Central High School - Signal Yearbook (Columbia, TN)

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DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION Today xxe aae becommg anoae and mole conscaous of the necessaty ot bamgmg., dcmocxacy lnto out educataonal system The eaalaest schools had as then paoga am only a xeay lamlted couase of study undea the stalctest superx 1s1on It xx as lndeed 1e'admg and xatmg and aathmetac taught to the tune of a hackoay stack Noxx catazenshap education as paoxlded not only thaough the course of study but also thaough the teachmg methods the student llfe communlty actax 1t1es school admln astaataon and ex aluataon of aesults You may ask Just vxhat does democvacy an educatlon mean? Fnst ot all the democratlc educataon h'as as 1's central purpose the xvelfare of all the people I seeks to proxlde equal opportunaty for all legardless of antelllgence lace relagxon socaal status economlc condltaon Ol xocatlonal plans The democlatac educ ataon 1 concerned wath the mamtenance of those economic polltacal and SOCIHI condataons xx h1ch are necessary for the enjoyment of laberty Then of course the democaatlc edu cataon uses democa atac methods ln classroom admmastratlon and an all student HCIIVI taes In thas soat of educataon the student leaans by experaence that exery prlvalege entaals a correspondmg duty ex ery authoaaty a responslbalaty eveay responslblllty an accountmg to the group whlch granted the p11v1lege Such an educataon llberates and uses the mtellagence of all It equips cltazens wath the materlal and knowledge needed fox d6I'UOCl3I1L efllcaency One gleat SQFVICG of a democratlc educataon as that at promotes loyalty to democracy by stressmg DOSIIIVC understandlng and by callang youth to serx ace ID a great cause Certamly the course of study IS an lmpoatant phase of educatlon The majox 1ty of students haxe a mastaken adea of democracy They belaeve that rlghts and praxaleges are more sagnaflcant than responslbllltles therefore many schools are seek ang to proxlde curracular experaences to correct thas false ldea Courses and unlts ln the Amerlcan dream the story of CIXII labeatles human relatlonshaps and xalues baslc economlc trends and problems socaal welfare and DOIIIICHI 1nst1tut1ons con taabute to an understandmg of democracy Valuable as they are the courses of study must become stall more comprehensave and must be dlrected by teachers who them selx es practlce democracy ln school and out Dramatac teachmg methods should not be made the property of any one subyect but rather should be exerc1sed an all subjects Materlal on democracy may lose ats effectax eness when taught an an autocratac fashaon Democracy an educatlon may be brought to the students through the classroom teacher as well as homeroom teachexs and SDECIHIISIS In a democratlc educatlon the student should learn to rely upon I1lITISeIf and to accept aesponslbllltaes The student should partlclpate an planning executlng and ex aluatlng class paoaects The experamental method of free lnqulfy IS practiced ln mathematlcs and scaence as xvell as 1n socaal studaes classes Dlscussaon of contao xerslal questaons may center around school problems as well as the conflacts 'and tensaons of the 'adult xvorld In all these methods knowledge of the needs and potentaalataes of young people IS essentlal Much of the finest cavlc education occurs IU out of class actxxataes Students serxe thelr schools by managmg equlpment runnlng cafeteraas and assummg nespoa s1b1l1ty fox safety soclal l1fe health and general conduct Students seave othea students by prepaamg handbooks