USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1923 > Part 12
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1,400.00
Wallace L. Whittle
1,500.00
Alice L. Gay
1,000.00
Adams School
Annie S. McDowell
1,000.00
Athens School
Joseph U. Teague, Prin. 1
2,100.00
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Mary B. Thomas, Temp.
1,000.00
Charlotte F. Murphy
900.00
Mary R. Hamel, Temp. 1,000.00
Margaret E. Stevens, Temp. 1,000.00
Margaret E. O'Brien, Temp.
1,000.00
Victoria Woodworth
1,000.00
Helen G. Lyons
1,050.00
Marie F. Galvin
1,150.00
Margaret Dingwall
1,200.00
Cora L. Beard
1,200.00
Clara L. Rogers
900.00
Rachel E. Kimball
1,200.00
Isabelle H. DeWitt
900.00:
Helen D. Shea
900.00
Franklin School
Gertrude L. Reid, Prin.
1,250.00
Agnes Lyons
1,200.00
Dorothy C. Hilton
1,000.00
Mary C. Fallon
900.00
James Humphrey School
Adeline M. Canterbury, Prin.
2,100.00
Margaret C. Whittle, Temp.
1,000.00
Mary D. Luce, Temp.
1,000.00
Rosamond E. Cunniff
1,200.00
Elizabeth Egan
1,200.00
Anne F. Conroy
1,200.00
Katherine C. Fogarty
1,200.00
Helena F. Reidy
1,200.00,
Hunt School
Charles Y. Berry, Prin. 2,500.00;
(also director of Continuation School)
Susan G. Sheehan, Asst. Prin.
1,300.00
Grace McDowell
1,200.00
Dorothy Mudgett
1,200.00
Clara E. McGreevy
1,200.00
Elizabeth T. Tracy
1,200.00
Martha A. Loud
1,200.00
Margaret S. Towle
1,200.00
Elizabeth S. Hall
1,200.00
Mary E. Crotty
1,200.00
Grace A. Randall
1,200.00
Helen A. Pray
1,000.00
Susan M. Tracy
1,200.00
Jefferson School
Ruth M. Reidy, Prin.
1,250.00
Irene W. Barton
1,200.00
Mellissa Chase
1.200.00
Mary C. Shea
1,200.00
Edward B. Nevin School
Grace B. Simmons, Prin.
2,100.00
Alta J. Whorff
1,200.00
Edith Poore
1,200.00.
Helen L. Rockwood
1,200.00
Beatrice C. Warren
900.00
Mary H. Benson
1,000.00
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Elizabeth L. Hallahan
1,200.00
Idella M. Harris, Temp.
1,000.00
Stella L. Tirrell
1,200.00
Winifred L. Conant
950.00
Helen L. Galvin
900.00
L. May Chessman
1,400.00
Pond School Pratt School
Alice E. Fulton
1,150.00
Pearl B. Hanson
1,400.00
Anna E. Gannon
900.00
Nellie M. Holbrook
1,200.00
Dorothy V. Simonds
1,150.00
Shaw School
May I. Letteney, Prin.
1,400.00
E. Leo Madden
1,200.00
Ethel M. Hiatt
1,200.00
Margaret Q. Donahue
1,200.00
Washington School
Martha J. Hawes, Prin.
1,250.00
Mary V. Paul
1,200.00
Marion W. Collins
1
900.00
Annie J. McGreevy
1,200.00
Catherine M. Hanley
1,200.00
Elizabeth G. Hyland
1,200.00
Supervisors
Music
James W. Calderwood (3 ds.)
1,400.00
Manual Training
Alice L. Tucker
2,000.00
Drawing
Evelyn Silvester
1,700.00
Sewing
Edith M. Picken
1,500.00
School Gardens
Sarah E. Brassill
1,200.00
School Nurse
Anna A. MacDavitt
1,400.00
COST OF INSTRUCTION
Average Cost per Pupil
From local taxation
$51.98
From all sources 57.73
t
From all sources-State
81.98
Average Cost per Pupil from all Sources
Surrounding Towns Towns of the Same Comparative Size
Braintree
$ 71.70
Framingham
$74.51
Hingham
89.91
Greenfield
72.17
Holbrook
62.61
Methuen 71.77
Quincy
65.34
Plymouth
81.51
Rockland
71.15
Winthrop
66.20
Weymouth
57.73
Weymouth
57.73
There are thirty-nine cities in the State. All of these have a higher cost of instruction based on average membership than this town.
