USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of Saugus 1940 > Part 21
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17
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
1940]
Mead took a work-shop course at Harvard during the summer and made a careful study of the newer courses in literature. Mr. Burns is now taking a course in the teaching of English at Boston College, and Mr. Lovett is study- ing this winter at Boston Univer- sity.
Miss Stanhope, as chairman of the textbook committee of the De- partment, has reviewed with her committee the new English books and has submitted comprehensive ratings of each. Examination throughout the year of the dozens of new books by the English facul- ty members has served a twofold purpose. First, the practice has helped the teachers to see the many possibilities in curriculum plan- ning; secondly, the ratings have been of value to the department head in purchasing new texts.
The innovations of the last year in the English courses of study have been introduced, as you can see, only after a careful study by a well-informed English faculty. Of these innovations, two are sufficiently important to be dis- cussed in this report.
First, we have reorganized some of our literature teaching in the High School. For the non-college pupils we are providing fewer of the older classics, and more of the best modern literature books. We believe that this material is of greater value to these pupils, because it takes into consideration their reading abilities, interests, and life experiences. Recently pur- chased new texts include Litera- ture We Like (ninth grade) with topics according to centers of in- terest, Captains Courageous (tenth grade), and Adventures in Modern Literature (twelfth grade) with such authors as Walter K. Ed- monds, Sinclair Lewis, H. G. Wells, Arnold Bennett, W. Somerset Maugham, Thomas Mann, Gamal- iel Bradford, Paul de Kruif, Alex- ander Woolcott, and Maxwell An- derson. At the same time we are continuing to offer a few of the older classics, which we feel every high school graduate should have read.
We hope that this program will encourage our students to choose the better literature for their lei- sure reading, and to read more in- telligently as adults.
Secondly, we have prepared a definite program of study of usage forms for the seventh and eighth grades. This program will be ex- tended to the senior high school within the next few weeks. Pre- viously, the teachers have relied principally on the textbook offer- ings for a selection of items to be studied. The new plan includes a comprehensive list of the mini- mum essentials of each grade, pre-testing, practice in error recognition and correction, and testing for mastery. Allowance is made for review in the advanced grade. While the teacher is per- mitted to make use of his own initiative and resourcefulness in much of the content and methods of his courses, he is expected to comply with this new course of study dealing with the minimum essestials of grammar and usage. Through this method we shall be able to standardize our require- ment for promotion."
"Although some interesting pro- grams are being carried out in the Modern Language Department, I do not believe that I can go as far as to call them outstanding achievements as yet. I do hope, however, that they will produce fruit in the future.
The third year classes in French meet on the average of once every two weeks during the Activity Period on Thursday. The atten- dance is voluntary, and it is grati- fying to see the attendance keep up to standard week after week. I try to plan varied programs in order to keep up the interest.
Of course, the favorite is a "Sing". By means of my portable victrola and album of folk song records I am able to let them hear the songs as they are really sung in France. A pupil volunteered her services to mimeograph the words of all the French songs so that each pupil has his own copy. Some own their own books. Included in these songs are some popular ones, such as, "L'Homme Volant" (The
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TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
Man on the Flying Trapeze) and "Petit M. Echo" (Little Sir Echo). Other meetings we work out cross- word puzzles, tell French jokes, and similar diversions. We are planning some "Scenettes" in the future.
After Christmas, Mrs. Kellogg has promised to make us some puppets for a Punch and Judy Show, or "Guignol" as it is called in French. The boys will build the stage and the girls will dress the puppets. Then I hope to stage a few theatrical productions.
The Seniors are contributing to a French page in the "Focus". The articles include essays, jokes, crossword puzzles, proverbs, and the like. This page is very popular with the other French classes. They are proud of it, and especial- lv interested in the ability of the French III classes to express themselves.
Once every term Miss Towle's classes and mine combine for a period of pictures and discussion. We use the Opaque Projector and up till now have presented "Paris" and "Cathedrals of France". We make it informal and invite ques- tions. The classes look forward to it and we find it decidedly worthwhile. We plan in the future to cover such subjects as "Canada", "Chateaux", "Costumes of Provin- ces", etc. No lesson is assigned that day. It produces a bond of friendliness and unity between the classes studying under differ- ent teachers.
In the Latin field a similar pro- pram is carried out every term, the pictures in this case dealing with Roman subjects. Miss Page has organized a Latin Club which has proved to be so popular that she has had to form two groups.
These groups are similar to mv Senior groups, but embrace all four years. In these meetings she has games, puzzles, and similar amusements.
Whether these projects can be rated as achievements, it is hard to tell, but I can assure you the pupils are finding that French and Latin are very much alive and are really fun when they can use them for their own personal pleasure."
