USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1915-1916 > Part 13
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Our Course of Study for Elementary Schools, adopted in 1914, incorporates the following as a guide to teachers in the instruc- tion of the subject :-
Thrift.
Instruction in Thrift was rendered permissive by a law of 1910, although "industry" and "frugality" have been taught since 1789.
Thrift is a practical subject. It consists of the utilization of common sense. Teach the importance of knowing how to earn, how to spend, and how to save. Useless spending is a habit. Impress the necessity and duty of economy on behalf of individ- uals as well as for the State and the Nation. Show how the spendthrift is an enemy to himself and to the public. He who helps himself, helps the world. Have pupils see the difference between a self-supporter and a drone.
Show how thrift produces capital, and how capital in turn employs the thriftless. Emphasize the fact that any person may be in a greater or less degree a capitalist. The thriftless work along the line of least resistance, while the thrifty must practice self-denial which strengthens the character. Show how society suffers much at the hands of the improvident. Show that anyone can make money-only the wise know how to spend it. Many must begin with the penny. The period of youth should be the time to practice thrift. One must spend less than he earns. Many men smoke four ten-cent cigars every day, how much would they spend in one year? Show like waste by citing ex- penditure for candy, etc.
Emphasize the fact that we should not be miserly and penuri- ous. Tell of the Stamp Savings System, the School Savings Bank System, etc. Value of life insurance-different kinds.
Emphasize the fact that thrift does not consist merely in sav- ing money. If "Time is money," save time. Do this by using it to the best advantage to one's self and others.
Have pupils learn the following quotation from Horace Mann : "Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two
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0
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golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever."
A loafer is as hostile to society as a spendthrift.
The following is taken from a bulletin issued by the United States Bureau of Education :-
"It is very difficult to teach thrift to men and women who have grown up ignorant of its first essentials. In children, how- ever, we have unwrought material to work with, and we can as readily impress them with the habit of economy as we can teach them arithmetic and geography. Frugality is one of the most important factors of citizenship. When every boy and girl in the country has a bank account of from $100 to $400 at the time of graduation from the elementary school course-an achievement possible in any community where school savings banks are in operation-the future will be far more secure. An accumulated fund of this sort makes it possible for the boy or girl to engage in a small business, go on with higher study, or do whatever most appeals to him or her."
"Instruction in conserving money and applying it wisely can not be impressed too early on a child; the early lessons in the employment of money belong to the schoolroom. The postal savings directors and receivers, be they ever so anxious to help the children, have little opportunity to do so. Children who have expended their pennies, nickels, and dimes in candy shops and moving picture shows until they are 10 years old, with no thought of self-denial, may later go to the postoffice with a dime and buy one of the cards, but they are very likely not to have the perseverance to hold the card until they accumulate the $1 that is to be exchanged for a certificate of deposit. School savings banks are needed to prepare young people, especially those who have no careful home training, to profit by the postal savings opportunity."
Through the courtesy of the bank officials we present the fol- lowing :-
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Data Relative to the School Savings Bank System of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Oct. 31
Oct. 30
1914
1915
Date of introduction-January 28, 1913.
No. schools in which the system was in operation,
ry
No. rooms in which the system was in operation,
27
28
No. enrolled scholars in such schools,
1049
1090
No. enrolled depositors,
402
259
Amount of deposits,
$1,690.03 $1,202.15
No. of withdrawals,
65
27
Amount of such withdrawals,
$38.99
$19.63
Amount to credit of depositors in the school savings bank,
$206.29
$116.99
No. of scholars to whom savings bank pass books have been issued for year,
137
106
Amount of deposits transferred from school savings to savings bank pass books for year,
$1,651.39 $1,271.82
Amount to the credit of the school savings bank,
January 10, 1916,
$721.72
e
III. THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. (Organized September, 1914.)
The modern school system is based on the conviction that six years is long enough to teach the elementary subjects. In these grades the pupils, year by year, are under one regular teacher who gives instruction in all the subjects required by the course. The consensus of opinion of educators is that the work in the
Organized September, 1914 JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
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seventh and eighth years should be differentiated. From this point on, the amount of specialized work should be constantly increasing, until the young man or the young woman about to enter life's work is skillful in something which will be ad- vantageous, not only to himself, but to the community at large.
