can remedy our situation.
An outstanding musical event during the past year was the pre- sentation of "The Seven Last Words of Christ" by Dubois on Palm Sun- day afternoon. An orchestra of twenty-five very fine musicians was assembled to accompany the choir and soloists. The program was sponsored by the Middleboro Ministers' Association and was open to the public free of charge. A collection was taken which helped to defray the expenses involved.
About September first the music department was given the oppor- tunity to select instruments from the salvage department at Camp Myles Standish. We were very fortunate in finding eleven instruments with a new value of about three thousand dollars. These instruments are now undergoing a complete overhauling and will cost about five hundred dollars.
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Our annual Future Farmers of America Fair attracts more exhibit- ors and larger crowds each year. Since livestock has been added to the Horticultural and Educational exhibits, it may be necessary for us to look for a new location if we are to continue to make the growth we have in the past.
During this period when so much emphasis is based on defense to make our country so strong that should we have to defend ourselves against ruthless enemies we will be able to do the job effectively, it be- comes self-evident that more responsibility will be thrust on the shoul- ders of all farm youth. Poultry operators in this community are de- manding more help as their expanding farm operations are speeded up to meet defense commitments. Their chickens must be vaccinated to bring about immunity that might well spell the difference between success and failure for the farmer. Farmers engaged in Horticultural enterprises are forced to launch a vigorous offensive in order to con- trol the pests that constantly threaten their crops during the growing season. These are merely a couple of illustrations to call to your atten- tion the pestiferous insects and diseases which the farmer must battle with in war and peace.
In this machine era, the farmers are rapidly eliminating the slow motion methods in farming. It is inescapable to even the dullest soul that a knowledge of how to care for and operate modern machines on the farm is of vital importance to the farmer if he is to survive the competition experienced in his business today.
The agricultural students, for the reasons mentioned above, are pleased to have shop facilities made available to them this year. It will enable them to acquire some of the skills they have so badly needed. It will allow them the opportunity to handle power and hand tools safely. In such an environment, they are constantly instructed and reminded that no farm task is so urgent that it cannot be performed safely. It is in this atmosphere that the Future Farmers become more alert and learn to work smarter, not harder.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Henry E. Battis, Supervisor
The past year has seen very little change in the Physical Educa- tion Program of the Middleboro schools, since major improvements seem difficult because of existing facilities. It still seems advisable to attempt to strike a compromise between the formal and informal type of program, incorporating as many of the beneficial parts of both as possible. Interest in and cooperation with this type of program by practically 100% of the girls and boys who participate in it leads us to believe that it is the best for all concerned.
The fundamentals of football, field hockey, softball, track and tennis have been taught, but most of the time has been devoted to the actual participation in these sports. Complete and accurate records of all results have been kept and publicized, creating additional interest and incentive. An idea of the interest brought about by the program might be obtained by a visit to the playground during the after school hours. There, one finds every inch of available space, not used by var-
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