USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wakefield > Town annual report of the officers of Wakefield Massachusetts : including the vital statistics for the year 1905-1907 > Part 34
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acter of the work in all the schools reflects great credit on the former Supervisor, Miss Parker, and our new Supervisor, Miss Black, is proving her fitness for the position she occupies.
MANUAL TRAINING AND SEWING.
The subject of manual training has received much attention during the past two years, and all over the country changes are taking place in the character of the work. It is a ques- tion whether we are following the course which is destined to do the most for the pupils. We may rightly ask whether we are not giving too much attention to the purely-develop- ing process, the disciplining idea, rather than following a scheme which will produce a profound respect for real man- ual labor. Should not the problem of interest be worked out in the first years, to be followed in the later years by the voca- tional idea? Is it not worth while to teach the subject so that the pupil will see the foundation of real vocational work? Should not he be able to produce something of real impor- tance; something that appeals to him as being highly useful -laying the foundation to become a skilled workman? In this age of industrial progress and the demand for skilled workmen, is it not incumbent upon the schools to produce young men and women who can do something, and who will have a greater respect for the vital work of the world? These questions are serious and timely and worth considering.
In our sewing department greater efficiency to do that which has lasting results is manifest. Girls are taught to make things in a way that will benefit them and the family. " They are learning to be independent in their own sewing, and what they learn to do, they will use for themselves in making their own clothes. This is real manual training and at the same time develops the principle of accuracy and self control, and also produces a respect for those who are com- pelled by force of circumstance to follow the work for a live- lihood. They learn to select for themselves, to harmonize
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color and determine style, as well as to secure that formal discipline which the educational value of the subject affords in itself. It will also add greatly to the effective results of our schools when cooking and household arts generally are placed in the curriculum. The fact that greater skill is being demanded in the industrial world and the time is coming and soon when increased ability will be demanded of all who wish to enter the factories or the trades, the re-adjustment of our school curriculum and the re-organization of the school work will be obviously necessary. The movement is indeed in the right direction, and especially in an industrial community like ours we shall have to prepare ourselves to meet the demands. Better work means a higher class of employees, and a health- ier and more intelligent community. We must send out from the schools a set of pupils who are able to enter intelligently into the industrial life of the place.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
The following recommendations as discussed in the report are brought to your attention:
I. That ground be purchased and measures inaugurated for a new High School building, thereby relieving the Lin- coln building, giving ample room for the High School, and at the same time being the more economical.
2. That consideration be given and investigation be made with reference to only eight grades below the High School.
3. That action be taken looking toward the revision of our salary list. The minimum to be increased, and the maxi- mum to be raised, but beyond a certain sum let merit alone determine the salary until this maximum is reached.
4. That we strengthen our course in Manual Training by introducing more work which will have in it the vocational idea.
5. That we change the time of typewriting, stenography and bookkeeping of our Commercial Course in the High School to the last two years of the work, that we strengthen
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this course and make it equal in every respect to any other, and that we put into it the idea of business on a broad plane.
6. That we employ a teacher in the High School whose business it will be to assist individual pupils.
7. That in the near future we introduce music as an elec- tive subject, to count as a certain number of points toward a diploma.
I desire to direct your attention specifically to the report of the High School Principal, in which he gives the condi- tions of the building and work in detail, and also makes cer- tain recommendations which I am glad to supplement, and with which I am in hearty accord. Your attention is also directed to the reports of the Supervisors of Music and Draw- ing, as well as to the reports in the department of Manual Training and Sewing. All these state conditions and make recommendations which should not be passed over lightly, but rather they should be weighed carefully. Recommenda- tions and suggestions on the whole come from carefully thought out plans and well-considered conditions; and with- out doubt any department will be improved if said recom- mendations are adopted.
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High School Principal's Report.
To the Superintendent of Schools :--
Herewith is submitted my twelfth annual report and the fifteenth in the series of High School principals' reports.
ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY.
As will be seen on consulting the tables of statistics fol- lowing this report, the percentage of attendance for the past year-ending June, 1906, has been satisfactory, showing no falling off from the record of past years. The record, as compared with that of most schools in this vicinity, is satis- factory. There is, however, more absence from school than appears necessary, confined largely to the two older classes, and any improvement in the matter of attendance must be looked for in this quarter. It has seemed to me that we have a right to expect a better attendance from the older than from the younger pupils. They have greater age, greater immunity from children's diseases, and clearer insight into the purpose of school, in their favor.
