USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1920-1921 > Part 14
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Wilfred Amis Doyon Frank Ronald Eastwood
Beulah Lenwood Eldridge
Eveyln May Erickson
Mary Emma Framento
Urbane Graffam
Howard Russell Gray
Percy Clegg Haigh
Bettina Hall
Elmer Randall Harlow
John Edward Ransden Susan Teresa Riedel Alice Irene Rogan
Jeannette Moore Sampson Dorothy Holmes Savery Josephine Louise Savoy Margaret Mary Shea Doris Hill Sherman
Gladys Fuller Sherman
Gordon Bradford Simmons
Celia Agnes Verre
Elizabeth Perkins Ward Caroline Mabel Ward
Richard Bittinger
Hazel Barbara Knight Eunice Brayton Magee
Helen Winthrop Morton Jeanette Morton Vivian Ruth Mosman
Elvira Manning Paty Edith Christiana Peck
PILGRIMS OF THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, DEC. 9, 1920.
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JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL REPORT.
Mr. Charles A. Harris,
Superintendent of Schools, Plymouth, Mass.
Dear Sir: I herewith submit the annual report of the Junior High School briefly giving an account of the work that has been done, the condition of the school, together with a few recommendations for its future good.
The total enrolment was 394, 212 boys and 182 girls. Of these, 194 were in the seventh grade, 150 in the eighth, and 50 in the so-called ninth grade.
In June, 116 pupils were promoted to High School. This is the largest number since the school was organized as a Junior High School. One reason for this is the notable de- crease in the number of pupils leaving school. Only ten left to become wage earners. Comparing this small number with those of former years, it becomes clear that both parents and pupils are recognizing more and more the advantages of the school.
During the past year the course in civics has been revised so that community service has been emphasized. The use which the pupil is taught to make of civics should have a social effect. As a study of community activities it is tied up with history, geography, hygiene, arithmetic, current events, and household arts. Citizenship never meant so much as it does now and through community activities pupils acquire early practice in citizenship. To further these activities the pupils produced in December as their contribution to the Tercentenary, a pageant of the Pilgrims which made real again to actors and visitors the early days of our history and awakened pride in their country and town.
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In connection with this, a project worked out by a seventh grade class entitled a Pilgrim Christmas, was presented by them to parents and pupils. It was an interesting means of tying up the present with the past and subconsciously taught the spirit of service. As America in colonial days was a co-operative en- terprise and everyone helped, so should a community reap the rewards of its expenditure in service from the pupils. This we are trying to instill into the pupils through the course in civics. While the socialized recitation and the project-problem methods are used in all subjects as means of motivation there is also the definite instruction.
Possibly no phase of the activities of the school from a social point of view has received such a high commendation as the orchestra, composed of four girls and nine boys. Under the able direction of Mr. Clarke the work is carefully executed. It has proved its value whenever the school has given public enter- tainments and the efforts of these boys and girls are highly com- mendable. The rehearsals take place once a week always after school hours.
Our greatest need at present is more room. There are fifteen pupils without desks, and on Friday when there is no woodwork- ing, we are obliged to use the sewing room. The physical train- ing is carried on out of doors on pleasant days, but on stormy days we are greatly handicapped by lack of room. When the school meets for assembly once a week (and this is an important feature of every Junior High School), only 25 per cent. of the pupils have seats.
The advantages of visual instruction in geography is at once evident as it is not only educational but inspirational. We have a lantern and a collection of good slides on geographic subjects which we are unable to use merely on account of lack of room.
What the school needs is an assembly hall where the various activities of the school may be carried on without discomfort. It is to be regretted that there is no place where all the pupils can meet for singing, for visual instruction, or for the observ-
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ance of days of special importance. Those parents who attend the public exercises of the school must realize this as well as we.
Provision should also be made for a library for supplying current news and additional reading matter. While the short school day must be a time for serious effort, there is need of reference books for supplementing the work which the pupil has to do in his study period.
There should also be some provision made for accelerating groups of pupils who show superior ability.
Last September is was found expedient to improve the ap- pearance of the grounds fronting on Sandwich Street. One puzzling feature was how to obtain money for this. Mrs. Ed- ward Watson helped solve this problem by her generous dona- tion of hundreds of shrubs, and by the money received from the pageant we were enabled to pay for the work done by Mr. Alton Burgess in setting these out.
