USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1920-1921 > Part 33
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In the music department of the school work we are stri - ing to make higher types of citizens out of all types of children and to make our school music function in the com- munity.
The teachers have shown a great interest in the music and have worked hard to obtain results. They have co- operated with the supervisor in every way and I wish to thank them for this cooperation. I also wish to thank the Principals of the different schools, the Superintendent and the School Board for the help and support which I have received from them.
Respectfully submitted,
NELLIE W. SHAW,
Supervisor of Music.
In Memoriam
Brare N. Bramhall
Trarher in the Plymouth Schools
1905-1921
Died November 21, 1921
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REPORT OF SCHOOL PHYSICIAN
To the School Committee of Plymouth :
I hereby submit for your consideration my fifteenth an- nual report. The importance of health instruction is being recognized today as it never has been before. Dr. Eugene R. Kelley, State Commissioner of Public Health, in an admira- ble article in the November-December number of "The Com- monwealth," the official bulletin of the Department of Pub- lic Health, says: "The third era (in the development of the modern health movement) is just beginning. It may be called the era of hygiene. It marks a return to first principles. This era is principally concerned with the hu- man machine, the person. Its key word is 'education.' " Again, later in the same article, he says: "It is only very lately that we have fully realized that while the engineer's transit and the scientist's microscope have furnished con- tributions to the cause of public health that today result in millions walking up and down this earth who would under former conditions 'sleep the sleep that knows no wak- ing,' nevertheless the great field for future development is in the enlightenment of the average man, woman, and child." Medical inspection and its attendant activities in- cluding the correction of defects is accomplishing much good but it has become evident that we must work not only upon the child but with him if we are to get the best results. In other words we must interest the child in good health, his own good health, and so get his help. The thought which dominated the three-day session of the American School Hygiene Association held in New York last fall was the teaching of health in the public schools and how
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it might best be done. Those who discussed the problem there did not fully agree as to who should give this instruc- tion, but it is likely that the room-teachers will be entrust- ed with the responsibility, not, however, without receiving proper training either in their normal course or elsewhere in such special schools as the Harvard-Tech School of Pub- lic Health.
All this shows the growing tendency at present toward the adoption of health instruction as the one big thing which is to do more for our welfare as a people in the com- ing years than anything else. Not that health instruction is not already given in our schools and many others, but in the future it will have a larger place in the school program including all grades, and the teachers will have special training for it.
Another feature of public school training which goes hand in hand with health instruction is systematic physi- cal exercise. This should be under the direction of a man who has had thorough training for his work. It should not be entrusted to a teacher who happens to know a few physi- cal exercises and takes this up as a side line, for it is of sufficient importance to demand the entire attention of a competent instructor, a man who knows his anatomy and physiology and can apply his knowledge and impart it. A poor director of physical training might do infinitely more harm than good.
The fire alarm equipment now in use in the Knapp build- ing where about four hundred children are housed, and the Cornish and Burton buildings with five to six hundred chil- dren, should be replaced by something more accessible and dependable. The push buttons which are used for giving an alarm in these buildings easily get out of order and be- come useless. Reliable switches making a positive contact in each room and the basement, the whole connected with the nearest outside box of the general fire alarm would give better protection.
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SCHOOL NURSE.
The best work the school nurse does, is not inspecting children for contagious disease or binding up cuts and bruises and relieving the many small ailments that the children bring to her, necessary, and good as these things are. Far more important is the part she plays in sowing in their active minds ideas of good health thus preparing the way for the formation of health habits which will follow them through life. Her report, which follows, indicates very briefly some of the educational work which she is doing so effectively in the schools.
As a result of the weighing and measuring of pupils which she has done we know that fifteen per cent. of the pupils in the Cornish School are five to twenty-five pounds underweight and that fourteen and two-thirds per cent .. of the pupils in the Knapp School, and ten and four-fifths per cent. of those in the Junior High School are similiarly underweight. What is being done to meet the situation is mentioned in her report and more fully described under the heading of "Nutrition Classes."
