USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Tewksbury > Town of Tewksbury annual report 1939-1944 > Part 26
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ART. 15. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of $148.95 to pay the balance due Lull and Hartford, Inc. for high school athletic equipment; also the sum of $20.26 to pay the bill of Middlesex Supply Co. for hard- ware, etc.
ART. 16. To see what sum of money the Town will raise and appropriate to be used in conjunction with Federal Funds for Works Projects Administration expenses for the year 1942, or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 17. To see if the Town will rescind the vote taken under Article 26, in the 1938 warrant, whereby the Town .voted to instruct the town clerk to include a copy of min- utes of all meetings held during the current year in the annual report of town officers of Tewksbury.
ART. 18. To see if the Town will vote to install two lights on Woburn St., make appropriation for same, or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 19. To see if the Town will vote to install one light on Fiske St., near the residence of C. F. Fitzgerald, make appropriation for same, or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 20. To see if the Town will vote to place one street light on Cherry Road, make appropriation for same, or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 21. To see what sum of money the Town will vote to raise and appropriate to improve the street lighting be- tween Chandler St. and Saint William's Church ; or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 22. To see if the Town will vote to install a street light in front of the residence of Herbert Pillsbury on Pleasant Street, or take any other action relative thereto.
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ART. 23. To see if the Town will vote to place one light at the corner of School and Pond Streets, and one light at the junction of Parker and Green Streets, make appro- priation for same, or take any action relative to same.
ART. 24. To see if the Town will change the membership of the Finance Committee by amending a vote of the an- nual town meeting on February 17. 1921, creating this committee, to read as follows :
At the annual meeting and before the final adjourn- ment thereof there shall be appointed by the Moderator four members of a Finance Committee consisting of twelve members, none of whom shall be an officer of, or a mem- ber of, any board of the Town. The present members of the Finance Committee who are not members of the Sel- ectmen, Road Commissioners, and School Board shall serve through the terms for which they were appointed Or chosen. As the term of each member of the committee expires, the Moderator shall hereafter appoint some person for the succeeding term to serve three years. Vacancies shall be filled by the remaining members of the Committee.
The Finance Committee shall meet and organize by the election of a chairman and a clerk. When the warrant for the town meeting contains any article or articles under which an appropriation or expenditure of money, or the disposition of any property of the Town, may be made, the Finance Committee shall consider said articles after giving one or more public hearings thereon, and shall report in print its recommendations to the said town meet- ing. Two members of this committee shall be appointed from each of the following sections, North, South, East, West, Centre, and Wamesit.
ART. 25. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of $50.00 in support of the Trustees for County Aid to Agriculture, through the Middlesex County Extension Service, and elect a director. Said money to be spent under the direction of the local director, or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 26. To see if the Town will vote that all Motor Ve- hicles, owned by the Town of Tewksbury, shall be let- tered with the name of Department to which the vehicle belongs, or take any action relative to same.
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ART. 21. To see if the Town will vote to choose by ballot at the Annual Town Meeting in February, 1943, three Se- lectmen, three members of the Board of Public Welfare, and three members of the Board of Health, one to serve three years, one to serve two years, and one to serve one year, and each succeeding year to choose by ballot one Selectman, one member of the Board of Public Welfare, and one member of the Board of Health, to serve for the period of three years or to take any action relative to same.
ART. 28 To see if the Town will vote that the Highway Department, cut all brush on the highways of Tewksbury, or take any action relative to same.
ART. 29. To see if the Town will vote to abolish the Chief of Police, and the Board of Selectmen to appoint a Cap- tain temporarily, or take any action relative to same.
ART. 30. To see if the Town will vote that all Boards shall notify, in writing, of all meetings and no sealed bids shall be opened until all members are present, or take any other action on same.
ART. 31. To see if the Town will vote to increase the wages of the Highway Dept. 10 per cent or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 32. To see what sum of money the Town will vote to raise and appropriate to construct a bituminous concrete sidewalk along Main St. from Chandler St. to Saint Wil- liam's Church or to some point beyond ; or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 33. To see if the Town will vote to open the shower- baths at the stadium during the summer months for the use of the citizens, and that the selectmen set a fee for the use thereof, or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 34. To see if the Town will vote to discontinue street lights on Maple, Beach and Walnut Streets, or take any action relative thereto.
