USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wakefield > Town annual report of the officers of Wakefield Massachusetts : including the vital statistics for the year 1909-1912 > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63
Mr. Wilson suggests that more small organs be bought and placed in the different rooms. He also suggests that a book containing patriotic songs might be purchased and be of much profit to the eighth and ninth grades. These suggestions are worth consid- ering.
The High School music is indeed a large problem to handle. There is very little that can be done in two periods other than chorus singing ; this is up to the standard of former years and he reports that much enthusiasm exists.
I feel that the time is at hand when music in the High School should receive more attention, and that classes for special instruc- tion-vocal and instrumental-could be formed with profit to the pupils and to the school ; that credit for work done be given just the same as in other subjects. Colleges like Harvard recognize music for an entrance subject, and credit is given the same as for any other subject. This is a long step in advance, and it is well to recognize this in our High Schools.
DRAWING
The drawing in our schools is a subject which sometimes is the least appreciated of any of the subjects. To many, drawing sim- ply means the ability to draw straight or curved lines with the pencil, that to draw a simple figure on a flat surface according to some model is all that drawing means and all that ought to be taught.
Nature drawing with the brush or colored crayon, design work, fundamental principles of color with the combinations and har- mony, do not appeal to many. It is forgotten that all these are
194
the basis of both freehand and mechanical drawing. Nature, color, design, are everywhere present in all drawing. in all com- mercial pursuits, in all house decoration, in all dress, in every artistic piece of furniture, house furnishings, beautifying of streets, lawns, erection of buildings-everywhere. To appreciate these and to lay the foundation of all commercial pursuits is the real value of the subject as taught in the schools. We think the work under our supervisor is accomplishing all this.
The supervisor has given more of her time to the High School during the present school year than in the past, because of the large number electing the subject. This made it necessary to so arrange her time for the first four grades of the elementary schools to once in four weeks instead of once in two weeks as be- fore. The plan, she reports, has been successful, in that it has placed more responsibility upon the teacher who has proven her- self equal to the task.
It seems to me that in the near future if our High School con- tinues to increase, the whole time of a teacher will be necessary in this department. The subject of drawing will become more effect- ual, and better work and more interest the more we place the responsibility upon the regular teacher and give the super- visor more opportunity to supervise. At present the teacher feels too little responsibility inasmuch as she expects the super- visor to do most of the teaching.
The supervisor has very little opportunity for thought and effective planning if her whole time is devoted-each hour-to teaching. Giving of model lessons, directing, observing the teacher give the lesson, followed by conferences would be much more advantageous than our present plan.
Ex. President Elliot said in a recent address-"Drawing is as valuable and important a mode of expressing thoughts and mak- ing exact records as language itself."
MANUAL TRAINING AND SEWING
In regard to Manual Training and Sewing, the kind of work done is about as was reported last year. This part of the school c'TTicul:'m has been dwelt upon at length in the first part of my
195
report advocating a more extended course and making it voca- tional. There is a necessity, however, that the foundation be laid somewhat as we are now doing.
The chief aim, to quote from the report of the Manual Training teacher, "is to develop the brain by the most natural method, through the activity of the body." One of the essential things to obtain this development as he says is "interest" and to acquire this-"is to insist upon a high standard of workmanship by means of which the boy has surprised himself." Another essential is "INDEPENDENCE," the ability to solve a new problem alone. Thus the boy has been trained in habits of exactness, interest, self-activity, independence and self-reliance, and gained a love and respect for honest work."
The number of boys instructed each week is 275, and the num- ber of classes fifteen. Each class is given one and one-half hours per week. The models made, the character of the work, and the interest manifested are worthy of commendation. Each boy is taught and is able by the end of the first year to draw, saw out of rough material and make with little help any simple model. The foundation is thus laid for any vocational work which may seem proper to inaugurate.
The sewing has been changed somewhat, in that a less amount of work is required ; but to compensate for this, greater efficiency is demanded. Not only the development of brain power, through the activity of the body, but also in every task the practical is uppermost. We are not trying, as above stated, to see how many models may be made, but to see how well each may be done. Care is taken to see that each girl knows what she is doing and that she does that thing as it ought to be done. Plain sewing, different stitches, darning, patching, working button-holes, tuck- ing, gathering, cutting, fitting and designing are carried forward. Added to this the girls are taught the value of different materials, the selection as to harmony of colors and shades, and to determine the pattern and style suited to different types of individuals. All this, it seems to me, is eminently practical. Would that we might, as suggested in another place, establish what would well follow this ; real dressmaking, millinery, cooking, home making, home decoration, and real genuine house keeping.
