Bridgewater State University - Alpha Yearbook (Bridgewater, MA)

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THE SCHOOL must focus on the specific professional purpose of the school, just as a lens held in right relation to the sun's rays and to sensitive tinder, will cause a burning Flame. Students in the Normal school must live the life that will best prepare them to direct the experiences of those whom they teach, and teaching thus becomes a fine art. The old Prophet in his description of the ideal condition of life closed with those beautiful words-'and a little child shall lead them.' C2j A professional faculty. The expression often heard to-day is-'to teach is to interpret'. The older phases of the teacher's work are not neglected, but it is being more clearly recognized that the principal function of the teacher is twofold-to interpret to her- self the young life in all of its many, and often strange, manifestations, and to interpret life in all its complexity to the new generation. Only a teacher who is perpetually young can do this. This power to interpret life in its rich meaning is a gift and an achievement-the real teacher is born and 'born again'. There is a still fundamental truth in Garfield's well- known description of a college-'a youth at one end of a log and Mark Hopkins at the other end.' There is also a wonderful inspiration in the words of the great scientist who wished placed on his monument these simple words-'Louis Agassiz. Teacher.' The great Teacher defined teaching for us,-AI came that ye might have life and have it more abundantly'. C31 A professional equipment. There is such a thing as an equipment appropriate and adequate to its purpose, and the equipment of a normal school should resemble that of other great professional schools, because it has a specific purpose. It also must be a com- prehensive equipment-an equipment for an all-round physical development, an equipment with which to interpret the world of our new environment, a social equipment, to meet rationally and happily the great social hunger of young minds, a library equipment, that includes the treasures of the cultural and professional literature of the agesg an artistic equip- ment, that appeals to the imagination through the eye and ear, and, if you allow the term, an ethical equipment, that provides opportunity for such exercises as tend to the uplifting of the spiritual nature, remembering, as Dean Franklin told the Conference at Framingham- 'The ethical is the gateway to the moral and religious'. CLD A professional spirit. 'It is not the letter but the spirit that quickenethh The most influential factor in the establishment of the Massachusetts normal schools was the high devotion of a small band of men and women who laid the foundations so securely. The names of such great promoters of teacher training as James G. Carter, Edmund Dwight, and Horace Mann will ever be in our minds. The first principals of the normal school,- Father Peirce, Samuel Newman, and Nicholas Tillinghast,-were men of scholarship, men of vision, men of high purpose, men who could teach and inspire. The traditions of this particular school cluster around the names of men and women who gave their minds, their hearts, and their lives to this school. This is our priceless heritage. For long years there has been on the walls of our buildings, as well as in the hearts of the faculty, students, and graduates, this motto, which still remains as an inspiration for the years to come,-'Not to be ministered unto, but to minister'. ANSWER A faded moon, a faded rose, A dimly gleaming path That leads to nowhere, ending not- Love's bitter aftermath. B. COOKE, B1 ...g 11 Q...

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I927 NORMAL OFFERING- is permanent.' The work of the skilled teacher is excellent. Look about you during every hour of every day if you would see the permanent values of good teaching. A line from Chaucer adorns one of the ancient buildings at Oxford. It reads, 'Gladly does he learn and gladly teach.' No more fitting inscription could grace the portal of this school, and no more compelling ideal guide its work. Generously has the Commonwealth here provided an institution worthy of its task. Gladly, let us hope and believe, will thou- sa-nds leave this campus to return to the State an hundred fold the benefits here received. I-IORACE MANN AUDITORI UM Following more music, came the dedicatory address by Principal Arthur C. Boyden, of the State Normal School at Bridgewater. We regret that because of the unavoidable lack of space we cannot print the whole of this most interesting and enlightening address. First Mr. Boyden paid tribute to Mr. Samuel P. Gates, a graduate of the school, through whose generosity the present advantageous site of the building was made possible. Then in words of sincere admiration, Mr. Boyden spoke of Horace Mann, the great educator, after which he spoke as follows: There are four objectives in the Normal school ideal: CID A professional centre. The new conception gaining force in education emphasizes the fact that the 'child is the centre of gravity in education', and not the subject matter of instruction. This means that the amplest facilities for the observation of children, for demonstration purposes, and for training in teaching, both intensive and extensive, are the vitals of a Normal school. This means that both the cultural and the technical instruction ...Q 10 5...

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l927 NORMAL OFFERING 'CORA A. NEWTON TEACHER, FRIEND Who faithfully served from September, 1912, to February, 1927 T. ...Q 12 T...