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ART. 35. To see if the Town will vote to place two stop signs ; one at the junction of Whipple and Coolidge, and one at the junction of Whipple and Heath St., appropriate for same, or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 36. To see what sum of money be raised and ap- propriated for necessary expenses of the Civilian Defense committee or take any other action thereto.
ART. 3. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropri- ate the sum of $200 for clerical services in the office of the Town Treasurer for the year of 1942 or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 38. To see if the Town will vote to widen Marston Street from Chapman Road to Rogers Street, make ap- propriation for same or take any other action relative thereto.
ART. 39. To see if the Town will vote to accept Chapter 500 of the Acts of 1941. which act will allow the City of Lowell to enter the Town of Tewksbury for the purpose of laying water pipes etc., and which project will not entail said Town of Tewksbury or residents of the town any mone- tary expense.
ART. 40. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate a sum not exceeding $350 for repairs to and main- tenance of the athletic field and structures thereon at the high school and for the maintenance of athletics at the high school.
ART. 41. To see what sum of money the Town will vote to raise and appropriate for a reserve fund under Section 6 of Chapter 40 of the General Laws or take any other action thereto.
ART. 42. To raise and appropriate the sum of $125.00 for maintainence of the Legion Quarters.
ART. 43. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of $5,500.00 to purchase a 2 1-2 ton truck chassis and cab, 500 gallon front end pump, material, labor and equipment for same for the fire department, or take any action thereto.
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ART. 44. To see if the town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of $2,200.00 to purchase ? 1-2 inch, 1 1-2 inch and 1 1-8 inch hose, also 3-4 inch booster hose, or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 45. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of $300.00 for purchase and installation of power takeoff and a rotary pump for No. 4 Truck or take
any other action relative thereto.
ART. 46. To see if the Town will vote to install one siren in North Tewksbury and one in South Tewksbury, with proper wiring and connections, and make appropriation for same, or take any action relative thereto.
ART. 41. To see if the Town will authorize the Town Treas- urer on behalf of the Town to convey to Mary J. Smith the land in Tewksbury described as lot 65 on "Plan of Woodland Park, Wilmington and Tewksbury, belonging to Cora R. Clatur," June 1916, recorded with Middlesex North District Registry of Deeds, Book of Plans 39, Plan 16.
ART. 48. To see if the Town will accept Cherry Road leading to Samuel Feinstein Estate.
ART. 49. To see if the Town will instruct the Board of Se- lectmen to remove the W. P. A. sponsor's agent.
Given under our hands, this 19th day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and forty-two.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting up attested copies thereof, one at each of the Public Meeting Houses, one at the Town Hall, one at each of the Post Offices, and leave one hundred copies for the use of the citizens at the Post Offices in said Town, 8 days at least, and over two Sundays, before the time of holding said meeting.
Hereof fail not and make due returns of this Warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk at the time and place of Meeting as aforesaid :-
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Given under our hands, this 14th day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and forty-two.
IRVING F. FRENCH, BERNARD H. GREENE, DUNCAN J. CAMERON,
Selectmen of Tewksbury.
A true copy attest :
Constable of Tewksbury
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Annual Report
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
Town of Tewksbury
OF TEWKS
TOWN
BURY
INCORP
1734.
RATED
Also Report of Superintendent of Schools
For the Year Ending December 31,
1941
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Mrs. May L. Larrabee 1941-1943 Chairman Tewksbury, Mas.
J. Harper Gale 1941-1944 Secretary Tewksbury, Mass.
Ralph Battles
1941-1942
No. Tewksbury, Mass.
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Stephen G. Bean
Wilmington, Mass.
SCHOOL PHYSICIAN
Herbert M. Larrabee
Tewksbury, Mass.
SCHOOL NURSE
Miss Edith E. Haines
Tewksbury, Mass.
ATTENDANCE OFFICER
Harry Wiley
Tewksbury, Mass.
