Central High School - Signal Yearbook (Columbia, TN)

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The colonres of Arnerrca had no publrc school system A few well to do land owners hired tutors to rnstruct therr chrldren And a lrttle later there were a fevs church schools but these taught only the begrnmngs of the three R s Massachusetts was the first colony to thrnk serrously about the educatron of rts chrldren In 1642 rt passed a lavs sayrng that the select men of each tovsn should be tramed rn learnrng Thrs law was made stronger by the law of 1647 which ordered that every town of fifty or more households had to set up readrng and wrrtrng schools There were few textbooks and these were filled wrth relrgrous and moral storres Among the most popular of these books was the New England Prrmer Each page of thrs prrmer had prctures of the thrngs told about rn the readrng Whrch was Wrrtterr rn rhyme Most all of the first schools dealt wrth relrgrous rnstructrons After attendrng these reading and wrrtrng schools a puprl was ready for grammar school and then for college One of the first hrgher schools rn Amerrca was the Boston Latrn Grammar School burlt rn 1635 The first college was started rn Massachusetts rn 1636 to trarn young men to become mrnrsters and scholars of the classrcs Thrs college was Harvard Unrversrty The Amerrcan Rexolutron put an end to the Latm schools and made necessary a broader and rrcher educatronal program Thus the Amerrcan Academy Franklrn s Academy the first one establrshed rn 1751 became very popular Thrs academy dealt wrth a more practrcal currrculurn whrle the Latm schools had taught Latrn Latrn and more Latm Its arm was to prepare for lrfe as well as college It was open to both boys and grrls and drd much to encourage the develop ment of educatron for women rn Amerrca Though the Academy was democratrc rn respect to the currrculum socrally rt was open only to those who were able to pay the turtron fees Srnce the taxpayers were the men who sent therr chrldren to school the academy was an obstacle rn the way of unrversal democratrc hrgh school educatron rn the Unrted States wrth 200000 puprls and 12000 teachers Debatrng and lrterary socretres were organrzed and a wholesome atmosphere of culture developed In the late 1700s the dame schools were adopted from England These were prrmary schools to get puprls ready for the readrng and wrrtrng schools Whrle the dame schools were cared for by unmarrred women and housewives the Latm schools were taught by schoolmasters They were hard stern men who belreved rn the rule Spare the rod and sporl the chrld They made certarn that the chrldren were not sporled by the use of brrch lrmbs whrps and paddles None of these schools were free however leavrng the poor uneducated In the early 1800 s the battle for tax support of schools for state control rnstead of church control for free grammar schools hrgh schools and colleges was on Intellrgent workrngmen made up the army fightrng for these thrngs The wealthy conservatrve busrnessmen and arrstocratrc southerners fought agarnst them sayrng Why should I pay for the educatron of chrldren not my own? Because sard Horace Mann all the chrldren should have the rrght to free schoolrng at publrc expense rn order that these chrldren shall become rntellrgent crtrzens voters and workers Horace Mann was the leader of those for publrc schools As a boy he was very poor and knew what rt was to struggle for an educatron After many publrc addresses he won the support of thousands of people and the first free hrgh school Englrsh Hrgh School was founded rn Boston rn 1821 In 1837 Massachusetts set up the first state board of educatron and made Mann secretary The rmportant characterrstrcs of the hrgh school were the demotron of the classrcs emphasrs on the study of Englrsh preparatron for entrance to some vocatron the three year course of study exclusron of girls and admrssron of boys at the age of twelve rnstead of nrne After 1850 the publrc hrgh school grew raprdly and by 1880 had almost wholly taken the place of the academy Publrc hrgh schools were rmmedrately establrshed rn