Hamilton High School - Hamiltonian Yearbook (South Hamilton, MA)

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The Hamiltonian 7 “STUDENT COUNCIL Readiru) from left to right: Hack row, William Kelisle, Gordon McCullock, Lawrence Lamson, Principal Roland V ' . Payne. Second row, Gordon Vaughn, Louise Moulton, George Sprague, Alice Maddern, Gordon McRae, Minnie Wetson. First row, Catherine Cracknell, Sec.; Robert Smith, Vice-Pres. ; Dorothy Greeley, Pres.; Kenneth McRae, Betty Ann Beal, William Smith. Student Council Report ' ' HE Student Council was organ- ized in September, 1934, and met on alternating Wednesdays throughout the school year. Each Junior high class had one representative, while the Senior high classes were allowed two represen- tatives in the council. After each meeting a report of the business was carried back to the classes by their representatives. This was done so that each member of the high school would know the discus- sions carried on during the meetings. A social committee was organized by the president which consisted of three members of the Student Coun- cil Board : L. Lamson, L. Moulton, and C. Cracknell. This committee had charge of regulating social ac- tivities of the high school. The members of the council wish to express their appreciation to, the officers for having carried out their duties so successfully. — C. Cracknell.

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6 The Hamiltonian into a school for the education of boys. Phillips Academ - was established in Andover in 1778, and numerous others soon followed. By 1826 there were twenty-six incorporated academies in the state, d ' here was a fjood deal of competition between hijjh schools and academies because both trained students preparinff for college in Latin and Greek. After the Civi 1 War, when the public high school’s popularitv was intensified, the academies’ pace of pro- gress slackened. In 1839 the first state normal school was established in Lexington, Massachu- setts but it eventually failed because of lack of financial support ; three others were opened within the next few years. A tre- mendous fight for the maintaining of these tax-supported normal schools was waged in the state legislature. Horace M ann and other leaders of universal education finalh won and, by this victory, one of the worst set-backs in educational progress was avoided because it was tbrougb these nor- mal schools that Horace .Mann spread his plans for education. After the Revival of Education in the nineteenth century, a great improvement was stimulated in public education by the opening of public schools to girls as well as boys, the classification of schools into primary, grammar, and high school divisions, compulsory attendance, the introduction of manual training in schools, authorization by the state for establishing industrial schools, and the introduction of home economics in high school. Besides our great system of elementary and high schools, iMassachusetts has scores of higher institutions of learning in her manv colleges and universities. I here is the Massachusetts Agricultural College ( now M assachusetts State College) which was founded in 1821 for the completion of courses in agricidture. Massachusetts has no state university although some educa- tional leader claim that the Massachusetts State Agricultural College should be rated as such. State normal schools have grad- uallv advanced their educational standards until they have earned from the Massa- chusetts legislature the title of State Col- leges. d ' hese institutions were at first free to pupils but now a nominal tuition fee is charged. (jiadually and steadilv has the Massa- chusetts educational system improved until it is now one of the finest in the country. We now have well ventilated, well lighted, and well equipped buildings. Be- sides regular classrooms, buildings are pro- vided with gymnasiums, playgrounds, and well equipped manual-training and home- economics rooms. By the law requiring the provision of free textbooks, careful attention and supervision of our textbooks is exercised by the state to see that proper and modern texts are used. In our high schools, there are college courses preparing pupils for entrance to higher scholastic institutions, commercial courses preparing girls and boys to take their part in the world of commerce, as well as the general courses. Then too, we have trade courses in many of our schools today where pupils, not inclined to the scholastic type of work, ma}’ learn a trade or some art in the well equipped trade divisions. Every student should know thoroughly the construction and use of his language; therefore, the state of Massa- chusetts has required Ivnglish to be taugbt in all its schools. As it is desirable to have all students know the general history of their country. United States History is now also a required subject. The authori- ties of education in .Massachusetts have recently recognized the need of physical development and exercise for the students — for if the body is not well the mind can- not function properly. As a result, physical education is now required in all schools. ' Ehe state also supervises the health of students by having school clinics, school nurses, and physical examinations of pupils at stated intervals, d ' he student’s appre- ciation of Classical Arts is developed bv having elective subjects such as M usic Ap- pr eciation, Drawing, Art Appreciation, and .Mythology. 1 hen there are the extra-curricula ac- ti ities. In many schools, clubs are organ- ized under the supervision of teachers for the widening of the general knowledge of the pupil. There are the school get- togethers” such as the Junior Promenades, Senior Receptions, and the general social activities which tend to increase good feel- ing, cooperation and sociability among the (Continued on page 22)

