USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Harwich > Town annual reports of the selectmen and overseers of the poor of the town of Harwich 1899 > Part 4
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GEO. N. MUNSELL, S. A. HAYWARD, W. F. SEARS.
SUPPLY AGENT'S ACCOUNT.
S. H. Chace, in account with Town of Harwich : Dr.
Stock on hand, Jan. 1, 1899, $208 82
Supplies purchased,
467 17
$675 99
91
Cr
Stock on hand, Jan. 1, 1900,
$166 64
Supplies furnished, 509 35
$675 99
SUPPLIES SOLD.
Ginn & Co.,
$6 65
Dr. G. N. Munsell,
1 57
C. E. Brett,
90
A. F. Cahoon,
24
Mrs. Nickerson, East Harwich,
28
Pleasant Lake pupils, for water colors,
80
Miss E. H. Carret, from pupils, for water colors,
11 20
Miss Loena M. Wixon, for water colors,
20
Mr. Herman N. Knox,
15
Town of Eastham,
1 58
$23 57
SUPPLIES FURNISHED THE SCHOOLS.
Average Membership
High School,
40.6
Supplies. $60.94
Books. $126.22
Totals. $187.16
Centre Grammar,
25.64
14.38
10.57
24.95
Port
19.36
19.10
20.38
39.48
West
27.17
32.69
19.70
52.39
Centre Intermediate,
32.73
14.64
10.02
24.66
66 Primary,
38.70
12.56
2.00
14.56
Port
66
17
10.07
1.20
11.27
West
23.98
15.39
2.62
18.01
North Mixed,
25.31
19.39
13.78
33.17
Pleasant Lake Mixed,
38.46
18.54
6.84
25.38
East Mixed,
25.07
12.56
26.50
39.06
South 66
25.4
25.36
6.73
32.09
General Distribution
by Miss Carret,
7.17
Totals,
$262.79
$246.56
$509 35
9
I
92
Old bills of 1898 : Oct. 11 and 14, American Book Co., (books,) $28 90
Dec. 1, J. L. Hammett Co., (sup- plies,) 4 07
$32 97
AVAILABLE FUNDS.
Appropriation for supplies, $350 00
Supplies and books sold, 23 57
From City of Boston for supplies, 66 00
" State Board of Charity, for sup- plies, 11 00
$450 57.
Amount of supplies purchased, $467 17
Exceeded available funds, $16 60
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT.
To the School Committee of Harwich :
GENTLEMEN : I have the honor to submit herewith my second annual report, which is the ninth in the series of Superintendents' reports.
The lines of work pursued during the past year have been similar to those outlined in my last report. Our schools continue to rank well as a whole. The pupils appear to be in- terested in their work, and are making satisfactory progress in their studies. There is greater uniformity in the quality of our schools than existed last year. This has been brought about not by a deterioration of the best schools, but by strengthening the weaker ones.
An entertainment and exhibition of school work was given last June in Pilgrim Church, Harwich Port. There was an excellent display of school work, particularly of drawing. Nearly all departments won and deserved the commendation of a considerable number of competent judges. The drawings which were sent to the State exhibit in September elicited favorable comment from Mr. Henry T. Bailey, State Agent of Drawing. I am pleased that pupils and the public take so great an interest in the draw- ing, and feel sure that they are anxious for its continuance. The report of Miss Howe, our Supervisor of Drawing, is appended to this report, and should receive your thoughtful consideration.
94
Ginn & Co.'s system of vertical writing has been adopted and made compulsory for the first four grades, but left optional with the higher grades. In the past, I think we have been too much inclined to consider penmanship simply as a means of communication or of keeping pupils busy, rather than an end in itself. Penmanship should receive careful attention, and those teachers get good results who give sufficient well-guided practice.
The attendance in our schools during the year has been very good. Notwithstanding the severe weather of last winter, and the attendance law of 1898, which magnifies non-attendance, the percentage of attendance has been re- duced only fifty-three hundredths of one per cent. Nearly fifty per cent. of the year's absences occurred in the winter term.