146
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
The work and supervision in the schools has been carried on in the usual manner during the past year.
Repairs have been made on all school buildings as deemed neces- sary by the committee.
The Foster School was repainted during the summer, adding reatly to its appearance. The rear part of the roof was also reshingled. 'The white trimming on the High School was also repainted.
Two additional rooms were built in the rear of the Shawsheen School. The eighth grade which had been temporarily holding classes at the Foster School during the past two years was able to return to their own school. The first grade which had been holding classes in the Spaulding School, was then able to return to the Foster School mak- ing it possible to close the Spaulding School which was most unsuitable for classroom purposes.
A report on the Shawsheen School can be found in the report of the Shawsheen School Building Committee.
ESTIMATED EXPENSES FOR THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT FOR 1942
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Superintendent
$ 877.00
Supervisors
1,020.00
Teachers
17,380.00
Janitors
3,552.00
Transportation
6,000.00
Fuel
1,200.00
Books and Supplies
1,500.00
Health
1,500.00
Insurance
500.00
District
150.00
Miscellaneous
1,000.00
Repairs
1,200.00
$ 35,879.00
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HIGH SCHOOL
Supervisors
$ 250.00
Teachers
14,670.00
Janitor
1,300.00
Transportation
2,900.00
Fuel
700.00
Books and supplies
1,400.00
Miscellaneous
1,741.00
Equipment and Repairs
800.00
Insurance
360.00
$
24,121.00
Total
$ 60,000.00
Respectfully submitted,
MAY L. LARRABEE, Chairman, J. HARPER GALE, RALPH S. BATTLES.
148
TEWKSBURY SCHOOL REPORT
To the School Committee:
Madam and Gentlemen:
I submit herewith my eleventh report as Superintendent of Schools for the Town of Tewksbury.
Since this report is written so soon after the close of the fiscal year and the winter vacation it is somewhat difficult to get desired data in time for inclusion. It has often been suggested that statistical matter is of no interest to the average citizen and is therefore an unnecessary adjunct to this report. I find however that I frequently have to refer to old town reports to verify very important facts for former pupils of the schools. Reference is constantly made to the tabulations for com- parison with different years and conditions in the past. Often these reports are the sole remaining record of important data from the past years.
This year another reason has risen for brevity in treatment of the report. Paper is getting to be one of those products affected by our war effort. It is both scarce and expensive. Any waste of it for the ex- pression of other than essential facts is therefore undesirable. I have therefore tried to reduce this report to the absolute minimum.
THE TEACHING PERSONNEL
An outstanding characteristic of this past year has been the ex- cessive turnover in the teaching corps. What with war and matrimony we have been hard pressed to maintain an adequate personnel. We are frequently told that there is a surplus of teachers. We have found dur- ing the past year that the kind of teachers we want is not plentiful at the price we can pay. Of course this is the determining factor in our ability to maintain an adequate staff. Good teachers are scarce, and like any field in which the supply of a commodity is limited, this is the determining factor in setting the salary that they can demand. It is a continuous struggle to keep a strong teaching force together.
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It is a very popular belief that anyone who has graduated from a Teachers' College or from any other collegiate institution is by virtue of that fact certain to be a successful teacher. Nothing could be less true. Many of those who graduate from college with the highest honors are unable to meet the demands of the various requirements, not learned in college, which are so necessary for truly successful teaching. Teaching is not a process of providing a reservoir of knowledge with a continually running stream which is drawn off in small wide mouthed receptacles. Knowledge is not acquired or transmitted that way. The most successful teacher is that rare person endowed with the ability to arouse in her charges the desire and will to learn. Without this, little real learning is done. That is why the personal qualities of the teacher are so important. It is the reason why personality is so highly placed in teacher characteristics.
A glance at the roster of school employees elsewhere in this report will show the following changes from last year:
In the High School Mr. Whitman Pearson, the headmaster, left to take his place in the service of the nation. Mr. Richard Miller was secured to direct the fortunes of the school during the absence of Mr. Pearson in service.
