Francis W Parker School - Record Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Almost every year some pupils in the high school ask why Parker does not include an elementary course in psychology in its curriculum. We suggest to those interested that the daily Morning Exercise is one of the best laboratories that one could find for observing growing and developing minds. It is fascinating to watch and try to analyze the basic human elements which make an assembly good or poor, successful or a failure from the point of view of the pupils concerned. Perhaps examining Morning Exercise from this angle might relieve it from boredom. Obviously a uniformly high level of exercises cannot be expected in a large group ranging so greatly in age and it is for this reason that the school separates into smaller units several mornings in each week but from a social and psychological point of view one can learn quite as much from a poor exercise as from a good one. In the limited space allotted me annually for comment, neither the educational benefits of the Morning Exercise nor their chief shortcomings can be adequately set forth. Therefore Isuggest that next year a group of high school pupils voluntarily appoint a committee to study this whole question. They would have their own experience as a background and the faculty would gladly co-operate with them. They would also have at their disposal Volume II of the school's published Studies in Education, Morning Exercise as a Socializing Influence. This pamphlet presents the history of the Morning Exercise in our school and gives a full statement of its purposes and values. We believe that through such a study a committee could contribute something of great value and the outcome of such a study would be seriously considered. If the ,committee proved that there is a better way to conserve the practical values of the Morning Exercise it could and would be replaced by a new plan. It may be enlightening to add here a bit of data on Morning Exercises from our alumni group. A few years ago a questionnaire was sent out to all members of the Alumni Association asking their counsel as to what in their Parker School education, reviewed in the light of their experiences in college and later, should be retained and what might profitably be eliminated or radically improved. To our surprise the Morning Exercise topped the entire list in alumni approval of features which the school should retain. There were one hundred and ninety-one responses with comments upon Morning Exercise and only two of these even questioned its educational value. One said she thought it over-rated and one said that it had not seemed important. Forty-nine in one way or another expressed appreciation for its part in developing poise and self- confidenceng forty-two rated it splendid as training for public speaking and for civic and club workg twenty-eight said it had proved of great help to them in college. Others mentioned its importance in developing a co-operative spirit , in unifying the schoolg in broadening one's scope of interest, in increasing appreciation of the individual gifts and fostering toleration for differing points of view. One or two classed it as the best and most unique Parker experience. One boy epitomized the attitude of several when he said, Parker would not be the Parker I love and appreciate without its Morning Exercise. FLORA J. Cooxn THE SCHOOL AND THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION The Parker Alumni Association was originally formed to b1'ing together the one-time students and so to preserve the memories and traditions of the school. As it grows older, however, the Association continues to store up potential energy in strength of numbers and richness of human experience. Already it can put forth enough man- power and woman-power and brain power to be of real assistance to the Parker School should ever the need arise. Now the administration has two very pressing needs. The first need is for accurate knowledge of each Parkeriteis abilities, achievements, and conduct after leaving school. Without that knowledge Miss Cooke and Mr. Osborne and the faculty can but guess and hope that they are teaching the most useful subjects in the most effective manner, but they can never be sure. Three years ago the Association tried to help the School gain this information by sending out a questionnaire. Unfortunately many of us did not take this questionnaire very seriously and the returns were insufficient to be used as the basis for a critical analysis of Parker's success or short-comings. Now the Association plans to send out the questionnaire again and will continue to send out a supplementary one every three Seventeen 'V THE PARKER RECORD 1 9 3 2

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C THE PARKER RECORD 193 2 Irna V. Kuellmar Mrs. MabelQ. Mercer William F. Meyer Barbara Stuebig In Charge of Secretary lo Priuripal School Prinlcr Assistant Srbool Slove Secretarial Work MORNING EXERCISE-A PARKER SCHOOL TRADITION What are its major purposes and should it be continued in the daily schedule of the school? Nothing in a school founded to carry out the educational theories of Colonel Parker could be static or arbitrarily fixed in the school program. Everything must justify its existence and its right to permanency by proving itself worthwhile to the pupils of the school. The Morning Exercise is no exception to this rule. Recently there have been indications in the school paper and elsewhere that a group of high school students are discontented with the Morning Exercise programs and with the regulations and obliga- tions connected with it. Finding fault is easy and contagious but honest dissatisfaction deserves attention, and frankly facing faults and facts is a constructive act and a wholly necessary step to radical improvement or change. Not long ago a group of high school people were discussing Morning Exercise. One boy complained that he was rarely amused : another boy added that to him few exercises were really entertaining, and the majority were not at all interesting. He could not see why the school should expect anything but restlessness and indifference under such circumstances. On the other hand, several people in the group admitted that they liked to take part in the exercises because they saw real value in that experience, and these volunteered that they realized that almost everyone responsible for an exercise gained something from it because of the careful preparation and the efforts to make the program worthwhile and