Reports of each pupil's attendance, scholarship, and de- portment will continue to be sent to parents every month. Parents are requested to give them careful attention before returning them to the school, as it may prevent a painful surprise when the season for promotion arrives.
Parents can also assist us by giving attention to the home study which is, or should be, provided for in the higher grades. At least one study should be learned at home, and if, dear parents, your children are not studying at home, it may be well for you to investigate. On the other hand, do not make the mistake of requiring so much studying at home that they will have nothing to learn during school hours, for
" Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do."
That study should be learned at home for which the school program does not provide sufficient time for prepa- ration. Have you seen your child's program? Do you
95
know what he is supposed to be doing every period of the day and every school day in the week? However good our schools may be in themselves, they will count for little or nothing without the support and co-operation of the home.
The professional spirit of our teachers is very commend- able. All are earnest in their desire to have good schools. Teaching is a profession worthy of veneration. The future happiness and prosperity of scores of innocent children will be decided for good or ill by our attitude toward our work. Nothing in this world goes for naught. . No cause is without its effect, or effect without its cause. Every thought, word or deed produces its effect upon something or somebody. If this is true, or even partially true, should not we, to whom is entrusted the training of that most delicate, intri- cate and unfathomable organ, the human mind, feel deeply our responsibility, and leave no opportunity neglected to prepare ourselves for our important duties ? Teachers' meetings have been held regularly every month. These meetings have been very valuable by stimulating the zeal of the teachers, and enlarging their knowledge of the science of education. They increase the opportunity for co-opera- tion, widen the bonds of sympathy, and awaken higher ideals and purposes. Those interested in education will be cordially welcomed at these meetings. The teachers' Association was honored by the presence of from one to three members of the School Committee at each meeting. . During the year the members were favored with inspiring talks from Rev. Charles Smith ; Mr. A. L. Woods of South Dakota, the first Principal of our High school; Dr. G. N. Munsell, who spoke on "The Past and the Present ;" Hon. Darius M. Nickerson, who spoke on "The Teaching of His- tory," and Mr. C. A. Clark of Melrose, who gave instruction in vertical penmanship. The average attendance of the
96
teachers at these meetings last year was about 90 per cent., notwithstanding the fact that some teachers live a long dis- tance from the Centre. This speaks volumes for their inter- est in professional improvement. The day is surely coming when good teachers will command in a greater degree than now, the admiration, respect, and the "pocket-books" of the community. We have but to look at the records of the past to be convinced. Twenty-five years ago the average pay per month, including board, was $34.34 for lady teach- ers and $94.33 for men. Last year, without including board, it was $51.44 for lady teachers and $137.41 for men. There will always be some childless taxpayers who cry less money for schools, but the history of the past and the spirit of the present forbid the fulfillment of their desire. The majority of the people of Massachusetts are not now living in the times of fifty years ago, when scores of schools were closed during each year on account of incompetent teachers or in- corrigible pupils ; when the three R's constituted the course of study for most schools ; when the average monthly wages, including value of board, was $34.02 for males and $14.19 for females, instead of $137.41 and $51.44 respectively ; when the average amount appropriated by the towns in the state for the education of each child was $3.87, instead of $22.16 as in 1898; when the total amount raised by taxation in the state for teachers, janitors and fuel was $830,377.33, instead of $8,292,320.12 ; when 3,749 schools had 8,163 different teachers during the year, instead of 9,863 schools requiring 11,678 teachers, having had 13,203 teachers, an average of 2.63 teachers to cach school during the year in one case and 1.13 teachers in the latter. This is of course only a mirror of the schools of the State fifty years ago, and does not necessarily illustrate the conditions existing in Harwich.
97
The schools of our ancestors were good schools for the times, just as the stage coach was an excellent means for travel before the invention of steam and electric railways, or just as the tedious and. expensive method of picking seeds from cotton by hand was satisfactory until the invention of the cotton-gin. I have made this comparison, not to belittle thc schools of the past, but in the hope that these evidences of improvement and rapid progress in school matters through- out the state may stimulate us to improvements in our own schools, even if some of them are "innovations" and involve a slight increase in expenditure; that it may lessen the possibility that partial or even entire consolidation of schools shall be defeated by those who ought to be its friends and advocates ; that the taxpayers may understand the rca- son why Harwich must spend at least as much, if not more, money for schools than formerly, if she hopes to be even an average town in the Commonwealth ; that they may not con- demn the School Committee for paying some of our teach- ers $40 a month, when the average pay of lady teachers in the State is $51.44 ; that they may realize that money must have been used to the best possible advantage in Harwich in order to have maintained our schools in their present rank.
