USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Oakham > Town annual reports of the officials of the town of Oakham, Massachusetts Year ending Mar. 1, 1914 > Part 2
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It will be the duty of the school committee to notify all new teachers of their duties and privileges under this act, to send to the retirement board on October 1 a list of the teach- ers and their salaries, to notify the board on the first of each month of any changes in the teaching force or their salaries, to deduct each month from the teachers' salaries the amounts due the retirement board. This sum will be forwarded each month by the town treasurer to the secretary of the retirement board.
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It seems probable that the salaries of teachers in the small towns all over the state will have to be readjusted to meet this new expense.
HIGH SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION.
Another law passed last year which will seriously affect Oakham provides that a town of less than 500 families in which a public high school is not maintained shall provide for the transportation of any child who resides in the town and attends high school in another town, and shall pay for such transportation a sum not exceeding one dollar and fifty cents per week of actual attendance. A town which has ex- pended for the support of its schools during the preceding year from the proceeds of local taxation an amount not less than four dollars per thousand of valuation shall be reimbursed for one-half the amount actually expended ; and a town which has expended at least five dollars per thousand shall be reimbursed in full by the state.
During the year ending June 30, 1913, Oakham expended $3.11 per thousand of valuation. This means that Oakham will probably have to bear the entire expense of this trans- portation, although this cannot be finally determined until certain phrases in the law have been interpreted. With a valuation. of about $381,000 Oakham wil! have to expend for the support of its schools from the proceeds of local taxation about $1525 in order to receive one-half of this expense from the state.
COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE.
Another law passed last year relates to the employment of minors. All minors under 21 are now required to have em- ployment certificates to work in mercantile and mechanical establishments. All minors under 16 must regularly attend day school all the time it is in session unless they have the
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written permission of the superinten dent of ech ols to engage in profitable employment at home or to work in some mill or store. Children under 16 are no longer allowed by law to waste their time on the streets. They must be either at work regularly or at school. Failure to comply with this law is punishable by a fine of twenty dollars.
DRAWING AND SEWING.
Your attention is called to the report of the supervisor of drawing and sewing. I believe that all who have seen the children engaged in this work will agree that the introduction of this work has been a step in the right direction. It will probably be possible to arrange for an exhibition some time during the year in order that more may see what is being done.
HOME GARDENING AND HANDWORK.
A very successful exhibition was held last fall under the auspices of the Grange. The exhibits were
a credit to the young people who took part. With the con- tinued interest and cooperation of the Grange we can make this a greater success each year. This year I am planning to secure the cooperation of Professor O. A. Morton, of Massa- chusetts Agricultural College, who has charge of this work all over the state. Under his supervision there are going to be state contests in raising potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and vegetables. There will also be contests in cooking, sewing, mending, and general housework. These contests are open to all children between the ages of 10 and 18. The prizes include a trip to Washington, a trip to places of interest in New England, and a week at the Agricultural College. A number of the young people in Oakham ought to enter some of these state contests. Those who have attended the Farm- ers' Club this winter have heard how general is the interest
.
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in this work all over the state. The federal government is working with the state officials to make it a success. We ought to do our part to help in the work. It would be a proud moment in the life of any young person to win a trip to Washington as a result of a summer of hard earnest work.
In connection with this work I hope to be able to arrange for a Farmers Week somewhere in this district the coming year. I believe all interested in farming will find it helpful.
REPAIRS.
There is urgent need of immediate attention to the toilet arrangements at the Center school and South school. The out-building for the boys at the center is in very bad condi- tion. If the state inspector should visit it he would doubt- less condemn it at once. The vaults should be made fly-tight, and arrangements should be made for locking it up at night. Recent investigations of typhoid in the north and hookworm in the south have proved the danger to any community of open vaults. There is no better breeding place for the com- mon housefly, better called the typhoid fly. At the South school there is but one out-building, whereas the law requires a separate one for each sex. I would suggest an arrangement similar to that at the West school, where provision is made for a shelter for a horse in connection with the out-buildings.