A Junior High School proper is composed of the seventh, eighth and ninth grades where twelve grades constitute the en- tire school system. It is a modified type of the present High School.
The prevailing function of the school work immediately pre- ceding the High School course is to enable the pupil to deter- mine, in conjunction with parents and teachers, for what line of work he is best fitted. This can be carried out completely, only when more numerous courses are offered than equipment and funds at present will warrant, and a vocational guidance direc- tor becomes a member of the teaching staff. As it is, however, a beginning has been made. At the Nathaniel Morton building are housed two eighth and two ninth grades. Departmental work is one pronounced feature. The pupils of the eighth grade receive instruction from the four regular teachers, who have a limited number of subjects to teach, and from three special teachers. The pupils of the ninth grade receive instruction from the four regular teachers and six special or part-time teachers. The pupils go from room to room for recitation purposes, thus approaching the Senior High School condition. Moreover, the fact that these pupils of the ninth grade are meeting during the week, nine or ten different teachers, with their varying methods and personalities, makes their entrance to the Senior High School one of harmonious transition, instead of a combination of abrupt ending and uncertain beginning. Heretofore the chasm has been too great. The articulation of the Junior and Senior High Schools has been made more pronounced by having three High School teachers give instruction at the Junior High School. The total number of pupils per teacher is well nigh ideal, prob- ably unsurpassed anywhere in the State.
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The advantages of a Junior High School are so marked that all pupils belonging to grades seven, eight and nine ought to be placed under its instruction and influence as soon as possible. In order to have a modern school system by 1920, no better step can be taken than by thinking seriously of making such an in- stitution a permanent part of the education department.
The cost per pupil in a Junior High would approximate the midway cost of the elementary school and the High School. This is approximately the present cost, since the teacher in Manual Training, in the line of woodworking, gives instruction to boys in grades seven, eight and nine. Again, the teacher of Domestic Science and Sewing gives instruction for the most part to girls of grades seven, eight and nine. In other words, the cost of instruction per pupil in the upper grammar grades exceeds the cost of instruction in the elementary grades, as does the cost of instruction per pupil in the High School exceed the cost per pupil in the upper grammar grades.
Vocational studies pursued at the Junior High :-
a. Domestic Art (Sewing).
b. Domestic Science (Cooking).
c. Manual Training (Woodworking).
d. Commercial Work (Bookkeeping and Typewriting).
e. Drawing (Mechanical and Free Hand).
We should introduce :-
f. Home Gardening Course.
g. Printing.
Other Studies pursued are :-
History Business English
Arithmetic Physics
Spelling Chemistry
Literature Latin
Civil Government Music
Geography
Penmanship
Physical Training
f
h
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DISTRIBUTION OF PUPILS IN STUDIES PURSUED
AT THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subject-
Boys
Girls
Cooking,
76
Sewing,
39
Manual Training,
60
Bookkeeping,
26
30
Typewriting,
23
26
Drawing,
60
76
History,
60
76
Geography,
42
56
Arithmetic,
60
76
Spelling,
60
76
Literature,
60
76
Music,
60
76
Civil Government,
30
40
Penmanship,
60
76
Business English,
30
40
Physics,
30
40
Chemistry,
20
17
Latin,
4
ry
The characteristic features of our Junior High School are these :
a. Differentiated courses.
b. Departmental teaching.
c. Circulation of pupils.
d. Number of pupils per teacher well-nigh ideal.
e. Instruction aided by use of reflectoscope.
f. Articulation with High School accomplished by having Senior High School teachers give part-time courses.
g. Pupils instructed by from six to ten different teachers.
h. Judicious system of electives.
i. Introduction of practical courses.
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j. One regular Junior High School teacher a college graduate. k. Transition from grade to grade accompanied by an increas- ing number of teachers per pupil.
1. Contemplation of promotion by subjects, and not by grades.
HOUSEHOLD ARTS
The Departments of Household Arts, both at the High School and in the elementary schools, have been very successful. All girls of Grades 7, 8 and 9, with the exception of those at Long Pond, Cedarville, Vallerville and Manomet, receive instruction in cooking some time during the year.
Naturally the courses in the elementary schools differ from the courses given at the High School. The work of the former in both cooking and sewing is given from the standpoint of manual training. It is here that pupils are taught how to do, that is, the emphasis is placed on manipulation. In the High School the viewpoint changes to one of emphasis on the reasons for doing.