196
ATTENDANCE
While the registration in the schools is large, the daily attend- ance is not all that it might be. From the report of the attend- ance officer it is found that for the year ending December 31, 1909, there were 137 cases investigated. Of these 30 were cases of truancy, 13 sickness, and 94 were cases of negligence of the parents and a general disregard for the law. Two cases of truancy were carried into court. It would seem to me that 30 cases of truancy and 94 cases of negligence are too many for a system the size of ours. Too many parents, especially in certain quarters, have too little regard for school requirements and do not fully realize what the law demands. The law recognizes only sickness as a valid excuse for absence, and it would be wise to have copies of the law printed and dsitributed in different locali- ties. Parents' associations and meetings, as we are endeavoring to hold at present, it is hoped will do much to help us in this partic- ular, especially in the lower grades. Enlarging the scope of our school curriculum to include vocational work, will help the upper grades and High School. While the above facts of attendance are not what we would like to have them, still these are an im- provement over one year ago. The statistics reported for the last two years for absence and tardiness, are as follows :
No. of half days absence, 1909 33,539 1908, 39,643
No. of cases of tardiness, 1909 3,363 1908, 4,259
It will be noticed that there is a falling off ; but we want to do better and we want the hearty cooperation of all.
Attention is called to the report of the Principal of the High School which is both interesting and instructive.
Taking the opportunity to express my appreciation of the hearty support and good-will of the teachers, the generous support of the public, and the many encouraging words and appreciative efforts of the School Committee, I am,
Very truly yours,
J. H. CARFREY,
Superintendent of Schools.
197
High School Principal's Report
TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS :
Dear Sir :- Herewith I submit my fifteenth annual report of the High School and the seventeenth in the series of High School Principals' reports.
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING, PRACTICAL ARTS, ETC.
No question occupies a larger place in the mind of the public at the present time than that of industrial or vocational training. The movement, however, toward a closer articulation between school and life is in hardly more than an experimental stage. No unanimity of opinion as to the best method of attack is apparent. Experiments are being tried in various parts of the country. Schools of various types have been established, some under public control and others from private initiative. Just what will event- ually be the relation of schools for industrial training to the gen- eral educational system does not yet appear. That they will bear some intimate relation is not to be doubted. The Committee of the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, appointed to consider the relation of industrial education to the general educational system of the country in its report says in part as follows :
"The committee believes that all types of schools for industrial education are to be welcomed as experiments in the general prob- lem. Success in industrial training does not depend upon the adoption of one type of school. A measure of success is likely to be achieved by all of these efforts and in the judgment of your committee it is wise for those who have to do with industrial education to welcome during the next decade of experimentation all these forms of industrial education. Ultimately all these efforts will, by the force of educational gravitation, relate them- selves to the public school system of the country, partly by the adaptation of the public system itself, partly by the adaptation of these industrial schools. The committee feels, therefore that
198
any of these efforts, undertaken in an intelligent, sympathetic and proper spirit is to be welcomed as a new contribution to the general problem of industrial education in the United States."
In view of the above considerations, it appears to me that any- thing in the way of information upon the subject would not be out of place. Below will be found a brief description of a few of the latest and apparently most successful attempts to provide rational industrial education. For a portion of the data, I am indebted to the last report of the Commissioner of Education of the United States.
PUBLIC SCHOOL, NO. 100. NEW YORK CITY
Last September this school opened with twenty-five men teachers, chosen, among other qualifications, on account of their mechanical skill. The "New York Tribune" of Aug. 30, said in the course of an extended article upon the subject :
"Various equipments of the best quality and design are rapidly being installed for the use of those boys who enter the course. In wood, the pupils will learn carpentry, joinery, wood-turning, pattern-making and the manipulation of milling machinery. In metal, they will have forge work, sheet metal work and a com- plete line of machine-shop work.
"There will be courses in plumbing, printing, architectural and mechanical drafting, including the making of plans and the drawing up of specifications and blue prints.