enjoyable to the audience. One girl stated, however, that she doubted whether any exercise given by children younger than high school age could be anything but boring to the high school. She thought that all exercises should be divided, but others in the group felt that the exercises given by the younger children were the only ones that were any fun. Indeed there seemed to be little accord on any point except that all enthus- iastically agreed that if we could have an Einstein frequently, or a Will Durant, every- one would be glad to attend and the attention would be perfect and given voluntarily. No one in this group seemed to sense that a small school like ours could hardly expect to Corral geniuses and have busy men of power come to speak to them ufrequentlyf' nor did anyone point out how unusually fortunate in this respect our school has always been. The'whole attitude of this group was entirely self-centered. We are aware that Morning Exercise, like everything else, has its ardent defenders among the pupils, but it seems that a large majority at present accepts the assembly as a matter of course with- out much conviction one way or another, though it is obvious if it is to continue it should have the understanding support of the whole school. The Morning Exercise period uses only one little half hour of the day which has been set apart for it and it seems fair to ask every member of the school to assume his share of responsibility for the success of each day's program. I-Ie is asked, for this short period, to place his own more self-centered impulses and desires in the background since for all the rest of the day teachers and pupils alike consider the needs of individuals of their own grade or age level. The Morning Exercise is the social center of the community, the common meeting place of the entire school where each is asked to bring his most worthwhile experiences in the best form at his command. Each one is expected to share sympathetically in the ideas, talents, and interests of the others. The younger pupils gain much more than information from the older ones. They receive inspiration of high social quality as they observe older pupils presenting exercises for the common good which have cost much time and effort. Sixteen

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FC be THE PARKER RECORD 1 93 2 years, because there will ever be new' graduates added to our numbers and because the experience of the older graduates will ever be changing and broadening. Please, all of you who receive a questionnaire, answer it promptly, no matter whether or not you have answered one previously. You will spend but little of your individual time and energy on the printed form, but in the aggregate your replies will be invalu- able to the sc.hool administration, for our post-graduate experience is the only true and absolute gauge of Parker's educational policies. But the greatest need of Parker is a plan for the future based on a sound and perma- nent structure. The situation is both complex and pressing. In this matter, too, the Alumni Association may find a splendid opportunity to be of real service to the school, not only in assisting in the proper financing methods, but also by furnishing with the aid of the school administration a definite plan of procedure and a carefully thought-out scheme for future development. Such a plan would require long and very earnest thought by the best minds of the School and the Alumni Association. But no one who is familiar with the long list of Parker graduates who have brilliant achievements in organization, financing, and education, can doubt that the talent and energy to formu- late such a plan and to put it into operation can. be found. If this can be done the Association will not only have justified its existence to itself, but it will have proved itself of worth to the school which gave it birth. TYLER GASRILL PRICE, '14 PARENTS ASSOCIATION OF THE FRANCIS W. PARKER SCHOOL At all times there have been a great many people who have thought of Parent- Teachers Associations as an unnecessary evil-this opinion being held by some parents as well as by some teachers. Parents believed that the teacher's place in relation to the chilcl should be exclusively in the school, and the teachers felt that the parents' relation to the child should be confined to the home. The prerogatives of the parent, the teacher, and the child supplied a favorite theme in many discussions regarding the activities of the Parents Association, as though the education of the child could be best advanced through fields of influence, sharply cir- cumscribed by the word prerogative Happily for the benefit of the child, progressive education as exemplified at the Francis W. Parker School supplemented these notions with the better and more helpful ideas of coordination and cooperation. The activities of the Parents Association, as developed at the Francis W. Parker School, are a distinctive contribution to the progressive education movement. Through the activities of this Association, parents have been kept acquainted with the ideals of the school and the aim of the movement in progressive education for a better and more scientific understanding of the child is being accomplished. The first meeting of the year was held on the evening of October 19, having as its social purpose the getting together and welcoming of new parents into the school com- munity. A unique feature of the evening's program was a showing of the International Harvester film, portraying the invention of the first reaper a century ago and its evolu- tion into the present complicated harvester. The method of presentation, which included an appropriate musical accompaniment, as well as the subject of the picture, proved to bc of exceptional interest to the audience. Mr. Carlton W. Washburn followed, on the evening of November 23, with a lecture on Educational Aims Around the World, and Dr. Henry Neumann, well-known edu- cator and leader of the Ethical Culture Society of Brooklyn, New York, on the evening of March 11, with a lecture on Education for a Changing Civilization. The speaker's having a background of wide experience as educators treated their subjects in an intel- lecrual and interesting manner and the parents found them exceptionally stimulating and thought-provoking. As the Parents Association has become such a necessary and vital part of the activ- ities of the Francis W. Parker School, it is hoped that all parents will continue to support thc Association actively. CHARLES A. BETHGE, President E ighfecn