USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1924 > Part 13
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Supt. of Schools, Reading, Mass.
Dear Sir :- At the beginning of her work, my predecessor said that - her first job was to get acquainted with the pupils. This task which she had accomplished so well must be begun again by anyone new to the position and must take some time even with the aid of the very complete records which she had filed in the most systematic manner. This knowl- edge means much more than knowing the name and grade of the pupil. We have a system in the making which will enable us to know the char- acteristics, special aptitudes, weaknesses, line of interests, and scholastic attainments of each pupil. This will have two great values: First, when a pupil comes to the place where it is necessary for him to choose his course in the Senior High or his life work, we can give him advice based on scientific data rather than on an indefinite personal opinon. Secondly, it will mean that we shall find any pupil who, for any reason whatever, is not in the place where he can work happily and with, at least, some measure of success. When such a pupil is found, a carefu! study of the case is made. The aid of the nurse is enlisted to see that there is no physical cause for the maladjustment. A visit is made to the home so that there may be a closer understanding and co-operation: between the parent and the school. If there are questions upon which expert advice is needed the parent may have the privilege of taking the child to the "Habit Clinic" in charge of assistants sent out by Dr. Thom from the State Department of Child Welfare. Following this care- ful study, we endeavor to see that the pupil has the school work adapted to his individual needs.
This has made necessary a very careful and thorough study of our curriculum. Already there has been a conference of the teachers of the first four grades to discuss the work in language. They have adopted a plan of work based upon the recommendations of men who are leading in educational thought today. The course, however, is flexible enough to give the slowest pupil an opportunity to succeed in part of it and yet give the most brilliant one enough to do so that he will not be acquiring habits of mental laziness.
We are also working on a plan of promotion that should secure to every child a steady upward progress according to his individual ability. Our aim is to have no pupil repeating work unless necessary on account of absence or ill health, no one pushed ahead into work for which he is
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not fitted, no one marking time, but each one working successfully and happily to the full extent of his ability.
Three, at least, of our pupils have been promoted a grade since September and all are proving that our scale of measurement was cor. rect for all are doing good work and the one about whom we felt the most doubt had honors on his last report.
There is always a question about the advisibility of a pupil's skipping a grade on a double promotion. A careful study of the methods used in some other towns and the opinions of men in a position to be good judges of educational practices seems to point to a plan of acceleration. For example, John is found working in the fourth grade but has the abil- ity to do the work of the fifth. Instead of advancing him to the fifth give him the opportunity to do the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade work in two instead of the usual three years. This plan gives the same results as double promotion in scholastic work without causing any loss in the necessary drill work or removing the child from the social group where his age would place him. The four most important rules or principles to be followed are as follows: No pupil to be recommended for accelera- tion who is not superior in natural ability, whose pedagogical skills are not above the medium, or who is retarded in physical or social develop- ment, or whose health is marked poor by a physician.
There is one great difficulty in carrying out the plan of fitting the school work to each pupil and that is the impossibility of doing much individual work with the over-crowded condition of many of our schools.
At this time I wish to express my sincere appreciation for the welcome and whole-hearted co-operation which all the teachers have given to this work and without which it cannot succeed. I have been made to realize as never before that from the superintendent down we are co-workers striving to do the best possible thing for our boys and girls.
Respectfully submitted, IDA C. LUCAS,
Supervisor of Standards and Guidance
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REPORT OF CLUB WORK
Mr. A. L. Safford, Supt. of Schools,
Dear Sir :- At your request, I submit the report of the Achievement Club Work for the year of 1924.
Soon after the years of the intensive drive for war gardens, when a reaction had set in and interest lagged, I was asked to take charge of the school garden work. Something new was needed to revive the interest and by linking up our work with the county organization the new incen- tive was found. The Massachusetts Agricultural College, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the Middlesex County Extension Service in Agriculture and Home Economics co-operating as a part of their work help local leaders form clubs of school children throughout the county. Much valuable literature is distributed from their headquarters, and their agents are constantly giving talks to the clubs and visiting the individuals
Every member of the county organization, who completes the re- quired work, keeps a simple but full record of his work with expendi. tures and receipts, and writes an account of his experiences, receives from the Bureau the well-known four-H pin. These records and reports are sent to county headquarters at Waltham together with the leader's report on the work of each member. Here they come into comparison with the work of hundreds of club members from all over the county and a champion of Middlesex County is chosen who is given a week at Camp Vail. Others who have excelled in the work done are given a two- day trip in automobiles to Amherst. Eight of our boys and girls have had this trip and one of them, through the interest aroused by the club work, is now a student in the college.
