SUNY Plattsburgh - Cardinal Yearbook (Plattsburgh, NY)

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14 Cfte Cardinal Cfje Course for Commercial eacfjerg W. G. Thompson. In my judgment rve have no right to lal(e a man ' s child from him until he is fifteen, or to induce a man to trust his child ivith us until he is fifteen, and then hand him baclf, unable and unfit to earn his bread. — Wendell Phillips. The supreme thing after all is that men should be inducted into, not trained out of, the economic era in whic h lhe ) are called upon to live. The steady increase in the number of commercial schools and commercial depart- ments of high schools and academies together with the general enlargement of their courses of study has created a demand for trained teachers of commercial subjects that greatly exceeds the supply. The State recognized this demand when it established in the Plattsburg Normal School in 1910 a special course for the instruction and training of commercial teachers. The course possesses, in its own particular field, the same professional and pedagogical qualities that usually characterize courses for general teachers. It is based upon the conviction that commercial teachers should acquire a preparation as comprehensive anc? thorough as that required for any other secondary teaching. It lays due and balanced stress upon the fundamental considerations of (a) general knowledge, (b) professional knowledge, (c) special or technical knowledge, and (d) skill in teaching. Four classes have been graduated from this course, as follows: 1912 . . • • 7 members 1913 . . . . . 19 members 1914 . • • • 26 members 1915. . . . . 39 members Total .... 91

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12). $. J®. . 13 ihe work in from two to two and a half years. During that year a reorganization took place and the transition from the four-year course to the two-year course went into effect, requiring high school graduation for all who entered. As a result of this the yearly enrollment decreased somewhat. In 1910 there was added a two-year course for the training of commercial teachers. Since that year therefore the school has offered two courses — the General course, pre- paring teachers for elementary schools, and the Commercial course, which fits teachers for all commercial work in high schools. Since 1890 the faculty has more than doubled in number. The attendance at present taxes the capacity of the study hall. The character and ability of the graduates are of a high order. The courses of study are at once broad and thorough. The achievements of Plattsburg State Normal School during its history have more than justified its existence. It is the hope of all who are interested in the common welfare that the coming years may bring to it new laurels, and that it may serve as a monument to those whose efforts made it possible.

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p. @. 1 5 3n fHemortam i])entp jFeuering Professor Henry Feuering, an esteemed member of our faculty, departed this life on Wednesday, January the twenty-seventh. He was busy with his classes until noon, and apparently in his usual health, but was stricken with sudden illness before the opening of the afternoon session, and died before the day ended. To be thus active tc the very last was what he himself would most have wished. In September, 1904, Mr. Feuering was admitted to this school as a student, on the strength of testimonials for work done in various German and Austrian gymnasia and universities. He was almost wholly ignorant of spoken English when he entered; yet such were his attainments and power of application that he was graduated in two years at the head of his class. After passing a year as post-graduate student at Harvard University, where he received the degree of Master of Arts, he was appointed to the chair of modern languages in this institution, and held the position until his death. He was a man of extensive scholarship, and a superior teacher. His sense of honor was keen, his ideals high and noble, his aims and ambitions singularly unworldly, and in his outlook on life his eyes were open to the eternal values. Success with his classes is not the only measure of such a teacher ' s worth. A. N. H. Static TSeatrfce Ijnise Worrell Miss Marie Beatrice Huse Sorrell, of Morrisonville, N. Y., a member of the class of 1915 and of the Clionian Fraternity, passed away on February 7, 1914. She had participated in the first festivity, the mid-year dance, given by the Junior Class, which was held at the Normal School. There she contracted a cold which developed into pneumonia, her illness lasting only four days. Miss Sorrell ' s keen intellect and pleasing personality had made for her many friends during the short time she was with us.