1
(also teaches in Continuation School)
1
141
There are seventy-four towns in the State with a population of over five thousand. Of these sixty-eight have a higher cost of instruction than Weymouth.
If we should base our expenditures upon the average cost in the State, it would take $73,477.50 more than it now does to sup- port the schools.
1
142
NEW PLAN OF GRADING
At the close of the present school year the number of grades in the elementary schools will be reduced from nine to eight. This change will cause considerable modification in the course of study. With this in view the teachers have been working on a suggestive outline for the fundamental subjects. It is our intention to have a more systematic drill in penmanship, arithmetic, spelling, and language as applied to composition and letter writing. In these subjects there will be minimum requirements which every student, must meet before entering the High School. The real need of each student, whether boy or girl, the actual test in life experience, is the ability to write legibly, to compose a letter or theme with ease and readiness, and to figure quickly and accurately. In ad- dition to this narrow field of essentials, the other subjects in the school curriculum will receive due attention as time warrants and changing conditions demand.
As we write the closing chapter of our experience with the nine grade system, it may be well to mention the reasons for its adoption years ago and the causes which underlie its discontin- uance at this time. It was originally intended that the ninth grade should be a "buffer grade" between the elementary schools and the High School. By reviewing in the ninth year work previously donê, and by adding to this review simple preparatory work in those subjects which would be new and particularly difficult to master in the grade above, it was considered that closer articula- tion and better understanding could be brought about between the High and Elementary grades. In this respect the plan succeeded, and for this reason many of us are sorry to see it go. The idea, however, originated in New England and never spread beyond its boundaries. A few years ago the West brought forth the Junior High School plan. Under this the grades were organized in three groups, six in the elementary, three in the Junior High, and three in the Senior High. This new idea has been adopted in a majority of the larger cities and has brought about modifications in the grouping of the grades in practically all the cities and towns of the East.
The change from the nine to the eight grade system carries with it this provision for the future, that the High School, cen- trally placed and materially enlarged, as it has been, will be cap- able of taking care of the four upper grades for a number of years. If and when the conditions demand, depending upon the growth of the various sections of the Town, it will be possible to establish Junior High Schools, one at a time, without interfering with the work or operation of the central school.
THE HIGH SCHOOL
In reporting on conditions at the High School due credit should be given to the pupils, first of all, for the excellent manner in which they have conducted themselves during the confusing times incident to repairs upon the old building and new construc- tion outside of it. At no time has there been the slightest friction between the workers and the student body. The contractors have commented frequently on the commendable attitude of the pupils.
The enrollment for the present year is five hundred and fifty- one, divided by courses as follows :
143
Classical and Technical
172
Business
245
Practical Arts
65
General
44
Agriculture
25
The Practical Arts courses are new, having been offered for the first time a year ago. They have been planned to meet a definite and growing need in the community. There is no use de- nying the statement that too many of our young people are seeking the so-called "white collar jobs." There is a growing feeling that more of the boys should train for the skilled industries instead of being trained away from them, and that more of the girls should fit themselves to run their homes wisely and well, an occupation to which the most of them will be finally called, and too many found wanting. I submit for the consideration of the mothers a digest of the work to be given the girls and ask if it is not more sensible that they should take this than to devote themselves to Algebra, Geometry and other subjects which they will never use unless they intend to take courses in higher institutions of learning
Cooking
Foods
Sewing
Dressmaking
Textiles
Laundry
Millinery Nursing and first aid
Care of children
Hygiene
Science (General)
Science (Household)
House planning and furnishing
Household management and accounts
English
French or other modern languages
History (Modern European and American)
Mathematics
Civics
Music
Gymnastics
The work for the boys has been planned in much the same manner. The school day for the boys in the Vocational Depart- ment will be two hours longer than for those in the Academic. Ii will be divided equally, three and one-half hours for shop work and three and one-half hours devoted to subjects related to shop practice or cultural in their nature.
The State will bear one-half of the expense of this work, in- cluding instruction, janitor service, heat, light, power and ma- terials used. This arrangement applies both to the homemaking courses for girls and the vocational courses for boys.
As to the general standing of the school, the following may be of interest. The State gives it a rank of "A" and admits on certificate to the normal schools any one who holds a diploma and
144
has received an average mark of eighty per cent or more during the course. The College Certificate Board has approved it and admits on recommendation those who have been graduated. In addition to this many have passed with credit examinations for those colleges which do not admit on certificate.