In August of each year the clubs in our section of the county hold a union picnic. For three successive years The Reading Clubs have won the banner in the competitive field sports until now it is ours, another trophy to show the finfe co-operative spirit and clean sportsmanship of our young people.
Another feature which has been of great value in maintaining the interest has been the annual fair. At first this was held in the Highland School Hall but last year the Reading Grange not only gave us a large table at their fair for our exhibit but generously donated twenty-five dollars for prizes.
The first year only garden work was attempted. Since then the work has grown until now we have a Poultry Club, a Canning Club, a Food Club, two Clothing Clubs and a Camp-cooking Club of nine boys. Mem-
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bers of the poultry clubs have won many prizes in the Springfield and Boston Shows. The canning and garden clubs have both won prizes at the New England Fair at Worcester.
If we believe that the best way to train our boys and girls to be good citizens ten years or so later is to get them to be good citizens now. one cannot question the value of this club work. Each club member carries on his part in the necessary work of the real world. He is ex- pected to do this work well and systematically. It is quite an achieve- ment to feed and care for a flock of poultry so as to show a substantial profit per bird at the end of the season. It is well to be able to cull the boarders who are not earning their living as some of our members can do.
The canning club in 1924 consisted of eighteen members who canned over eleven hundred jars of fruit, vegetables, jellies, jams, pickled products, meat, soup and other things. This winter there are seventy boys and girls pledged to wash the dishes at least fifty times, make beds, sweep floors, dust, and other kinds of home work. Thirty-six will learn to make two kinds of yeast bread and three different quick breads, while thirty-four are to make at least two useful articles of clothing. The best thing about this work is that it ceases to be a dreaded chore to be shirked and becomes a thing of interest.
During 1924 one hundred and eighty-two members have been enrolled. Many of the garden club carried through quite extensive gardens and showed a substantial profit at the close of the season. This is in strik- ing contrast to what used to happen so often when a garden would he started with great enthusiasm with a crop of weeds as the only crop.
In closing, I want to thank the School Superintendent and Committer for their sympathetic attitude towards this work, the Grange for their generosity, the Editors of the Chronicle, who have always been ready to give us space in the paper, and especially the many parents, whose splen- did co-operation has done so much to make this work a success.
Respectfully submitted,
IDA C. LUCAS
D
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REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING
Mr. Adelbert L. Safford,
Reading, Mass.
Dear Sir :- I herewith submit my third annual report of the Drawing Department.
The pupils have shown more interest and enthusiasm this year than any preceding year. They are thinking well in terms of light, color, positions, directions, distances, measures, proportions and shapes. More- over, many are co-operating nicely by collecting and bringing to school illustrative material, such as pictures and clippings. Their interest has led them to a desire to do much original work and extra work outside the classroom.
The general outline in the grades was design, representation per- spective, construction, nature work, color theory, landscape composition and special holiday projects. These are all closely related to one an- other and graded by a series of problems, simple enough, to yield the greatest practical response in the briefest period.
In the Junior High School, there were two phases of the work worthy of mention. The Juniors developed original acorn designs and applied them in color to trinket boxes which were constructed with light card- board and colored paper. The boxes were most attractive and each pupil worked earnestly.
Meantime, the Seniors developed a large notebook of pictures, col- lected by them to illustrate all the principles of design, found in art and in nature, namely: Repetition, alternation, balance, radiation, meas ure, unity, proportion, transition and opposition. The last half of the notebook illustrated examples of color schemes in nature and in art, namely: complementary, split complementary, triadic, monochromatic, analogous, and dominant harmonies. This method brought theory and prac- tice together, and the pupils became aware of the fact that art pene- trated every corner of life and that it was not a matter of "likes or dislikes" but "reasons why". No condition of what we call culture is more to be desired.
In the Senior High School the course in the History of Architecture proved most interesting. Each pupil wrote a short composition, illus- trated with beautiful pictures on each of the following styles: Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Romanesque, Saraceni, Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, and Modern.
In conclusion, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to all who have co-operated with me in the yast year.
Respectfully submitted, M. ADELINE LAHAISE.
·
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DOMESTIC SCIENCE COURSE, JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL
To Superintendent of Schools A. L. Safford:
While many things contribute to health, the foremost consideration is food. This is recognized today as always hitherto and is pursued in the homes as well as in the schools. There are several aims for the teacher outside of giving the pupils a most thorough course in cooking and house- wifery. An attempt is made to socialize the subject, to modify their food habits, and to make them quite independent of reading matter, and to teach them skill in the use of their hands. The lessons should be left with this in the pupil's mind: "I can produce this because I have, or because I know what is wrong, because I know what I have done in the classroom."