Report of School Nurse.
Dr. J. Holbrook Shaw, School Physician,
Plymouth, Mass.
Dear Doctor :- I hereby submit a report of the work done during the year :
Number of pupils inspected, 5,622
Number of treatments in schools, 1.246
Number of school visits, 612
Number of home visits, 707
Number of contagious diseases found in schools, 188
Number of contagious diseases found in homes, 87
Number of pupils operated on at Jordan Hospital for tonsils and adenoids,
41
Number of pupils referred to physicians, 40
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In the lower grades, interest in hygiene is maintained by health talks, handkerchief drills, and frequent inspections for cleanliness, etc. There is also a daily inspection made in each classroom, either by the teacher or a pupil under her supervision, for clean hands, finger nails, and general tidiness. A banner is awarded when the whole class has kept clean for a given length of time.
If a child fails to pass the daily inspection, the banner is taken down until he cleans up. During the year all pupils in the larger schools have been weighed and measured. Those found to be ten per cent. or more underweight, are reweighed every month, and a record is kept on individual charts. A good number have shown considerable improve- ment, and several have reached their normal weight. It is often found that pupils, especially in the higher grades, have eaten little or no breakfast. All children should have a substantial breakfast, and should be given sufficient time to eat, so that they will not bolt their food, or arrive at school breathless and exhausted, from hurrying.
Respectfully submitted,
SUSIE MACDONALD, R. N.,
School Nurse.
PLYMOUTH TWENTY-FOUR
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Nutrition Classes.
The routine work of inspection during the past year has been much in excess of the normal amount owing to the prevalence of catarrhal affections and those typical cases of scarlet fever which can only be excluded by constant vigilance.
Notwithstanding this and the fact that the State de- manded a large amount of data for their study of mentally subnormal pupils which required endless research, the school nurse has found time to do excellent work in form- ing classes of underweight and undernourished pupils. Without the help of any such special school feeding as was tried at the Hedge School last year, she has attained results by getting the pupils themselves interested. This is done by means of a chart which shows in a graphic manner the progress or the lack of it which the child is making. A red star is placed upon the chart at a point indicating what the weight of the pupil should be for his height and age. He is then given instructions along general hygienic lines and provided with a printed slip of paper which bears his name, the number of pounds he should weigh, his actual weight and the number of pounds he is shown to be below his normal weight.
This slip also contains suggestions as to what things will help him in his effort to gain weight and he is instructed to take it home to his parents. When he has succeeded in bringing his weight line on the chart up to the level of the red star or normal weight for his age and height, a gold star is placed upon the chart at that point. Generally these pupils show a lively interest in watching the line on the chart mount towards the goal. but occasionally there is an indifferent one and such are dropped as there are enough who are glad to avail themselves of the help.
To those who realize the menace of malnutrition the sig- nificance of this work is apparent and it is not necessary to
Ponad:
=
A Good-Health Record.
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go into the relation it bears to the fight against tuberculosis here, the less so as the matter was gone into somewhat in detail in a previous report.
The illustration shows one of the pupils who has made satisfactory progress and now shows a condition of perfect health which makes him practically immune to disease. A star which is red on the original chart, is on the left side near the figures to show the number of pounds the child should weigh. The ascending line shows how the child's weight gradually increased until it finally reached the nor- mal and a star which is gold on the original chart marks the end of the successful climb. This boy belongs to one of the special classes which the nurse has organized, and he is holding up his weight chart to show the good record he has made. In this way good health habits are made attrac tive as a means toward accomplishing the desired gain in weight. These classes are under medical supervision.
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MORTON SCHOOL GROUP
LBS
SEPT.
OCT
Nov.
DEC.
9
8
7
6
5
$
3
2
1
Ave
normal gano
The above chart shows the average gain in weight of a group of undernourished children from the Morton School. The continuous line shows the actual average gain of the group for the period from September to January and the broken line shows what would be the normal gain during the same period, the difference between the two illustrating in a very graphic manner the rapid gain that can be made by eating proper food and forming good health habits.