In conclusion I wish to thank both Mrs. Watson and Mr. Bur- gess for their contributions towards beautifying the grounds.
Respectfully submitted,
KATHARINE A. O'BRIEN, Principal.
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VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURAL
DEPARTMENT.
Plymouth, Massachusetts, February 12, 1921.
Superintendent Charles A. Harris,
Plymouth, Mass.
My dear Mr. Harris:
As requested, I herewith submit the report of the Instructor of the Vocational Agricultural Department of the Plymouth High School.
INTRODUCTORY.
The duties of the present incumbent began the latter part of June 1920. The chief interests which have commanded his attention are :
1. The regular work with the classes of the High School Agricultural Department.
2. Work in connection with the Federal Board for the Re- habilitation of Disabled Soldiers.
3. Boys' and Girls' School Garden Work.
4. Community Service.
He has also co-operated with various agricultural agencies as recommended by the State Department for Vocational Agricul- tural Education.
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I. REGULAR WORK WITH THE CLASSES OF THE HIGH SCHOOL AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.
Department Enrollment-During the past summer sixteen boys were occupied with the work of the department while at the opening of school in September there were fifteen. Of these one was graduated and four changed to another course prima- rily with the idea of fitting for a higher institution. Of four- teen applications for first year agriculture, eight boys were accepted in September making a total of eighteen at the opening of school. At the present time there are sixteen members.
Nature of Agricultural Work-From the vocational point of view, book work must be correlated with actual farm experience. Hence each boy must either have a so-called "Project," or offer a subtsitute for it called "Substitute Work" which allows him to gain his experience by working on some farm. In some cases a boy does both. The Project is a definite farm enterprise with animals or crops which involves capital and the keeping of accounts.
The chief project study this year is Poultry. A vital interest is kept up at all times :
1st. Because the different phases of the subject are taken up in seasonal order which means that all poultrymen are cen- tering their attention and activity on the particular thing that is being studied ;
2d. Because the boys are privileged to visit the plants of some of the best poultrymen in the state and see with their own eyes up-to-date practice, equipment and popular breeds and varieties of birds. Indeed, they hear from the lips of some of these practical experts, things which have taken a lifetime to learn.
A Few Results-The results of the Project and Substitute Work which ended last fall are worthy of some consideration. Projects which dealt with poultry, fruit, pigs, gardens, etc., produced a net gain of $476.17. Boys with Substitute Work
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earned $2,493.70, making a total of $2,970.47 clear earnings for fifteen boys, or an average of $198.03 per boy. Most of the boys taking the Agricultural Course are handicapped for land and equipment. This, with the fact that boys have re- ceived a very high wage of late, owing to the war, explain's why the second figure given is so much larger than the first.
At the recent Poultry- Show in Boston the follow- ing five boys, out of nine who sent exhibits, received prizes :
1. Edward Ward-First prize, Rose Comb Rhode Island Red Cockerel.
2. D. Blair McClosky-Second prize, pair of Pekin Ducks.
3. Everett J. Pyle-Second prize, White Orpington Pullet.
4. Axel W. Anderson-Fourth prize, White Leghorn Cock- erel.
5. Robert A. Cappella-Fifth prize, Barred Plymouth Rock Pullet.
II. REHABILITATION OF DISABLED SOLDIERS.
The Federal Board for Rehabilitation of Disabled Soldiers has one student registered in the High School Agricultural Department for training in Poultry. It may be of interest to know regarding the success of this member that in the month of December he got 1200 eggs from 60 pullets.
III. BOYS' AND GIRLS' SCHOOL GARDEN WORK.
Gardens Registered-One hundred and thirty-five boys and girls, scattered from one end of Plymouth to the other, were registered for this kind of work. Three visits were made to those who carried their gardens through to the end. Approxi- mately 40 gardens dropped out. The reasons given were these :
Sickness, family moved away, land sold, only early vegetables grown, crop never came up, lost interest, things eaten up by bugs, etc.