Because of the luncheons (forty or fifty) furnished daily to the Junior High School by the pupils, the meal system is the basis or plan through which the course is developed. This gives the pupils ability to estimate amounts, to understand relative combinations, and a better idea of time for preparation. Also this has a socializing influence in bringing closer together the school and the home. The girls follow out and develop their menus with a wide opportunity for the cooking of nearly every type of food, any extra food always being sold at the school luncheon.
The Grouard House is an ideal place to carry on such work, bringing in the home atmosphere. It is already furnished with first-class equipment and is playing an important part in the education of the young people of the community.
ELIZABETH CHALMERS.
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REPORT OF ATTENDANCE OFFICER
Mr. Adelbert L. Safford,
Superintendent of Schools,
Reading, Massachusetts.
Dear Sir :- Below is submitted for your approval the report of my work for the year ending December 31, 1924:
Attendance
The handling of this has been much the same as for the two years just preceding, but it has been simpler and pleasanter because, as people in town have become better informed concerning the nature of schoc! attendance laws and understand that the officials enforcing these laws are really friendly in their purpose, the whole spirit of the thing has changed. Where at first the visitor to the home had difficulty perhaps in establishing anything like a cordial feeling, now your attendance officer is nearly always welcomed as a friend who is trying to make things easier for the parents and their children. There is splendid co- operation between most of the homes and the schools of Reading.
A school attendance officer's duty, as I understand it, is not merely to enforce the law regarding compulsory education, but it is also to find out, in cases of irregular or non-attendance, the reasons and un- derlying causes and to make adjustments, if possible, which will correct bad conditions. Very seldom does this duty mean recourse to outside agencies such as the police and courts, but occasionally matters that need very strict handling finally have to be taken to them. For in stance, the Court committed one boy to truant school during the year and placed a brother on probation, after all the efforts of the harassed mother and the attendance officer had failed. At another time, the local motorcycle police officer helped materially in rounding up a truant whose teacher and mother were distracted with worry over his absence. Many times the Town Visitor has been consulted and has helped out, as have other kind-hearted people in town, where rubbers, shoes, and other clothing have been lacking and contributory to non-attendance at school. The teachers generally are looking carefully into reasons for absence, tardiness, and delinquency and one or two have been especial- ly helpful in securing clothing, work, or getting some outside agency in- terested in a worthy cause.
The Children's Friend Society of Boston has taken over the care of two attractive little girls, whose mother is dead. These children have for the last three years been very irregular in attendance and, although young. were certainly heading towards serious trouble on account of their way-
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wardness. They have been placed in another locality and are under the direct supervision of an experienced woman who can give them the atten- tion they need and who will see that their father does his duty by them, something that he has not done previously if the facts we managed to unearth can be believed.
Your attendance officer has discovered more than one good soul in town who is acting a mother's part towards children whose natural parents are dead or irresponsible. In one case a woman, now a widow. has had one boy since he was a few hours old. Now that he has grown large enough to work and help her, he has left school of his own volition for this purpose, for he feels that he ought to do all he can for her and those other children she has who have no more claim on her than he has. In the first boy's case she has never received a cent for his support and of course has gone without things herself to keep him and these other children whose only appeal to her is their helplessness.
There are, however, a number of cases where neither the school nor the home has seemed to function well in attempts to bring a boy or girl into line. The fact is in such cases that the child has usually gotten out of hand at home and has always been restrained at school with difficulty. He has a dislike for all authority, except his own inclination, and usually leaves school as soon as the law permits. Several youths of 16 or over are even now loafing about the streets of Reading, a liability on the community's books, because of this unsocial attitude and their in- gratitude towards the ones who have tried hardest to help them. The Scouts often help the younger boys to find themselves, but, when boys of this age break over the traces, it is hard to influence them. There seems to be need of a Y. M. C. A. or similar organization in Reading.
In all the number of children reported has been about 125. Somc of these have required only! one visit; some, mone at all, as a telephone call was all that was necessary. In other cases the School Nurse or the Director of Standards and Guidance helped to clear up the situation. In some instances several visits of the attendance officer were made before matters were adjusted satisfactorily, while one or two required many visits, telephone calls, and letters before they were smoothed out. About 130 visits were made last year to homes, but this is fewer than the year before. Merely a call at the school and a talk with the child in question was sufficient sometimes. As I said before, there is a pretty general understanding of the nature of my work and an attitude of helpfulness all over town which is a source of great satisfaction to me.
School Census
This year, as last, the Civics classes have taken the census. Last year the boys' classes, under the direction of Mr. Taylor, went from house to house securing names, dates of birth, and other necessary information about Reading's young people from five to twenty-one years of age. This year Miss Bean's classes of girls did the work. On the whole this has been well done and much thanks is due to the teachers and pupils, for it would
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have cost Reading a substantial sum to hire a competent person for this purpose. However, next year I would recommend that the census be en- trusted to adults, as many times the boys and girls are diffident about asking for the information they really should have for their records. By law we are required to take a school census and it should be done right ..