In the matter of punctuality, however, the record is far from satisfactory and has been for several years past. Here again the older classes have to their credit (or discredit) more than their due proportion of the year's tardiness. The remedy for this condition of affairs lies, I believe, largely with the home. When the value of promptness, as a habit of life, is more fully realized, things will mend. It is possible of course, for the school to lay such stress upon being punc- tual that pupils who find themselves behind time will not come to school at all. Such absence cannot be justified. A half loaf is better than none at all. It is recognized that there are occasions when tardiness is necessary. Such are
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excusable. But two-thirds of the reasons assigned are trivial. I ask for the co-operation of the parents in our ef- forts to inculcate this most valuable of virtues.
CAPACITY OF BUILDING.
During the summer vacation, the commercial department was transferred to the large unoccupied room on the third floor, where it has been possible to avoid the inconveniences incident to the crowded condition that existed in the former location. The room thus vacated has been made a class room where a portion of the second year class regularly sits.
The limit of the capacity of the building has been reached, as far as the teaching force is concerned. It would be a problem to find a room to accommodate another teacher, if it should become necessary to employ an additional one. The building will seat, however, more pupils than are now in at- tendance-considerably more. It will thus be seen that the capacity of the building from the standpoint of the teaching force and the capacity from that of the number of pupils are not proportional. The limit of capacity is reached sooner on the side of the number of teachers than on the side of the number of pupils. The reason of this is obvious when the facts are understood. There are in the building three large rooms, one seating one hundred twenty-eight pupils, another seating eighty while the third (on the top floor) is not avail- able for seating purposes, being used by the commercial de- partment. Though these two large rooms used for sittings can seat more than two hundred pupils, yet they cannot ac- commodate more than one recitation each or make possible the employment of more than two teachers. In a room with 2,500 feet floor space and seating one hundred thirty pupils, no more recitations can be held than in a room 30x30 and seating thirty-five, and no more teachers can teach in the large room than in the small one.
If the present yearly growth of the Commercial depart-
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ment continues, the present quarters for the typewriting will become at once inadequate. As it stands today, the room has all the machines it can well and comfortably accommo- date.
The drawing department ought to have a room devoted to its exclusive use. At present it shares its quarters with classes in shorthand and arithmetic with little or no oppor- tunity for the display on the walls of the work of its pupils.
With the taking of the third floor room for the Commer- cial department, disappeared the only semblance in the build- ing of a hall and with it the possibility of bringing the entire school together for singing, so much desired and so often recommended by Mr. Wilson. Today every part of the build- ing is utilized and more room could be used to advantage. At the time of writing the school has a membership of 300. The graduating class is small-a little more than half as large as recent classes-numbering thirty-four. It is estimated that next fall the entering class will number 115 members. Allowing for the usual percentage that leaves school each year I do not see why a High School numbering 340 should not be expected next year. If this increase should necessitate the employment of an additional teacher, as is possible, the problem of accommodations for the school will have reached the acute stage.
WORK OF THE SCHOOL.
Since my acquaintance with the school, the standard of work has never before been higher. Graduates who enter college are finding themselves prepared to the satisfaction of the college authorities. Favorable reports are coming to the school in increasing numbers. For the past three years, since the school received the approval of the New Eng- land Certificate Board, no failures have been reported.
A graduate of last year (after a competition examination) received at the hands of the Members of Congress for this
--------
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district, the appointment as candidate for the Naval Academy at Annapolis.
The graduates of the commercial department are in in- creasing demand. More requests have been received to rec- ommend young men for positions than there have been can- didates available. By the middle of vacation or by the time school opens it is difficult to find those who are willing to consider positions.