I think it would be a good policy to replace some of the wooden blackboards each year with slate boards. The slate board requires no attention after it is installed, whereas the wooden boards ought to be planed and refinished frequently.
The experience this winter in heating the schools during the extreme cold weather has again demonstrated the efficiency of the jacketed stove. I believe it would be an economy of time and fuel to put them in our three district schools. The rooms would not only be better heated, but
45
also better ventilated. About one-third of the rural schools in America are now provided with jacketed stoves.
GRADUATION EXERCISES OF THE NINTH GRADES, FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1913.
March, Schools Rev. A. H. Plumb
Invocation,
Song, "Let the Waking World Adore Him," Schools
Welcome, Earle Clarence Parker
Essay, "Our Bird Neighbors,"
Marion Corbin Rutherford Schools
Music, "Song of Spring,"
Essay, "Some Ways of Travel,"
Ralph Monroe Cody
Recitation, "A Lost Chord," Grace Eleanor Scott
Essay, "My Life on a Ranch," Henry Wilber Blake
Music, "Questions," Schools
Essay, "A Visit to the Putnam Home,"
Essay, "Our Future,"
Susie Webber Winslow Agnes Helena Woodis
Music, "Santa Lucia," Schools Supt. Charles L. Randall
Address,
Farewell, Hazel Elizabeth Grimes
Presentation of certificates, Deacon Jesse Allen
Chairman of School Committee
Class Song. Benediction, Rev. C. H. Smith
ATTENDANCE.
I want to call the attention of all to the data relative to school attendance. Oakham should take pride in this feature. The average attendance for last year was 95 per cent in Oak-
46
ham, while it was only 93 in the whole state, and 92 in the towns of a population of less than 5000. I wish to especially commend to the attention of all the young people the re- markable record of George Dean, who is now completing his ninth year in school without a single absent or tardy mark. He is to be congratulated on his splendid success. I am sorry not to be able to compile an honor roll for last year, but the registers for last year have been mislaid and so the statistics are not available at the present time.
COURSE OF STUDY.
I wish all parents would consider the advisability of con- tinuing Latin and Algebra in the grammar school. Would it not be better to give more time to English and Arithmetic and leave the other two studies for the high school ? Would it not be well to give more time to such a study as civics or physiology which would benefit all, rather than to a study of advantage to a very small minority ?
In connection with the physiology work in the grades I hope we shall be able to give more attention to such practical features of the course as care of the teeth, first aid, the selection of proper foods, the dangers of cheap candy, the dangers in the use of tobacco and alcohol.
LENGTH OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.
I wish to call your attention to the length of the school year in Oakham, There are but nine other towns in the state with so short a school year. Would it not be well to consider the advisability of lengthening our year to thirty-six weeks ? It would enable our teachers to do better and more thorough work than they can under the present arrangement. The added expense might prove to be an economy by bringing our appropriation up to a point where we would be reimbursed
-
47
for at least half of the expenses of transporting high school scholars.
SCHOOL LIBRARIES.
I believe it would be a good plan to buy a few carefully 'selected books each year as a part of a shelf of books for reading. Pupils, especially in the district schools, have much time that might be spent in silent reading. There are now many excellent books of biography. history, and travel, as well as story books that. might be read with profit in this way. A small outlay each year would in a few years provide a valuable shelf of books for each room.
In concluding, I wish to thank the teachers for their hearty support and cooperation during this first year, and the school . committee for their helpful suggestions and advice.
Respectfully submitted,
ROBERT I. BRAMHALL,
Report of the School Physician.
Mr. Robert I. Bramhall, Superintendent of Schools, Holden :
DEAR SIR: In the performance of my duties as School Physician of Oakham, I visited the schools of that town April 30, and again September 24, 1913. A fairly typical inspection report follows :
Number inspected, 85
Vaccinated,
65
Unvaccinated, 20
Enlarged tonsils, 5
Pediculosis, 2
Ringworm,
1
Nasal obstruction, 1
I would suggest that the town provide a convenient op- portunity for vaccination, and thereafter exclude unvaccinated pupils, unless exempt under a physician's certificate, from school.