In the first half year there have been 119 girls below the High School in the cooking classes, compared with 105 the year before. During this last half year there are 172 girls in the classes, compared with 176 last year. In other words, 212 girls will have had the advantage of receiving instruction in cooking by the close of this year, compared with 210 the preceding year.
Of these, 40 are in Grade 9, 76 in Grade 8, 91 in Grade 7, and five in the individual school.
The plan for cooking and sewing is as follows :
Grade 6. Sewing, once a week, throughout the year.
Grade 7. Sewing and cooking, half a year each.
Grade 8. Cooking, throughout the year.
Grade 9. Cooking and sewing, half a year each.
The total number of girls in the cooking classes, arranged by schools, follows :
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First Half Year
1914-1915
1915-1916
Morton Building, Grade IX,
34
40
Morton Building, Grade VIII,
37
36
Knapp Building, Grade VIII,
13
18
Cornish Building, Grade VIII,
21
20
Individual School,
5
105
119
Second Half Year
Morton Building, Grade VIII,
37
36
Knapp Building, Grade VIII,
13
18
Cornish Building, Grade VIII,
21
20
Cornish & Burton Building, Grade VII, 43
42
Mt. Pleasant, Grade VII,
25
19
Knapp Building, Grade VII,
29
22
Chiltonville, Grades VII and VIII,
8
10
Individual School,
5
176
172
In the first half year there have been 216 girls below the High School in the sewing classes, compared with 209 the year before. During this last half year there are 161 girls in the classes, compared with 145 last year. In other words, 256 girls will have had the advantage of receiving instruction in sewing by the close of this year, compared with 248 the preceding year.
Of these, 40 are in Grade 9, 93 in Grade 7, 118 in Grade 6, and five in the individual school.
The total number of girls in the sewing classes, arranged by schools, follows :
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First Half Year
1914-1915 1915-1916
Cornish and Burton, Grade VII,
42
42
Mt. Pleasant, Grade VII,
25
19
Knapp, Grade VII,
29
22
Cornish, Grade VI,
38
44
Mt. Pleasant, Grade VI,
21
17
Knapp, Grade VI,
40
51
Chiltonville, Grades VI, VII, VIII,
14
16
Individual school,
5
209
216
Second Half Year
Morton, Grade IX,
32
40
Cornish, Grade VI,
38
44
Knapp, Grade VI,
39
49
Mt. Pleasant, Grade VI,
21
17
Chiltonville, Grade VI,
8
6
Individual School,
5
145
161
ATHLETICS
During the spring term a baseball league was organized, under the guidance of Mr. Paul J. Smithson, the Superintendent of the Plymouth Boys' Club. Six teams were listed as follows : Cornish School
Knapp School
Boys' Club
High School Freshmen
Junior High, 8th grade Junior High, 9th grade
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Only the boys whose accomplishment in school work was standard were permitted to participate in the games. A silver cup was offered to the winning team by the members of the school board. The boys of the ninth grade, Junior High, were the winners of the series.
HOME CREDIT PLAN FOR THE GRADES
School-Home Education! Credit at School for Work Done at Home! ! Washing Dishes and Milking Cows on a Par with Latin and Medieval History ! ! !
The public schools must not be content with helping the child as an individual. The idea is of too long standing already. They must go one step further and aim to help the home as an institution. This can be done effectively by offering to. our pupils credits for outside work. Theoretically the child should be brought up to do the assigned tasks at home from a natural incentive, and not merely because there is a reward in view. But theory and practice should journey along hand in hand to accomplish the desired goal, and the artificial incentive must be invoked and utilized. Thus if a child does outside work, a value should be placed upon his time in the form of reward. This plan to be successful demands the co-operation of teachers and parents to the highest degree. It is the practical working out, on the part of the schools, of the proper aim of the Teacher-Patron Association, recently organized under a similar name.
For years parents have been freely giving the time of their children by having them attend school, and by permitting them to devote their time at home to school studies. It is now time for the schools to come to the rescue of the parents and recipro-
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cate, by seeing that the child does much which is of profit for the home during the school-attending period. This plan of offering credits for outside work will be of incalculable benefit to the pupil and to the home as well.
Outside work might receive approval in an innumerable num- ber of subjects, upon petition by the pupil. The following are suggested for a beginning, the course to commence at the Junior High and later be extended.
Washing dishes, and general housework.
