USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1922-1923 > Part 31
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The equipment of the department of Physics and Chemis- try was greatly augmented during the year. A longer time allotment was permitted for laboratory experimentation. Both courses have recognized and met the college require- ments. The instruction in biology has been of an exceeding- ly high order this year. However, the biological equipment is meager. The more closely a biology course is involved in actual contact with plant and animal life, the more tren- chantly will biology function with the pupils. The next improvement in our scientific department should facilitate dissecting. Secondary school pupils need empirical know- ledge as well as instruction in theory.
Interest in foreign languages has waned recently. The number of pupils who elected Latin has diminished each year. Even the number of pupils in the modern language
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department has decreased. The diminution in the study of foreign languages may be attributed to the more liberal attitude of the colleges.
The graduating class of last June numbered fifty-one. One third of the class have entered institutions for continued education. In the Sophomore and Junior Classes a very large proportion have signified intentions of a college educa- tion. In order that the doors may be open to them, the school must maintain well equipped departments efficiently taught.
Due to the curriculum reorganization and to the small Freshman Class the elimination of one teacher was possible. At the opening of school next September an increased student body will make the restoration of this teacher imperative. With the present school enrollment the class-rooms of the building are scarcely adequate for proper administration. A normal growth during the next three years will require additional class rooms.
There is a need, however, which is both acute and im- mediate. The opportunity for physical education is un- worthy of modern educational ideals.
A sound body needs to be engendered as well as a sound mind. The state has charged the school department with the responsibility for proper physical development. . The obligation must not be ignored. The duty cannot be trans- ferred. No other community institution can furnish the training needed for all pupils. A gymnasium is needed for all pupils. Gymnasiums have already been constructed in many high schools of the size of Plymouth. In a relatively short period of years, a gymnasium will be mandatory. A thousand pupils are centralized near the high school building. The proximity of these children would make feasible the utilization of the building during the entire day. The ad- vantages the pupils would derive from daily gymnasium work are illimitable.
Briefly the needs of the school may be summarized as follows:
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1. Gymnasium
2. Enlarged library
3. Part-time trained librarian
4. Room telephone system
5. Continuation of the policy to increase equipment as departments demonstrate their worth.
I appreciate the cooperative spirit with which you, the committee which you represent, and the faculty have assisted in the work of helping boys and girls to help themselves.
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE C. MARSDEN, Principal.
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JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL REPORT
Mr. Horace F. Turner,
Superintendent of Schools,
Plymouth, Mass.
Dear Sir:
Herewith I submit my annual report of the Junior High School. The attendance for the year has been especially good. There has been a decided improvement in punctuali- ty; the ninth grade leading all others. We appreciate the readiness of parents to cooperate and the results are shown in the good fellowship of the pupils and the steady improve- ment in their work.
While we appreciate the interest the parents show in our school we would like them to follow more closely the work of the pupils not only in the examination of the report cards but also by visiting the school. This would help greatly for the success of the school.
The health of the pupils receives constant attention and the teachers appreciate the good work done by the school physician, the dental hygienist, and the nurse.
The work along physical training has been carefully watch- ed. Besides the ten minutes setting-up drills every day, which are taken out of doors when-ever the weather permits under the guidance of responsible leadership with trained pupil leaders, there have been soccer teams for boys and hockey teams for girls. These meet in the open after school hours. Much enthusiasm has been aroused among the pupils and the successful Field Day held last June was a happy climax to the training in physical education.
The work of the various departments has been cooperative. The girls of the ninth grade have conducted their own class in cooking. Every one of the members demonstrates from time to time how to prepare a certain article of food. In sewing, they have planned their wardrobe by budget and are
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row working out a project for furnishing the dining room at a minimum cost. It would be advisable to extend the woodworking department so that the boys of the ninth grade could have an entirely new line of work. A lathe, some work in sheet metal, and a few simple tools would help greatly.