Mr. Lawrence McGowan, teacher and coach of athletics was also called to the colors later in the year. Mr. Joseph King took over the teaching assignments and Mr. Charles Hazel the coaching duties of Mr. McGowan.
Mr. Roland Bourdon gave up his position in the manual training department to take up one of his other trades in the employ of the Boston Globe. Mr. David Lynch was elected to succeed Mr. Bourdon.
Miss Elizabeth Mulrey who acted as a subsitute during part of the year was elected to a regular teaching position in the department of Social Science. Miss Mulrey also assumed the duties of coach of field hockey upon the resignation of Miss Moran.
Miss Moran resigned to take a better position elsewhere and was followed by Miss Lenore Meehan.
Another member of the high school staff lured away by increased salary was Miss Angelica Carabello, the director of music. Miss Harriet Donehue of Lowell was employed in this position.
From the Foster school three members were lost because of matri- mony. Miss Alberta Ringer, who had the division of the eighth grade from the Shawsheen district, did not return. Miss Dorothy Ward, teacher of the seventh grade, was succeeded by Mrs. Lyons by transfer,
150
Miss Mildred Rollo, teacher of the first grade, retired to be married, was replaced by Miss Catherine Meloy.
There were two resignations from the staff of the Shawsheen School. The Principal, Miss Elizabeth Hill, secured a better position in Lynnfield, and Miss Margaret Hedstrom left at the close of the school year to be married. These two changes together with the in- crease in capacity of the Shawsheen building made a teaching corps there, four out of six of whom are new to our system. Mr. James Samp- son was elected principal to succeed Miss Hill. The eighth grade was returned from the Foster school and placed in his charge. Miss Lora Von Bergen took over the sixth and seventh grades formerly taught by Miss Hill. The fifth grade was placed in the charge of Miss Gertrude Holt and the third grade position was filled by one of our local girls, Miss Josephine MacLellan.
From the above it can be seen that we have had a greater than forty per cent turnover in personnel during the year. Under existing world conditions it will be not at all strange if this sort of thing con- tinues. There will surely be many vacancies created by our "total war" preparations. This will mean that those who have the financial ability will draw the teachers from places where they will pay less. The day of a surplus of teachers at low salaries is over "for the duration." We are likely to repeat our experiences of World War I, when industry was competing for those who would have preferred to teach if they could have afforded to, financially. Any attempt to make a school budget for this year must take this condition under serious consideration.
FINANCIAL FACTORS
This mention of probable increased cost of instruction brings to mind the fact that everything connected with the conducting of our schools is going to cost more as this war goes along. All school supplies have advanced in cost, since last year at this time, from twenty to twenty five percent. Book firms are daily sending out their revised price lists. In science equipment advances will be very great and many things will be out of the market. In short we must be prepared to face a marked increase in the cost of our schools as long as this war en- deavor is in progress.
This is not a condition which can be avoided. We must keep our schools going to prepare our children for life in a greatly changed world. We must in some cases make decided changes to keep pace with events and try to forecast just what is the best preparation for that future.
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NEW COURSE OF STUDY
The most important step of the year from the teachers standpoint was the creation of a new course of study. For many years the schools had been following the Baltimore County Course of Study which was excellent, as a basis, but which did not wholly fit local needs.
For a year or more the teachers in this Superintendency Union have been working to produce a course of study which would meet our needs and conditions. We wanted something definite on a printed outline which would show what each teacher hoped to have accom- plished at given times each year. This was to the end that there would be some uniformity of progress in the same grades in the various schools, as well as something to guide the new teacher who might have been used to some other system.
The results of this study are now in the hands of every teacher. Each teacher can tell what her class has been taught before it came to her. The high school teacher can see just what foundation should be there upon which to build.
Please note that this is the work of the teachers. It is a cooperative effort with a minimum of "pressure from above." The superintendent did not pass it down "from the throne" with a "do this" order. For this reason I believe that this course of study will, as soon as texts are unified, be of great benefit to the children throughout the district.
THE ARTS
The work in music has shown a definite improvement during the year. In the grades we are gradually gettting on a well organized basis.