Fetching fuel, and other work.
Home gardening. Domestic science.
Woodworking.
Domestic art.
Drawing. Music.
The above statements may be epitomized thus: Recognition to work done independently by the boy away from school must be made in a progressive school system.
IV. THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
The growth of our high school during the last few years has been marked. This nearly always is the resultant of excellent upper grades in the grammar schools. The more efficient and popular the upper grades in our elementary schools, the greater are the numbers entering the high school. Again the desire for a high school education is increasing. The gain in high school population is nation-wide.
Our high school is successfully fitting for college and techni- cal schools besides giving courses in the commercial branches, mechanical drawing and household arts.
The school is doing efficient work, yet we are not doing much
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for the boy who must or does leave school during his course, as far as industrial fitness is concerned. The problem is no easy one to solve, yet nearly all will admit that pupils of high school age ought to be receiving some training that may be turned to financial advantage upon graduation. The preparation for giv- ing such instruction usually comes long after the demand. The demand is evident, and it is only a matter of time when the proper course will be offered.
The Plymouth High School has been, in the past, approved by the State Board of Education, by virtue of being approved by the New England College Entrance Certificate Board. After 1916 the school must be approved by the State Board directly in order to have the privilege of sending our graduates to the Normal School without examinations.
The report of the High School principal is appended.
The work at the High School may be divided thus :
1. Academic Work-
a. English.
b. Languages.
c. Mathematics.
d. Science.
e. History.
2. Vocational Work-
What We Have-
a. Commercial course.
b. Drawing.
c. Domestic art.
d. Domestic science.
What We Should Have-
e. Shop work.
f. Agricultural work.
Plymouth nineteen
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The following table gives the growth of the High School since 1900 :
1900
123
1908
187
1901
129
1909
200
1902
138
1910
214
1903
136
1911
218
1904
128
1912
224
1905
140
1913
235
1906
140
1914
278
1907
145
1915
312
STUDIES PURSUED AT PLYMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL
Subjects.
Boys.
Girls.
Total.
Latin,
38
51
89
Algebra,
43
43
86
History,
84
98
182
English,
144
168
312
Civil Govt.,
37
39
76
French,
41
84
125
German,
19
27
46
Physics,
36
10
46
Chemistry,
21
Y
28
Arithmetic,
18
33
51
Geometry,
29
40
69
Trigonometry,
4
0
4
Stenography,
27
41
68
Bookkeeping,
66
106
172
Typewriting,
45
80
125
Business Practice,
6
10
16
Com. Geography,
12
16
28
Cooking,
79
79
Sewing,
26
26
Mech. Drawing,
70
6
76
Free-hand Draw., 24
38
62
Elemen'y Science, 41
17
58
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THE DEPARTMENT OF COOKING AND SEWING AT THE HIGH SCHOOL
The girls at the high school are 165 in number. Of these, 79 are pursuing the course in cookery, distributed as follows :
1914-1915
1915-1916
Seniors,
16
13
Juniors,
11
12
Sophomores,
22
24
Freshmen,
36
30
Total,
85
79
Twenty-six girls elected the course in sewing as follows :
Seniors,
1.
6
Juniors,
8
8
Sophomores,
18
10
Freshmen,
18
2
Total,
45
26
PROGRESS
One of the most progressive steps taken by the Plymouth School Committee in recent years is the recognition of outside work on the part of high school pupils. The old idea, and indeed not so very old either, was that a high school education could not be obtained unless the instruction were given under the high school roof. Happily for the pupils this notion is becoming more and more fallacious. It now appears that those who are still cherishing this fantasy must form a new conception of education which must be, as it were, re-defined for that class of thinkers. No one to-day will maintain, without running the
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risk of being classed as obsolescent, that there is any special superiority of Latin, Greek, French, Mathematics or any of the various subjects taught in our high schools, over many of the subjects which up to this time have been excluded. It is prac- tically a piece of guesswork to say that a particular subject is essential for the discipline of the mind. Any kind of work, provided it is well done and has educational value, should count toward graduation.
This is, to be sure, a statement which will meet with opposi- tion on the part of conservatives for years to come. There are those at home and abroad who even in this era denounce the introduction of practical courses in woodworking, domestic science, etc. There are parents in our own town who would have their boys drop the courses in manual training and their girls domestic science, were it permissible. There will always be opponents to the sanest plans. It is, notwithstanding, a healthy, normal attitude for any community. Only by running the gauntlet of adverse criticism, can there be success in a democracy.