The work in music has been placed on a firmer basis by giving two periods a week to this subject. Two Glee Clubs have been formed-one for boys and one for girls. Both these are doing very creditable work under the direction of the music supervisor. A conspicuous example of cooperation was the excellent singing of the Girls' Glee Club at Communi- ty Service. The orchestra also is doing commendable work under the direction of Mr. Clark.
The conference of teachers from both Senior and Junior High Schools this year accomplished certain results. Meth- ods and plans for articulating more closely the work in English were discussed and formulated.
The present day tendency in Junior High Schools for extra classroom activities in the form of clubs was started in September. A definite time allowance was made in the pro- gram for these. The aim is to train pupils to join in cooper- ative activity with their fellows. In these clubs the teacher acts as an adviser only. Public opinion is developed and the pupils are prepared for the worthy use of leisure time.
The following list shows the variety of work these clubs offer: literary, dramatic, historical dramatization, travel, library, debating, current events, civics, musical appreciation art, cooking, and manual training. It is noticeable how the habits of fair play, courtesy, promptness, and loyalty have been developed by means of these clubs.
For the coming year I would recommend a good reference library with equipment for same. We need this at once if we are to broaden and strengthen our work along academic lines. There is a lack of reading material in the school. Several sets of books are needed for each class. More equip- ment in the science department would do much to build up this department. I would suggest a Bunsen burner together with material for conducting simple experiments.
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I would like to see an assembly hall and a gymnasium so that the boys and girls who work after school hours might have a fair chance for right living. A fire gong is a necessity, so also is a program clock.
I desire to express my appreciation to the Superintendent, the School Committee, teachers, and parents for their co- operation and interest in the school, also to the janitor for his efficient service in the school and in beautifying the grounds.
Respectfully submitted,
KATHARINE A. O'BRIEN,
Principal.
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Mr. Horace F. Turner,
Superintendent of Schools, Plymouth, Mass.
Dear Sir:
When medical inspection began in Plymouth schools in 1907 the required duties of the School Physician were few. He must examine all the children each year sending notices of his findings to parents, re-examine children returning to school after illness without a certificate of health and finally re-examine such children of fourteen as desired to leave school for work.
From this beginning the assumption of new duties has been continuous from year to year. Very early the problem of ยท proper adjustment of school furniture presented itself re- quiring careful study.
Not long after the systematic examination of school chil- dren was adopted it became evident that it was worse than useless to spend valuable time in discovering defects that were not remedied and the school nurse was added as a necessary auxiliary. She followed up the physician's notices of defects, visiting the homes, adding the personal touch which the written notices lacked, and explained to the parents the character of the defects and the harm that would result to the child from their neglect. This made medical inspection effective and remediable defects were more frequently correct- ed. Through her frequent inspections, vermin and conta- gious disease were better controlled and she became an indis- pensable adjunct.
The discovery that 85 to 90% of the pupils in the schools had carious teeth and the growing popular knowledge of the serious ills which may follow the neglect of this condition in growing children, resulted in a demand for a dental clinic which was begun by the School Physician in the office of the Superintendent in the fall of 1913, the stenographer act-
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ing as assistant to the dentists who gave their services gra- tuitously.
It soon became evident that the amount of good that could be done in this way, filling a few teeth each week, was mak- ing practically no impression on what was conceded to be a serious condition, and better quarters and up to date equip- ment were secured and a full time Dental Hygienist em- ployed with an educational program.
The number of pupils found upon examination to be suffer- ing from diseased tonsils and adenoids though not as large as the number with carious teeth, was too large to be ignored. Many of the parents of these unfortunate children though anxious to have something done were unable to pay for surgi- cal relief. Plymouth had no dispensaries to care for such cases and it was impractical to have more than a very few cared for in Boston. Through the efforts of the School Physician an arrangement was made with the Jordan Hospi- tal whereby the surgeons on the staff of that institution were to operate these cases. The children are taken to the hospi- tal by the School Nurse in the morning where they are care- fully reexamined by the School Physician to be sure that there is nothing to contra-indicate the operation. They are then operated by one of the Hospital staff surgeons of skill and experience who cheerfully gives his time to the work. They remain at the hospital over night and are taken home the next day by the School Nurse if sufficiently recovered. In this way many children have been relieved each year for several years who would otherwise be handicapped through- out their lives.