the west and south as well as all over the east and north By 1900 there were a half mrllron hrgh school students enrolled rn the Unrted States Thus we see how the Amerrcan hrgh school has become the most rmportant socral rnstrtutron rn American lrfe WINONA Rrxscor: OUR MODERN SCHOOLS The schools of today are a great rmproxement over the old one teacher schools that our grandparents attended The schools now have larger and nrcer burldrngs they have better equrpment and more efiicrent teachers but best of all there rs a greater cooperatron and fr rendshrp between puprls and teachers Let us consrder some of these rmprox ements We shall first look at the modern school burldrng and equrpment Now rn addr tron to the usual classrooms many schools have vocatronal shop burldrngs home economrcs cottages and farm bureaus The elementary school rs full of a number of thrngs for chrldren Today not only do the chrldren read and study hrstory and Page Twenty Tuo .. . .Q . . ' ' Y' I f , . ' . ' 1 ' 1 ,L . . . ,, .i ' . . B , -Y 1 ' 1 .' . 1 A I Y 1 - 1 . l . V ' 1 ' 1 1 1 1 ' 1 ' ' 1 4 1 I - , y ' vm 7 Y . ' I . 1 . . K 1 I A i Y . ' y v U . . , . . 1 Q1 ' ' s s -' ' 1 '1 ' 1 ' I' t ' . D, 1 11 1 1 xx 1 n ' 1 By the middle of the Nineteenth Century there were more than 6,000 academies . I Y ' 7. 1 . Y ' . 5 KK Y? . I . . 3 ' Y - - .1 - - 11 - . , . . . ' . I 1 1 - y 1 1 - U Y 1 1 1 1 . . . . . v . , sn ' ' rv rr sv ' - 1 M . , . . . 7 5 . . . . . ,, . 3 1 ' . it . . 'N 1 . 1 1 I - I 1 D D . 1 . A V U . v v 1 ' 7 - 1 1 ' 1 ' ' ' : 1 1 , Q ' . Y . 1' 1 1 ' ' ' Y . y - 1 I B s '

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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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English they also parnt pictures grxe pl rys care tor lrxe anrmrls and take trrp of rnterest Under the leadership ot such great teachers as Doctor Krlpatrrck the schools have become what they are He wanted to make the school a workshop where chrldren hate freedom to plan and carry out proJects by themselves The school rs berng taken more and more outsrde the classroom Pupils can learn more by actually seeing things than by reading of them This rs done by permitting the pupils to take trips The outside world must also be brought into the classroom This rs done by allowing home economics students to actually make and bake r chocolate pre rnstead ot memorizing a recrpe The turnrture rn our schools rs morc comfortable attractrxe and lrrendly looking Now many classrooms hare flowers pictures curtarns and other such thrngs to m rke the rooms more homelike Let us consrder the attitude and cooperation ol parents puprls and teachers The school rs trying to become better acquainted with the puprls and therr parents Now many schools have mothers clubs to improve relatronshrp between teachers and mothers Some have a school page rn the local paper and almost all have a school paper or magazrne Probably much of the success of the modern schools rs due to the tact that parents take an interest rn the educatron of therr chrldren They md the teachers want better educatron for the youths of thrs country Once the teacher was looked upon as the symbol of unkrnd power Now he rs consrdered r com panron leader and guide to students Drscrplrne rs won with understanding Just what rs the arm of modern hrgh schools' It rs to help young people to lrxe better and to prepare them for Jobs when they h rve completed therr hrgh school days Students are now free to choose therr own subjects When they are not attending regular classes they may take part rn extracurricular actrvrtres such as clubs and sports Now nearly all hrgh schools offer some kind of vocational trarnrng to therr students The school rs a much more active and a much happier place than formerly Chrldren and youths are learning to think more for themselves and to cooperate for the common good of all The schools are attemptrng to equip every rndrvrdu rl tor some useful work or xocatron and at the same trme raise rn all a deep apprecrr tron of work Who goes to school now' Well there rs not just one class there are pupils of