"To date I have held three mathematics department meetings with my own teachers and two with grade teachers. After the holidays, I hope to meet the first and second grade arithmetic tea- chers.
In my department meetings this fall I have stressed the need for uniformity. As a result we are requiring pupils to hand in neat mathematics papers, we are allow- ing a reasonable amount of time for make-up work and we are grading test papers uniformly.
I believe that there should be frequent meetings for grade tea- chers of arithmetic. I believe that the outlines should be revised fre- quently. These outlines should be more comprehensive than those that are being used at the present time. With these thoughts in mind I have asked the following tea- chers to head their 1 respective grades in this work of revision: Grade 8-Miss Walton, Grade 7- Miss Nelson, Grade 6-Mrs. Cur- tis, Grade 5-Miss Nason, Grade 4-Mrs. Beckman, Grade 3-Miss Emery.
There has been renewed activity at this school to help boys prepare for the General Electric Appren- tice School Examinations. It is my belief that boys planning to attend this school should pursue at least three years of high school mathematics. We can well afford to spend time with these boys par- ticularly now since so few boys are going on to college. At the present time I am stressing cer- tain types and principles of work considered essential by technical schools. I am making a canvas of all of the boys in the Senior class who plan to take these examina- tions. It is my opinion that the General Electric Company should not allow boys to take these ex- amination unless they have the ap- proval of the school.
I believe that Saugus High School can be justly proud of her graduates now enrolled in the Apprentice School. Out of a total enrollment of 200 boys there are at present 29 boys from Saugus High School. These Saugus boys were admitted as follows:
19
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
1940]
1938 -- 2 (School re-opened) 1939-15
1940-12 (to date)
Only one high school-one of the Lynn High Schools surpasses Sau- gus High School in the number of boys admitted."
"A few days ago you asked each department head to turn in to you the outstanding achievement in his paricular department. Since then I have given it considerable thought and as a department we have discussed it, but not with very satisfactory results. Some things which are outstanding are not of themselves important. For example, getting the Chevrolet chassis up three flights and into Room 311 is certainly an achieve- ment, and from the expressed thoughts of those who see it, ap- parently outstanding. But this is insignificant in comparison with the fact that we now have this ap- paratus for experimental work.
One of our teachers has come to the conclusion that his classes have not been what they should be, and he is trying to do something about it. He has brought in from outside ferns, flowering plants, an aquarium, newts, turtles, fish, mosses, stuffed birds and animals. Pupils have made and are making charts, diagrams and pictures for the walls. He has finally decided that his course would be better if he followed the seasons rather than the book and just recently he has collected money in his classes for motion pictures. Altogether I be- lieve this indicates an improve- ment, an outstanding achievement to the credit of Mr. Evans and the school committee."
"It is difficult to account as defi- nite achievement certain innova- tions we have tried out during the vear for they are still in the de- velopement stage.
Early in the year the instruc- tors in my department were asked to emphasize Project Work more than what they had been doing in the past. Through Project Work I have found that we can get more students to participate than by the more formal type of recitation. My own classes in United States
History have done some excellent work for they have been able to tie up the history of the past with that of the present to a very great ex- tent.
We have found it necessary to modify the course in European History because of the constant changes taking place in Europe. These changing events have not only attracted the attention of the students but have equally aroused their interest to the point where they want to get complete information about these events. Consequently it has been necessary to modify the usual procedure and give the students a clear cut de- velopement of the historical back- ground of the different European countries. Such terms as socialism, facism, democracy, economic ri- valry and nationalism need to be explained.
This approach to the subject has aroused the interest of the student in both the past and pres- ent and no doubt will give him a firmer grasp and a clearer under- standing of himself, as well as of the world of which he is a part."
"In presenting my first annual report as Director of Guidance at Saugus High School, I should like to observe that whatever progress we are now making is being done on the foundation laid by my two predecessors.
I am endeavoring this year to build up both sides of the Guidance picture-educational and vocation- al. Contact with recent graduates of our school has revealed that many of these people have found employment.
Many who are not employed, I have been able to direct to sources of employment. Interest in this work has been aroused in certain groups and organizations of the townspeople, and I think, we may look in that direction for consid- erable aid and support.
Among our undergraduates we are endeavoring to seek out the possibilities, propensities and po- tentialities of every student. It is our desire to place every student on the right track in order that he may achieve a happy niche in
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TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
life. This occasions the collection and consideration of much data about the individual as well as personal contacts and interviews in order that no important fact relevant to that individual and his future may be overlooked.
We are obtaining and making available to our student body much occupational and educational in- formation of a very practical sort. In this connection we are intro- ducing as of the first of the year the occupational information of Science Research Associates. Young people cannot be expected to make wise choices in education or occupations without adequate information.
