Paris High School - Owl Yearbook (Paris, TX)

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' -r u- u,. 51-2' , rgv-I'-S has fue....'--12-gaiza.-f:.u ' f t - ' l3f1'.lFW'E'f !4f-EY?G- ' t .-15... yearsf' VVe must remember, too, thattin those days there was no University articulation, no State Course of Study, no active supervision by the Department ot Education, to give some continuity and coherence to the work duringthe rapid sequence of changes. H S The young Greek professor found that, for. graduation, no positive requirements in foreign languages were made, and that only three students in the school had had more than .1 1- one vearis work in Latin, Which language alone was offered. Under Mr. Christianis influence, two years' Work in a for- eign language is required of every student, instruction is given in Latin and German, and Greek long had a place in the curriculum. The proficiency of his pupils in the classi- cal languages is recognized throughout the State, and in all schools their work is accepted at face value. The progress ofthe school in other departments has been equally marked, but the classics are Mr. Christian's specialty, and this arti- cle is concerned rather with the man, than with the school upon which he has stamped his personality. One of the greatest elements of Mr. Christian's workin Paris is his peculiar charm and happiness as an instructor. Work in his subjects is always prepared, and prepared well. Students, lazy and uninterested under other teachers, quick- en into industry and life inihis classes. His long experience and ripe Culture furnish him with a grasp of matter and a Wealth of illustration Which cannot fail to appeal to an intel- ligent boy or girl.. One of the gentlemen before quoted says: 'fl have had many a boy say to me, 'l had planned to quit school after this term, but l'll be in Mr. Christian's class next year, so I'm going to stay.' He considers the individual student, his inclinations and his needs. His ac- quaintance, as a rule, with the chi1d's whole school careerg with that of his parents also, in many cases, with his envir- onment and heredity, tit Mr. Christian for such a task as no one else is, or can be, short of the same long and continu-

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.,-I4-- and varied experience. The present writer will always re- call with pleasure Mr. Christian's relation of his first ac- quaintance with Shal4espeareg of how a new heaven and a new earth were opened before the lad, and how the pamph- let, containing but a single play, was fairly read to pieces. So early, then, did he reveal that sensitiveness to the high and worthy things of life, which has made his teaching an inspiration. l After spending three years in the Academy of West- minster College, and four years in the collegiate depart- ment, Mr. Christian was graduated inthe classical course in 1877, receiving the'degsee of lVIaster of Arts in 1881. In' his senior year, he won the oratorical prize in the MlSSOL1l'l intercollegiate contest at Liberty, and represented Missou1'i in the interstatef contest at Madison, VVis., the same year. He was elected,'in IQOQ, president of the Alumni Society of his college. i Mr. Christian was Superintendent of the High School at Weatherford, Tex., 1877-783 and from 1881 to 1884 was Professor of Greek in Fosterfs Academy at St. Louis. In the latter year began his connection with the Paris High School, which has continued to the present time-what we must regard as the great work of his lifeg for, to Paris people at least, the training of their youth for so many years and the development of their school cannot seem trivial or unimportant. This school had been graded and za secondary depart- ment organized, some years before, but its chaotic condi- tion can be appreciated, by teachers aft least, when it is known that the superintendent had been changed almost yearly. Say two men, who have been ideintified with the di- rection of the school almost from its organization, one of them an early teacher in it, t'Considering previous condi- tions, the highest praise that can be paid Mr. Christian is, that he has been able to stay in Paris for twenty-seven

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-15- ous association with a single people. To the student-body, he is separate and apart from all other teachers. They may be popular or unpopular, may receive obedience or defi- ance, but he is outside all such calculations. The students feel toward him rather as toward a father, who is to be loved and obeyed asa matter of course, without question. This tremendous influence is and has been always -exerted in the cause of a deeper, truer, intellectual and moral culture. I A To his subordinates, Mr. Christian is uniformly consid- erate and helpful. His counsel can point the best and easi- est way out of any dilemma, 'and one is cliscoveriing con- stantly fresh cause for admiration of his widom and knowl- edge both. of books and men. A sound conservatism re- strains undue youthful exuberance, but along with it goes a liberal inclination to let each instructor manage his own de- partment. This liberal conservatism has always been one of Mr. Ch'ristian's characteristics. In connection with Dr. S. S-I Laws, T. .Berry Smith, and others, he, in 1886, started the Summer Stchool of Science at Sweet Springs, which was the promoter of laboratory methods in science in Missouri high schools. He also presided over the first council of teachers, which met at Columbia, to bring about the articulation of schools. I From his first arrival in Paris Mr. Christian held a place as one of the most notable beaus of the town, to which his elegant person, cultured mind and old-time Southern cour- tesy eminently entitled him, even in that generation famous for the gallantry of its men, the beauty of its women and the frank gaiety of its unpretentious social life. A persistent and favored Squire of dames, he iigured in the romances of the successive belles of the town for many years, and gained the reputation of confirmed bachelorhood. Nevertheless, iii 1904, he married Miss Blanche Adams, who had been one of his pupils, and the marriage has proven. most fortunate.