Strict economy should most certainly be insisted upon in all departments of the town's service, for expenditure with- out equivalent returns is unwarranted waste. To the end of securing economy in the use of school supplies I have kept an accurate account of the cost of the books and supplies delivered to each school, and have appended in this report the average membership of each school. Of course a large school requires more supplies than a small one, and a grammar or high school more than a primary. Fair comparisons can be made only between schools of the same grade. The book account is not a fair criterion by H-7
98
which to judge the economy of a school, because only new books are charged. Second-hand books obtained from another school are not taken account of in this list. The ex- pense for supplies will differ with the methods of the teacher, and good teaching should not be sacrificed in order to save ( ?) a few cents' worth of supplies, but I regret to note that lav- ish use of supplies is not a criterion of the best schools. .
It is obvious that more money should be appropriated for supplies. The total membership in our schools in December was 369. The appropriation for books and supplies was $350, or less than 95 cents for each child in the schools. None will contend that this is sufficient. Below are the ex- penditures for the past six years for books, apparatus and supplies : -
1894,
$405.71
1895,
557.73
1896,
484.13
1897,
354.10
1898,
458.17
1899,
467.17
This shows an average expenditure of $454.33. More- over, the average membership in our schools has been in- creasing, as is shown by the following statistics :
Average membership in 1896, 294.6
" 1897,
319.8
66
66
" 1898, 328.72
" 1899, 339.42
This shows an increase of 44.82 children in the average membership during the past four years.
The expenditures in Harwich have not been excessive, when average membership is considered, as is shown by the expenditures in 1898 in other Cape towns :
-
99
Barnstable, ave. mem., 673.
Expended for sup.,$1,199.00
Brewster,
66
134.
66
66
507.39
Eastham, 66
61.
66
66
91.88
Falmouth, 66
398.
66
66
894.24
Provincetown,
754.
66
66
807.42
Sandwich, 66
225.
66
66
615.55
We are required by the State to furnish pupils with necessary books and supplies, and they must be purchased even if the appropriation is insufficient, but since our repu- tation for liberality in school matters is determined in the State report by the size of our appropriations, it would be well to grant at least an adequate amount. During the past year supplies have been purchased on the most favorable terms that could be obtained in the United States, and I am sure that our schools cannot be supplied with what they need for less than $450 a year. Many of our pupils are now using books whose dilapidated condition renders them no credit to the town, but a trial to the pupil. Werner's Mental Arithmetics have been adopted by the School Com- mittee, but have not been purchased for lack of funds. I respectfully request that the appropriation for books and supplies this year be $450.
Nothing has yet been done in Music in our schools be- yond the teaching of rote songs in a few instances. I be- lieve we should require all new teachers to be qualified to teach Music. A supervisor of music would be useless if the teachers were incompetent to assist him. While of course many excellent teachers cannot teach singing, yet I believe we can get teachers who are competent to give in- struction in Music and teach other subjects as well as they are now taught.
The report of Mr. Knox, our High school principal, so
100
ably sets forth the condition and needs of his school that no discussion of them by me is necessary. The value of a good high school cannot be over-estimated. The following words of Hon. Frank A. Hill, secretary of the Massachu- setts Board of Education, ably illustrate one of the higher values of the high school :
"One well-recognized and valuable fact is this, that the high school exerts a powerful stimulus for good upon the schools below. It holds up before the young, ideals of higher and broader scholarship; it is the gateway to other- wise inaccessible realms beyond; it appeals to the ambition· of the young ; it appeals to this ambition at a critical time, when it is important that inferior ambitions shall be fore- stalled ; it is the golden strand in that interest which holds the young up to scholarly endeavor. It fits in with the thought that noble inspiration comes from above, not from below, that normal children respond better, not when they are pushed from beneath, but when they are drawn from on high. The longing for higher things thus aroused, children do better work in the lower schools; they are more readily guided ; they hold to a definite course more steadily. If this ambition to attend the High school is, in some measure, imi- tative, a mere spirit to do as others do, it is, in a larger measure, a spirit to study for study's sake or for the re- wards that study brings."
