Cranston High School - Cranstonian Yearbook (Cranston, RI)

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THE CRANSTONIAN CLASS OF 1936 M UCC S I ,, LQ 0' QE? ' E -1 -7 - f if f , ,, , ,. Q f Q' gs I ' Q' of x J, W o, . m L A3 S E 3' . X' Al.-.9 4 L d f K, ,Q , 12

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THE CRANSTONIAN CLASS OF 1936 Third Row: Skelton, DeLuca, Mayo, Cranston, Clem, Wakeiiiziii, Stringer, Platt, Birtwistle, Clifford, Eliason, Terry. Teehan, McCloskey, Plumb. Second Row: Schuster, Colvin, Johnson. Ragis. Kicrnan, Iefts, Brockert, Whitaker, HrtlandR'th' MC m'kS dt'Vl S'io a , ic ie, c or ic . per u 1. i r. weei r, First Row: Dwyer, Desochers, Buflinton. Cleasby, Vsfilson. Editorfin-cliiefg Miss Hayden, jones, Business Maviaygerg Hall, Huxford, Bowen, Mills, Cine Granstomian Qoarcf EditorfinfChief KIRTLAND HOWARD WILSON, JR. Business Manager DONALD Auousrus JONES Editorial Stal? Linnea M. Bokert Elizabeth C. Bowen Grace E. Cleasby Horace A. Clem john B. DeLuca Eleanor LI. Hall Claire Hartland Russell M. Birtwistle F. Elva Buffington Robert R. Clifford Helen SI. Colvin Ethel R. Hellberg Ada P. Huxford Dorothy M. jefts Helen M. Kiernan Leland R. Mayo, jr. Marjorie C. McCormick Dorothy L. Mills Jonas M. Platt Business Board john A. Cranston Eva C. Desrochers Roberta M. Dwyer Everett W. Eliason Clerical Staff Helen V. johnson Louise Ragis Faculty Advisers Miss Constance M. Hayden , Chairman Mr -Nag ll gal-- Paul B. Plumb A. Elena Schuster Adelaide E. Sperduti Louis D. Stringer, -Ir. George E. Teehan, jr. Curtis E. Warren Marion E. Whitaker W. Robert McCloskey Willard R. Terry, jr. Roy C. Wakeman Elsie Ritchie Marian E. Skelton . Walter E. Sweenor, Business

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THE CRANSTONIAN CLASS OF 1936 tgnczlzivicfuafitg of tmlzocfe .gsfancf in gcfucatlon ELL may we apply the popular saying, The best things come in smallest packages and with slight transformation make it applicable to our own little state of Rhode Island. For in another field of endeavor, education, Rhode Island is outstanding and has shone as a guiding star to her sister states. That tolerant, independent but progresf sive spirit has carried her to renown for her advanced educational facilities. A keen desire for educating their young was manifest by our earliest settlers. Land grants and money were appropriated by towns, and thus it occurred that Newport was the first town in all English America to foster a public school. Other factors contributing to the furtherance of education at this period were the newspapers which lauded our educational endeavors above all other states. The American and Gazette in 1828 took up the fight for free schools in earnest with the following state' ment, There is one subject of much more importance to Rhode Island than the election of a president, and that is the establishment of free schoolsf, Thus, our prefeminence was early recognized. However, it is not possible to construct from the early record of Rhode Island towns a complete and consistent history of schools in this state. To religious dissension, to the absence of an established church, to sparse and scattered settlements, to these and some other causes, this negligence in keeping written records has been attributed. All during this century the schools had been private in nature, the pupils paying for their tuition. The idea of free schools had been in the minds of prominent men for many years, but not until 1800 did they come into existence in Providence. But let us leave Providence for the while and turn to Narragansett for a glimpse of the typical pedagogues. Here, the first schoolmasters were three Irishmen, Masters Kelly, Ridge, and Stauter. They traveled about visiting the farms and communities around Point Judith and Tower Hill imparting instruction to the children, but para ticularly exerting their good influence on the rough manners and characters of the country folk. In contrast to these men appears the next schoolmaster. He was one who made no pretense to the polite attainments of his predecessors but believed in more rugged methods of teaching. This was Master Robert Noyes who kept school on Tower Hill Road. He believed in the rod and spared it not. After a few of his pupils discovered that his wooden rod might be split if they crossed two hairs on their open palm, Master Noyes made a new one of leather with a wooden handle. He enjoyed such sport so much that he used one of the older pupils as a spy to procure him victims. In 1828, an awakened statewide interest in schools brought about favorable results. Rhode Island inaugurated at this time a thorough survey of its school system. Once again that idea of ours to have the best, prevailed when Governor james Fenner selected Henry Barnard, without question the foremost American educator of the nineteenth century, to perfect our school system. The most important immediate effects of the work of Barnard were a splendid improvement in the physical condition of schools, a marked advance in the qualifications of teachers, and an awakening amongst the people of the state of a genuine interest in education. Thus it is apparent that improvement and expansion seem to have come gradually and steadily, in response to the demands of an enlightened public opinion, and in general, advances in educational law and practice have become permanently established in public confidence and support. For these reasons, therefore, our educational system is the product of our social and economic experience and a vital part of the civic organization of the state. HELEN M. KIERNAN -..sgf 13 leg..-