USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of the officers of the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts for the year ending 1927 > Part 17
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become self-functioning, but now that it has reached that point it is planned to have special meetings for the group of captains, that they may direct special work among the- members of their own teams while the teacher oversees the class. Some divisional supervising is being done already, with the intention of carrying it over into the program as it is carried on day by day. The girls are taught advanced folk-dances and group dances, while the boys interest is aroused through competitive stunts and simple pyramid building. Some formal work is certainly still desirable for classroom movements, and the best ma- terial from a course in Danish Gymnastics has been stressed this year. All the elementary organized games. are taught through the grades, in preparation for the future sports. Their "carry over" value is evident at once-small groups of children playing together in their yards at home the games they have learned at school. The children know End Ball, Newcomb, Captain Ball, Schlag Ball, and in some cases written tests on rules and diagrams of playing area are given as a part of the physi -- cal education mark for the term.
All new work is demonstrated first by the supervisor, in the weekly visit to the schools. Occasionally the teach- er directs a lesson at this time, that suggestions may be made toward carrying on the daily work more efficiently. A mimeographed plan is given out each week, that the teachers may understand more thoroughly the new ac- tivities brought to their attention.
The inter-school Bat Dodge ball games meant a great deal to the children chosen to represent their schools. In. spite of some unfavorable features of the games, they opened up the way for new lessons in playing with others, accepting victory wisely and defeat gracefully. Because it meant much extra time for the teachers, and brings a. large group of children to manage on the playground, it is planned this spring to use in the interschool games in the regular school time, in substitution for one of the out- door periods for that week.
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The new plan of holding the May Day program at each school-yard proved highly successful, and such programs were given at the Hedge, Knapp, Alden, Cornish, Mt. Pleasant, Cedarville, and Manomet school yards. The regular Physical Education work was given, with its correlation to the health program represented through the state health play and presentation of 100% badges to the selected children.
The grades are equipped with a sufficient number of balls at present to meet adequately the need of all play- ground games. Posts have been erected in the yards of the Cornish, Knapp, Hedge and Mt. Pleasant schools which support a net for the use of Fist Ball, Newcomb, and Volley Ball when the weather permits. The lower grades have a number of Indian clubs, for educational training in simple games and relays, and it is planned that every room will have its own supply of bean bags-through the cooperation of the sixth grade sewing classes.
It is noticeable to the supervisor that the children are becoming each year more skillful, with better co-ordina- tion and with greater alertness. This is true not only among the same children as they grow up, but in the ability of each grade to master more difficult work from year to year. Games whose value seemed once beyond a sixth grade's comprehension, are now easily grasped by a third grade. Along with this increased skill are com- ing the three great lessons needed in the game spirit- ability to be a good loser, gracious victor, and to remem- ber team spirit must come first and not a desire for indiv- idual honors.
School Report 6
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REPORT OF HIGH SCHOOL SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING
"Art is nothing until it is applied to and becomes part of the necssities of life."
It is absolutely essential to keep this quotation in mind in considering the Art curriculum, for it expresses as nothing else would the underlying purpose of Art.
An art course should be planned first: with considera- tion for the needs of all; assuming that art is an import- ant factor in the general education of every individual; second: to meet the differentiated needs of pupils who possess marked inclination towards art, with special pro- vision made for talented pupils so they may be properly trained. Among the subjects taught in schools, and later used in every day needs, next to English and Arithmetic, art principles are probably used more than any other principle.
The immediate topic is to cultivate a taste, then apply that taste, as cultivated, to the homes, dress, and eventual- ly to business. Any course in art must include sys- tematic instruction in lettering, color, representation, design, and appreciation. These five topics give a definite basis for any school. The sub-divisions may be outlined by the teacher, allowing her choice and originality. In the junior and senior years, courses in design should be planned to meet special needs-commercial design, craft design, and textile design.