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Prize Gardens-As usual the School Committee gave $50 prize money, of which $25 was distributed to those who took prizes at the exhibit, and $25 to those who received the highest scores on gardens. The score card was made up of the follow- ing points :
1. Variety of Crops.
2. Planning, Succession of Crops.
3. Weeds, Cultivation, Neatness.
4. Interest, Amount of Own Work.
5. Yield, Quality of Crop.
The boys and girls who had the highest scores were :
Sarah Henrique
Reginald Brown Leonard Miles
Francis Burgess
Charles Cappella
Albert Cappella
Louis Cappella Alfred Leonardi
Alfred Pimental Eleanora Testoni
Leonard Lahey
William Mueller
Fannie Ferrioli
Robert Goddard
Lawrence Mayher
Walter Oosterdeip Gladys Marvel
Lawrence Doyle Alice Rogers
Louis Wurzburger
Delma Ottani
Alton Mattioli
Mary Keough
Ernest Armes
Harriet Harlow
The School Garden Exhibit-This was held Saturday after- noon and evening, October 2d, at the South Street Engine House. As a full account of this and the prizes awarded was published in the Brockton Times of October 4th, it is not neces- sary to repeat it here. The seven pupils who carried away the greatest amount of prize money for garden and exhibit together were :
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Leonard Lahey
Reginald Brown
Louis Cappella
Eleanora Testoni
Albert Cappella Leonard Miles Sarah Henrique
These seven, of the 135 pupils who registered, took $18.97 out of the $50 given for prizes.
IV. COMMUNITY SERVICE.
It has been the privilege of the Agricultural Department to render, now and then, a little service to individuals of the com- munity, either in a practical way or by giving bits of agricul- tural information or suggestions.
In the judging of 5? Kitchen Gardens, 43 Flower Gardens, 63 Places and 18 Poultry Plants for the Plymouth Cordage Company the instructor obtained much enjoyment. The beauty and attractiveness of many of these places were extraordinary.
IN CONCLUSION.
The hearty welcome and the cordiality of the school authori- ties and the advisory committee have helped to make the in- structor's work very pleasant. The helpful assistance and co-operation of the Principal, the Superintendent, and the School Board are much appreciated.
Respectfully submitted, EDWIN B. YOUNG,
Vocational Agricultural Instructor of Plymouth High School.
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REPORT OF SCHOOL PHYSICIAN
To the School Committee of Plymouth :
I hereby submit for your consideration my fourteenth annual report.
During the year 1919 the Town spent $132,521.95 for the education of its children. Of this sum $3,154.34 or 2.02 per cent. was used for the promotion of health through the various activities which are at present classified as Medical Inspection. Since we have begun to study the child in school from the physical side there has been a growing conviction that health is really the essential thing, in fact the foundation, upon which education must be built or suffer the fate of that house which was built upon sand. Although aroused to the importance of the health program in the public schools we were hardly pre- pared for the startling revelations furnished by the physical, examination of our young men from 18 to 21 for the draft, which indicated that thirty per cent. were unfit for service. Undoubtedly all but a small percentage of the disabilities from which these men suffered, existed while they were passing through the public schools, where the State lost the opportunity to detect them and see that they were corrected. They could be dropped from our army but they must fight the battle of life and who can compute the economic loss to the nation which this 30 per cent. of defectives represents ?
In the school year 1918-1919 in the whole State but $234,000 was spent for the promotion of health but the work is growing for in the last ten years the amount per pupil has increased 100 per cent.
Many philanthropic organizations appreciating the great need
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of this kind of work among the children are contributing funds from outside the town treasuries as has been the case here.
In the Fall of 1919 Sir George Newman presented a few propositions to the Parliament of England. Simple as they seem, they set a high standard and are broad enough to include every recognized means for the promotion of the heatlh of school children. They are as follows :
"Every child shall periodically come under direct medical and dental supervision, and, if found defective, shall be 'fol- lowed up.'
Every school child found ill-nourished shall be fed, and every child found verminous shall, somehow or other, be cleansed.
Every sick, diseased, or defective child shall have made avail- able skilled medical treatment.
Every child shall be educated in a well-ventilated school-room: or class-room, or in some form of open air school-room or class- room.
Every child shall have daily, organized physical exercise of appropriate character.
No child of school age shall be employed for profit except: under approved conditions.
The school environment and the means of education shall be such as can in no case exert unfavorable or injurious influences upon the health, growth and development of the child."