It is a mistaken idea to think that any pupil who receives a diploma ought, if he is a graduate from the Commercial de- partment, to be able to fill acceptably a good position in an office, or if he is a graduate of the Classical department, to be able to go to College. Not all who receive diplomas from the school authorities are, on that account, to be considered fit to go to College, technical school, or to assume success- fully positions as bookkeepers or stenographers. It will be a sorry day when only those can graduate who can satisfy college requirements or those of the counting room. The demands of the college or office are not the criteria by which is determined fitness for graduation. The school is main- tained for a better purpose, than to make successful college men and efficient clerks. That may be a part of it. Compre- hensively, the school is for those who are able and willing to profit by what the school has to give. Each must have a chance to get all he can, with little or no regard to what others may be able to acquire. Under prevailing conditions it is necessary to put into the same class all pupils taking a given subject. Those whose mental powers are slow and uncertain are found with those who are alert. It is the aver- age pupil only who can be in the teacher's eye and mind. It is manifestly impossible to let the bright and alert set the pace of the class. It is as manifestly unjust to allow the class to advance only so fast as the ability of the slowest will war- rant. The teacher, therefore necessarily sets the pace for the average, assigning work too difficult for some and too easy for others, a necessary compromise. In the past few years
250
än earnest effort has been made in different parts of the coun- try to make possible, by means of a so-called unattached teacher, individual attention to those below the average. According to the testimony of one High School master who has tried individual teaching for a year, the attempt, while of advantage to some has seemed to work to the injury of the brightest pupils. Without remitting one whit our efforts in the direction of helping those who are dull and slow, it seems time that plans were set on foot to modify our organi- zation still further so that the more apt pupils may have their opportunity to take the gait they are capable of. To adjust the teaching to the average is wasteful and uneconomical, as well to the so-called "good" scholar as to the "poor" one. The promising student should receive his share of the efforts of the school. It is common testimony that the lower third of every class absorbs nine-tenths of the teachers' ef- forts. Most of the rest take care of themselves. The remedy can be looked for only in an increased elasticity of organiza- tion, made possible by an enlargement of means with which to work-principally, more teachers.
MUSIC.
This department was never in a more flourishing condi- tion than it is today. I am satisfied that the effort required to prepare for public exhibition the cantatas rendered dur- ing the past two years is worth the while.
AFTERNOON EMPLOYMENT.
It appears that an increasing number of boys are finding afternoon employment. For the first time to my knowledge, this work has apparently become injurious to the work of the school. In the case of many individuals, their progress in their studies has been interfered with. While it is highly commendable in a young man or woman to have the ambi- tion to pay his own way as far as possible while attending
251
school, yet, except in those cases which my observation leads me to believe are very rare indeed, where afternoon employ- ment is an absolute necessity, it is a detriment to the school work. It must not be forgotten that school work is a busi- ness and, in the long run, quite as profitable as any that can be engaged in. I hope careful attention may be given to this subject by those most concerned and no mistake made.
ATHLETICS.
The last legislature passed the following law: An Act rela- tive to the Authority of School Committees over organiza- tions of school pupils.
Be it enacted etc., as follows :
SECTION I. The School Committee may supervise and control all athletic organizations composed of pupils of the public schools, and bearing the name of the school.
SECT. 2. It may directly, through an authorized rep- resentative determine under what conditions such organi- zations may enter with competition with similar organizations in other.schools.
Under the above law the school committee have voted that the athletics of the school shall be under the supervision of the principal. I do not anticipate that any change from our present organization will be necessary.
PARENTS' MEETING VISITING.
In the fall a meeting was held of the parents of the first year pupils at which topics of general interest were discussed. The time thus spent is profitably spent, securing a mutual understanding on the part of those most concerned in the education of children. I wish this meeting might be supple- mented by numerous visits from the parents.
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MISCELLANEOUS.
The following entered college or other higher institutions of learning during the year:
Cyrus N. White, '05, J. Theodore Whitney, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Marion S. Butterfield, Mary E. Flanley, Boston Univer sity.
Mary Preston, Mary A. Gleason, Mt. Holyoke College.
Alice G. Howe, Smith College ..
Charlotte Rogers, Radcliffe College.
Edith W. Proctor, Wellesley College.
Chester M. Cate, Harvard College,
Edith P. Gowing, Bradford Academy.
Florence A. Hickey, Mont Notre Dame, Sherbrooke, P. Q.
Edward J. Donovan, Tufts Dental School.
Hazel I. Oliver, Evelyn Ramsdell, Salem Normal School.
Harold D. Miller, Tufts College.
Arthur Wittekind, Chas. E. Randall, Phillips Academy, Exeter.
Walter A. Phelps, Dartmouth College.
The following gifts to the school have been received and duly acknowledged: "he Roman Forum" (photograph), from Mrs. Carrie Strong Newell, '95; "Delphica" (photo- graph) Michael Angelo, from the class of 1910; "Columbus at the Court of Isabella (photograph) Brozik, from the class of 1910; physical apparatus from Edgar B. Hawkes, '02.
The Museum of Fine Arts has made it possible for teachers with classes to view its treasures free of charge. The privi- lege has been taken advantage of in generous numbers which, I trust, may be increased.