Gain shown by this group
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HEDGE SCHOOL GROUP
LBS
SEPT
OCT
Nov.
DEC.
9
8
7
6
dnoub
slut
5
4
Gain shown by
3
2
again
normal
Ave
This chart shows in a similar manner the gain made by a group of undernourished pupils at the Hedge School. The children are younger and could not understand as well as the older ones at the Morton School the purpose of the classes, therefore it is not as easy to enlist their interest and cooperation. However they have made a very credita- hle gain notwithstanding.
Not only does a poorly nourished body make these chil- dren subject to active tubercular lesions in the lungs but they are likely to break down nervously, and develop chorea or St. Vitus dance, a very common disease among school children and one easily controlled if taken in time.
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The school physician frequently finds children in such a nervous condition that it is necessary to warn the teacher to make the school work as easy as possible for the child. We do not realize the nervous strain of the school tasks on some children. What we need more than anything else for the welfare of our schools is a fresh-air room where the worst cases, those most in danger of becoming actively tubercular or breaking down nervously can live, study and play in the fresh out-door air all day and be given good nourishing food plentifully and regularly. These schools are accomplishing remarkable results in other places and we cannot afford longer to go on without one.
The Dispensary maintained by the Board of Health con- tinues to be of use in connection with the nutrition work in the schools and many children have been under observa- tion there during the year. Most of them only needed home treatment assisted by helpful suggestions as to food, sleep, exercise, etc., but occasionally one has to be sent to an in- stitution. We now have one at Westfield and one at the County Hospital.
Dental Clinic and Oral Hygiene.
As the committee included an item of five hundred dollars for a dentist in their budget for 1921 the work of the dental clinic has been put on an entirely different basis. Hereto- fore two hours on Saturday mornings during the school year, had been given gratuitously by the dentists, each one serving a month at a time. (I regret that in the report for 1920 the name of Dr. George W. Bosworth was unin- tentionally omitted from the list of those who had served the clinic well and faithfully since its inception in 1914.)
With the available funds it was now possible to secure dentists to work three and a half hours a morning tw.) mornings a week, making a total of seven hours a week as against two hours before.
.
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Dr. E. Harold Donovan and Dr. Ivan D. Fairbanks were secured and divided the school year between them, Dr. Donovan beginning the service on the first Wednesday in April. This arrangement has proved very satisfactory and a large amount of work has been accomplished as may be seen by looking over the report of the dental hygienist.
In September much to our regret Dr. Fairbanks resigne 1 his position and sold out his practice to go elsewhere. Dr. William O. Dyer, who bought out his practice, also succeed- ed him in the school dental clinic. Both Drs. Donovan and Fairbanks have given much extra time to the work during their terms and we feel that the children have had the benefit of careful, competent and devoted service.
REPORT OF THE DENTAL HYGIENIST .. Dr. J. Holbrook Shaw,
School Physician,
Plymouth, Mass.
Dear Dr. Shaw :- I hereby submit my report of the work done at the School Dental Clinic during the year nineteen hundred and twenty-one :
1. Number of examinations (all children in first six grades),
2. Number of extractions (deciduous teeth), 91
3. Number of extractions (permanent teeth), 43
4. Number of pulp treatments, 16
5. Number of fillings,
251
6. Number of prophylaxis,
1,093
7. Number of total operations,
1,372
8. Number of total patients,
1,300
9. Number of new patients,
727
10. Number of dismissals,
59
11. Number of operating hours, 661
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SUMMARY 1914-1922.
Year
No. of Treatments
No. of Exams.
No. of Cleanings
No. of Pupils Treated
1914
113
410
31
81
1915
170
370
44
93
1916
164
370
50
89
1917
239
481
62
103
1918
None
None
None
None
1919 (two weeks),
16
100
10
5
1920
744
2,025
569
698
1921
1,372
2,025
1,093
1,300
This year I am using buttons to encourage the children to take proper care of their teeth.