If we in Plymouth are to carry on successfully the several enterprises for the promotion of the health of our school children which have already been undertaken and of which I shall speak more in detail they must not be crippled for lack of funds. Only by a liberal attitude towards this work can we hope to hold our position among the progressive towns and cities of the commonwealth among whom we are the first in point of time and historic importance. Here if anywhere in America, the spirit of enlightened progress should survive.
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Nutrition Work.
No health work which has been recently taken up in con- nection with the public schools of our land promises greater benefit to the race than the discovery and treatment of mal- nutrition among school children, for .practically every child spends years under the supervision of school authorities who therefore have an opportunity to do splendid work towards the elimination of a condition which is responsible for much of that physical handicap under which our country labors and which as has been said was so forcibly brought to our attention by the physical examination of our young manhood during the draft.
I assume that it is conceded that tuberculosis is responsible to a greater extent than any other disease or defect for poverty and economic loss to the state and here in the schools we have the only opportunity for successfully attacking the problem.
Dr. Henry D. Chadwick, superintendent of the State Sana- torium for tuberculous children at Westfield, speaking before the 10th Congress of the American School Hygiene Association made the statement that "at least 90 per cent. of all children in our city schools and 70 per cent. in the country at large are infected with tubercle bacilli before the age of 15 years."
This does not mean, of course, that all these children are sick, but that the germs of the disease are living in the body of the child, ready and willing to make trouble whenever the opportunity presents itself. Dr. Chadwick says further, "If tubercle bacilli gain entrance into a child's body when it is under-nourished or its vitality is weakened for some cause, disease will very surely follow, even if the number of germs is relatively small or comparatively low in virulence. If, on the other hand, the child was in normal health at the time the bacilli gained entrance, the healthy tissue would resist in such a way that no harm would result."
Here then, is our plain duty, namely, to see to it that in so far as is humanely possible, none of our children are under-
PLYMOUTH TWENTY
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nourished, in order that no harm may result from the germs of a disease known to be almost universally present.
In closing his paper Dr. Chadwick says, "I firmly believe we can do more to lower the adult death rate from tuberculosis by proper care and supervision of the child before the age of fifteen years than we can accomplish with the best recognized treatment after that age period has been reached."
In May weighing scales were installed in the Hedge school by the committee and a group of thirteen under-nourished children were selected as being most in need of assistance. The school physician had at his disposal a small sum of money which had been contributed and this served to provide milk which was given the children mid-morning and mid-afternoon until school closed, a period of about six weeks.
These children were from two to eleven pounds underweight, the total for the group being 105 pounds. At the end of the experiment three had made no gain, one having actually lost a pound. The total gain for the group was thirty-nine pounds. There were evidently many things to be done for these children in connection with the feeding, if we were to succeed. Defects, such as carious teeth and enlarged tonsils and adenoids must be removed, the conditions under which they were sleeping, the kind of food and the hours of eating at home and the amount and kind of work they were doing out of school must be looked into and the interest and cooperation of the parents enlisted before the best results could be hoped for.
At the opening of school in the fall there were no funds available for feeding, but the weighing and measuring of the pupils was carried on as time permitted, until every pupil had been weighed and measured and the result compared with the normal weight for the age and height. The result showed that out of the total enrollment of 334 pupils 150 or 45 per cent. were under weight.
In this connection it should be noted that Dr. M. E. Champ- ion, Director of the Division of Hygiene of the Massachusetts
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Department of Public Health says that, "statistics show that, generally speaking, about one-third of our school children are under-nourished. We have then, in this school, a far larger proportion of under-nourished children than obtained through- out the schools of the State as a whole. Of the 150 under-weight children 36 were found to be more than five pounds below normal.
On presentation of these figures to the school committee they agreed to be temporarily responsible for the purchase of milk until outside funds, which had been promised, were available, and a group of twelve children from 5 to 11 pounds below nor- mal, were selected for feeding. Each child had a pint of milk a day which was taken through straws as shown in the illustra- tion. Half of it was given in the morning and half in the afternoon. All the children but one showed again and two reached their normal weight, but as a group they still had far to go, as they had gained at the end of the three months over which the experiment lasted, only one-third of what they needed to bring them up to a normal condition.