The subject, Handicraft, brings to mind another im- portant phase of the work, closely related as to principles, yet different in its execution, for more time and more space are required. Under this subject are stenciling, block printing, batik work, tooled leather, gesso work, metal work, and cement pottery. A course of this type
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might appeal to pupils not interested in a regular art course.
There is no other subject which allows as much cor- relation with the nature study, home economics, English, physical training, and shop work in applying art prin- ciples, and making drawings and designs of value in these associated departments as art.
Respectfully submitted,
RUTH L. HAZELWOOD.
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REPORT OF THE GRADE SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING
The drawing courses have been continued along the general lines adopted in the preceding year with a few improvements attempted.
Much of the value of art education in schools lies in the forming of habits of exactness. The importance to In- dustry of pride in good workmanship cannot be over- looked. In all our grades we have problems in con- struction, paper-cutting, folding, weaving and use of ruler-measurements which emphasize this side of art- instruction. Powers of observation are developed by drawing human figures, animals, plant-forms, object- drawing and perspective. As a new feature in all grades we are giving occasional memory drawing which seems of considerable value to improve ability to observe. When problems are given which call for individual choice or judgment to be made, the tastes are being formed. Here is the use of color study, design, illustrative work and posters. The posters made last year through the fourth, fifth, sixth grades and Junior High School were for flag salute, health and safety with some in the annual poster contest of the Mass. S. P. C. A., which won medals. Better results can be noticed in nearly all of our drawing,. but the improvement might be much greater if it were possible for the supervisor to assemble teachers of each grade for conferences. As a result of such meetings we might discover some unappreciated points of contact with other studies.
We have purchased and mounted colored prints of famous paintings in sufficient number to be able to place a new picture each month in every room. These prints are exchanged between the buildings. Some of the teach-
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ers find it possible to connect picture-study with Lang- guage.
At the Junior High School the lack of proper accom- modations for drawing classes is becoming increasingly evident. The worst situation here is in the period when a drawing lesson is being given in a room at the same time as a typewriting lesson with twenty machines in operation. Here the drawing teacher's instruction is written on the blackboard, or given by sign language. Three of the classes of boys have their drawing lessons at tables and sewing machines in a room ordinarily used by girls' sewing classes. Another serious handicap here is the lack of storage space for art materials, for pupil's work and for illustrative material for demonstration. The short allowance of time makes it difficult to produce either the quantity or the quality of work we wish.
This year we are trying to correlate the drawing more closely with both sewing and manual training. We are also introducing a series of picture study lessons in both seventh and eighth year classes.
The supervisor spends all Thursday and Friday morn- ings at the Junior High School, meeting eleven classes. The other classes have their drawing instruction with Miss Hazlewood at the Lincoln Street School. The su- pervisor visits all grades from one to six inclusive, each alternate week with the exception of Lincoln Street, Wellingsley, Cliff Street, and the three rural schools, which are on a four-weeks schedule.
Much of the success of this department is due to the friendly, helpful spirit of our teachers.
Respectfully submitted,
FAITH C. STALKER,
Supervisor of Drawing.
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REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC
This, my first report as Supervisor of Music in the Plymouth Public Schools, must of necessity be a state- ment not so much of results achieved as of plans for the future ; ideals for attainment.
Music is one of the choicest means of expressing our highest and dearest sentiments and emotions. The aim of music instruction in the public schools is to develop a lasting love for the best in music and an intelligent ap- preciation of it.
There are seventeen schools to visit in Plymouth. The Junior and Senior High Schools are visited weekly, the town schools every alternate week and the four rural schools are on a four-week schedule.
I am using the Progressive Music Series as the basal book of instruction and am supplementing it with the books with which the schools were already applied.
Music in the first and second grades consists of the singing of rote songs and specific work in ear training. Rote songs introduce music to the children, provide them with musical experience, and develop their ability to sing. In order to sing well it is necessary to hear well. The ear must be trained to distinguish between songs differing in rhythmic and melodic characteristics. Co- ordinating with this training of the ear is the training of the voice to reproduce accurately what the ear has heard.