guldlng newcomers and mterpretmg the school to the publlc In a democratac educatlon there as need for student organlzatlons and clubs Heae students learn good leadershlp and mature followmg In a democratlc educatlon the student learns to be the good cltlzen of tomorrow He learns the fundamentals of democratlc goxernment and becomes prepared to take HCIIVC part IH such a government The publac school prepares boys and glrls for makmg the best of thear opportunataes and for rasmg an the wolld to posltaons of wealth and xnduence In order to encourage democracy 1n our publac schools many schools have set up a foam of student goxernment Thls gaxes the student a chance to experlment ln democracy and see 1t at xfxork on a small scale A prlmary obllgatlon of the Ameracan educatlonal system as to prox 1de the most effectual condatlons for the young to attaln the equapment an knowledge and attatude aequlred to cal ry on our democratlc way of llfe American education should make no pretense of neutaalaty about thas great socaal obgectlve Our schools should be dellbeaately desagned to paowlde an educataon n and for democaacy MARY RUTH BURCHAM EARLY FOUNDERS OF EDUCATION IN A DEMOCRACY It as out of the hastoxacal dexelopment of Amerlcan socaety that haxe come the ldeas aspnataons knoxxledge and xx orkang aules whlch prex all today and set the task of educataon Aftea Independence xxas gamed many of the best mands an Ameaaca began to daaft compxehensaxc plans for systems ol umx ea sal education clowned by a nataonal Page Tuenty Z . Z . , . c . S . . . . i, . - .. B B ' . A. K, L. . . L. . . .Q . . . . .. -Y . 8 . . t. L. v L l ,is ts. ' . '.' ' . v.' ' , ' . . . '. y c c , c . . . t 2 B. . . . L v 2 L, Q . . ' . , Y. . V I . - ., , , . , c , . , 44 , ,. , ' ' t' '.. ' , , , . 1 . . c 1, , ., , . 1 A - v - v 1 1 A. . . Y . . . y . V .Q z L' .. 2 S . , , - , ' . .. . ' ' ' .-. ' - - - - 1 v a 4 , . , D . ' .. I .' ' Z ' ' .' . . . ' , .' . 0 ' ' . . .' ' . . , f , . . 2 , . l . . L. Z . . .. ' . y. . . . . . . . - - v . . . Y. . Q . . . V 1 4 -1 v . .i . . . . . . - v - C 1 . , , y - v v . 7 . . . , . , T I . 1 . , , , ' ' I c 1 . , . 1 y ' ' ' ' . ' . ' . .- . 1 , .. . I , . , , c . , , . , ., . 1 . v y ' ' r - . ' . v' ' Q . ' . '. ' . . , ' . , ' , ' 4 f v - -- . . . . . . v. h C ' . L B. . ,. 2

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parents are content to haxe thelr chlldren contlnue ln the 9tatl0II ln llfe ln VVhlCh they were born The Amerlcan democracy IS practlcally the only great state ln WhlCh there exlsts an educatlonal ladder reachlng from klndergarten to the l.1l'llX9l'Sll.y ln whlch all parts elementary secondary and hlgher are so jolned that an lndlvldual may freely pass from one to the other In the European systems of educatlon only elementary educatlon ls free and It does not artlculate wlth secondary educatlon The elementary school carrles the chlld to twelxe or fourteen years of age glvlng hlm a rounded elementary educatlon The secondary school commences to teach subjects not consldered ln elementary schools such as mathematlcs and forelgn languages A chlld of the masses IS expected to enter one of the xocatlonal schools for tralnlng ln some trade or lndustry The Amerlcan democracy IS by no means perfect ln all lts aspects but as far as educatlon can accompllsh It It lntends to glxe every lndlxldual the opportunlty to make the most of hls natlxe abllltles and to assume the place ln soclety vxhlch hls abllltles Justlfy Thls xxas not always so and to undelstand the Amerlcan system of educatlon as lt 8AlStS today It IS necessary to make a brlef