The non-vocational subjects that will occupy LESS THAN ONE- FOURTH OF THE STUDENT'S TIME will include trade mathematics, elementary bookkeeping, industrial history, civics, industrial and commercial geography and English. 'Every topic that is intro- duced,' says the principal of the school, 'will be tested in terms of its efficiency as a correlative of the vocational subjects.' The hours will be from 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. The atmosphere of the school will be the atmosphere of the shops."
The boys are to be led to feel that they are working in an environment closely approximating that of a well conducted shop.
199
This will mean a radical breaking away from ordinary school methods and conditions.
The instruction will be mainly individual ; mass work will have no place in this new venture and no pupil will be compelled to mark time because of the inability of his fellows to keep pace with him. The principal describes the difference between the aim of the manual training schools and the new vocational school as follows :
"The manual training idea is not to give a boy mastery of tools ; it is simply an added appeal in the line of general culture. The vocational teaching idea aims specifically to give mastery of tools."
Speaking of the object of the school, Supt. Maxwell says : "The Board of Education does not intend to turn out 'half- baked' journeymen to compete with union labor. What it pro- poses is to fit boys and girls more completely than they are fitted at present to COMMENCE learning any trade requiring skill of hand."
The principal also says : "I don't plan to turn out boys who are going to take journeymen jobs."
INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL AT SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
This school opened September, 1909. The vocational work will be begun in two centers and preparations are being made for 60 boys, 30 in each place. Boys from 14 years of age and up- ward, those who have completed the work of the seventh and eighth grades and who but for the institution of the vocational school would drop their education for good, will attend the school.
All of the work done at the school will be book work, these ses- sions coming from 9 to 12 o'clock in the morning. In the after- noon, the same classes will take their shop work from 2 to 5 o'clock. There will be shop work also Saturday mornings. The book work will center largely about the shops, having to do with the economic and industrial conditions of the country, descriptions of the machinery used, etc. The school will not fit boys for fin- ished trade workmen, as they will have to serve apprenticeships in factories after attending the school.
200
THE MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF TRADES
A part of the public school system. The school is in operation fifty-two weeks in the year and forty-four hours a week. Day courses are given in pattern making, machinists' and tool making trade, and carpentry and woodworking, and plumbing and gas fitting. The instruction in each trade comes under five heads : (1) shop practice and trade lectures ; (2) mechanical and free hand working drawing ; (3) workshop mathematics ; (4) lectures and illustrated talks on subjects pertaining to the trade ; (5) shop inspection trips. About three-fourths of the students' time is devoted to the actual shop practice. Each boy is a class by him- self and may finish his course in less than the prescribed time.
The school does not claim to turn out journeymen mechanics. Its aim is to instruct its students thoroughly, in as short a time as possible, in all the fundamental principles and in the practice of the trade in question so that they may on graduation possess ability and confidence and be of more immediate practical value to their employers and receive a fair remuneration at once.
THE CLEVELAND TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL
This school is a public charge and is intended to be a finishing school whose graduates will leave school prepared to enter a vocation. It offers a course of study for boys and a course for girls. The school year is divided into four quarters of twelve weeks each, and may be completed in either three or four years at the option of the pupils. The department for girls has domestic science and domestic and industrial art for its basis. The school numbers 600 pupils. Of this number 500 are pupils who "would not have gone to High School, had not this school been opened to them.
GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL OF PRACTICAL ARTS, BOSTON
This school numbers 300 pupils. Its purpose is to give full opportunity for the development of that type of student whose talents lie more in lines of doing and expressing than in lines of acquisition.
The course of study is presented under two general heads,
201
academic and industrial. No electives are offered in the academic- work except a choice of French or German, but pupils are allowed to choose different lines of vocational training.
The Industrial Department offers at present three courses ; Dressmaking, Millinery, Household Science. The course in Household Science is offered to girls who desire to make an intel- ligent study of the home from the standpoints of sanitation, fur- nishing, decoration and care. The Dressmaking and Millinery courses aim to give ideals, taste and skill which shall have money earning value for the possessor.
The Art Department of this school has been highly developed. Its purpose is the cultivation of taste through a study of the prin- ciples of beauty and their application to the problems of dress and the home.
Costume design and its many phases with special reference to the individual, and household decoration and furnishing are impor- tant features of the course.
