USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Agawam > Town of Agawam, Massachusetts annual report 1891-1900 > Part 29
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parents would visit the schools more frequently and attend the teachers' meetings, as they are cordially invited to do, a better un- derstanding and appreciation of the work would surely result.
ATTENDANCE.
The school year consisted of 36 weeks, divided into three terms of twelve weeks each ; but in some schools several days were lost on account of the illness of the teacher and the almost unprecedented severity of the winter. Frequent " blizzards" made it at times almost impossible for the smaller children to attend. The preva- lence of " grip " and kindred disorders has also greatly reduced the attendance. It is gratifying to note that in spite of these draw- backs the total number of lost days was reduced to 6,363 against 8,65 1 the previous year, a reduction of more than 26 per cent. There is still, however, plenty of room for improvement in attend- ance. Too often parents seem indifferent to the blessings of edu- cation for their children, and allow them to remain at home for trivial reasons, or perhaps to help in the work of the home or the farm. It should be remembered by all that in this State we have compulsory education and that parents are not at liberty to keep their children from school to work, or for any other reason except sickness or other causes enumerated in the statute. The Legis- lature of 1898 made the laws relating to school attendance much more strict than they had ever been, and provided penalties for violation. Any parent or other custodian who unlawfully keeps a child from school more than five days in any period of six months is subject to a fine of twenty dollars ; and any person who employs a child of school age while the schools are in session is subject to a fine of fifty dollars for each offence. It is the duty of your com- mittee to see that the law is enforced, and we earnestly ask the voluntary co-operation of all who have charge of children between seven and fourteen years of age.
TEACHERS.
We regret the frequent necessity for changes in the corps of teachers, and aim to exercise the greatest care in filling the vacan-
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cies so caused, realizing that more depends upon the teacher than upon any other factor in the making of a good school. We believe that the present corps has never been surpassed in this town for zeal, intelligence and efficiency. Unfortunately it is difficult to re- tain permanently the teachers of highest capability, for such teach- ers are likely to receive tempting offers from cities and towns where salaries are larger than our town can afford to pay. All the changes made since the opening of the schools in August have been in con- sequence of voluntary resignation.
REPAIRS.
In all the wooden buildings used for school purposes repairs are needed. The Centre Primary building is difficult to heat in very cold weather and needs such repairs as will keep out the cold with- out injuring the ventilation. The same is true of the South School. The seats in this school should be made to face the east, the light from the west and south windows being very trying to the eyes of the children in the afternoon. All the schools in the Agawam dis- trict are without adequate and wholesome water supply. This not only causes the children severe suffering in hot weather but is at all times a menace to their health. We recommend that the Selectmen be instructed to take the necessary action to supply pure water to all the schools. In the case of the Centre and South Schools, water could be taken from the Goodhue pipes at small expense. The schoolhouse in West street, Feeding Hills, is sadly in need of a new floor.
CONVEYANCE OF PUPILS.
The question of conveyance of pupils, who live at a distance from school, is one in which many of our people feel a lively interest, in which your committee share. We have been urged to provide such transportation. It is questionable, however, if the appropriation for " schools, superintendent and supplies " could properly be regarded as available for such a purpose without a special vote of the town,
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even if the amount of funds at the disposal of this committee were sufficient. The expense of providing free transportation for all the schools impartially would be very serious. It cannot be done without a large increase in the annual appropriation. We would suggest that in localities remote from school buildings, some neigh- borly co-operative arrangement might be made to answer the pur- pose. This could be done without expense to the town if the persons or families to be accommodated would come to an amicable agreement among themselves and each volunteer to do a certain share of the work. One might agree to transport all the children of the neighborhood every Monday, another every Tuesday, and so on.
APPROPRIATIONS.
We recommend the same appropriations as were made last year, viz. : $6,000 for schools, Superintendent, supplies and incidentals, and $1,000 for High School tuition.
THE SUPERINTENDENCY DISTRICT.
In conclusion your committee wish to refer to a matter of the gravest importance to the welfare of our schools. At the last an- nual town meeting the town voted peremptorily to withdraw from the school superintendency district composed of the towns of Aga- wam, Southwick and Granville. This withdrawal was to take effect the first of July, 1898. Your committee believed this action to be ill-advised and disastrous to the best interests of our schools. At an adjourned town meeting the date of withdrawal was extended one year. As the matter now stands, therefore, the district will be broken next July unless the town, at the coming town meeting, votes to rescind the vote of last year. We earnestly ask that this action be taken. We cannot believe that anyone, who understands the situation and has at heart the welfare of the public schoo's, can de- sire to have the district broken under the present circumstances. No other combination of towns can be formed, as far as we have been able to learn. The benefits of superintendence are great and
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indisputable ; and as the State pays the greater part of the Superin- tendent's salary, while the remainder is divided among three towns, the cost to this town is trifling compared with the benefits received. The effect of a failure to rescind the vote of 1898 would be to leave the town of Agawam without school superintendence. It would also probably deprive the towns of Southwick and Granville of the same benefits, and would, we understand, be viewed with consterna- tion there.