Red, yellow and blue buttons are pinned on charts in each room. When a child in the first three grades by faith- fulness and diligence obtains the three buttons he or she is awarded a new tooth brush, free of charge. The fourth, fifth and sixth grades are given a gold and enamel button for which they must pay a small sum. So far the results have been very satisfactory and the pupils seem to be grasping the idea that a clean tooth never decays.
It is very necessary that the parents urge their children to take good care of their teeth, as badly decayed teeth re- tard a child mentally and physically, causing bad stomach troubles, rheumatism and other diseases later in life.
I hope we may soon be able to pay the dentists for more time, that we may be able to do more work. We trust that the townspeople will support us in our good work and we hope perhaps to show you even better results next year.
The following is a memorandum of expenditures of den- tal clinic for the the year 1921 :
Salary of hygienist,
$1,240 00
Salary of dentist,
490 00
Salary of janitor (about)
80 00
Telephone,
22 66
Electric light,
16 86
Laundry of towels,
31 06
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Laundry of gowns and carefares, Tooth brushes,
19 90
51 34
Rent,
240 00
S. S. White Dental Mfg., supplies,
100 61
S. Reynolds Dental Mfg., supplies,
55
Cooper Drug Co.,
55 90
Clean teeth buttons,
54 78
Decorating building, tercentenary,
2 00
Curtains,
2 25
Photos for Town Report,
29 )0
Filing cards,
1 76
Total,
$2.380 23
Money taken in.
146 46
Actual cost,
$2,233 77
Respectfully submitted,
GLADYS WHITE, Dental Hygienist.
CONTAGIOUS DISEASE.
All through the first half of the year scarlet fever was very prevalent, many of the cases being of so mild a char- acter that a physician was never called and they were only discovered when desquamation began. The school nurse by her vigilance and persistent ferreting out of these cases, both at their homes and in school, did much to keep the disease down. After the summer recess there was very little trouble from this source.
In May the Board of Health adopted an entirely new set of "Rules and Regulations Governing Quarantine of Infectious and Contagious Diseases." These rules state the number of days children must be excluded from school for the various contagious diseases dating "from the onset of the disease" which it is often very difficult to determine. The former rules in effect previous to May 1st reckoned the
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period of exclusion as beginning with the day following the last attendance at school which was very easily deter- mined from the teacher's records.
The new rules state that readmission to school shall de- pend upon presentation of a certificate from the local health authorities or from the attending physician * Bear- ing the Approval of the Local Health Authorities." These rules indicating the proper periods of exclusion in the case of both quarantine and exposure have been clearly printed on cardboard and copies placed in all school rooms in an accessible position.
It is now possible to determine by a certain simple test whether a child or adult is susceptible to diphtheria. That is to say, it is possible to know before hand whether any given child if exposed to the disease may become ill with it or on the other hand be absolutely safe from it. This test known as the Schick test is made by injecting a minute quantity of diphtheria toxin into the skin of the arm. It is unnecessary to go into the technique of the test here, but from the appearance of the injected area in the next four or five days the physician determines whether there is a reaction or not. If there is no reaction the child will not contract the disease when exposed to it. The test is harm- less. If the child reacts to the tést and immediate immun- ity is desired the usual anti-toxin injection may be given, but this immunity lasts only a very short time, about two weeks. It is, however, possible to secure a lasting in- munity, probably for life, by injecting under the skin what is known as toxin anti-toxin or in other words, diphtheria toxin neutralized with a sufficient quantity of anti-toxin to make it harmless.
In New York City 200 schools have been tested and 125,- 000 children made absolutely immune to diphtheria.
The laboratories of the State Board of Health are now furnishing cities and towns of the Commonwealth with a reliable toxin and toxin-anti-toxin in convenient form for
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use so that arrangements will no doubt soon be made which will enable parents who desire it to have their children test- ed and immunized.