PETERSHAM (MASS. ) AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL
This school is a new departure in secondary agricultural educa- tion in New England. Four courses are offered, a college pre- paratory course : a course in agriculture : a course in manual training, and a course in domestic science.
The course in agriculture includes instruction in
1. The wild flowers, birds, animals, and their habits.
2. How to care for domestic animals, poultry, bees.
. 3. The noxious representatives of the insect world, harmful fungi and the methods of destroying them.
4. How to manage the dairy and culinary departments.
5. The rocks, their chemical composition, and the process by which the earth has been changed from a molten mass to a fit home for man.
6. The kinds of soil, their physical and chemical properties, the crops best suited to each, and the proper methods of improv- ing, cultivating and fertilizing them.
7. How to raise the best hay crop and the culture of each of ten standard crops grown on a farm.
202
8. How to raise, care for, and market both the large and small fruits.
9. How to conduct a market garden business both in the open and under glass.
10. The principles of forestry and landscape gardening.
11. How to use the saw, plane, chisel and keep tools in good ·order.
12. The cost, description and practicability of the most mod- ern machinery for each kind of farm work.
13. The principles of rural architecture, road making and village improvement.
The instruction in agriculture is based on the sciences and cor- related with them where it is practicable. The pupils' time is not consumed in manual labor. His compulsory part in field and garden work is intended merely to supplement the discussions and experiments of the class room. While crops and fruit are not grown for the pecuniary return, they are in all cases managed so that the pupil may draw correct conclusions as to the practica- bility of those pursuits from a business standpoint.
203
SCHOOL STATISTICS
February
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
Number graduated
57
57
35
58
53
*66
Average age at graduation
18.4 12
18.5 12
18.6 12
18-2%
18-6% I2
18.13
Senior class, Feb., 1910. . .
59
58
36
61
58
66
Senior class, when entered .
115
95
75
112
121
124
.Junior class, Feb., 1910.
65
42
65
66
76
69
Junior class, when entered .
95
75
112
121
124
127
Second year class, Feb., 1910 ..
55
90
76
91
88
101
-Second year class, when entered
75
112
121
124
127
142
First year class, Feb., 1910 . .
105
113
113
114
131
115
First year class, when entered . .
112
121
124
127
142
125
*Estimated.
The dark faced figures of the table indicate the membership of the present senior class throughout the course.
204
MISCELLANEOUS
Graduates of the school are to be found in the following col- leges and higher institutions :- Harvard University, Yale Univer- sity, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytech- nic Institute, Tufts College, Dartmouth College, Brown Univer- sity, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Cornell University, University of Maine, Boston University, Boston College, Massa- chusetts Agricultural College, Wellesley College, Radcliffe Col- lege, U. S. Naval Academy, University of Rochester, Sargent. School of Gymnastics, Normal Art School, Framingham Normal School, Salem Normal School, University of Illinois, Norwich University.
The following graduates of the school are continuing their- studies as follows :-
Lucia Bailey, Wellesley College.
Robert D. Bonney, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Alice F. Griffiths, Smith College.
Ernest W. Jackson, Harvard University.
Ruth Preston, Boston University.
Ruth Shepard, Tufts College.
Jennie E. Taggart, Sargent School of Gymnastics.
Harry F. Ambrose, University of Illinois.
Wm. W. Anthony, Tufts Dental School.
Wm. D. Donovan, Tufts Dental School. David P. Guillow, Norwich University.
F. Manning Hartshorne, Yale University. Arthur E. Howlett, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Maude W. Nelson, Salem Normal School.
Hazel M. Chamberlain, Boston University.
Allen F. Sederquest, University of Maine.
Respectfully submitted,
CHARLES H. HOWE.
· 205
GRADUATION EXERCISES, WAKFIELD HIGH SCHOOL, CLASS OF 1909
Town Hall, Thursday, June 24, 8 o'clock.