At the beginning of the present school year your committee, act- ing in conjunction with the School Committees of Southwick and Granville, reached an agreement that the Superintendent should, as nearly as practicable, divide his time between the three towns on the basis of the number of schools in each. This arrangement gives Agawam 42 per cent. of the Superintendent's time, instead of 33 per cent. as in former years. We hope that this concession, to which the other towns reluctantly consented, will remove all opposition to the continuance of the present district. It is certainly better, in our view, to have 42 per cent. of a Superintendent's time than to have none.
EDWIN LEONARD, ROBERT O. HARPER, CHARLES P. DAVIS, School Committee.
Financial Statement of Schools.
FOR TUITION AT WEST SPRINGFIELD HIGH SCHOOL.
Spring term,
$264.00
Fall term,
384.00
Winter term,
2 76.00
$924.00
Appropriation, .
1,000.00
SUPERINTENDENT AND SUPPLIES.
Herbert E. Richardson, Superintendent,
$586.64
Herbert E. Richardson, expressage,
7.19
Belle W. Corwin, teaching music,
55.00
Urania G. Burrows, teaching music,
I33.32
R. O. Harper, express, freight and cutting paper,
10.17
Boston & Albany R. R., freight,
1.00
American Express Co., express,
.35
Ginn & Co., books,
43.72
H. G. Smith, pencils, .
1.36
H. R. Johnson, supplies,
2.25
Morgan Envelope Co., supplies,
1.02
Silver, Burdette & Co., books,
58.60
J. L. Hammett Co., books,
281.91
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., supplies,
8.50
University Pub. Co., supplies, .
12.96
Educational Pub. Co., supplies,
8.20
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D. C. Heath & Co., supplies, .
$7.85
Worthy Paper Co., paper,
12.93
Hanson Press, paper, .
9.20
Charles S. Potter, maps,
5.00
Sterrie A. Weaver, copy books,
3.25
J. & I. E. Moore, ink,
3.45
$1,253.87
AGAWAM SCHOOLS.
Blanche E. Thompson, teaching 2 weeks,
$16.00
Jane S. Thompson, teaching 10 weeks,
80.00
Carolyn Melendy, teaching 12 weeks, .
90.00
Carolyn Melendy, care of room,
6.00
L. Pearl French, teaching II weeks,
99.00
Hulda U. Gates, teaching 12 weeks,
96.00
Hulda U. Gates, care of room,
6.00
George B. Whitney, teaching 24 weeks,
312.00
Anna R. Hunter, teaching 23 weeks, .
207.00
Martena A. Stupplebeen, teaching 24 weeks,
192.00
Amy W. Dinzey, teaching 23 weeks,
184.00
Amy W. Dinzey, care of room, 11.50
Adelia L. Griswold, teaching 24 weeks,
192.00
Adelia L. Griswold, care of room,
12.00
Ernest A. Maynard, teaching 12 weeks,
144.00
Edith A. Havens, teaching 2 weeks,
18.00
Edith A. Havens, care of room,
.50
John Van Slycke, cleaning,
1.28
Annie Edgar, cleaning,
1.00
Mrs. J. Plouff, cleaning,
3.00
Mrs. William Adams, cleaning,
7.31
Herrick Gero, kalsomining,
8.50
J. V. Wolcott, repairs,
1.70
C. W. Hastings, supplies,
8.33
F. H. King, wood,
5.00
M. S. Converse, coal, . .
100.00
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O. L. King, wood, $13.50
W. B. Rice, use of team,
3.50
L. W. Dickinson, use of.well, 5.00
L. L. Thomson, sweeping,
55.50
C. P. Davis, expenses, postage and supplies, 9.50
W. C. Campbell, cleaning and repairs,
2.00
W. C. Campbell, truant officer,
2.30
W. C. Campbell, janitor,
56.00
$1,949.42
FEEDING HILLS SCHOOLS.