TERCENTENARY
The Tercentenary Celebration, coming as it did just at the close of the school year, could not be given the time and thought that it deserved. The Memorial Day Exercises had just been com- pleted. The grade teachers were busy with preparations for the closing of the year and the High School teachers with the gradu- ation program. Even with these adverse conditions, the schools made a creditable showing. Nearly fifteen hundred children par- ticipated in the parade from Great Hill to the Clapp Memorial Field. Twenty-one floats were trimmed and decorated to repre- sent different periods of interest in our history.
The work of preparing these floats was divided among the schools as follows:
Period of Settlement
High School
Colonial Period
Pratt and Shaw Schools
Revolutionary Period Hunt School Sacred Heart School
Liberty Bell
Civil War Period
Edward B. Nevin School
Nationalities in Schools
Industries of the Town
James Humphrey School Athens School
AGRICULTURE
(Report of Mr. Earl M. Ricker, Director of Agriculture)
The total number enrolled in the department was twenty- seven, three of this number receiving graduation diplomas in October. Ten boys dropped the course during the year, eight of the number as soon as they were sixteen years of age. The aver- age attendance was 89.08%
Twenty-four projects were carried on, which represented a total market value of products and labor of $5,844.73, and were made up as follows:
9 Poultry Projects, 440 birds, $2,573.01
5 Garden Projects, 2 5/8 acres, 480.81
2 Dairy Projects, 6 cows, 1,432.15
1 Small Fruit Project, 900 sq. ft. 22.50
7 Substitution Projects, 1,336.26
$5,844.73
Classes were taken to visit outside agricultural enterprises as often as possible. Among the places visited were :-
Place
Object
Boston Poultry Show Study of Breeds of Poultry
Mass. Horticultural Society Annual Meeting
David Crawford, South Guernsey Herd under
Weymouth Test
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A. C. Heald Farm, South Weymouth
Thomas Chisholm, South Weymouth Oak Farm, Cohasset Boston Dairy Show
Judging Ayrshires
Judging Holsteins
Certified Milk Production
Ayrshire Cattle F
Orchard Spraying
Orchard Insects
Pruning Apple Trees and
Grape Vines
Pruning Peach Trees and
Grape Vines
Hot Beds and Cold Frames
Greenhouse and Garden Crops Spring Flowering Shrubs
We were fortunate in having extended to us the privilege of visiting the above places in order to provide observation and prac- tical work to keep pace with the study in school.
Exhibition of fruits and vegetables raised by the boys has been encouraged at the Weymouth, Brockton and Braintree Grange Fairs. Money prizes, amounting to $44.50, were won by six boys the past year.
A poultry club of twelve members was organized in Novem- ber and made a club exhibit in the Boys and Girls Section of the recent Boston Poultry Show.
The department is now in the High School Extension, with excellent facilities for practical and theoretical work. New equipment and books have been added and the department is now in a position to develop new lines of activity and be of greater benefit.
DENTAL CLINIC
(Report of Miss Alice A. Conroy, Dental Hygienist)
The following covers the activities of the School Dental Clinic for the year 1923 under the direction of the Visiting Nurse Associ- ation.
The dental equipment is portable, consisting of a portable chair, sterilizer, cabinet, dental engine and card file. All can be transferred easily and quickly.
The Clinic has been located in all of the elementary school buildings during the year. Every child was given an opportunity to receive prophylactic treatment and advice on the care of the teeth. Individual cards were kept on file and a notice sent to the parents advising dental treatment for all carious teeth.
Owing to the large number of children in the entire Wey- mouth district, the Clinic can reach each child only once during the school year. On repeating the work this term I have found a marked improvement in the general condition. Decayed teeth
G. W. Perry, East Weymouth
S. E. Brassil, South Weymouth
E. Whitten, East Weymouth
M. M. Hunt, East Weymouth
Arnold Farm, East Braintree
Arnold Farm, East Braintree
Arnold Arboretum
146
have been filled and tooth brushes used to greater advantage by the majority of the children.
One thousand eight hundred and four children received prophylactic treatment during 1923.
I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to the Superintend- ent, Teachers and Supervisors for their co-operation, as without it I could not have carried on this work to advantage.
DRAWING
(Report of Miss Evelyn Silvester, Supervisor of Drawing)
Our work this last year, like that of other departments, has been somewhat broken up, especially in the upper grades. This has been due largely to the crowded conditions and the necessity of having so many overflow rooms containing two grades. Sim- ilar conditions will no doubt continue during the coming year, as the change from nine to eight grades is bound to call for consid- erable readjustment of program and courses of study.