A very generous offer of some physical apparatus for the High school was recently received from Mr. Chester Snow. This will satisfy a long existing need and will be very thankfully received.
In another part of this report will be found some "Rules and Regulations " recently adopted by the School Committee. They will serve a good purpose in securing uniformity in school administration, and in enabling pupils, teachers,
101
Superintendent and other school officials to better under- stand the ordinary duties required of them.
My work during the past year has been made pleasant, and whatever success may have been achieved has been ren- dered possible, by the kindly assistance of the School Com- mittee, the loyalty of the teachers, and the hearty co-opera- tion of parents. Such harmony of action and unity of pur- pose cannot fail to redound to the benefit of our schools, and I trust that in the future, as in the past, peace and good will may prevail, for under such conditions alone are beneficial results possible.
Respectfully submitted,
S. H. CHACE, Supt. of Schools.
Harwich, Mass., Jan. 11, 1900.
REPORT OF PRINCIPAL OF HIGH SCHOOL.
MR. S. H. CHACE, Supt. of Schools.
Dear Sir: In compliance with your request, I submit the following report of the High School for the year 1899 :
As my connection with the school has been for such a small part of the year, it will necessitate a somewhat brief report from me. There are now fifty-two pupils in the school which shows that, during the past three years, the school has increased in numbers nearly threefold. The past term, there has been a net increase from thirty-six to fifty-
102
two. There are now in the eighth grade of the lower schools 24 pupils and in the seventh grade 37. From this you may see, that there is every indication that the present crowded condition of the school will become insufferably worse at no far distant date.
The attendance during the fall term was excellent on the part of a great majority of the pupils, as may be seen from the fact that fourteen were not absent during their member- ship in the school, and that twenty-five others were absent less than five days each, several of them in fact missing only a half day. I am much pleased with this disposition on the part of the pupils to be regular in their attendance. I hope that the value of regular and punctual attendance may not be under-estimated by a single patron of the school. We are all bundles of habits and it is no small part of a child's education when he has acquired the habit and desire to meet the duties arising in his daily life promptly and punctually. Realizing this, I hope and trust that both parents and pupils will do their very best to promote regular attendance.
The interest and effort of the pupils, I believe, will com- pare favorably with that of a majority of other High school pupils of this class of schools in the state. They have start- ed a debating society which holds meetings every Friday af- ternoon. They have also recently issued a school paper. Both the debating society and the paper will offer opportu- nities for practical work of much value. A certain amount of work in the debating society will be required of each pu- pil
The parents should encourage the habit of home study. One to two hours of earnest study at home each day is al- most necessary in order that a pupil may get a clear under- standing of his lessons, and thoroughly enjoy his school- work. This is absolutely indispensable for pupils who are
103
compelled to be irregular in their attendance. This habit of home study once formed will be likely to lead to that of in- structive reading without which no one can well keep pace with the world's progress. The most important part of a pupil's education will be what he gets for himself by read- ing and study. This must necessarily be the way in which the pupil will acquire much of his knowledge when his few short years of school life are over. In this way too, the pu- pil is more liable to form a taste for good reading matter.
The school is quite well equipped with books and other supplies. There are about three hundred volumes of useful reading and reference books in the school library. There is also sufficient apparatus for considerable illustrative work in Physics. Several sets of new books have been purchased during the last few months. Among these are small dic- tionaries for the individual pupils. These and some of the other books will last for several years, so that the expense for books will undoubtedly be much less next year.