Not only has a careful examination of school children revealed many with such remediable defects as carious teeth, hypertrophied tonsils and adenoid vegetations but also a smaller but more pathetic number of unfortunates who have defects which cannot be remedied.
In Jan. 1915 a small group of children who were unable to do the regular grade work was given the benefit of adapted instruction in an "individual" school under a competent teacher. It has been a part of the work of the School Physi-
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cian to carefully examine by means of approved pschycholo- gical tests such pupils as might be presented to him and de- termine those most likely to benefit by the advantages offer- ed by such a school. From six or seven pupils it has grown to a two room school of thirty members with two teachers.
No doubt the time is near when the school department will offer adapted instruction to other unfortunate groups whose members cannot profit by ordinary grade teaching such as hopelessly deaf pupils, those with eyesight so defect- ive that special teaching and equipment are necessary (the so called "Eyesight Conservation" school) and still another with speech defects, but at present with so small a number of pupils such classes are impossible for economic reasons.
Another group which has recently assumed an important place is the under-weight group. All pupils are now weighed and measured and those found to be 10% or more under- weight are given special attention. Charts are kept showing graphically any loss or gain and every effort is made to re- move the cause of the condition and bring them back to normal.
The School Physician is concerned with all those matters which touch the physical welfare of the pupils such as heat- ing, ventilation, lighting, sanitaries, cleanliness of buildings, the condition of playgrounds, drinking water and fire pro- tection.
In such movements as the Health Crusade and in the educational program of the dental department the teaching of health and hygiene, in a personal sense, is being intimately interwoven into our educational fabric and many and com- plex problems touching these matters are presenting them- selves to-day in the administration of our public schools which the School Physician must be ready to advise upon and to assist in solving. Thus the work has grown from the days when medical inspection meant hardly more than a hurried inspection of pupils once a year.
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ORAL HYGIENE AND DENTAL DEPARTMENT
The new equipment installed at the Hedge school in the closing weeks of 1922 has been of great assistance in carrying on the work of this department except that the quarters are crowded as they are at present used by the School Physician and School Nurse also. This will be remedied however when the addition to the building is completed. Pupils in the northerly part of the town are now well cared for at the Hedge school and those in the center and to the south go to the larger quarters in the Governor Bradford building where there is a commodious waiting room equipped with educational posters and reading matter.
At a conference held in September and attended by the two dentists of the dental department, the Dental Hygienist and the School Physician a radical change in policy was de- cided upon subject to the approval of the School Committee. It was agreed:
a. To confine the work of the School Dental work to the first four grades.
b. To begin at once examining the first grades and to operate on the children eligible in this grade until finished, thence to proceed to the second and so on up to the fifth.
c. To attend to any emergency case up to the High school.
d. To require that all children in the first four grades receive dental prophylaxis either from the Dental Hygienist or from their own dentist.
e. To ask each grade teacher to report to the Hygienist at the end of each month the number of absences be- cause of dental difficulties also the total number of absences.
f. To remember, in doing corrective work at the clinic that there are many to be served and that long treat- ments cannot be undertaken.
By thus limiting work to the early grades it can be done much more thoroughly than if it were spread over all the grades and in a few years there should be little need of work
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in the upper grades as all will have been taken care of or taught to care for themselves as they pass through early grades.
We feel that a thorough cleaning of the teeth or so called dental prophylaxis is of great educational value and there- fore require that all pupils shall have it done either by Miss White, the Dental Hygienist of the School Department, or by their own dentist, a list of the practicing dentists in Ply- mouth being distributed to the pupils by Miss White when she begins the work in a room.
In June Dr. S. Kahn, Assistant Surgeon, Government of N. W. Frontier Province, India and two government health officers from Poland visited us. Dr. Kahn, a well informed surgeon, of wide experience, objected to what he called the excessive use of the toothbrush in this country and very ably supported his contention.