Carolyn E. Shirley, teaching 36 weeks,
$432.00
M. Lucy Pomeroy, teaching 36 weeks,
288.00
M. Lucy Pomeroy, care of room,
20.00
Anna N. Chandler, teaching 14 weeks,
I26.00
Sarah M. Hollister, teaching 23 weeks,
196.00
A. E. Fuller, janitor,
6.30
Frank Norris, janitor, .
4.20
F. A. Scott, janitor,
69.65
Mary A. Taylor, sweeping,
18.37
W. F. Cook, coal,
15.91
M. S. Converse, coal,
105.00
John Taylor, wood,
3.50
F. A. Johnson, wood, .
5.00
Meekins, Packard & Wheat, shades,
4.73
G. O. Andrews, supplies,
8.00
Harry G. Fowler, whitewashing,
1.50
Edwin Leonard, supplies and repairs,
7.II
E. A. Kellogg & Sons, glass,
I.II
W. H. Morse, supplies,
I.IO
Alfred Bruffee, supplies,
6.00
$1,319.48
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MITTINEAGUE SCHOOLS.
A. P. D. Tobien, teaching 12 weeks, . $156.00
Jennie E. Alderman, teaching 36 weeks, 324.00
Margarite C. Connor, teaching 36 weeks, 324.00
Bertha L. Jones, teaching 36 weeks, 324.00
Bessie H. Smith, teaching 12 weeks, 108.00
E. S. Irwin, teaching 24 weeks, . 3 12.00
Mabel L. Welcker, teaching 24 weeks,
2 16.00
Ida E. Roy, teaching, 30.00
J. M. Bean, janitor,
180.00
J. M. Bean, oil,
1.20
J. S. Harris, oil,
2.70
Meekins, Packard & Wheat, chairs,
5.00
H. G. Smith, door knobs,
2.10
E. A. Whipple, clock,
5.00
H. Letellier & Son, brooms and pails,
2.10
W. F. Cook, coal,
49.00
M. S. Converse, coal, .
201.01
J. M. Bean, cleaning, . ·
I 2.00
James O'Brien, labor,
4.50
H. D. Smith, glass,
3.88
C. E. Smith, pencils, .
.50
E. S. Irwin, electric bells,
12.50
Patrick Flynn, repairs,
7.00
W. F. Cook, use of teams,
10.00
Michael Carroll, wood,
4.00
$2,295.49
Total amount expended,
6,818.26
Amount available, appropriation,
6,000.00
Income Massachusetts School Fund,
255.55
State Treasurer for Superintendent,
416.66
$6,672.21
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF AGAWAM :
GENTLEMEN :- The following report of your Superintendent of Schools is herewith respectfully submitted. It is my second, and the eighth annual report made by the Superintendent.
In my last report I sought to give a brief summary of what I con- sider the true purpose of education, and at this time I shall point out what has been attempted along various lines during the year.
I have made one-hundred ninety-seven school visits, and held nine union teachers' meetings in the different parts of the town. These meetings occur every month in the following order at Mittin- eague, Feeding Hills, Agawam, and the public are cordially invited to attend.
Some time has been given to all the different lines of school work, but special attention has been given to history and science. Outlines prepared as guides in teaching these subjects have been considered with the teachers, before the subjects were studied in the schools ; thus more uniform and systematic work has been done. The interest of teachers, and their willingness to participate have greatly enhanced the value of these meetings. At one, Mr. Irwin presented the subject of History ; at another Miss Hunter spoke upon Geography, and Miss Welcker illustrated with a class the methods of teaching Primary Reading. The Supervisor of Music, Miss Urania G. Burrows, has been present and outlined the work in music for all the grades. Miss Burrows is secretary of the Association of Music Supervisors of Western Massachusetts and comes
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to us thoroughly equipped for her work. Our expectations in regard to the superior character of her instruction have been abundantly fulfilled.
Mr. G. T. Fletcher, agent State Board of Education, visited schools upon April 18th and again upon November 17th.
Upon the afternoon and evening of February 24th, a public exhibi- tion of school work was held in Agawam Town Hall. This included Mittineague, Feeding Hills and Agawam schools. The object of the exhibit was not to make a display, but to show the character of the work being done in the schools. In the evening Mr. Fletcher spoke to an appreciative audience upon "Educational Progress."
The sentiment is abroad that education does not educate. "The total result of a common school education," says a well-known edu- cator, " is a deadening of interest in study. The greater part of the course is as the desert of Sahara. At the end not one in fifty has a taste for reading or any incentive to further study."