Certificates
The issuance of certificates to minors has been handled also by the attendance officer as in the two years preceding: 66 certificates to boys and 54 to girls. In all there were employed during 1924 mainly in Boston, Wakefield, and Reading, 271 minors living in Reading. We received from other towns certificates of 4 minors under 16 years of age, author- izing their employment in Reading. This certification mentioned above has affected about 120 firms or employing individuals. Not all these young people certificated this year or previous years are through school. Twenty boys and at least five girls received certificates for summer vaca tion work or work outside school hours. In a few cases one person has had issued to him or her more than one certificate, on account of change of position. We are still troubled by the failure of some employers to ' return certificates after minors have left their employ, but, on the whole, Reading's business and manufacturing firms are responsible and co- operate in this respect.
With this thought of co-operation for the solving of our problems I wish to close this report. Much of my work has been made pleasant and easy because of the helpfulness you have shown me and the advice you have given me. At this time I am glad to express my hearty appre- ciation to you and others both in the School Department and out who have assisted in smoothing my path for me.
Respectfully submitted,
Reading, Mass., Dec. 31, 1924.
ABIGAIL H. MINGO;
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REPORT OF SCHOOL NURSE
F
P
·Mr. Adelbert L. Safford, ·Superintendent of Schools, Reading, Massachusetts.
Dear Sir: I herewith submit for your approval my fourth annual report as School Nurse :
When school nursing was introduced in New York in 1902, it was for the purpose of the detection of contagion, for the treatment of minor ailments, and for follow-up work in cases of exclusion. The work has gradually expanded until at the present time there seems no limit to its possibilities. The whole scope of educational hygiene has so broaedened that it seems the work of the school today is not only to pre- vent sickness and subsequent loss of time but "to preserve the child from all kinds of morbidity, repair his existent deformities, combat his ur !- favorable heredity, and overcome the bad conditions of his environment ; in a word, fortify his constitution and render him physically and mental- ly fit for the struggles of life."
"This rapid development of health work in the school is not to be re- garded merely as an educational reform, but rather as the corollary of a widespread realization of the importance of preventive measures in the conservation of natural and human resources. The prevention of waste has become in fact the dominant issue of our entire political, industrial,, and educational situation."
That the people of Reading have this realization is evidenced by the splendid co-operation with which they have met the expansion in the school health program. As each advance has been made, the parents and local organizations have been ready to receive and support it. This display of confidence is not only gratifying but is necessary for fullest development of the work.
Of necessity a good part of my work, such as inspections, weighing and measuring, class room health talks, and follow-up work, must be routine. Owing to the unusually large classes throughout the schools. there has been a marked increase in the time required for these duties, thereby leaving less for advancement and development of the work. More time is needed for stimulating the teachers and suggesting to them various ways in which health may be presented; more health talks in the grades might be given, and more classes in Home Nursing, Hygiene, and Mothercraft might be conducted. All of these at times suffer from lack of time.
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However, as a whole, the work shows progress, not so much perhaps in the number of innovations, but in the general broadening and the better understanding of its aims on the part of the parents. In my report two years ago I suggested the advisability of having a complete examination of every pupil each year. Up to the present time, with a part-time school physician, this has not been possible. A decided step in that direction was made this year with the examination of the chi ?- dren in the first grates in the Lowell Street, Union Street, and Prospect Street Schools. The examination was not compulsory and in only those cases where the parent requested it was the examination made. Sixty- three children were given a careful physical examination and in thirty- one cases some physical defect was noted and some recommendation made. Until such time as adequate medical inspection is provided, I would suggest that an examination be made in the first, sixth, and ninth year, if possible.
Clinic Work
The several clinics in Reading, which have come to be a part of the general welfare program, have continued to do good work and have added their share to "Community Health."
First I should like to mention the work of the Pre-School Clinic as it affects the school problem. Last year several children who were en- tering school this fall, attended the clinic and were examined by the doctor in charge. The advantage of this procedure is evident, for physi- cal defects found at this time can be corrected before the child enters his school career.
The work of the Dental Clinic has continued with few material changes. Since the beginning of school in September the clinic has operated two days per week instead of one and the fee of 35c which the children brought each visit was increased to 50c. The increase in time has meant an added burden on the Red Cross and Tuberculosis Commit- tee and should be fully appreciated by the parents and all those who have been benefitted by the school clinic. The enrollment has reached a total of 472 and during the year 827 children were treated at the clinic.
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