sulxey of lts dex elopment SIDCC colonlal tlmes The reformatlon prlnclple that the lndlxldual should be gulded ln llfe by the Blble had as an educatlonal corollary that he should at least be taught to read It Where the reformatlon was chlefly a rellglous mox ement and was carrled to l0glCa1 conclu slons the effect upon the dex elopment of unlversal educatlon was qulte dlrect but where the reformatlon was polltlcal and eccleslastlcal rather than rellglous and haltlng rather than thorough the attltude toward educatlon was one of lndlfference and neglect The Unlted States was settled ID the sex enteenth century when rellglous antagonlsms were most bltter It was settled largely by groups of people who fled from Europe because of rellglous persecutlons and because of thelr deslre to worshlp ln thelr own pecullar way The klnd of educatlonal system that would be establlshed ln any part of the new land would be determlned chlefly by the klnd of rellglous oplnlons held by the people settllng there We find three falrly dlstlnct types of educatlon developlng ln the colonles C17 The Selcctwe Type prevalled ln the southern colonles where dlstlnctlons of classes developed and the Anglican Church was establlshed The gentry employed tutors for thelr chlldren or sent them to England 129 The Parochtal Type prevalled ln the mlddle colonles These COIODICS wele settled chlefly by xarlous Calxlnlstlc sects They all belleved ln the need of everyone to read the Blble and all favored elementary educatlon But as each sect denled the efflclency of any others way to salxatlon thlS elementary educatlon took the form of parlsh schools attached to the church In all the mlddle colonles there eXlStCd grammar schools for secondary educatlon C39 The Town School Type prevalled ln New England The people who settled here were more homogeneous than ln any other part of the country There was llttle dlstlnctlon of classes among them They were mostly of the mlddle cllss soclally were falrly well educated and had unlverslty graduates for leaders Holdlng firmly to the necesslty of everyone belng able to read the Blble the leglslature of Massachusetts passed the famous law of 1647 whlch provlded that every town that contalned fifty famllles should malntaln an elementary school and every town that contalned one hundred famllles should malntaln ID addltlon a grammar school to fit the youth for the UNIX erslty In all the colonles the colleges that had been founded supplled the hlghel educatlon needed by the members of the learned professlons The revolutlon had both a bad and a good effect upon educatlon The xvar bank lupted not only the central govelnment but many of the state governments M019 ox er other obstacles to the development of a natlonal system of free schools exlsted One was the practlce of grantlng publlc money to prlvate schools A second obstacle xvas the exlstence of sectarlan rellglous Jealousy A thlrd was the prevalence of the ldea of publlc educatlon as pauper educatlon Another was the clalm that the publlc school was based on an undemocratlc prlnclple On the other hand there also exlsted mox ements stlmulltlng the dexelopment of publlc schools Wlth the openlng up of the west there dexeloped a condltlon of soclety ln whlch soclal lnfluence counted for much less than ln the east The terrltoly, xx hlch xxas organlzed under the oldlnance of 1787 was dlX1d6d lnto townshlps palt of xxhlch xxas reselxed for the support of publlc schools The lntroductlon whereby one teacher xxlth the 3SSlStaHCe of oldel puplls could lnstl uct hundreds of chlldlen xx as one of the greatest dex elopments The