The teachers in the lower grades are working toward this goal and much commendation is due them for their efforts and cooperation to bring about the desired results.
Music notation begins in the third grade and continues throughout the grades.
The practise of two and three part singing is enjoyed
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in the grammar grades. Here the technical problems of the time and tone are solved.
The Junior High School needs an assembly hall in order to develop concerted singing in the direction of mass chorus practise. I can meet each division only once in two weeks because of the crowded conditions and, of course, this is not an ideal arrangement. We are try- ing four part work, although the number of basses is very small.
The music in the Senior High School is principally of a choral nature. A Glee Club has been organized which meets one period each week. This organization offers an opportunity to those qualified for advanced instruc- tion and experience. It is my hope that this Club will sponsor musical activities in the school and in this way bring about not only a finer appreciation for good music but for culture and refinement as well.
I wish to express my appreciation to you for your kindly, sympathetic, and understanding assistance; and to the principals and teachers for their enthusiasm and cooperation.
Respectfully submitted,
MARION B. HURLEY,
Supervisor of Music.
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1
REPORT OF DIRECTOR OF AMERICANIZA- TION AND EVENING SCHOOLS
I submit my annual report as Director of American- ization and Evenings Schools for the past year.
Classes were opened this present school year October 26th. The general work of recruiting was carried on by means of posters, fliers, letters, and personal solicitation by director and teachers. A most successful means of recruiting is through the men and women who have pre- viously attended.
The work is organized to conform with the specifica- tions of the State Board of Education, Department of Adult Alien Education. Two classes are held from five to six o'clock at the Plymouth Cordage Company's plant. Others meet at the Knapp and Cornish School Buildings from seven-fifteen to eight forty-five o'clock. These classes meet three times a week - Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.
We are fortunate in having a splendid corps of teach- ers for these classes. All are especially trained and ex- perienced in this line of work. They are deeply inter- ested, sympathetic, and appreciative of the difficulties of a foreign speaking people. These are very necessary qualifications for teachers of such classes.
There are two different groups of pupils to be found in these classes. Those under twenty-one, who have not completed the work of the sixth grade as required by law and are therefore forced to attend. The other group are men and women who are not forced to attend but do so in order to learn English, to better equip themselves, or to be aided in qualifying to become citizens.
The work and advancement in all the classes is excel- lent. It seems unfortunate however that more do not
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avail themselves of the opportunities provided for them. Many do and are exceedingly appreciative of them. May I quote three short addresses given last April at the clos- ing exercises which I believe will tell this story better than I can.
The first - Our Duties to the Land of Our Choice by Mr. Francis Guaraldi:
"We have come from the foreign shores looking for opportunities and better living. This country has offered them to us and also a free education; thus we owe it a great debt.
We should not think as some do to save all we can and then go back and live in comfort - to just come here and get money and then bring it over there.
This country has offered us all kinds of opportunities and it is up to us to pay it back, not in money or valu- ables, but first of all - to obey and respect its laws, to help prevent lawlessness, to become honest and loyal citizens by going to vote and help elect the right man for office so as to have only good and just laws passed.
It is our only way to repay the United States for all it has offered us. And for just this little bit we again profit by it for it increases our already many opportunities.
We can still do a little more and that is to urge our friends to go to school, to learn to read and write the language, and to become citizens and help make the Town, State, and Nation a better place to live in."