It is only a question of time when immunization for diph- theria will be generally adopted in the schools as a measure of public safety and the development of a case of diphtheria in the community will be deemed a reproach.
Tonsilitis while a disease which is very common and not greatly feared is not to be too lightly regarded. Dr. Hal- sey, a recognized authority and secretary of the Association for the Prevention and Cure of Heart Disease of New York City, says that it is a mistake to send children who are recovering from this disease back to school too soon as it may have a bad effect upon the heart. As Dr. Hasley has had a wide experience and is at present in charge of the children in the New York schools who have heart disease, his warning may well be heeded.
In order that there may be no doubt as to those things which I believe essential to the welfare of our schools I will state them briefly in the order of their importance as I see it.
1. An adequate fire alarm system for the Knapp, Corn- ish and Burton School buildings.
2. A fresh air school.
3. A director of physical exercise for all grades.
4. More and better teaching of hygiene.
The following statistics for the year have been taken from the monthly reports of the school physician :
Number of examinations,
Number of notices of diseases and defects sent to parents, 847
3,931
Number of pupils referred to nurse, 170
Number of permits signed by school physician, 851
Number of permits signed by other physicians, 289
Number of pupils temporarily excluded, 128
Respectfully submitted,
J. HOLBROOK SHAW, M. D.
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LIST OF TEACHERS
Plymouth, Mass., 1921-1922
Senior High School.
William F. Allen, Principal, 14 Cushman Street.
Crescentia Beck, 29 Russell Street.
Gertrude Darling, 23 Fremont Street. Paulyle Flavell, 123 Court Street. Helen Getchell, 27 Russell Street. A. Thelma Hollander, 22 Allerton Street. Fred Holmes, 39 Mayflower Street.
Agnes A. Lisk, 22 Allerton Street. Elizabeth Mackenzie, 2'Sever Street. Anne M. Mackinnon, 27 Russell Street. Elizabeth Marsh, 13 Whiting Street.
Eileen McCarthy, 15 Clyfton Street. Alice A. Preston, 40 Union Street. J. Frank Sheehan, 39 Mayflower Street. Ruth Thornton, 17 Pleasant Street. Marjorie White, 22 Allerton Street. Edwin B. Young, Warren Avenue, corner Cliff Street.
Junior High School.
Katharine A. O'Brien, Principal, 23 Nelson Street. Sadie Barrett, 35 Mayflower Street. Beatrice Bennett, 40 Union Street. Nina Brayton, 22 Pleasant Street. Mary A. Burke, 5 Sagamore Street. Gladys L. Cobb, 18 Allerton Street. Alice Collins, 15 Clyfton Street.
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Beatrice Curran, 11 Lothrop Street. Mary M. Dolan, 11 Lothrop Street. Elizabeth Dunning, 21 Clyfton Street. Elizabeth Hett, 112 Sandwich Street. Katherine A. Hickey, 11. Lothrop Street. Marion Reynolds, 112 Sandwich Street. Hazel A. Ross, 13 Whiting Street. Marion Stevens, 23 Fremont Street. Jennie F. Stratton, 35 Mayflower Street.
Hedge School.
Elizabeth H. Sampson, Principal, Clifford Road.
Hazel Bates, 15 Clyfton Street.
Olive B. Clark, 12 Sever Street.
Florence Corey, 133 Court Street. Kate L. Eddy, 15 Clyfton Street.
Mary G. Frawley, 29 Stafford Street. Lucy L. Hildreth, 133 Court Street.
Ella F. Robinson, 12 Sever Street.
Mildred A. Soule, 23 Fremont Street.
Adelaide A. Swazey, 17 Allerton Street.
Ethel D. Tolman, 21 Chilton Street.
Spooner Street School.
Fannie Ortolani, 8 Cherry Street.
Knapp School.
William I. Whitney, Principal, 6 North Street.
Marion Babcock, 23 Samoset Street. Annie S. Burgess, 37 Union Street. Margaret L. Christie, 401 Court Street. Lydia E. Holmes, 261 Court Street. Alice Jordan, 70 Sandwich Street. Maude H. Lermond, 79 Court Street.