lnfant school mox ement and the Sunday school lnox ement xx ele also steps ln the dlIECtlOH of accustomlng the people to thlnk of educatlon for all As a lesult of these IYIHUCDCCS educatlon became less allsto clatlc and more democlatlc The constructlon of nexx schools xxlll sloxx dovxn as the numbel of chlldlen ot school age decreases Less money xx lll be spent on bulldlng but more money xxlll be needed to expand adult educatlon People xxho left school txxenty years ago find themselxes ln a rapldly changlng xx orld We may haxe fexvel schools ln the future but they must be better Exery person must haxe an oppoltunlty to dexelop hls talents to thell full capaclty On the dlffuslon of educatlon among the people rests the preserx atlon of our flee lnstltutlon DOROTHY SPARKMAN Page Nzneteen . . . v ' ' ' ' 4- ' -v - ' - - v v 1 v . c . ' ' .' . 1 , . . ' . I . . . . .Y . . Y. , . , . , I ' . 1 . ' y '. ' . ' ' ' '. ,. . . . . . 1 . , , - -r ' V ' . '. ' . 7 . . . . v l ' v v 7 . c . 1 . v . Y. . . . . , . . , V . . . v at sv - 1 . C ' . . ' Z..' . , z c c - .. 1 . . . . . . . . N ,, Q , c . ' ' - v - ' Y . , c . , . ' 1 ' . - - y . . . C 1 . ' V . v . Q . I . V. . . v , I I, , - , . , ,' ' . ' ' . ' . vc C r ' r v 7 Q . .Q . . . 4 c . c , c .' 1 ' .' - ..c D ' . .' . , , . . , ' , - V. . . v. v ' ' ' 7 r - ' .A , - . ' . ' '. . K . . . . c c . c . 'c , - - - vu

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unrxersrty Among them was Dr Benjamrn Rush who was r physrcran surgeon general durrng the Rexolutronary War a member of the Contrnental Congress and r srgner of the Declaratron of Independence In 1786 he publrshed an educatronal proyect wrth the arrestrng trtle Thoughts Upon the Mode of Educatzon Proper zn a Republzc A few years later the Amerrcan Phr'osophrcal Socrety offered a pr rze for the best system of lrberal educ rtron and lrterary rnstrnctron rdap ed to the genrus of the goxernment of the Unrted States comprehendrng also r plan for rnstrtutrng rnd conductrng publrc schools rn thrs country on prrncrples of the most extensrxc utrlrty The pr rle was drxrded between Srrnuel Knorr and Srrnuel H Smith Other thrnkers of the age rncludrng No rh Webster presented to the publrc Irrge prorect for the educ rtron of youth rn a mrnner rpproprrrte to Amer rcan socrety rrrd goxcrn rnent In the Constrtutronal Conxentron James Mrdrsorr 'rrrd Charles Prnckney urged r provrsron for the establrshment of a unrxersrty howexer the motron was lost In hrs first rnnual address to Congress Washrngton made rt exrdent th rt he reg rrded the losterrng of educrtron as rn oblrgrtron of the Feder rl Goxernment when he srrd Nor rm I less per su rded th rt you wrll rgree w rth me rn oprnron th rt there rs rrothrrrg whrch crn bctter deserxe your prtronrge th rn the promotron I scrence and lrter rture Knowledge rs rn exery country the surest brsrs of pubrlc happrness Although Washrngton unlrke Jefferson had not enjoyed the prrxrleges f r college educatron and was 1 man of lrmrted book sense he had a general rrrd rerlrstrc xrew of educatron Although at odds wrth Washrngton on many pornts of polrcy 'Ind commrtted whrle rn the opposrtron to a narrow constructron of the Constrtutron Thorn rs Jefferson was ex en more deeply rnd actrvely concerned wrth publrc educatron th rn the first presrdent As a brographer has truly srrd Jefferson w rs the first con sprcuous adxocate rn thrs country of cevrtralrzatron rn educatron berng a thorough belrexer rn state ard to hrgher rnstrtutrons of lerrnrng and tree educatron rn the common schools supported by local taxatron Jefferson dedrcated ye ns of