The second - Citizenship by Mr. Aroldo Guidaboni :
"It is indeed a difficult task to explain to you the priv- ileges and benefits that one gains by becoming an Ameri- can Citizen, as it is rather hard to give an idea of the many opportunities that this great United States offers. As everyone has noticed since the end of the World War a great movement has been going on to Americanize the foreigners. Why? As this nation is based on cooper-
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ation and team work it has been the eager desire of the Americans to have everyone cooperating with them in the government, and not have people residing in the same community ignoring everything that is going on, start- ing from little affairs of the Town up to the many other and more important affairs of the whole Nation. It was indeed a shame in olden times to have people of different races inhabiting a certain corner of one town and ignor- ing everything else but the traditions of their native land, not bothering with their neighbor's affairs or with the country's affairs.
But at last these people have awakened. We have found out that our duty is not only to work, eat, and sleep - but there is something beyond this to do for our coun- try in which we live.
This country by preference we have adopted calls one and all to participate in its government. It does not ask us to hate our native land but to love this country. It does not require from us the impossible but just expects us to serve it according to our own force.
And now when you will have obtained your citizenship paper, don't lay it aside and forget everything about it but look to it as it has been explained to you during the year by your teacher ; do your utmost to take an active part in the government, by finding out more about the laws and participating in all the elections. Don't neglect anything by saying that you are one and that you won't count for anything, for everyone counts and yours may be a decisive vote on some very important question. At any cost and at any time do your duty as God gives you the eyes to see it and we will see this great United States prosper and triumph above any other nation."
The third - Opportunities for Citizenship by Mr. Gus- tavo Guidaboni:
"By coming here in this classroom you have shown your eagerness for becoming American citizens. You
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have devoted your time after a hard day's work to the study of the English language and the study of American laws and customs. Though it may seem a hard task it is necessary in order to become good and loyal citizens of this country.
The foreigner who awaits himself of the opportunity that the schools offer is indeed a wise man. In the near future all of you will be American citizens but of what good is that Certificate of Naturalization if we do not avail ourselves of the privileges that Certificate gives us.
To be a citizen means that we have the right to vote; to take an active part in making the laws and the elec- tion of officers. As citizens we can take more interest in political affairs, in the welfare of this country and a cer- tain pride in being subjects of this prosperous and glori- ous Republic.
So let us be loyal to this adopted country of ours and the beautiful emblem of red, white, and blue will fly above us and as a loving guardian will protect us in the future."
It is much to be desired that the aim and scope of the work of these classes might be better understood among the Towns people. There are many organizations that not only could but probably would be glad to cooperate with the School Department and render great service in real Americanization work for Plymouth.
In closing may I express appreciation to all who have in many ways contributed to the success of this depart- ment.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM I. WHITNEY,
Director of Americanization and Evening Schools.
January 20, 1928.
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SUMMER SCHOOL REPORT FOR 1927
Following the suggestions made in the Summer School Report for 1926, teachers sent to summer session only those pupils who had a chance of promotion through six weeks of study. Moreover, the teachers sent to summer school instructors a brief diagnosis of each pupil. We learned, for example, the particular points in which a pupil required drill in mathematics, or we learned the characteristics of a pupil which might have necessitated summer school attendance. I believe this method worked well because it saved some of the time which otherwise must have been taken to analyze the needs of the pupil.
The following outline indicates the distribution of subjects offered last summer :
Miss Downey-Arithmetic VII, VI.
Mrs. Raymond-English VII, VI.
Miss Barrett-Arithmetic V, Language V, Geography V, Reading and Spelling IV.
Miss Perrior-Arithmetic IV, Language IV, Penman- ship IV.
And this outline shows distribution by grades and at- tendance record :
Grade 7 27 pupils 93% attendance
Grade 6 10 pupils 97% attendance
Grade 5 8 pupils 87% attendance
Grade 4 21 pupils 98% attendance
66 pupils 94% attendance
The instruction offered was of a decidedly individual nature. In some cases improvements in methods of study could be made. In all cases an attempt was made
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to understand each pupil and to give him work suited to his needs.