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8 The Hamiltonian Horace Mann T onight wc shall receive our diplomas, •symbols of our having arrived at the goal to which we have been striving through our years in the Hamilton schools. Such an achievement is due, to a great extent, to the untiring efforts of Horace -Mann in the interest of education in the U nited States and particularly in the com- monwealth of Massachusetts. d ' he history of education in the United States during the first half of the 19th cen- tury is chiefly a series of biographies of a few leaders laboring in the behalf of the nation’s posterity and its education. As is generally the case, these leaders were laughed at and condemned as impractical dreamers, d he most prominent, and recog- nized as chief among them all because of his actual achievements and the extent of his influence, is Horace Mann. This great educator was born in Frank- lin, .Massachusetts, in 1796, of poverty- stricken and poorly educated parents but ones who possessed sterling characters and imparted to their children high ideals and habits of industrv. .M ann received ver ’ little education as a outh except for the preliminaries then available in the meager district schools; but the superiority of his mental gifts and his commendable character, was revealed in his determination to attain an education. After many bo hood privations, he worked hard under the able tutelage of a college preparatory teacher and entered Brown University at the age of twent . He was a brilliant student throughout his scholastic career and was graduated at the head of his class. All his youth, he was in- flamed with the desire to aid mankind and to instill in all citizens the longing for ed ucation. After his graduation in IS 19 and having passed the .Ma ssachusetts’ bar examinations, he entered a law office where he practised successfully approximately fourteen tears, until he embarked on his career as an edu- cator. He had extraordinary success in the law profession probably due to his natural abilities and the scrupulous care with which he prepared and tried his cases. He always lived by the inflexible rule, “Never to un- dertake any cause which you do not be- lieve right.’’ ffaving proved his capabilities as a public speaker and a statesman, con- cerned with the interests of the common people, he was elected to the .Massachusetts State Legislature; first in the House, then in the Senate, and, as president of the latter body, he signed the epoch-making educa- tion bill which became a law, providing for a State Hoard of Education. Ehis board was to consist of the governor, lieutenant governor, and eight citizens to be appointed by the former. It impowered the board to appoint a secretary to make annual reports to the State Legislature. Horace Mann was selected as its first secretary in which position he served for twelve years with effectiveness and distinc- tion. He considered the new position one of importance and value and one in which he could devote himself to the welfare of man- kind, namely the education of the youth of the land. After accepting the post, he gave up his law books and office and abandoned the legal profession. He saw in this secre- taryship a means by which he could appease that burning desire of his to benefit humani- ty, and to render wide and conspicuous service to the cause of education in this country. ' I ' hat Horace .Mann should aban- don his profession at forty-one years of age to accept the secretaryship of the nascent Hoard of Education proves that his yearn- ing to develop and promote education was the uppermost objective of his life. Ehe educational situation confronting the new secretarv offered ample scope for his many talents. It was extremely neces- sary to arouse popular enthusiasm for edu- cation and, with this purpose in mind, he organized annual conventions in ever ’ county for school teachers, officials, and the public. At first these conventions proved to be of no especial interest but they did help to educate public opinion to some extent. .Mann made out annual reports to the state which were the most effective instru- ments in reaching and influencing the pub- lic in education. ’Ehe first year he inaugu- rated meetings for the teachers of Boston where lectures were delivered and discus-