Before closing I wish to bear testimony to the growing spirit of honor manifest among the pupils of the school and especially among the members of the two upper classes.
Respectfully submitted,
CHARLES H. HOWE.
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1902
1903
I904
1905
1906
1907
Number graduated .
50
51
55
57
57
*36
Av. age of Sen'r class at grad'n
1810 fž
1815
1872
5. 1812
18162
Senior class, February .... . .
50
51
56
59
58
36
Senior clsss, when entered. .
84
IO5
94
115
95
75
Junior class, February
61
59
67
65
42
65
Junior class, when entered . IO5
94
115
95
75
II2
Second year class, February ..
74
84
76
55
90
76
Second year class, when ent'r'd
94
115
95
75
II2
I2I
First year class, February. .
IO5
94
73
105
II3
II3
First year class, when entered 115
95
75
II2
I2I
124
*Estimated.
The dark faced figures of the table indicate the member- ship of the present class throughout its course.
It happens that in the number of the first year class when entered is included a few pupils who failed of promo- tion the year previous.
254
NUMBER OF PUPILS PURSUING THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF STUDY, SEPTEMBER, 1906.
First Year.
Second Year.
Third Year.
Fourth Year.
Total.
English
I16
79
52
37
284
Latin
52
23
2I
7
103
Greek
..
6
3
.
9
French
. .
38
39
15
92
German
. .
..
27
13
40
Algebra
II6
. .
24
3
143
Geometry
79
25
4
108
Arithmetic.
49
. .
23
..
72
Bookkeeping
..
39
24
. .
63
Botany
65
. .
. .
. .
65
Civics
65
..
. .
8
64
Geology
..
..
15
. .
- 15
History
56
72
34
II
173
Stenography .
..
..
31
14
45
Penmanship.
49
..
32
18
99
Correspondence.
..
..
3I
18
49
Singing .
II6
79
52
37
284
Drawing
67
39
18
5
129
Typewriting .
. .
..
31
I7
48
. .
56
. .
18
18
Chemistry
. .
. .
65
Physics.
255
PERCENTAGE OF PUPILS PURSUING THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF STUDY SEPTEMBER, 1906.
First Year.
Second Year.
Third Year.
Fourth Year.
English
100
IO
100
100
Latin .
45
29
40
19
Greek
8
6
..
French
. .
48
75
41
German
. .
. .
52
35
Algebra
100
. .
46
8
Geometry
..
100
48
II
Arithmetic
42
..
44
Bookkeeping
. .
49
46
..
Botany
56
..
..
Civics
56
..
..
. .
Physics.
. .
70
. .
22
Chemistry
. .
. .
. .
49
Geology
48
91
65
39
Stenography
. .
. .
59
38
Penmanship.
42
. .
61
49
Singing .
100
100
100
100
Drawing .
58
49
35
14
Typewriting.
. .
..
60
46
.
60
49
Correspondence.
.
. .
29
History.
..
---- --- -
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GRADUATING EXERCISES, HIGH SCHOOL, CLASS OF 1906.
Town Hall, Thursday, June 28, 8 o'clock. PROGRAMME.
Overture
Chorus-Hail to the Beautiful Morning of May
From Joan of Arc-Gaul
Essay-The Jester's Place in Life
EDITH WOOD PROCTOR.
Semi-Chorus-a. Lullaby . Rich
-b. Morn-Rise . Czibulka
Declamation-America, A World Power Archbishop Ireland CHARLES EDWARD RANDALL.
Honor Part-Piano .
a. Klavierstuck, Op. 3, No. 4 Strauss b. Marsch in D flat . Hollaender CHESTER MARCH CATE.
Oration-The American Citizen of Tomorrow HERMAN CARLYLE KENNY.
Chorus-On! to the battle, on! From Joan of Arc-Gaul
Declamation-The Mission of the Public School President Hyde EDWARD JOHN DONOVAN.
Semi-Chorus-Merry June
Vincent
Recitation-(Salutatory rank)-The Child and the
Cloud MARY PRESTON.
Chorus-The Two Grenadiers .
Schumann Oration and Valedictory-Centralization in the United States
WALTER ALFRED PHELPS.
Presentation of Diplomas, Mr. J. H. Carfrey,
Superintendent of Schools Class Song Benediction-Rev. John R. Chaffee
..-------- ----.........
257
Motto: Knowledge Is Power.