hrs lrle to the consrderatron and prornotron of educatron rn all rts phases from elementrry rnstructron to adx anced research rn unrversrtres He asked that rt be rnscrrbed on hrs tomb that he was the founder of the Unrxersrty of Vrrgrnrr From some of hrs wrrtrngs Jefferson s phrlosophy of educ rtron rs shown to consrst the tollowrng To grxe exery crtrzen the rnforrnatron hc needs for the tr rnsrctron cf hrs own busrness To enable hrm to calculate for hrmself rrrd to express rnd preserxe hrs rde rs hrs contracts rnd accounts rn wr rtrng To rmproxe by readrng hrs morals and facultres To understand hrs dutres to hrs nerghbors and country rnd to drschrrge wrth competence the functrons confrded to hrm by erther To know hrs rrghts In general to obserxe wrth rntellrgence rll the socrrl rel rtrorrs under whrch hc shfrll be pl rced Jefferson took rs the motto ot hrs Unrx ersrty of Vrrgrnrr the rncrent sryrng And sh rll know the truth rrrd the truth sh rll rn rl e you tree Wrth the admrnrstrsrtron of John Qurncy Ad rms the herorc per rod ol the Rexolu tron drew to a close Adams urged the promotron of screntrflc rese rrch rnd rnqurry rn geogr rphrc rl rrrd rstronomrcal scrence the ercplor rtron of nrtron rl terrrtor res rnd w rters the erectron of rn rstronornrc rl obserxatory connected wrth the est rblrshment of r unrx ersrty or seprrate from rt But the trnre w rs not yet rrght for these pl rrrs for educ rtron The pcople were engrossed wrth polrtrc rl matters Trkerr rs r w hole the rge w hrch opened wrth the rdx ent of Jrckson w rs ch rr rcterrzed by rn rrrtense rerctron rgrrnst the cultur rl outlook of W rshrngton M rdrson Iefferson rrrd John Qurncy Adrms After the close of John Qurncy Ad rms rdmrnrstr rtron no grert le rder rn natrorr rl rffrrrs looked rll around educrtron plurnbed 'ts depths corrsrdered rts rel rtron to the natrorr rrrd lrke Washrngton Jefferson rrrd John Qurncy Adrrns st rked hr reputatron upon urgrng rts pr ornotron rn exery deprrtrnent It rs true th rt Congress prssed rn 1862 the Morrrll Act gr rntrng lrnd for thc cst rblrshment of colleges by the strtes rrrd th rt Presrdent Ulysses S Gr rnt renewccl the old recommend rtron of r nrtronrl unrxersrty rn hrs mess rge of l86r but thc c drd not h we rny specrrl srgnrfrc rnce ERNESTINI-1 McMAHoN HISTORY OF HIGH SCHOOLS IN AMERICA Educatron rs not Just any krnd of learnrng It rs drrected lerrnrng In -Xmerrcr the school rs the most rrnportrnt educatronrl rnstrtutron The free publrc school 1 the toundrtron of our grert -Xrrrer rc rn dernocr rcv w lrrch rrms to brrng r free h rppx md rbund rnt lrfe to rll of our people Page Tu entry One ' 1 .' .1 . 1 '. ' . 1. . . 1' ,', . 1 - . . . . , , 1 , , Y V 5 . . , . . V. W . . .K . . 1 1 ' 1 1 1 ' .1 .1 ' ' . ' 1 ' . ' 1 . 4 ' . 1 1 . , 1 1 . , ' 1 c 1 1 . . ' ' . . . . ' ' . , 1 .' .' , ' . , .' , , , . . . Z . ' L. . 1 1 . 5 . .1 . Z . 2 . . 1 . .. N. . 1 11- - 5. . 1 Y . 1 2 L. I . . 5. . . L . ' ' ' . . 1 ' ' . ' 1 ..' . 1 1 ' , . 1 , . , , 1 . . i . L. . .Z 2 l .l . , h ' 51 2 ' 1 1 1 ' 1 ' ' 1 . 4. . . .2 , , I. . , . Q . l 2 . U . ' .. rv , , 1 o 1 , , ' . . 1 ' ' H H 1 . .1 1 , 1. . , 1 , Z . . 1. Y s . . . . . C Q , . 1 , 1. . . 1 . 1 . . . . L . . .' . 1 ' .1 1 1 1 1 1. ' . 1- ., . , , . 1 . 1, - 1. I . 1 1 ' v ' 1 1 ' A, 1 . . . . L 1 . . .1 1 . 1 .1 1 1 ' 7' 1 ' 1 1 11 ' ' . ' ' ' . 1 L . ' 1 H . s, C. L. . 1 k. . 1 L. . , . . 1 . . . . of . l. ' ' ' ' ' 1 5 ' '1 .'1 ' r .' ' 2 1 ' .1 1 ' 1 ' 1 ' . 1 1 1 1 1 . 1 1 ' . ' 1 . . , 1 . . 1 1 . 1 1. , Y K H ' 3, , , .. 4, 1 . . . , 1 1 - f 5 Y , Q. 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