Toilet conveniences at some of the schoolhouses need at- tention. In one instance the statute requirement for separate accommodations for boys and girls is neglected. In other cases the vaults need cleaning and the use of deodorizers. In all cases the vaults should be so enclosed as to prevent the entrance of flies.
Two brief practical suggestions : Individual pencils, and as far as possible, books, for the pupils. Somewhere, during the year, a teacher in my presence distributed to her pupils
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pencils which probably had been used before, and within a minute three or four pupils had their pencils in the mouth, one was poking a pencil into his nose, while others were using them for scratching the head or face. Comment is needless. Also wash basins with individual towels and soap. This is done in some schools-with good results-it can be done, and is not a serious burden, in all. Dirty hands and faces would then be inexcusable.
Respectfully submitted,
C. W. STICKNEY, School Physician.
Holden, Mass., Feb. 9, 1914.
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Report of the Supervisor of Music.
OAKHAM, MASS., MARCH 10, 1914.
Mr. R. I. Bramhall, Superintendent of Schools :
DEAR SIR: The question is sometimes, asked, "Does it pay to spend money for public school music since very few good singers are ever sent forth from the schools?" In reply I would ask, "Does it pay to have pretty homes, gardens, parks, libraries, etc?" The answer is "Yes." How much does it pay? No answer can be made, because the finest things of human life cannot be measured in dollars, pounds, pecks or pints.
It has been my aim to stimulate an appreciation of the best music, to develop tone quality, and to teach the funda- mental principles of note reading.
The individual reading of music is doing much for the pupils, and the time spent in this way cannot help but show results.
The special aim, particularly in the lower ,grades, has been to develop the individual. In all grades the pupils are being taught more of the esthetic. The average child should be able to sing with enough feeling and comprehension to derive enjoyment from this branch.
The pupils need help to realize and really believe that music must be studied, not only as a subject in the school course but for the pleasure to be derived therefrom, now and
51
in the future. We must strive to arouse enthusiasm and inspire confidence, in order to gain the best effort on the part of the pupil.
I am pleased to be able to state that I continue to enjoy the hearty co-operation of teachers and pupils that has been characteristic of the work from the first. It is a pleasure to work under the conditions I meet here. At this time I want to thank all for the kindly spirit and enthusiasm accorded my subject.
Respectfully submitted,
RUTH B. DWELLEY,
Supervisor of Music.
Report of the Supervisor of Drawing.
WORCESTER, MARCH 3, 1914.
Mr. R. I. Bramhall, Superintendent of Schools :
DEAR SIR: My time in the Oakham schools has been divided between drawing, supplemented by hand work, and sewing with the girls of the grammar grades.
Lessons in drawing for all the schools are arranged upon the same general plan but graded according to the age of the children, and may be grouped under the following headings.
NATURE drawing includes studies from leaves, twigs, flower sprays, etc., in pencil, colored crayon and water color ; also simple landscapes in colored crayon or water color.
OBJECT drawings from common things, like snow shovel, skates, apple, pail, etc., and from groups of two objects, as bushel basket and pumpkin. Pupils are taught to represent the appearance of foreshortened circular faces of such objects as a pail, basin, tumbler of water, etc.
The ninth grade has made a beginning in the application of the principles of perspective.
CONSTRUCTION, making simple objects from paper or card- board, as a drinking cup, boxes of different shapes, toy furniture, portfolio, etc., napkin ring, small basket of reed, mat of sewed raffia, door mat of braided corn husks, kite of sticks, paper and string.
The younger children have many exercises in paper fold-
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ing and cutting which can be varied and adapted for use as "busy work."
DESIGN. The appropriate decoration of articles made, such as boxes, booklet covers, portfolio, calendars, etc. Practice in lettering is given on booklet covers, portfolios, Christmas cards, etc.
In sewing, special attention is given to sewing on real articles and the making of garments rather than much simpler practice.