I find it impossible if not unfair to write much in the first person in making this report. The success of a Guidance program rests on the assistance and cooperation of many unselfish persons both with- in and outside the school system. This is a program which cannot be instituted on a grand scale all at once but which, rather, must grow gradually and surely. I feel that now we have reached a point in our developement of Guidance work where the good of such a program is beginning to be felt.
There remains, and always will remain, much work to be done. In another year we plan to introduce courses in Guidance into our school. These courses will furnish the general information which the stu- dent needs before he can success- fully choose his life's work. Our teachers are serving as advisers, each teacher taking charge of a small group of students. We plan to use this contact with the stu- dents to even greater advantage as time goes on. The time spent by many in this work is difficult to measure but all important and is worthy of much commendation.
I feel keenly the responsibilities of the position which I hold in ad- vising young people as to their future. I make grateful acknow- ledgement to all who in any way help in this Guidance work, for I realize that its success rests on a cooperative, not an individual ef- fort. It is a community service,
and as such enhances the value of this school to the town."
Report of the
Director of Instrumental Music
"At the present time, there are 135 pupils studying instrumental music in the Saugus schools. These students range from the second to the twelfth grades. The elementary school students are given lessons on Saturday morning in the High School and the Junior and Senior high school pupils are given les- sons during school time. Class, semi-private and private lessons are available for all students. Three of the finest music teachers obtainable comprise our staff of instructors.
Of the 135 pupils studying music in our schools, 55 of them make up the High School band There is also a Junior band consisting of about 35 members. The Junior band rehearses for one hour on Saturday morning and two 90 minute rehearsals are held for the Senior band weekly, with regular attendance required of all mem- bers.
In the Fall, the band attempts to excel in marching and maneu- vers at the football games. Later, suitable programs are arranged for school assemblies and Parent- Teacher Association meetings. At least one radio broadcast is planned during the Winter season. The band presents its annual con- cert in the Spring and attends the Massachusetts Music Festival dur- ing the month of May. This year, it is hoped that the band will be able to attend the New England Music Festival which is to be held in Auburn, Maine. During the Summer months, a free course of instruction is given to Junior band members which prepares them so that they may enter the Senior band in the Fall.
Students receive 11/2 credits and a band letter each year for band participation providing they have fulfilled the necessary require- ments.
During the year, students are selected to represent Saugus at several band clinics. In the Sum- mer, a group of pupils are enrolled
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REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
1940]
in the Boston University Summer band course, free of charge. Others attend the Massachusetts Festival Association Band Clinic and a group of advanced sudents are sent to the New England Festival Band.
I would like to thank Mr. Vernon W. Evans, Superintendent of Schools and the School Committee for their cooperation and interest. I would also like to thank you Mr. Pearce, both for the assistance you have given me and also for your many helpful suggestions.
My thanks are also extended to the members of the Band Parents' Club, not only for their financial support but for their untiring in- terest."
The High School Library
"There can be no complaints of the administration of the library. Books are filed according to the Dewey Decimal System; they are issued efficiently; losses are kept at a minimum. The deficiencies in our library are not due to poor management, but to the lack of equipment, materials, books, and magazines. Our library is woe- fully inadequate for a large high school. If this were true ten years ago, it is true to a greater degree today, because of the new trends in education. We have a total of 800 books classified as fiction and non-fiction. Of these books, which are used primarily for book re- ports in English, only about 100 belong to the school; the other 700 belong to the Public Library. In order to complete our book report requirements for one year, the students, collectively, must take out books and magazines approxi- mately 6,000 times. Our outside reading requirements are not so extensive as in many other high schools, either. It is clear that we do not have enough books for the English reports. Our reference books number 435. These belong to the school. It might seem that 435 reference books are enough. They would be sufficient if they consisted of the right books, but most of them are so old or are on such remote subjects that they are almost valueless.
We are grateful to the library trustees for the loan of these 700 books, which are on our "Home Reading" list. On our part, we have tried at all times to cooperate with them in such matters as the care of the books and the keeping of accurate records. But we need much more than we feel justified in asking of them. They cannot be expected to furnish reference material, magazines, supplies, or even many of the books we need.
Schools in the neighboring cities and towns have much larger li- braries than ours. "Library Ser- vice for Schools", the manual pub- lished by the Massachusetts De- partment of Education for tea- cher-librarians, states: "Large and medium-sized high schools should have a full-time librarian, with at least one year of an approved li- brary school and two years of library or school experience." Con- cerning the number of volumes it savs, "Collections of 3,000 to 8,000 books for 500 to 1000 students." It further says, "A well-equipped and commodious library is essential also in a junior high school." We have no library in our junior high school. We should be starting one.
At one time educators thought largely in terms of one textbook to a course. A library was not considered then to be of vital im- portance to the welfare of the school.