He advocated very infrequent and not too vigorous use of the brush but advised rinsing the mouth with a mildly astringent wash instead of brushing, claiming that this course was quite as effective and obviated the danger of injury to the delicate mucous membrane of the gums. It is not neces- sary to accept his theory that all dental caries comes from within and not from without, in order to appreciate that there is much common sense in his views on the use of the tooth brush, and we will confess that the instruction now given in the use of the tooth-brush has been in a measure modified by the gentleman from India.
Miss White has done excellent work both in prophylaxis and in teaching as shown by the improvement in the mouths of the pupils. Her report follows:
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DENTAL CLINIC
Dr. J. Holbrook Shaw, School Physician, Plymouth, Mass.
Dear Mr. Shaw:
I hereby submit my report of the work done at the school dental clinic during the year 1923:
This year I have given the children oral hygiene talks about their teeth using such subject as: "When the teeth come and go", "What the teeth are made of", "The theory of decay","Results of too early extraction of either temporary or permanent teeth", "Foods that aid in the development of the teeth as they grow in the gum tissue before eruption", etc. During these talks the pupils' interest is keen and I have found by written examinations in the different grades that they remember the greater part of what I tell them.
As a result of these talks we find the children instead of being timid when dental work is necessary, ready and anxious to have all defects remedied. Very often a child has come to the clinic asking to have four or five teeth extracted. This I believe is the result of explaining that one decayed tooth will effect the tooth on either side of it.
In all first and second grades I have given tooth brush drills. The children bring their tooth brushes to school in a waxed envelope and are given a paper towel to put on their desk, and two clean cups, one filled with water and one empty to expectorate in. A bit of salt is put in the water and one small amount of tooth paste is placed on the brush and they are taught how to clean all the surfaces of their teeth. As an equally important part of the drill they are taught to thoroughly rinse the mouth and are allowed to go to the drinking fountain to do this where they can have plenty of water. I feel that this drill is very beneficial and would like to have more time to devote to it. I will be more than glad to have any parent or interested person see the drill.
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Each month as I visit the rooms, the children come to me and show me their teeth. Each has a score card which is marked and at the end of the year those having clean teeth every time, receive a reward.
At the Hedge school much good is being done since getting our new dental equipment. Already since October first this year, seventeen first grade childfen, who could otherwise have had no treatment, have had all necessary dental atten- tion. Every Friday morning is devoted to filling and ex- tracting by the dentist on service, and all day Tuesday of each week the Hygienist is there cleaning the teeth of children from the Knapp and Hedge school.
All this of course is in addition to the work done at the larger quarters in the Governor Bradford Building. Lastly, all interested parents are invited to visit either clinic at any time when the Dental Hygienist is there.
EXPENSES
Rent
$300 00
Telephone
22 31
Electric Light
17 18
Laundry
43 52
Janitor
80 00
Tooth-Brushes
(half returned),
154 47
Supplies
380 96
Miscellaneous
55 25
Total
$1,053 69
1. Number of Examinations 1095
2. Number of extractions (temporary teeth) 293
3. Number of extractions (permanent teeth) 34
4. Number of treatments, toothaches, etc.
50
5. Number of fillings:
a. Amalgam 79
b. Amalgam with cement base 30
c. Cement 37
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d. Porcelain 12
e. Gutta Percha 10
Total
168
6. Number of prophylactic treatments
1138
7. Number of total operations 2759
8. Number of total patients 2570
9. Number of new patients
1802
10. Number of dismissals
78
11. Number of total operating hours
555
Amount of money taken in Total $188 70
School Dentists, Dr. Harold E. Donovan
Dr. William O. Dyer,
Respectfully submitted, (Signed) GLADYS WHITE,
Dental Hygienist.