The girls began by making little sewing bags, then holders, and long gingham aprons.
Other examples of their work are small muslin aprons, handkerchief bags, hemmed dust cloths for the schoolroom, making a patch, etc.
Great interest is shown in this work and it is hoped that much more will be accomplished before the end of the school year.
Respectfully submitted,
HARRIOT B. ANDREWS.
Roll of Honor, Fall Term, 1913.
Beatrice Howe, Herbert Howe, Roy Howe, Arline Prevost, Albert Briggs.
Dorothy Newton, Frank Parkman, Laura Sney, Florence Tucker, Thomas Moran, Helen Gaffney, William Gaffney, Grace O'Donnell.
Doris Bruce, Joseph Bruce, Bernard Carpenter, Elmer Columb, Albert Eggleston, Lena Knight, Holbrook Prescott.
Lavander Clifford, George Dean, Leslie Ensor, Corinne Fairbank, Alexina Labonte, Henry Newton, Gladys Stone.
Roll of Honor, Winter Term, 1913-1914.
Orton Butler, George Dean, Leslie Ensor, Corinne Fairbank, Alexina Labonte, William Morse, Alfred Morse, Ruth Morse, Gladys Stone.
Albert Briggs, Dorothy Day, Beatrice Howe, Herbert Howe, Roy Howe, Kenneth Pierce.
Doris Bruce, Alla Carpenter, Bernice Carpenter, William Gaffney, Grace O'Donnell, John Wilder, Dorothy Newton.
TWENTY-SIX TERMS.
George Dean.
SCHOOL STATISTICS, 1913-1914.
SCHOOL TEACHER
EDUCATED AT
Salary
Total Enrolment
Present Enrolment
Average Membership
Average Attendance
Percentage of Attendance
Days of Absence
Case of Tardiness
No. of Visitors
No. in Grade IX.
No. in Grade VIII.
Grammar
Florence E. Bothwell
No. Brookfield High
$11
25
22.88
21.05
92 83
195
23
76
6
9
Primary
Ethel Braman
Northfield Seminary
$11
22
19
18.32
17.65
95.2
43
69
0
Coldbrook
Catherine Putnam
Fitchburg Normal
$10
29
26
25.61
24.68
96.43
185
52
66
0
0
South
Effie T. Swindell
Barre High
$10
13
12
13.
12.25
95.17
60
8
61
0
0
West
May E. O'Donnell
Barre High
$10
14
14
13-20
12.66
94.62
96
2
52
2
0
Music
Ruth B. Dwelley
Northampton
$4
Drawing
Harriot B. Andrews
Normal Art
$5
-
103
93
93.01
88.29
94.85
613
128
324
8
9
Totals
ยท
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TOWN CLERK'S REPORT OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS For the Year 1913.
BIRTHS.
March 3, son (George Raymond) to George J. and Maude F. Terrio.
March 28, son (Burton Edward) to Michael E. and Katherine S. Mullen.
June 9, daughter (Helen Alice) to Frank A. and Bernice B. Sullivan.
June 18, daughter (Glena M. Paige) to George E. and Ina G. Paige.
August 27, son (Irving Ralph) to Irving L. and Katheryn O. Gardner.
MARRIAGES.
April 3, Samuel H. Green to Margaret E. Gilboy. June 22, Mitze George to Edith M. Strong.
DEATHS.
Y. M. D.
February 15, Mrs. Alice F. Bliss, April 2, Mrs. Roxana Winter,
58
4 8
75
0
27
March 11, Mrs. Fannie L. Bullard,
82
11 16
July 31. Mrs. Sarah D. Vaughn,
68
0 10
August 26, Mrs. Ella S. Bullard,
58
11
1
September 25, Peter James Scott,
21
8 23
December 15, Cushing Messier,
6
9
14
57
BURIED IN TOWN.
January 14, William W. Lloyd,
26
1 21
February 15, Frank Hubbard, 45
November 22, Lillian E. Wheeler, 19
6 22
December 22, Rev. William A. Fobes, 86 8 26
Population, 552.