Today, however, in the field of English we have come to believe that we cannot do a satisfactory job without access to a good li- brary. One of our objectives in literature is to acquaint pupils with the classics; a more impor- tant objective is to teach pupils to read more widely the better cur- rent literature. If we can raise the existing reading interests above the level of the western story, the sex, and the comic maga- zines and above the sensational "dressed-up" front page news stories, we shall be accomplishing something really worth while. With the shorter working hours of the twentieth century has come more leisure time than ever before, time that can be spent wisely or un- wisely in a wholesome manner or
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TOWN DOCUMENTS
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otherwise, profitably to the indi- vidual and to the nation or waste- fully. A democracy more than any other form of government requires for its very existence intelligent readers, who read widely on pres- ent-day problems and make up their minds only after they have studied the facts. Many of our children do not find very much good reading matter in their homes. They will get acquainted with it only through the school. We cannot simply hope that some day they will seek out the better newspapers, the better magazines, the better book; we must provide them in sufficient quantities in the school to teach the child to read widely and intelligently and to build up interests and habits of reading that will continue with him in adulthood.
This program requires a large school library carefully collected over a period of years.
At present we are greatly handi- capped in assignments of research. We have some encyclopedias, but they are inadequate for the solu- tion of many problems of today, which are discussed only in maga- zines or in the newer books. We should like to teach children to seek to get the varied opinions of different authors on the same topic. Our college seniors, especially, should be given practice in pre- paring bibliographies and in writ- ing research papers, but at present we can do very little of this satis- factorily. Students have to use the Public Library for the compari- tively few assignments of this kind that we give. Furthermore, many schools require much more outside reading than we can assign be- cause of the limited facilities of the library. Then, too, the general groups, as well as the college groups, in many schools are read- ing more widely of the modern literature and are spending less time in the classroom discussion of the so-called classics. Often, all of the pupils in the class read dif- ferent books around one center of interest or one problem. Several books may be loaned to the class by the library. Pupils, having read the different books simul-
taneously, exchange their ideas in class. We can't even begin to ex- periment with this method of teaching in Saugus.
It is generally agreed, however, that outside reading should be a pleasant experience to encourage the child to make the reading of worth-while literature a habit. To accomplish this, we should have enough volumes in the library to permit the child to choose books within his field of interest and on his reading level. Now the pupil usually has to be contented with an approved book, whether it is the kind that he will wish to read or not. As a result, the reading experience all too often is unplea- sant from the start.
Below is a fragmentary list of needs of the library:
1. 50 book supports (10 for $1.85). Without supports, books do not remain upright, and get out of condition, necessitating early rebinding.
2. A larger card catalog.
3. A vertical file for pamphlets, clippings, and pictures.
4. Rebinding of 17 books that have been out of circulation for two years. Other books will need to be rebound soon.
5. Subscriptions to the better magazines.
6. Many more books for out- side reading in English.
7. Books and materials to be used in guidance.
8. More books that can be used by Social Studies classes.
9. Reference material including. Readers' Guide for Periodical Liter- ature.
Who's Who in America
Who's Who
American Year Book
World Almanac
Bartlett's Quotations
Lippincott's Universal Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology
Granger: Index to Poetry and Reci- tations
Moutlon: Library of Literary Criti- cism of English and American Authors.
Reference books for French classes.
23
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
1940]
The Industrial Arts Program
"The Saugus High School in keeping with the trend of the times in this highly developed industrial civilization introduced an Indus- trial Arts program in its curricu- lum this fall. The term Industrial Arts is used in place of the older term "Manual Training" because shop work at the present is far more mental and social than it has ever been. Our curriculum in In- dustrial Arts is formulated ac- cording to plans that have been nationally tried and approved. In each pupil there is developed skills, understandings, emotional respon- ses, social relations, and apprecia- tion of aesthetic expressions along industrial lines-valuable to all learners regardless of their future occupations.
The Industrial Arts shop in Saugus High School is being or- ganized along modern lines. The shop was started in September with a very small budget to work with. Because of this fact we were able to buy only a few machines
and a limited number of tools. Consequently we are presenting a a very limited Industrial Arts pro- gram which is chiefly centered around woodworking. There is a small unit course in home me- chanics and one in ceramics.
In view of increasing industrial trends and we believe also a genu- ine need for Industrial Arts in Saugus, we are working on a plan to broaden our shop program next year. This will of course depend upon whether or not we can get additional shop area and addi- tional equipment. This program will include a four year course rotating the students through in- troductory wood working, intro- ductory metal work, cabinet work, home mechanics, craft work, sheet metal, bench metal, forging and casting. These will be offered dur- ing the freshmen and sophomore years. In the junior and senior years pre-vocational courses will be offered in carpentry, advanced cabinet work, pattern making. automobile mechanics, electricity, and machine shop.
The Proposed Industrial Arts Course
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