In previous years it was sometimes quite obvious, after working with a pupil for two weeks, that he could never obtain promotion in six weeks time. Consequently it had been the custom to advise the parents in such a case be- fore the pupil spent his summer striving for a thing he could never obtain. But last summer there were but two cases of this kind; most pupils were able to profit directly from six weeks of summer work. The unusually high rate of promotion testified to the fact that candi- dates for summer session had been selected with care
Even as the regular teacher had sent a brief diagnosis of the pupil to the summer school teacher, the summer school teacher sent on with each pupil enrolled in summer school, her best opinion of the work accomplished and the attitude exhibited. Whether this was a profitable thing to do I am not sure, but it was done in an attempt to discover :
(1) The type of pupil who should be sent to summer school.
(2) The best method of instruction in such a short session.
Respectfully submitted,
MIRIAM A. RAYMOND.
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REPORT OF SCHOOL PHYSICIAN
I herewith submit my twenty-first annual report as school physician.
It is the duty of the school physician to make a physical examination of each pupil in the public schools at least once during the school year and this has been done every year since 1907. The examination which began as a mere inspection, has been elaborated and improved year by year until now the average of time consumed in the exam- ination is about five minutes which is time enough to get a good working knowledge of the physical status of the child.
THE 100% PLAN
The outstanding feature of the health work in the schools for the past year has been, not a new technique of examination but rather, an entirely new attitude tow- ard that examination. The annual physical examination for adults has recently been the object of a bitter attack by its opponents who claim that it does more harm than good through the unfortunate mental effect which it has on those who are examined, by calling attention to their defects. The effect of the physical examination can and should be quite the opposite. Up to the beginning of this year our school children approached the annual examin- ation with indifference as something unaccountable which had to be gone through with, where now they ap- proach it for the most part with interest and this atti- tude has been brought about by putting a premium on freedom from defects. Formerly the emphasis was al- together on the defects which no one, child or adult, wishes to have. Today we are looking not for defects but for freedom from defects, for health, vigor, strength and physical beauty and perfection which is quite a different
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thing. We are holding up to the children the goal of 100% freedom from physical defects and awarding those who attain it the distinction of recognition. At the Na- tional Health Day exercises in June all pupils who had met certain requirements were awarded an appropriate bronze medal by the school physician.
The requirements were as follows :
1. The pupil must be free from remediable defects as shown by the record of the examination on the state physical record card and as explained in Health bul- letin No. 1.
2. The pupil must make progress in school work satis- factory to the teacher.
3. The pupil must show interest and take an active part in the health program of the school including per- sonal hygiene to the satisfaction of the teacher.
The number of children in the various schools who would meet these requirements and received the medal was as follows :
Knapp School 18, Hedge School 23, Cornish School 35, Mt. Pleasant School 16, Wellingsley 2, Lincoln Street 3, Junior High School 36, Manomet School 1, Chiltonville Primary 1, Cliff Street 4, Cold Spring 2, Alden Street 3, and Oak Street 1. Making a total of 145 in all, receiving the award.
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HEALTH AND HYGIENE 100%
100% CHILDREN AT HEDGE SCHOOL
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LIGHTING
The modern lighting equipment of the Cornish and Burton buildings installed during the summer of 1926 has continued to give uninterrupted service and satis- faction during the past year. On the darkest winter afternoons the school rooms are bright and cheerful and the school work goes on unhampered. In the report for 1926 tests were given which showed that the illumination was very poor at the Cold Spring School where there were no lights except over the teacher's desk and also at the Knapp School where there was an entirely inadequate and out of date lighting equipment. These schools, like the Cornish and Burton were gone over by Mr. Richard B. Brown Jr. of the Edison Electric Illuminating Com- pany of Boston who submitted a report and recommenda- tions upon which the committee acted so that they are now satisfactorily lighted.
The lighting of the Hedge school needs to be studied more carefully but the illumination could be very much improved by the installation of lamps of higher wattage than those now in use.
The Oak Street and Manomet Schools should receive early attention. The school building at Manomet is wired but fixtures have never been installed.
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