The amount of milk is, of course, small, and much of the value of the feeding in this, as in the previous experiment was lost because we have no suitable place for an out-of-door rest period. There should be some such place in the open air and sunlight where the children, properly protected by blankets, could lie down for 15 or 20 minutes after each feeding.
This may seem to some like turning the school into a hospital, but it is not so, unless allowing these children, who need it, a little more of what rightfully belongs to them, i. e., fresh air and food, makes it so.
The Local Chapter of the Red Cross Society has shown their appreciation of this kind of work by loaning the School Depart- ment scales for the Knapp, Cornish, Morton and Mt. Pleasant schools.
Much can be done by forming classes of under-nourished children and encouraging them to eat proper food at proper
.
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times and form other healthful habits, their normal weight be- ing held up before them as the shining goal towards which they are to press. Those who gain most are placed at the head of the class in the order of their success and a gold star awarded, thus arousing interest and a spirit of healthful rivalry. As has been already said, if the interest and cooperation of the parents can be gained, so much the better, and "teachers have an exceptional opportunity to aid."
It must not be supposed that the problem of malnutrition lies only with the poor. Dr. William R. P. Emerson of Boston, a recognized authority, says, "we have found poverty the essen- tial cause in only 5 per cent. of our cases. There are few families in our community who cannot afford sufficient nourish- ing food for their children. The problem involves showing people what is good for their children to eat, when to eat it and when not to eat it, the value of fresh air and a proper amount of sleep and the removal of remedial defects. Many a child of well-to-do parents is starving for more of the right kind of food and less of the wrong kind.
A number of school children have been kept under observa- tion at the Dispensary maintained by the Board of Health and it has proved to be of great assistance, both in the prevention of disease and in a few cases where trouble had already started, in its discovery and arrest.
We should maintain an open air school, centrally located, equipped to give under-nourished children the greater amount of rest their lowered vitality requires, a maximum of fresh air, with protection against cold and such nourishing food as may be advisable. It seems to me that a one-room portable building similar to the two room building now in use at the Knapp school could be easily adapted to the requirements of such a. school and should be purchased.
Dental Clinic and Oral Hygiene.
On June 17th, 1913, the School Committee voted to au-
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An unselected group of children who have been relieved of vegetations through a special service at the Jordan Hospital. troublesome tonsils and adenoid
These children were from five to eleven pounds underweight when they began taking: milk
regularly twice a day at school.
TREATING A PUPIL AT THE SCHOOL DENTAL CLINIC
-
HUGO THE TEETH
TONI SF THE DENTAL ARCH
h
" Am unclear Decaving Toorn
ne.
Deca, has
Degun - Sce
the Dertis!
ne
3+ once
ve
The A: " 26
E
Proper Care Prevents Decay
LEANN TEETH
(00 ) HEALTH
WAITING-ROOM OF SCHOOL DENTAL CLINIC
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thorize the school physician to purchase such equipment as might be essential and make the necessary arrangements for a free dental clinic for the children of the public schools. The dentists responded to the call for help and all agreed to give such time as was necessary to keep the clinic open two hours a week through the school year. The first clinic was held in the office of the Superintendent on Saturday morning, October 17th, 1913. Thus the work was begun on a small scale with each dentist doing his share.
In their budget for 1918 the committee included one thou- sand dollars for a "dental nurse and supplies" and the money was voted at the March meeting, but during the school year 1918-1919, the dental work was discontinued. In the Fall of 1919, the school physician succeeded in obtaining the services of Miss Gladys White of North Abington, Massachusetts, who graduated from the Forsyth Dental Infirmary, Training School for Dental Hygienists in 1918.
Miss White began her work December 6, 1919. In January, 1920, the School Committee decided on an up-to-date equip- ment for their dental work. A room was secured in the Gov- ernor Bradford Building, a new floor laid, varnished and waxed, and walls painted. The room was divided by a partition, thus making an operating room and waiting room. The operating room includes the latest equipment : an S. S. White chair and unit, with gas, electric and water connections, a white enamel steel cabinet, white enamel glass shelved table, filing cabinet, desk, white wash bowl and all material necessary to carry on the work successfully, thus making one of the best equipped public school Dental Clinics in the State of Massachusetts, out- side of the large cities, for Plymouth believes it is worth while to employ a hygienist on full time and to pay the running ex- penses of their clinic.
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