CLASS SONG.
In the harbor we've been sheltered,
Gath'ring strength to glide away; Now our untried sails unfurling, Must we welcome you today. Anxious, restless, headed seaward. Thus we wait the outward tide; For we know that ere the morrow, Anchors must be cast aside.
Deep and dark and tossing ocean,
Spurning now the peaceful land, Have you hidden rocks of danger? Have you bars of wrecking sand? But our faith with upturned finger Shall our compass ever be; :
It will guide us to the Father,
When our ships come in from sea,
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GRADUATES.
CLASSICAL COURSE.
Helen Marjorie Balcom,
Chester March Cate,
Florence Lucy Daland,
Bessie May Goodwin,
Edith Peabody Gowing,
Florence Augusta Hickey,
Mary Preston,
Marion Salva Butterfield,
Edward John Donovan, Mary Esther Flanley, Mary Aborn Gleason, Nellie Blanche Hall,
Alice Gardner Howe, Edith Wood Proctor,
Charlotte Rogers.
GENERAL COURSE.
Harold Burnham,
Fred Wesley Griffin,
William Andrew Hickey,
Herman Carlyle Kenny,
Harry Marshall,
Hazel Isabell Oliver, Walter Alfred Phelps,
Lizzie Evelyn Ramsdell,
Ernest Tarr Ridlon,
Helen Beulah Sederquest,
James Theodore Whitney,
Shirley Augustus Dimick, Chester Roy Hall, Alice Maud Hird, Annie Elizabeth Lee,
Harold DeCarterette Miller, Reuben Noel Perley, Charles Edward Randall, Maud Ellen Robinson,
Percy Fisher Ridlon,
Leroy Everett Townley, Arthur Wittekind,
Edward Ward Wilder.
COMMERCIAL COURSE.
Teresa Beatrice Butler,
Daniel Webster Coakley,
Jennie Marion Gerry, Dorothy Eleanor Henry, Lilla Bernice Linnell, Irving Johnston Oliver, Carroll Forrest Parker, John Isaac Preston, Maude Stanford,
Martha Anna Carr, Willard Perry Farwell, Daniel William Hickey, Nellie Teresa Lally, Lillian May McTeague, Arthur Gross Parker, Frank Herbert Parker, Edna Smith, Edith May Urquhart, Lula May Wilder.
adı
th
ch
ca
259
REPORT OF THE SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC.
Mr. J. H. Carfrey, Superintendent of Schools :
Dear Sir :- I have to report that in the department of Music in our schools the work for this year has been one of success.
Special effort on my part has been made to make the study of music more comprehensive and thorough, and I have with your advice and consent made several changes in the course and special attention given to time, written work and sight- reading. The voices have also received more attention, and loud and harsh voices have been toned down and good musi- cal tones insisted upon.
The individual system has not been fully introduced this year, but much individual work has been done in all the lower grades at each lesson, and more of the system will be added in the coming months.
Selections from the best composers have been used in all the grades, and stories of their lives have been told to the children,'so that they may know about the great masters in music.
The method in the first and second grades is compara- tively the same as last year. Where the teachers are musi- cal, good results are always obtained, and the pupils enter the next grade prepared to go on with the work that is arranged for them. It is in these grades that the musical sense (melody and rhythm) is cultivated, and it is of the ut- most importance that no wrong impressions be made upon the pupils in this period of their school life. Rote song sing- ing, tone relations, tone perception, tone matching and dicta- tion, with the introduction of the staff notation and scale singing, constitute a greater part of the work in these grades.
In grades three and four excellent work has been done,
260
and the pupils have made good progress, each lesson consist- ing of preparatory chart drill and sight-reading exercises, which lead up to the song in which are found many of the intervals and rhythmic difficulties contained in the exercise. Time forms and each new principle as it is presented has been written by the pupils on music paper, thus fixing the thing studied more firmly in their minds. Keys, signatures, pitch, names of the lines and spaces have been studied and reviewed, and the chromatic tones, sharp four and flat seven, studied in their relation to the scale tones.
Grades five and six have done very acceptable work. In these grades the chromatic tones have been carefully taught in their relation to the diatonic scale, and the chromatic scale as a whole learned. Minor scales, and exercises con- nected with them from chart and book, have been practised, also more difficult exercises in time, including all time forms, and a general review of the keys and signatures. Three part singing is established in these grades, thus laying the foundation for elementary harmony in the next grades.
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