Our Christmas problems this year were cards in grades five, six and nine. These were decorated with designs and printing of holiday significance. In grades seven and eight problems in ap- plied design were carried out, the former using a snow crystal as its motif and applying it to a paper shopping bag; the latter applying the design adapted from a flower study to wooden boxes. This problem was put in especially for the boys. It was to corre- late with their manual training and supply them with a suitable design for the top of boxes they were making in the shop.
There is a feeling of anxiety among the thinking men and women of our country that if we do not at this time lay our plans correctly, we shall fail to hold the place which may be ours, if we will, in the manufacture, commerce and business of the world. Quantity, mediocre production, seems to be at present our na- tional tendency. Unless we spend more time on quality of de- sign and workmanship, we may find ourselves a second-rate nation.
Massachusetts seems to be keenly awake to the situation and is among the first states to set forth a plan. It is more Art Ed- ucation in our public schools-art education which has as its aim high though practical ideals that will develop taste and appreci- ation. The children in our public schools now are the men and women who will "carry on" tomorrow, and they must be properly equipped to control their lives and the life of the Nation. It is only through quality work in our industries that we shall win 'and hold our proper place.
If we teachers are to respond to the call of our State Depart- ment of Education and increase and intensify our art teaching, we should have for our use such excellent examples of fine pic- tures, sculpture, textiles, tapestries, ceramics, furniture, archi- tecture, and in fact, everything in this life of ours that may be used as a standard upon which to base the child's ideals. We here in Weymouth hope to do some of this by means of carefully selected lantern slides. These will be used as part of a very defi- nite plan for study. Also, we hope from time to time to have
147
speakers on special subjects who can give our teachers added knowledge to assist them in their none-too-easy task of carrying out this very necessary program.
So this is our New Year's policy, and we ask the earnest co- operation of all to make it effective.
MANUAL TRAINING
(Report of Miss Alice L. Tucker, Supervisor of Manual Training)
The following is a report of the work done in the Manual Training Department during the past school year.
The boys in the seventh grades were taught to read and make simple working drawings, also to use the common tools such as the rule, try square, marking gauge, Jack plane, block plane, rip, crosscut, back and turning saws, augur and drill bits, hammer, nail set, screwdriver, file, spokeshave, compass and chisel. They made hat racks, bread boards, broom holders, dish drainers or plant stands, door stops, marble boards and pencil stands. In the eighth grade more accuracy and speed were required. Some new tools and many new exercises were introduced. Tie racks, spool holders, blotters, sleeve boards, various kinds of boxes and bird houses, a "kiddie kart" and a sewing screen were made. The ninth grade had lessons in joinery including half lap, miter, dowel, dado, butt and glue joints, as well as the sharpening of tools. Kitchen racks, tabourets, picture frames, library tables, tele- phone stands and stools, costumers, magazine racks and dolls' dressers were among the articles finished.
In all classes the aim has been to develop patience, persis- tence and accuracy, as well as clear, logical thinking.
MUSIC
(Report of Mr. James W. Calderwood, Supervisor of Music)
For results in music, this is the most satisfactory year I have had since taking charge of this department in the public schools of Weymouth. The spirit of song is very noticeable among the pupils. They take hold of the songs and exercises as if they en- joyed them and as if they really knew something of the essentials of music. The boys sing in some rooms better than the girls. It is a joy to be in contact with this younger generation and to feel that sincere efforts to raise in them an interest in music are bearing fruit. May it be much; and, again, may it be increasingly more and more.
I am constantly impressed with the decided musical ability that is evinced by many a boy and girl in our schools. Would that all this talent were being developed. Every neighborhood in town should be resonant with the efforts, more or less euphonious. of youngsters' practicing upon one or other of the musical instru- ments, not only the piano, violin and cornet, but also the flute, clarinet, oboe, cello and the rest of the worthy instruments. There are voices, too, that must be heard beyond the town's limits at no very distant day.
A word for the teachers, and one of grateful appreciation, too. No more loyal support could be given a special teacher
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than is given by them to the Supervisor of Music in the Wey- mouth schools, and intelligent support it is.
The conditions attendant upon the construction of the new addition to the High School building this year have afforded little opportunity for ensemble singing and orchestral practice in that edifice. By spring, in all probability, these conditions will be more propitious, so that these important parts of music in the schools may be resumed.