SCHOOL NURSE
The Health Crusade introduced last year proved to be so helpful in improving the condition of the pupils that it was continued. The spirit of rivalry is the key note of success and children will do health chores cheerfully to win honors in the Crusade which they otherwise perform grudgingly or not at all. It is argued that the Health Crusade teaches them to make false statements. It is true it affords such an opportunity, and the reward may be so won but life is also full of opportunities to profit by deception and they will have to face that problem constantly. Is it not better that they should meet it squarely in school with the teacher to help them solve it right? We may then find in the Health Crusade chores, the occasion to teach the children the worth- lessness of deception.
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The weighing and measuring all pupils each year and the repeated weighing and measuring of those 10% or more underweight and the special efforts made to bring them up to normal again entail an enormous amount of work on the part of the School Nurse. Dr. Fredrika Moore Pediatrician of the Division of Hygiene of the State Board of Health visited us last May with her assistant and showed much in- terest in our problem. It was her suggestion that we co- operate with other nearby towns in employing a nurse or nutrition worker who could devote two or three days a week to our work thus lightening the load which Miss Macdonald now carries alone. Such an arrangement would be most welcome but so far no funds have been available with which to carry it out.
During the summer vacation the nurse's car was repainted, new curtains provided and the top recovered so that it now looks well and affords protection from the weather.
The report of the nurse follows:
REPORT OF SCHOOL NURSE, 1923
1. Number of school visits 693
2. Number of home visits 666
3. Number of treatments in school 1908
4. Number of pupils excluded 248
5. Number of pupils referred to physicians 52
6. Number of pupils taken to hospitals and clinic
65
7. Number of pupils operated for tonsils and adenoids 32
Contagious diseases found in schools 104
Contagious diseases found in homes 107
Number of pupils inspected 5371
About 1050 pupils are enrolled in the Health Crusade this year, and though quite a few, for various reasons, drop out before the course is completed the majority are doing very good work. The children take a good deal of interest
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in the weighing and measuring and seem anxious to weigh all they should. One group of children, who in October were found to be 10% underweight, have made an average gain of 2.69 lbs, the minimum gain being 1 lb. the maximum 7 lbs. The normal average gain in this length of time would be 1.16 lbs. The actual gain is then 231% of the normal. The "Table of Average Height and Weight Measurements", recommended by the Mass. Department of Health is used.
In some of the smaller schools where quite a number of the pupils bring their lunch to school, the teachers are serving milk, hot cocoa, or soup, at noon, the expense being shared by the pupils. The children greatly appreciate this, and several who could not be induced to drink either milk or cocoa at home, have learned to like both. If some arrange- ment could be made in some of our larger schools, especially in the north part of the town, for the serving of milk and cocoa it would undoubtedly be of great benefit to many children.
Quite a few of the mothers go out to work, and the children are obliged to eat an early breakfast, and some also have quite a long walk to school. Others eat hurriedly, and run to school reaching there tired and "out of sorts." If they could have a cup of milk or cocoa, soon after the opening of school, they would be happier, and in much better condition for the days work.
(Signed) SUSIE MacDONALD, R. N.
"INDIVIDUAL" SCHOOL
With another room in use at the "Individual school" there was an opportunity for a considerable increase in membership at the opening of school in September.
Candidates were from time to time referred to the School Physician and examined, the Stanford Revision Record Booklet being used. As suitable pupils were selected and recommended the school was gradually filled to its present quota of about thirty.
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A difficulty arose at this school as a number of the pupils lived so far away that it was impracticable for them to go home for lunch at noon and it did not seem best to leave them at the building unattended.
An arrangement was made so that about ten pupils went over to the Junior High school where they were given a hot lunch served in a well-appointed dining room by the depart- ment of domestic science of that institution. This seemed an ideal solution of the difficulty but had to be given up on account of the expense of the food which was borne in part by the Parent Teachers' Association and finally entirely by the Public Health Committee of the Woman's Club. The final solution of the matter seems to be that those pupils will bring a simple lunch from home, and hot soup or cocoa will be prepared at the school for them. It is hoped that a room may be equipped there as a dining room so that the lunches may be eaten in a neat and orderly manner.
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