Helen F. Perrier, 12 Washington Street.
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Susan M. Quinn, 147 Main Street, Kingston. Ethel B. Sollis, Pembroke Road, Kingston. Flora C. Stevens, 55 Main Street. Katherine G. Zahn, 320 Court Street.
Cold Spring School.
Gertrude C. Bennett, 12 Stafford Street. Mabel E. Douglas, 5 Lothrop Street.
Oak Street School.
Agnes V. Eaton, 21 Vernon Street.
Bertha H. Smith, 21 Vernon Street.
Cornish School.
Addie L. Bartlett, Principal, 28 Allerton Street.
Frances I. Bagnell, 5 Spring Street, North Plymouth.
M. Etta Cooney, 19 High Street.
Helen Holmes, 28 Chilton Street.
Helen Klocker, 9 Sever Street.
Margaret Longfellow, 24 Allerton Street.
Charlotte E. Lovering, 12 Sever Street.
Jean Murray, 16 Brewster Street.
Helen E. Shurtleff, 131 1-2 Court Street.
Burton School.
Alice Bishop, 12 Sever Street.
Grace Blackmer, 5 Warren Avenue.
Bertha E. McNaught, 33 Russell Street.
Teresa A. Rogan, Newfields Street.
Mt. Pleasant School.
Augusta M. Morton, Principal, 162 Sandwich Street. Alice M. Cagney, 31 Mayflower Street.
Grace L. Knight, 133 Court Street.
Helen H. Linnell, 72 Warren Avenue. Nellie L. Shaw, 23 Fremont Street.
A. Ruth Toombs, 31 Mayflower Street.
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Individual School. Mary L. Jackson, 7 North Green Street.
Lincoln Street Primary.
Grace Moor, 110 Sandwich Street.
Velma Rowell, 20 Allerton Street.
Alden Street School.
Flora A. Keene, 5 Washington Street.
Wellingsley School.
Flora G. Shurtleff, 131 1-2 Court Street.
Cliff Street School.
Gertrude Zahn, 320 Court Street.
Chiltonville Primary.
Mabel Woodward, 53 Russell Street.
Russell Mills School.
Rose B. Delano, Kingston.
Manomet.
Estella Butland, 4 Massasoit Street. Mary E. Robbins, 102 Allerton Street.
Cedarville.
Theresa E. D. Pope, Bournedale, Mass., R. F. D.
Special Teachers.
Music Supervisor, Nellie Shaw, 59 Everett St., Middleboro. Drawing Supervisor, Matilda Olsson, 70 Sandwich Street.
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REPORT OF ATTENDANCE OFFICER
Mr. Charles A. Harris,
Superintendent of Schools.
Dear Sir :- I respectfully submit the following report from January 1, 1921 to January 1, 1922.
Truancy Sickness Absentee Total
Burton School,
3
17
5
25
Cedarville School,
0
0
1
1
Cold Spring School,
0
1
3
4
Cornish School,
1
8
18
27
Hedge School,
3
7
22
32
High School,
15
7
55
77
Knapp School,
12
13
33
58
Lincoln Street School,
6
3
4
13
Long Pond School,
0
0
3
3
Mount Pleasant School,
5
2
2
9
Nathaniel Morton School,
18
181
91
290
Oak Street School,
0
0
1
South Street School,
1
3
16
20
So. Spooner St. School,
0
0
1
1
64
242
255
561
Cases investigated for Superintendent's office,
3
Employment Certificates investigated,
17
Number of homes visited,
581
Total number of investigations,
581
Number of visits to school,
35
Found on street and taken to school,
4
Taken to court for keeping their children from school, 2
I wish to thank the Superintendent and teachers for the kind assistance which they have given me during the past year.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN ARMSTRONG,
Attendance Officer.
NON-CIRCULATING
MAY 25 1979
W ELLS BINDERY INC. ALTHAM, MASS. NOV. 1960
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