These charges are too true, and the cause is not far to seek. We have held too long to the idea that education is a mere accumula- tion of facts, and the work of the school has consisted too largely in teaching dead forms and empty symbols, without the impulse of real thought. "You cannot make the human mind fall in love with formal study."
How is this state of affairs to be remedied? As a result of the universal child-study movement, it is now generally granted that the child's nature and needs are a factor to be considered ; that instead of the cultivation of the memory alone, all the powers of the child should be developed. It has been demonstrated that the best way to do this is to present such subjects as are adapted to the child's capacity and needs, those that will arouse his interest, cultivate good tastes, and a love for the good and beautiful in everything, thus en- riching his whole being.
History and Literature.
The subjects of history and literature have received special atten- tion during the year.
The youth of our land ought to know something about the nature of our institutions, their origin and growth. Good citizenship de-
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mands such a knowledge of American history. It is now generally believed that this subject should not be taught as an isolated thing, but our courses of study should give an opportunity for some knowledge of the entire history of the world. American history would then seem to the child what it really is, " the last link in a long chain of development." In this way, as he comes to see the continuity of events, he will seek for causes and results. No event will stand alone by itself, but will be related to what has gone before and to what follows. He will attach importance not so much to the knowledge of facts as to the knowledge of principles ; not so much to the cultivation of memory as to that of judgment and reason.
Believing that this study should be begun in the first primary grade, and continued throughout the entire course, the work has been outlined by months for all the grades.
In the lower grades subjects especially adapted to children have been selected. Young children, of course, have had little experi- ence and cannot understand complicated forms of life, but stories from mythology, the Indians and Eskimos, representing primitive life, and the beginnings of history in ideas of time, place, and cus- toms, they feel in sympathy with.
History is a subject well adapted to two ends : to arouse a love for study and to give a knowledge of how to study. Stories from history attract the youngest children, and if we make our method of teaching it what it should be, we give our pupils that best of helps, a key to the use of books. Whatever tastes are formed in childhood will prevail throughout life, and if a love of study is not formed then, probably it never will be.
Someone has said that literature is best history, for it takes us into the very heart and life of a people. In Whittier and Lowell we breathe the very atmosphere of the Civil War. Who would think of teaching Puritan New England without Longfellow's " Miles Standish," or the French and Indian war without Evangeline ?""
So in the history course we have made literature help all along the way, and the work has been more interesting, and the pupil's view of the past has been made clearer and broader than is other- wise possible.
Throughout the course many books, not in the schools, are re-
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ferred to in order to cause pupils to form the habit of using the Public Library. As additions are made to the library from time to time, I hope the needs of the schools may be considered.
Believing that the " best is none too good for the children," the following books are used in carrying out the course :
GRADE I. " Hiawatha Primer," Cooke's " Nature Myths," An- dersen's " Fairy Tales."
GRADE II. " Æsop's Fables," " In Mythland," Grimm's " Fairy Tales," Baldwin's " Old Greek Stories."
GRADE III. " Stories of Ulysses," adapted, Pratt's " Stories of Colonial Children," " Little Folks of Other Lands," " Seven Little Sisters," Baldwin's "Fifty Famous Stories Retold," "Story of Robert Fulton."
GRADE IV. " Robinson Crusoe," " Each and All," " Stories of Marquette and Joliet," "Story of La Salle," " American History Stories," Vol. I, " Story of Eli Whitney."
GRADE V. " American History Stories," Vols. II and III, “ Ten Boys," Cooke's "Story of the Odyssey," De Garmo's " Tales of Troy," " Old Greek Stories," Vol. III, " Heroes of Asgard," " Story of the Norsemen."
GRADE VI. Eggleton's " First Book in American History," " American History Stories," Vol. IV, Hawthorne's " Wonder Book," Starr's "American Indians," "Hiawatha," "Stories of Heroic Deeds," "Tales of Chivalry," Baldwin's "Story of Roland," "The Talisman," abridged.
GRADE VII. McMurry's " Pioneer History Stories," " American History Stories," "Stories of Our Country," Montgomery's " Be- ginner's History," Longfellow's " Miles Standish," Hawthorne's " Grandfather's Chair," Irving's " Sketch Book," Baldwin's " Story of Seigfried."
GRADE VIII. Longfellow's " Evangeline," " Heart of Oak," Vol. III, " Stories of Great Americans ; " " Fiske's," " Sheldon's," " Mc- Master's," " Higginson's," " Mowry's" United States History.
GRADE IX. " Montgomery's," " Stone's" English History, Macy's "Civil Government," Irving and Fisk's "Washington," Lowell's
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" Bigelow Papers," "Tales of a Grandfather," Scott ; " Butter- worth's," " Anderson's " American History, United States Histories named under Grade VIII.