PROGRAMME
Overture
Chorus-When the Roses Bloom Again Adams
(Arr. by G. F. Wilson)
Declamation-Education and the Self-made Man
Grover Cleveland HUGH MCCUSH KELSO
Essay (Salutatory rank)-"Look here, upon this picture, and on this" RUTH PRESTON
Chorus-Song of the Armorer Nevins
Recitation-The Ride for Life
Ralph Connor
BESSIE MARTHA O'CONNELL
Semi-Chorus-Over the Water Hosmer
The Hawthorn Tree Wooler
Oration-The Call of the East
ERNEST WEBSTER JACKSON
Recitation (Honor rank)-From Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Wiggin
MAUDE WELLINGTON NELSON
Chorus-The Gallant Troubadour Watson
Recitation-The Soul of the Violin Merrill
RUBY MELISSA BUTLER
Chorus-Massa Dear Johnson
Oration (Valedictory rank)-The Promised Land ROBERT IRVING MAYER
Presentation of Diplomas-Dr. Charles E. Montague
Chairman School Committee
Class Song
Benediction-Rev. Warren S. Perkins, D.D.
206
Motto :- Honor, Not Honors
CLASS SONG
MAUDE WELLINGTON NELSON
"Now the time has come of parting !" This to us the wee bird sings, Soaring forth from leafy bowers, Forth to try our youthful wings ; Gently reared and kindly guarded From the winter's chilling blight ; But the crowded nest is whisp'ring, "It is time for taking flight."
Dim before us lies the future, Filled with perils, joys, and pain ; Some may climb to heights of glory, .. Others tread the beaten plain. Restless wait we for the morrow, Anxious our frail strength to try, Stretching wide our untried pinions, Forth into the world we fly.
Here we nobly struggle onward In the broad wide fields of chance ; To the plough our weak hand turneth And we scorn the backward glance ... Firm our hearts, our eyes uplifting To the golden prize above, With true purpose, never drifting, Trusting in the God of Love.
207
GRADUATES
CLASSICAL
Lucia Bailey
Margaret Grayson Bartley
Robert Daland Bonney
Perie Marion Brett
Alice Frances Griffiths
Ernest Webster Jackson
Mary Agnes Mullen
Ruth Preston
Ruth Shepard Jennie Eudora Taggart
Clara Louise Henry
GENERAL
Harry Fulton Ambrose
William Walton Anthony
William Dacey Donovan
David Perkins Guillow
William Wallace Grace Edwin Melvin Hall
Frederic Manning Hartshorne Marjorie Deane Hawkes Arthur Enoch Howlett
Hugh McCush Kelso
Maude Wellington Nelson
John Milton Brooks Ryder
Helen May Smith
COMMERCIAL
Elsie Amalia Anderson Agnes Julia Bowman
Ruby Melissa Butler Frances Susan Buxton William Henry ( 'allan Eleanor Meta Dean
Catherine Christene Dinan Elizabeth Mary Evans Winnifred Farrell Bessie Rita Fay Arlon Johnson Flannigan Estelle Blanchard Flockton Mabel Marie Florell Walter Leonard Jones
Emily Littlehale Robert Irving Mayer Edna Louise Meloney Frank Edward Morrison John Cleveland Morse Albert Stanley North
Bessie Martha O'Connell Catherine Estelle Oliver Harold Irving Orne Annie Elizabeth Parker Marion Edna Richardson Olive Perkins Roberts Grace Emily Ryan Marion Anna Sweetser
Alberta Frances Waterhouse
208
Appendix A
STATISTICS
Population, census of 1900 9,260
Population, census of 1904
10,000
Present census estimate 12,500 .
According to school census, the number of children in town between five and fifteen, on September, 1909 September, 1908
1,922
Decrease from last year .
27
Number between seven and fourteen, September, 1909 Number between seven and fourteen, September, 1908 Average membership, 1900
1,357
1,790.3
66
1902
·
2,047.7
66
1903
.
2,053.8
1904
2,087.6
66
66
1905
2,115.6
66
1906
2,126.4
66
1907
2,169.8
66
6 6
1908
2,205.2
1909
2,201.6
Decrease from last year .
4.6
Total membership, 1908 .
2,428
Total membership, 1909 .
2,451
Average attendance .
2,069.3
Decrease
58.1
Length of school year-Sept., 1908 to June, 1909 -- 39 weeks
.
.
1,909.3
1901
1,895
1,323
209
Days lost, stormy weather, holidays, etc. . Actual length of school year, 36 weeks, 4 days.
11}
Number of regular teachers employed .
67
Increase
0
Number of special teachers
5
Total teachers employed . .
· .
.
72
APPENDIX B
Grade
Teacher
Average Total Member- Member-i ship ship
¡Average Attend- ance
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.