rll classes Rrch and poor farm chrldren and crty chrldren srck and well whrte rnd black all now have a chance to become educated We have establrshed specral schools for the blrnd and deaf pupils We have outdoor schools for chrldren with tuberculosrs Negro schools have been improved and now many offer the same opportunrtres as do schools for the whrte Country schools hate been consolrdated rn has grown to a number over 30 000 000 chrldren and young people rn public schools today One reason for such sr large number rs that the schools are rnterestrng Most of them have well equrpped lrbrrrres and playgrounds so that when work rs done one nray read or play 'rs he chooses ln the last ten years rll rnfor med groups have tried with grrm determination to cut school expendrtures but the majority of the people have stood by the school The fight for sufficient financral funds wrll continue as more money rs needed The average salary for Amerrcan teachers rs a little more than a hundred dollars 'r month Some teachers recerxed only forty dollfrrs a month' What are some of the things that a person learns rn hrgh school Naturally rt depends upon the puprl and the course he rs takrng Spanrsh French and Latrn are taught rn most schools Spanrsh rnd French newspapers and magazines are proxrded for the interest of the students The band rs an rrnportant prrt of many schools It not only trams musrcrms but rlso grxes concerts rnd plays swrng musrc for school dances High schools trarn pupils to become machrnrsts crrperrters electrrcrrns salesmen desrgners stenographers and be rutrcr rns These xocatronal courses are pard for rn part by the Federal Government Three fourths of all hrgh school graduates go to work and only one fourth go on to college Yes our schools have come a long way srnce the first crude schools rn the colonies Step by step they hate worked therr way up The school rs not yet at the top ot the lrdder of perfectron Our schools haxe many faults but when we consrder how far we haxe come rn such a short trme we wonder how far we crn go Who knows how far the schools m ry tr nel or how grert they may become wrthrn the rrercl few decades LILLY MAE Torvrcrrssov AN AMERICAN DREAM It rs generally agreed that we are lrxrng rn an age of complexity and confusion Any per rod of change calls for reconstructron rn educatron The prrncrples for w hrch men hare fought and dred are berng xrolated rn many parts of the world The socrety rn whrch we lrxe contains problems that are far reaching and solutrons ot which are not so easy The purpose of schools rn a broad sense rs to serxe the socrety whrch supports them and rt that socrety rs changrng rt rs obxrous that the school rnust also change Hardly rnyone w rll deny that thrs rs a per rod rn w hrch great changes are occurrrng rn the socral scene To the extent that our school program rs one shaped by a consideration ol socral condrtrons that no longer evrrst rs rt rn effectual rn helping rndrxrduals meet therr present problemso The fact that our Page Twenty Three I. : 'Q I I' '11 ex ' '. s V ' u I 7 I 1 ' I' Iv' I 1 I rf l A1 1 1 1 1 1 l I l ' . , J I . '., . 1 l. ' . . Y - . 1 . V1 1- - 1 . 1 1 ' 1 - '-' ' 1.1 . . , , .. . ' , ' . I . I' . 1 1 1 11 ' 1 .Y . 1 . 11. ' 1 1 7 n I I I I 1 1 '1 1 1 1 1 1 ' 1 ' ' ' ' ' 2 1, 1 1 ' ' 1. 'S ' 2 . - 1 V 1' 1 1 ' 1 1 It- ' 1 1 ' . 1 ' Z ' 1 ' 1 51' ' - 1 ' . 1 1 1 1 ' ' . ' ' ' i . , 5, , . , .L . . .L- . 'I Y ' . . Z . ' T. i . . .. ,l , , .Y . . . . . Y . . t y 1. order to give city and country children the same privileges. Our school population . . y , . ' I ' A. g , K I C s - I . I . - ' z ' ' : ' ' , , C I ' 1 C .S . ' 1 1 1 IK1 I ' ' ' 1 , 1 ' . 1 ' . '51 E 1 1 1 1 1 . ' 1 1 1' 1 ' ' '1 1 1 1 ' 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 . H. ' ' 'V , . . . . . 1 . , . , . k . y.Z, A my ..Z .V . ' 1 ' 4 1 - , - 1 - . 1 - c I I ' - Q ' ' Q ' I . f .'. c ' ' ' I c . ' Q I 2 . ' ' B1 I 1 1 1 1 ' 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 N1 1 1 1 y v ' Y ' 7 'Z -I I ' 'B' ' ' 5 5 a 'z ' ' ' ' 1 . ' 'L 'D tvs A 1 I., 7 I ,I I C 1 I I . , , . 7 . V . Q V . ' .I . , ' l 1 1 Q ' 1 . v ' 1