The following series of readers are used in all the grades: "Stepping Stones to Literature," " Cyr's," "Stickney's," " Barnes'," " Monroe's," " Harper's," "New Normal," "New National," " Ap- pleton's," " Davis's," " Franklin."
Nature Study.
It is now generally recognized that through Nature Study the common branches, i. e. the " Three R's," are more thoroughly and quickly taught than through the grind of disconnected facts and definitions. Through a more intimate relation and closer study of nature, the child is trained in accurate habits of observation that are invaluable in every line of school work, as well as throughout his whole life.
It is sometimes said that children in the country know all about their surroundings and the manifold mysteries and beauties of nature, therefore this study is unnecessary. But we feel that the teacher's testimony does not support this statement, and that through the neglect of nature study " the wits of the country child lose just the sharpening they most need, to say nothing of the stimulus and delight which can ill be spared by one whose mental life is apt to be monotonous. The wits of the city child may secure in other ways the sharpening so essential to success in life ; yet the training afforded by a study of nature rightly directed, and the pleasure which such a study is sure to yield, are as essential to him as to his country cousin."
With this thought in mind, during the year a course in science has been outlined by months. Subjects calculated to arouse a real spirit of investigation, and adapted to the season in which they are studied, have been selected.
Drawing and Painting.
Drawing and painting have not been taught as isolated subjects, but have been related to every line of school work. They have not
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been employed as ends in themselves, but as means to an end, that is, to increase the child's interest in all of his studies, and to give him another mode of expression. We speak, or write, because we have a thought to express, and we should draw and paint for the same reason. To draw or paint simply for the purpose of produc- ing pretty pictures would be a waste of time, and detrimental to school work.
Geography, history, arithmetic and science can be more thor- oughly taught when drawing, painting and modeling are employed. In the modeling of a continent, in the plan of a battlefield, in the diagram of a room that is to be carpeted, or in the painting of a leaf, the teacher has a tangible expression of the child's thought, and something the child himself is able to pass judgment upon, as he compares his own product with the more perfect model. In this way, not only are his powers of observation and expression quickened, but through the exercise of his judgment, reason, and memory, correct habits of study are formed.
The work done in drawing in relation to nature study has been in accord with the plan outlined by the State Supervisor of Drawing. This subject as we have striven constantly to have it taught, can not justly be termed simply an embellishment, for it is, when rightly understood, a most vital factor in the truest education of the child.
One of the greatest art teachers of to-day, from an experience as wide as the range of his knowledge, says that the general public feeling is tending to the admission that education must include not only full command of expression by language, but of true form by the hand. Whether you are drawing a piece of Greek armor, or a hawk's beak, or a lion's paw, you will find that the mere necessity of using the hand compels attention to circumstances, which would otherwise escape notice, and fastens them in the memory without further effort. He adds, that it is only by music, literature and painting, that cultivation can be given. Considering its source, this is an argument worthy of attention, in favor of presenting them to our boys and girls, who are charged sometimes with a lack of culture and refinement.
None of the essentials have been sacrificed, or neglected, for the sake of drawing, but two lessons a week have been required, and
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while in every instance it has not been presented in the best way possible, a beginning has been made in the right direction.
It is unsafe to judge of the value of any line of educational work by the seeming success, or failure, of any one teacher, or before it is fully understood, and fairly tried.
Busy Work.
It is not enough to keep the little children simply occupied dur- ing school hours, but all the so-called " busy work " should be edu- cational in its character. To this end, the children have made pencil boxes, calendars, and charts upon which they have kept daily weather records, giving the results of their own observations, including the temperature, direction of the wind, atmospheric con- ditions, etc. There has been much clay and sand modeling, also drawing and painting from leaves, flowers, buds and branches of trees, fruits, vegetables, and other natural objects. In all this work, all the child's powers are called actively into use, and while he has been occupied, he hás been interested and the educational maxim that " We learn to do by doing " has been exemplified.
Attendance.
We are glad to report a marked improvement in attendance over that of last year. The total number of days lost being 6,363 against 8,651 last year. While this gain is encouraging, yet the present loss demands the serious attention of parents and all those taxed for the support of the schools. Under the old law pupils were obliged to attend school thirty weeks, two weeks being allowed for absence, but under the new law, they are obliged to be in school during the entire time that school is in session, except for unavoid- able absence. For the benefit of those who may not know of the change, the new law is hereby appended.
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