While the room itself is attractive and the walls are adorned with a number of very good pictures, it is over- crowded, and consequently very difficult to heat and venti- late properly without endangering the health of the pupils. The recitation room, which answers very well for classes of six to ten pupils, is entirely inadequate to accommodate many of the classes. Hence we are often obliged to give written lessons, or send a class to the cloak room of the Primary school, which is not a practicable arrangement in cold weather. That increased accommodations are neces- sary, a visit to the schoolhouse while school is in session will fully convince any one. If the accommodations are unsatisfactory now, what will be the conditions next October, when a large class will enter? The number of pupils in the school will undoubtedly be so large that they cannot be
104
comfortably seated in the main room. Nearly all the classes will then be too large to recite in the recitation room. I hope that the school officials, parents and citizens will thoughtfully consider the existing conditions.
As the question of better accommodation for the High school depends so much upon the policy which the town in- tends to pursue regarding consolidation, it would seem best that some definite policy should be adopted first regarding the grade schools. Then the question of accommodations for the High school can be decided upon understandingly and wisely in such a way that the town may not be called upon to repeatedly spend money for temporary arrangements.
The arrangement whereby the assistant teacher shall also act as supervisor of drawing has been and is working ex- cellently. Yet if the number of our pupils continues to in- crease, an assistant will be needed the whole time.
With new accommodations and an assistant for the whole time, new courses of study could be planned which would give better advantages to those pupils who will never attend school elsewhere. The English course could be lengthened to four years, and thus give an opportunity to add Business Arithmetic, Business Law and a more advanced course in United States History. The work of both courses could then be more advantageously arranged to suit the abilities of the pupils.
Respectfully submitted,
HERMAN N. KNOX.
1
105
REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING.
MR. S. H. CHACE, Superintendent of Schools.
Dear Sir: A report given at this time of the year must necessarily consist more largely in aims and plans than in work accomplished. On taking up the supervision of draw- ing in Harwich in the fall I found that good progress had been made during the preceding year, and that especially good work could be done with the brush by many of the pu- pils. The work has been continued along somewhat similar lines, and, in spite of the fact that much less time is availa- ble for visits to the schools than was last year at the dispos- al of the Supervisor, considerable progress has been made.
Drawing would not deserve the place it holds to-day in our public schools if its only object were to discover and en- courage special talent among the pupils. Without doubt it both calls out and, to some extent, develops natural aptitude for art, but the most a public school can do for the gifted is to lay the foundation for their higher training upon true ar- tistic principles. What drawing does for cach child-the most ordinary as well as the most talented, is the test of its value. The great aim of education is to fit the child for life and whatever in the many-sided subject of drawing, tends to the same end proves the usefulness of the study.
The training of hand and eye given by a course in draw- ing is of such a nature as to bestow a lasting and practical benefit upon each student. In the first place, through care- ful drawings of plant form, vegetables and common objects, children gain a habit of accurate observation and strengthen eye-memory-results invaluable to them, not only in their schoolroom work but in all outside life. Much of our knowledge must come to us through our eyes, and the best
106
trained eyes give the most reliable information. One of the most practical results of training in a free use of brush and pencil is the skill of hand, the muscular control that is so necessary in any branch of the mechanical arts. The hand that is once trained to move with freedom and accuracy will perform any task set for it with some of the same ready ex- actness. Then, too, drawing is a means of expression, another language, by which may be told bare facts of form and structure or the graceful beauty of a dainty flower with its subtle harmonies of color. The child has a use for this language in all his studies. He makes the knowledge more surely his own by giving it out in this graphic form and gains a clearness of understanding and an absolute knowl- edge otherwise unattainable.
There is no walk in life in which a knowledge of drawing would not be a source of either profit or enjoyment. A prominent Boston surgeon attributes much of his success to his ability to draw. He makes careful drawings of the re- sults of operations and thus has a record far more accurate than any verbal one could be. Many manufacturing firms prefer workmen who can draw and are willing to pay ac- cordingly. There is no student of the natural sciences to whom a knowledge of drawing is not indispensable. The ability to quickly sketch a plan of a simple machine and to read a drawing of the same kind is to be despised by no one. So one might continue almost indefinitely to enumerate places where drawing would be of use in life.
In speaking of the practical ends of Art Instruction in our public schools I may seem to have neglected its higher, its cultural aim. Yet, more than any other line of work, drawing has the power of enriching a child's life, of awakening in his soul that sensitiveness to beauty that ren- ders him
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