Music in the high school which reached its climax in the Spring concert was of an unusually high order. There was a spirit and finish to the work which might well be envied by any town of our class, or of any class. We were truly fortunate in having a gifted young soloist whose voice was equally valuable in the chorus groups. This with the added advantage of an unusually fine pianist as soloist and accompanist gave a finish to a program of great merit.
We believe that Miss Donehue will carry on from where Miss Carabello dropped the work, and that choral music will continue to be one of our sources of pride in our high school.
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ATHLETICS
In passing one thought calls for expression.
Any old town will support a championship team. The public gets a great lift out of the reflected glory they get from "our champs". It takes a town of "real sports" to stick by the team, win, lose or draw. There have been lots of empty seats in the stadium these last two years. A successful athletic program involves quite a big expense which can be met either by public support and attendance at games, or by a subsidy voted by the town. Of these the subsidy method is the less de- sirable. If we cannot get support year in and year out it will be im- possible to continue in competitive interscholastic athletics.
There is a rapidly growing body of opinion among thinking people that we might better change our emphasis in physical training from exploitation of a small group of pupils who are already better developed than their fellows, hence their choice as "the team", to a more general endeavor to raise the general average of physical fitness of the whole student body. This would cost little more than our present course and would be of much greater and wider value. Organized athletic games could still be a part of the program but utilized to give pleasure to the participants, rather than a Roman holiday for the public. I fully realize that there are many who consider this rank heresy, but there are just as many who consider it the acme of common sense.
PLANT IMPROVEMENT
It was suggested in the last annual report that more space was needed in the Shawsheen School. It is gratifying to see that this was accomplished during the summer vacation and completed early enough to cause but small interference with the school program for the year.
This addition of two large, well lighted rooms has made it possible to give a much improved service to the children of this section of the town. We are now able to approach more nearly to a single grade to a teacher than was ever possible before. This will mean a greater possi- bility of giving more consideration to the individual child.
In addition to the academic improvement there has come a greatly improved set-up for the lunch project with its attendant improvement in condition of the physical health of the pupils. Taken with the greatly improved sanitary arrangements made possible by the addition the general hygienic conditions are immeasurably improved.
Other buildings in the town system have been given adequate care so that, as a whole, the general school plant is in excellent condition.
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By doing some small maintenance work each year we should be able to keep this condition. In school buildings, as in our homes, it is much more economical to keep property continually in good repair, than it is to restore them when they have been allowed to go for several years until major repairs are necessary.
GENERAL CONDITIONS
I believe that in general our school system is now in better con- dition than it has been for several years. The rooms are not crowded as they have been at times. We have not had any really serious epi- demics to interfere with school work. To be sure we have had more than we like from inroads of child diseases, but these have not seri- ously interfered with progress. We are gradually getting those children who lost so much time several years ago into line with the requirements of the curriculum. It has been hard for them and for their teachers because for most of them the lost time came in the first grade so that they got a poor start. We could not hold them back because of the pressure of oncoming classes hence they have been working under a handicap during these several important years of their school lives. This is of course one of the great weaknesses of the "mass production" system under which we are organized. When we all come to realize that children are not to be handled on a belt line like the identical products of some machine, but are all slightly, or widely, different, we will find some other way of seeing that each child realizes his own pe- culiar potentialities.
The greatest step towards improvement in our whole educational endeavor will come when parents fully realize that teachers are trained professionals; that they are educated and trained to their work just as are the doctors and lawyers, in whom we place implicit trust, in their respective fields. Good teachers are specialists in the guidance of children to the attainment of the best for which nature has endowed them in the line of mental health and growth. They are as impersonal in the treatment of their pupils as is the good physician They can diagnose the educational ills of their children and, if permitted, can prescribe the proper remedies. There are numerous cases in my ex- perience where parents have practically ruined their children because family pride would not permit them to accept the judgment of the teachers, and have their children accept the remedial treatment which would have saved them. From the judicial angle teachers are also impartial and fair, opinion to the contrary notwithstanding. If a teacher cannot be this she should not be a teacher. She may like one person- ality more than another but she may have to give the one liked most the lowest grades in the class, and frequently does.
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