Ferndale Union High School - Tomahawk Yearbook (Ferndale, CA)

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Aims and Achievements Three aims have dominated our administration of the Ferndale Union High School during the past four years. In pursuit of the first aim-to bring into the school as many as pos- sible--the erection and later enlargement of the barn were secured for the accommodation of those who must drive from remote parts of the district, and varied efforts have been made each year to convey to eighth graders the glad tidings of further educational opportunity ahead with the result that more than eighty-five per cent of the grammar school graduates of this district have entered high school as against an average of less than fifty per cent for the State at large. Our second aim-to broaden the service rendered by the school-has been inspired by a growing belief in the democratic mission of the modern high school. The classical preparatory school of a generation ago was aris- tocratic in that it served only the wealthy and leisure classes and those preparing for the traditional professions, and it was narrow in that its book- learning ministered only to the head, neglecting the body and the heart. It has been our controlling conviction that the modern public high school ought to serve those who will go directly from its portals onto the farm, into the management of a home, or into business life as well as those who may have money, time, inclination and ability for college, and above all, that it must somehow or other, by ministering to the moral needs as well as the physical and intellectual requirements of adolescent boys and girls, transform them into good citizens. The problem of moral education is difficult. Educators agree that formal instruction in ethics does not always function in right conduct. It is a saying that even the devil can quote Scripture. Indirect moral education is found to be most effective. History and literature may be made to contribute ideals and the experience of the scientific laboratory can be managed so as to inspire a respect for truth, but it is in the wise management of the extra-classroom student activities under able adviser- ship and leadership that the most effective moral education is possible-the most effective preparation for right conduct in the various situations and hu- man relationships of life. Education is experience under control. Out of the experiences of the human relationships ofyouth grows the character that determines the individual's conduct in after life. In pursuit of this second aim--to broaden the schoo1's range of service- we have secured considerable expenditures for additional equipment and physical improvement of the school plant. Two more teachers have been added to the corps. The curriculum has been extended by new courses in agriculture, domestic science, and commercial branches. An eight-period day, with complete provision for supervised study in drawing, commercial branches and the sciences, and for extra coaching in English, has replaced the old seven-period program. New sports, including boys' basketball, have been introduced. The boys' basketball teams have won the championship of the county for four consecutive years, and, indeed, have never been defeated, but we prize the sport chiefly for its tendency to generalize athletics. All- little and big-enjoy playing it. Physical culture for those who do not make or aspire to interscholastic teams has been fostered by the encouragement of inter-class matches and by the introduction of handball, which, although not recognized by the county league, is very popular for mere recreation. Extra-classroom student activities are fostered, encouraged, supervised, man- aged, directed and controlled through a definitely planned and responsible system of faculty advisership and leadership co-operating with a student- 7

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body organization with its subordinate committees, class-organizations, teams, etc., including the stafi' of the Tomahawk. The largest measure possi- ble of student self-government is accorded these organizations for the sake of the moral value of such experience, and the advisory rather than the super- visory relation of the faculty leader is regarded as being paramount. Our achievement of the third aim-to graduate as many as possible- which is a corollary of the first two, can be expressed in figures. If the pres- ent seniors all reach the goal, ninety-three will have graduated in the past four years as against only seventy-eight in the previous eight years, and in proportion to our average daily attendance of about one hundred, this is two and one-half times as many as have graduated from the average high school in the State at large, according to figures of the State Superintendent's Oiiice. This, in itself, is not essentially laudable if accomplished at a sacrifice of standards, and on this point we fortunately have further evidence. By their fruits shall ye know them. Of the seventy-three who graduated in the classes of '14, '15, and '16, forty-one fa number 25 per cent in excess of even the total number graduating from the average high school of this sizej were inspired with the purpose to go on to normal school or college, as follows: To Arcata 14, to Corvallis 8, to San Jose 6, to Berkeley 5, to Stanford 2, to Davis 2, to San Francisco Normal 1, to Affiliated Colleges 1, to College of Physicians and Surgeons 1, to St. Mary's 1-and all except two of these have made good and reflected high credit upon our school, as official reports in our possession from the several institutions show. President Van Matre says of the fourteen at Arcata Normal, I consider the graduates of Ferndale High School compare favorably with those of other high schools. Some of them have been exceedingly strong. Registrar Tennant of Corvallis, after reporting that the weighted average of the eight from Ferndale runs several per cent above the weighted average for all men students in the institution, says, On this basis you will see that these students have all made excellent records. President Dailey of San jose Normal writes, I am in receipt of your recent letter inquiring in regard to the comparative standing of your gradu- ates and those from other high schools. Then, after saying that he had looked up the records of our six very carefully and found them to be Capital C, he continues, In explanation of my statement I will say that a 'Capital C' has up to the present year represented our highest mark, and it therefore appears that your students have done credit to your high school and have compared very favorably with the graduates of other high schools. And according to the latest oliicial report of the Examiner of Schools of the University of California, Ferndale ranks first in general scholarship aver- age among the high schools of Humboldt County, her efficiency index figure for last year being 39 points above Eureka's, 10 above Fortuna's and 2 above Arcata's. While such have been the aims and achievements of the past four years, and while we are justly proud of our recent alumni, we would fain prolong this article not only to express, but to plead a wish on behalf of the earnest body of undergraduates now in the school, and others to come after, although it will not be the writer's personal privilege to have a part in the fruition of such a wish. It is our sincere wish that the needs and deserts of this worthy body of young people may become so well understood and appreciated in the community that the near future may witness the erection of a bungalow for domestic science and manual training, the enrichment of the curriculum with manual arts and music, and the extension of the community service of the school by regular provision for the encouragement of the Boys' Agricultural Club and the Girls' Home Economics Club. 2 A. G. GRANT. 8