Atwood Hammond High School - Post Yearbook (Atwood, IL)

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C )cS3cS3cS3Cg3C®3C®3t C®DC%C 3C®D THE have only a few books and there is no school library. The teacher who is very ignorant is oftentimes an old soldier or sailor, or perhaps a farmer’s wife. The salary of the teacher is ’from eight to sixteen dollars a month. This is paid by subscription from the parents of the pupils. Once in a while we find a qualified teacher, but they are the exception and not the rule. Today our school buildings are very modern. They are well lighted and spacious. The rural schools have better systems of heating and ventilation today than the city schools had in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Laws have been passed which require the directors to keep the school building in a sanitary condition. All of the windows must be arranged on one side of the room so that the light will fall over the left shoulder of the pupil. The equipment is the best. The seats are arranged according to the size of the pupil. Most of the schools have a piano or other musical instrument. All of the necessary apparatus is found to make the subjects interesting. The life of the pupil is made more pleasant by the splendid school library. Every school in the state has a number of good books. The Illinois Reading Circle selects a number of books each year, which are bought by the schools. In this way new books are continually being added to the old supply. The rural schools are equipped as well as the city schools. A course of study has been planned for the grade schools of Illinois. It requires the teaching of certain studies at least seven months of the P S T year. It is used uniformly all over the state. Our system is considered so efficient that it has been adopted by several states. Education has been improved by the standardization of the requirements for teachers. Formerly the examination was conducted by the county superintendents. But now a law has been passed which states that all teachers’ examinations are to be conducted by the State Board of Examiners. One cannot obtain a certificate in Illinois today without having a high school education. Many of the teachers are graduates of the Normal schools and have degrees in Bachelor of Arts. The Illinois State Teachers’ Association, the Sectional Meetings and the High School Conference are all organized for the benefit 01 the teachers. Various topics of interest are selected and discussed at these meetings. In the High School Conference of November, 1917, the advisability of publishing the minimum requirements for the grades was discussed. Five Normal schools have been established for the purpose of training teachers in methods of teaching, and as a rule the teachers of Illinois are a well-trained class of instructors. In 1917 a law was passed that put every foot of Illinois soil in a High School District. Any boy or girl in Illinois can go to High School without paying tuition. This gives the poor child the same chance as the wealthy one. The progress of our slate’s modern educational system, which has brought the field of knowledge within the reach of every boy and girl in this state, is a matter of general pride. Blanche Kamm.

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ommending a system of taxation, a method of securing qualified teachers, a suitable supervision of schools, and the proper distribution of school funds. In 1845 an amendment was added to the law of 1841. It provided that there should be a superintendent in each county, that teachers should hold certificates, and that all text books should be written in English. To obtain a ceitificate a teacher had to be examined in reading. writing, geography, arithmetic, grammar and United States history. These examinations were only mere forms. If a teacher was asked a question on some subject that she could not answer, she would say that she was not prepared on that subject. If the examiner gave her some very long word to spell, and she succeeded in spelling it, she was given her certificate. In 1855 a bill was passed that levied a tax of two per cent on all property for the maintenance of the public schools. About this time Stephen A. Douglas, a congressman from Illinois, was influential in securing the passage of a bill which granted public lands to the Illinois Central railroad. The advantages offered by the building of this railroad led many business men of the East to come to Illinois. These men were interested in educational progress and were active in its advancement in Illinois. In 1837 the Surplus Revenue Fund, the County Fund and the Permanent Fund were set apart by the United States Government to be used for school purposes. The Surplus Revenue Fund is the interest obtained from loans of the surplus revenue in the U. S. treasury. The County Fund is the inteiest from the money in the county treasury that exceeds one-half the amount required for school purposes. The Permanent Fund is the money obtained by selling the public lands which the United States Government granted to the schools in 1785 Since 1855 the offices of the state superintendent, the township trustees and the district treasurer have been created. The state superintendent visits the schools of counties, gives lectures, confers with the county superintendent and reports the condition of the schools throughout the state. The township trustees collect the tax and distribute it among the schools. The district treasurer takes chagre of the money after it is collected. The progress of our schools since since 1818 has been extraordinary. Let us imagine that we are in a school of 1850. Often times the building is an old log house, one that is so unsubstantial that a family can no longer live in it. Or perhaps it is an old discarded barn or smokehouse. It rests on a foundation of logs, and on cold winter days we can hear the wind howling under it. Here, too, the wild beasts seek shelter. They bring hordes of fleas and other insects to annoy the children. Less fiequently one finds a new log cabin that has been built by the fathers and used as a school house. The crevices between the logs are chinked with mud to keep out the wind and snow. The benches are made of logs split in two, with pegs driven in them for legs. The desks are long boards nailed along the walls. There are no blackboards. The children

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T H E P Q S T C%(8x C C C C c5 C®D£ J£®jr ) Sophomore Quotations Pearl Barnhart: “We have found one Pearl without price. Elvert Brewer: “Better late than never. Freeda Harshbarger: “A little nonsense now and then. (All the time.) Mabel Monroe: “My hair is my crowning glory.” Blanche Kamm: “A maiden never bold. Ervin Anderson: “He’ll never die of overwork. He doesn’t believe in it. Lloyd Kimmel: “That man which blushes is not quite brute. Sophia Scheffer: “She works as conscientiously as she walks. Celia Thrasher: “Pretty to walk with and witty to talk with. Ethel Reedy: “Short and to the point.” Grace Roloson: “Graced with power of voice. Emmette Conner: “Unless some one choke him 5rst he’ll talk himself to death. Chester Moore: “As fresh as the month of May. Mae Downs: “Earth’s noblest or- nament—a woman. Grace O’Loughlin: “Her good hu- mor is a fountain never dry. Leola Quick: “As merry as the day is long. McLean Heath: “In fellowship well could he laugh.” Lora Wildman: “Her looks bespeak the stern mind within. Inscoe Day: “He slipped in all silent.” Warren Wierman: “A gallant war- rior, brave and bold. Ruth Kimmel: “Behold, she walks like a goddess.’ Marie Bowman: “Music hath charms. Lena Jumper: “Recognized quite readily. Raymond O’Laughlin: “ Tis feared he’ll die of overwork. Wava Schoonover: “Still waters run deep. Lela Billman: “She has two eyes so soft and brown. Beware! Beware!