Number of voters, male, 136 ; female 10.
Number of dogs licensed, 57; male, 49 ; female, 8.
Number of hunter's licenses issued, 65.
JESSE ALLEN,
Town Clerk.
TOWN WARRANT. 1
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
WORCESTER, SS.
To either of the constables of the town of Oakham, in the County of Worcester, GREETING :
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of Oakham, qualified to vote in elections and in town affairs, to meet at the town hall, known as "Memorial Hall," on Monday, the thirtieth day of March, current, at nine o'clock in the forenoon, then and there to act on the following articles :
Article 1st. To choose a Moderator, to preside at all town meetings, except for the election of State officers, during the coming year.
Article 2d. To hear the annual report of the several town officers and act thereon.
Article 3d. To choose one Selectman, one Assessor, one Overseer of the Poor, one School Committee, one Library Trustee, one Cemetery Committee for three years, Collector of Taxes, Treasurer, Auditor, Tree Warden. Highway Surveyor, three Fence Viewers and six Constables, for one year. Also to vote "Yes" or "No" in answer to the question, "Shall license
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for the sale of intoxicating liquors be granted in this town?" all on one ballot. The polls to be opened at ten o'clock in the forenoon and may be closed at two o'clock in the afternoon.
Article 4th. To choose all necessary town officers and committees for the ensuing year not required to be elected by ballot.
Article 5th. To see what compensation the town will allow their Treasurer, Collector and Constables.
Article 6th. To see what compensation the town will allow for men and teams in repairing highways and opening roads for the ensuing year.
Article 7th. To see if the town will raise and appropriate a sum of money to bond their treasurer and collector.
Article 8th. To raise such sums of money as may be nec- essary to defray town charges for the ensuing year, and make appropriation for the same.
Article 9th. To see if the town will authorize the treas- urer, with the approval of the selectmen, to borrow during the current financial year beginning April 1, 1914. in anticipation of the revenue of said year, such sums of money as may be neces- sary for the current expenses of the town, giving the note or notes of the town thereof, payable within one year from the date thereof, these notes to be paid from the revenne of said financial year.
Article 10th. To see what sum of money the town will raise and appropriate for the relief of poor and needy soldiers. as required under Chapter 79, Section 18, of the Revised Laws.
Article 11th. To see if the town will appoint some person as agent to prosecute and defend all suits that may be brought for or against the town for the ensuing year.
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Article 12th. To determine the manner of collecting taxes for the ensuing year.
Article 13th. To see if the town will vote to leave all matters pertaining to the support of paupers with the overseers of the poor till otherwise voted.
Article 14th. To see what provision the town will make for lighting the streets the ensuing year, and make appropria- tion for the same, or pass any vote relative thereto.
Article 15th. To see if the town will employ some person or persons to care for the Town Hall, Town Clock and Library Building for the ensuing year.
Article 16th. To see what sum of money the town will vote to raise and appropriate for the suppression of the brown tail moth.
Article 17th. To see if the town will petition the Director of the Bureau of Statistics for an audit of its accounts in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 598, Acts of 1910, and amendments thereof.
Article 18th. To see if the town will vote to change the day of holding their annual town meeting from the last Mon- day in March to the first Monday, or some other earlier date.
Article 19th. To see if the town will vote to make needed repairs on Memorial Hall, and make appropriation for the same or pass any vote relative thereto.
Article 20th. To see if the town will vote to choose a committee to enquire into the feasibility of establishing electric lights in town, or pass any vote relative thereto.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting three attested copies thereof, one at each of the Post Offices, and one at the Congregational meeting house, in said town, seven days, at least, before the time of holding said meeting.
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Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of meeting aforesaid.
Given under our hands this eleventh day. of March. in the year one thousand nine hundred and fourteen.
GARDNER M. DEAN, Selectmen JOHN P. DAY, of G. T. BUTTERFIELD, ) Oakham.
A true copy. Attest. WILLIAM C. AYRES, Constable.
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