SCHOOL GARDENS
(Report of Miss Sarah E. Brassill, Supervisor of School Gardens)
The report of gardening and allied activities for 1923 is as follows: ,
The course of study tried out one year ago has been followed again this year. In adapting this course to the needs and inter- ests of the pupils the material used for certain lessons has varied. It has been found possible to teach the same fundamental facts and principles by growing flowers as by growing vegetables. Therefore, ornamental gardening has replaced market gardening in part. Lessons have been given in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades. Pupils who were interested have continued as voluntary workers after entering the High School, and while taking up there other courses than agriculture. On account of weather conditions the yield from our small gardens has not been satis- factory. Crops have ripened too soon or too late for the best showing during the week of the Weymouth Fair. We think of the exhibit there as our test of the season's work. This year we were helped by the members of the Agricultural Course. Much that would have been accepted from younger pupils a few years ago as "very good for children's work" was not accepted or even offered for exhibition. The children are themselves better judges of vegetables. This results in a display that makes up in quality for any lack of quantity.
During the summer John Jennings spent one week in camp at the Massachusetts Agricultural College in Amherst as the State Champion in gardening. This is the second time a Wey- mouth boy has been so honored. Adrian Barnes, now a student at the college, was at one time a State Champion.
Besides exhibiting at the Weymouth Fair, Weymouth pupils stood first and second in the junior exhibit of garden products at Brockton, and Weymouth was represented on the County Team that ranked second in the vegetable judging contest at the New England State Farm at Worcester.
Interest in poultry is growing. There are poultry clubs in all parts of the town, including in their membership several High School boys. Forty-one boys and two girls are enrolled. The work is outlined by the Extension Service of the Department of Agriculture. The students are required to learn and practice the best known methods of caring for their birds. No radical changes in housing or methods are required, but a steady change for the better is expected. At the Boston Poultry Show, held the first week of 1923, the boys who exhibited ranked high. Five boys showed birds at the Eastern States Fair at Springfield and were guests of the Fair Association on the day that prizes were
149
announced. One boy was on the judging team there and two boys were on the Norfolk County Judging Team that ranked first at Worcester. Charles Blanchard's brown leghorns were used in the junior educational display at Brockton and several boys com- peted at Weymouth. Seventeen members have made entries at the Boston Poultry Show this year with thirty-two exhibits. (At the time of writing awards have been made. Fourteen boys placed their birds and twenty-seven ribbons have been received together with regular and special prizes.) Carl Garey is County Champion in Poultry Club Work. Harold Allen, Leon Bennett and Carl Garey rank well in judging contests.
There are five boys who are learning to grow small fruits. Their first crops are due in 1924.
The Home Making side of the work includes canning, bread making and garment making. The success in garment making must be credited to the teaching in sewing which preceded mem- bership in a club. The clubs do not teach sewing. They apply what the members have learned under the sewing teachers to the making of certain required garments.
Bread making is growing in popularity. There are now fifty- seven members of the bread making clubs, including two boys. The membership is well distributed over the town. Ruth Starrett won two prizes for us at Brockton. Others have been given high per cents when their bread was judged by the County Leader of this work.
Canning has always attracted the young people. We have this year the County Championship for the second time in succes- sion and the fourth time since the work started. Phyllis Price follows Frances Pratt, the 1922 champion. At the Fair Phyllis Price took the blue ribbon given by the State for the best work shown. At the Braintree Grange Fair, Ruth Cushing, daughter of a member and so eligible to show her work, received the State ribbon in competition with grown-up exhibitors. At Brockton Elinor Menchin ranked first in the canning judging contest. All this work is judged and scored by official judges under the aus- pices of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. Young people who have been in the work four or more years are now assuming the leadership of beginners and others are earning pin money or more as a result of skill acquired.
Except for class-room lessons in gardening this work is vol- untary and optional. Besides the task of guiding club meetings, held out of school hours, supervision must be given individually. This is at once an opportunity and a difficulty. Individual atten- tion takes time. The results justify the effort, but time available is limited. When this work was introduced some years ago five hundred hours of teaching was assumed to be the amount called for. Year by year other interests than gardening have been in- troduced and accepted by the town. The work is continuous throughout the year and the amount has increased four fold. Co- operation on the part of the teachers and parents makes it possible to reach our results. There is a satisfaction in every success achieved by a Weymouth boy or girl which in itself keeps us from abandoning any project once undertaken, especially if such proj- ect meets the needs of a group of young people. Also, quantity
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