Fairport High School - Hourglass Yearbook (Fairport, NY)

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0! ll l THE HOUR GLASS l ll l0 Through the storm and stress of the colonial days, however, education had come to be regarded as a fundamental principle in til? development of the new country. In New England the Puritan English ideas predominated in the school, in New York the liberal spirit of the Dutch toward popular education in- fluenced their growth, in the South the influence of the wealthy land-holders with continental ideas of education added to the schools, but with all this they rapidly acquired an individuality and rugged power which led to a swift development toward free public schools. After the Civil lVar, in 1870, Virginia adopted a new consti- tution. A state system of free schools with state and county superintendents was established. An act of Congress in 1862 provided for schools for negroes. The first evening school had its birth in Massachusetts in 1882. Correspondence schools started in 1879. In 1891, free high school education was re- quired of every town. The subjects taught at that time were different from those taught today. There were about three or four subjects, reading, writing, cyphering, and spelling. If you passed these you were considered to have passed the required work. It was believed that the boys only were to be educated, the place for girls being in the home. But this idea soon vanished and girls were sent to school. Some of the students, after having finished the required work were sent away to continue their education, but most of them had to work on the farms as their parents could not afford to send them away. I will try to give you a vivid description of the schoolroom. The building was of one story with a single room. In front of the room was a platform upon which the teacher's desk set. On one side of her desk was a stool which was known as a dunce stool, and on top of that set a tall hat which was placed on the dunce's head. Cn the other side of the platform was a stove, a pail of water, and a dipper. The rest of the room consisted of long benches. At first there were no desks, but later they were placed in front of these benches, being large enough for two to work on. All the grades were in this one room. It was divided into sections according to individual progress. Later the government gave assistance to education. The policy from the earliest period of government in the disposal of the lands of the Ilfest was to set aside one section in each town- ship for the support of the common schools, and the Ordinance of 1787 for the government of the Northwest territory contained Page Twenty-seven

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oxizxlx THE noun c.LAss :lax-.:-.-no Education, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Before I discuss a subject as complex as education, I like to give a definition of the word. It is difficult to give a definition of education, because it means so much more than just going to school and passing certain subjects. IVhen we speak of the edu- cation of a country, we must go much deeper than its course of study, its methods, and its administrative machinery. To thoroughly appreciate the growth of education we must know the history of the people, their temperament, their traditions, and the spirit of their institutions. Education is the outcome of all these. It is the embodiment of the genius, the aspiration and the com- promises of the people. The Greeks were the first to work out a theory and practice of education based upon scientific principles rather than re- ligious beliefs. The main purposes of this early training were military knowledge, loyalty, and good citizenship. Following this period, for many years, the wealthy were the only ones who could afford an education for their children. People who could read and write were easily numbered. Books were lab-oriously copied by the monks. But in the fifteenth century, the advent of the printing press lessened one burden fastened upon. education. Europe went through revolutions and socialistic changes. Still many could not obtain education because of prohibitive expense. The first institution to promote learning in the United States was a college in Jamestown, founded in 1619. In 1622, the massacre and burning of the settlement destroyed this first start towards education in the New World. After this, we hear mainly of unsuccessful attempts by the East India Company. But in 1691, the legislature sent Dr. William Blair to England to secure a charter for a college, an enterprise which had long been under discussion. He returned the following year with the royal docu- ment. This was the college, IVilliam and Maryfm In 1633 the first school was established by the Dutch at New Amsterdam. The Boston Latin School was the first started in the Massachu- setts Bay Colony. In 1636, Harvard College was founded. Education in the United States since colonial times has had an irregular, but rapid growth. Till the first half of the nine- teenth century there was no uniformity in schoolroom methods, or in school administration. In each part of the country the in- struction of the children was governed by the customs and tra- ditions which were derived from early settlers of that section. 'f 'History of Education in the United States by Dexter Page Twenty-six

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0i ll l THE HOUR GLASS l ll !0 the provision that, Hreligion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. Leaders like Horace Mann began to advocate the state or federal control of the schools by means of an educational bureau which would supervise school methods. Unlike the French or German systems, the United States allows each state to maintain its own educational principles, which have a head in the capital of each state. In these foreign systems, the capital of the nation regu- lates education in a uniform way throughout the country. Education of today has changed considerably. The school building is not a one story one, but is anywhere from three to five stories high. There are several rooms in each story. There has also been a great change in subjects taught. They are divided into two main courses, Academic and Commercial. In the Academic course the curriculum offers English, foreign lan- guages, inathematics, and science. In the Commercial course, business English, typewriting, shorthand, bookkeeping, and com- mercial math are offered. The Academic course is usually taken by those who are preparing for higher education, and the Com- mercial course by those who wish to go to a business school. Advancement is shown by the larger number of schools, and the higher requirements for those who teach them. The modern lecture course is a far step from the old all-day-memory method. Kindergarten and summer schools are also a growth of our present day educational systems. There is a chance for every- one to be educated, whether they be rich or poor. There are public, private, and parochial schools. After one has finished his grammar school, he enters high school to prepare himself for college. There are a great variety of colleges, agricultural, engineering, military, athletic, medical, law, and many more. There is an opportunity for every one to prepare himself for his chosen profession. The total amount of land, according to statistics furnished by the United States Bureau of Education, which has been given to the several states for educational purposes since 1785 amounts to 78,659,439 acres having an original value of about S100,000,- 000. These figures show that the United States has taken great interest in its schools. I can well believe that if education develops as rapidly within the next thirty years as it has in the past thirty, our successors will consider our methods crude and unwise. Their systems will be far greater than ours. The course of study dealing entirely Page Twenty-eight