The recognition of the educational value of music is well-nigh universal. The number of music students is ever increasing. The query might properly be made that if music, vocal and in- strumental, is demanded by a great number of the pupils at any high school, why it is not offered and an expert engaged to teach the subject-why should they not be granted the opportu- nity to elect what they deem necessary to their life equipment? The answer is simply that most communities cannot afford it- ยท the cost of procuring the necessary talent to give the instruc- tion is prohibitive.
The alternative then is to allow the student to utilize his time in the study of voice, piano, organ, violin or any orchestral instrument under special teachers outside the schoolroom. Such study must, of course, be seriously undertaken and be safe- guarded by fitting rules and regulations.
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During the last school year the school board adopted the fol- lowing :
"That credits be awarded for outside work in subjects ap- proved by the School Committee, pursued under conditions satisfactory to both the Superintendent of Schools and the Principal of the high school, to high school pupils, the majority of whose marks for the entire four years are E's, three-fourths of the work being done on the regular course. Under this rule no honors, based on scholarship, are to be awarded such a student."
It will be noticed that, according to the foregoing vote, any extra-mural subjects may count toward graduation, provided such subjects receive the approval of the School Committee. For the present, however, the approved work has not advanced beyond the point shown by the following :
"It was voted that music be approved by the committee in which credits be given for outside work."
"Thus times do shift,-each thing his turn does hold;
New things succeed, as former things grow old."
-Herrick.
FIRE DRILLS
A satisfactory condition under which to work is paramount. This comes before efficient teachers or adequate text books. It is well to have adjustable school furniture, bubbling fountains, well lighted and ventilated school rooms, etc., but security from danger should be demanded before all these. I refer to the safety of children in the event of fire. This subject is receiving the serious consideration of many communities. Too many fires originate through negligence and carelessness. In fact, the list of cautions about fires, so frequently circulated, do not in any
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way surpass in common sense the suggestions of a century ago. In the Farmer's Almanac for the year 1815 are eleven suggestions, which, if followed and adapted to our present mode of living, would decrease the number of fires which occur.
Fire drills are practiced regularly in the public schools. These are required, the pupils, at a second's notice, being trained to seek another exit than the one toward which they are going. In too many fire drills, the pupils are trained to leave the building by one exit exclusively. Only by training the pupils to leave at any designated exit can stampeding be prevented.
Soon after the school year opened, a test was made at the high school, which has an enrollment of 312 pupils. This alarm was rung unbeknown to pupils, principal or teachers. The building was vacated in forty-six seconds. The accompanying cut shows the order which prevailed in that speedy exit.
V. MISCELLANEOUS THE INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL
This school, which has been in operation more than a year, has proved its worth. Its aim is to develop the individual pupil instead of treating the school as a mass. It serves the over-age pupil, the motor-minded, and also. those under 16 years of age who are temporarily unemployed and who do not care to return to the grade of which they were members before going to work. Its function should be extended naturally to put each pupil in the proper niche. The work in basketry with raffia and reed has been continued, as has also the caning of chairs and telegraphy. The regular school work, such as history, geography, arithmetic, reading, spelling, language, etc., are pursued by each pupil.
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FIRE ALARM SOUNDED WITHOUT WARNING TO TEACHERS OR PUPILS Exit made in 46 Seconds
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By special arrangement the boys in this school receive in- struction in manual training and the girls in cooking and sewing.
The distribution of the teachers and pupils follows :
School
No. of Teachers
No. of Pupils
Boys
Girls
High,
13
312
147
165
Hedge,
9
376
197
199
Knapp,
9
417
210
207
Cornish,
9
292
129
163
Mt. Pleasant,
6
220
113
107
Morton,
4
138
63
75
Chiltonville, 4 bldgs., 4
92
58
34
Burton,
4
153
72
81
Manomet,
2
48
31
17
Oak Street,
2
38
39
Cold Spring,
2
64
26
38
Lincoln St. Primary, 2
52
22
30
Spooner Street,
1
37
19
18
Alden Street,
1
42
19
23
Allerton Street,
1
34
18
16
Wellingsley,
1
16
2-
9
Cedarville,
1
13
8
5
Vallerville,
1
12
2
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