Illinois Institute of Technology - Integral / Lewis Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Editorial Lewis Annual 1909 The Co-operative Course at Lewis Some four years ago, Mr. Thomas Kane, one of the trustees of Lewis Institute, called the attention of the student body to the value of combining theory and practice in technical education. Mr. Kane conceived the ideal course to be like a box of sliced bacon-first a slice of fat, ,then a slice of lean. Practical engineers and practical educators agree with Mr. Kane as to the value of such a course, but the obstacles to be overcome in its application have made it seem almost an impossibility. The best technical schools in the coun- try cannot give the day student the desired amount of actual practice under shop conditions. On the other hand, the night student in the same institution, who works all day, studies in the evening when he is tired out, with the result that he is long on practice and short on theory. Professor Schneider, of the University of Cincinnati, realized this situation, and set about to solve the problem involved. I-Ie conceived the co-operative plan of instruction, and after many rebuffs, had an opportunity to try it out at the University. The plan was successful, and the course proved much more profitable to both the students and the school than Professor Schneider had hoped. Lewis Institute was not slow in seeing the advantages offered by Schneider's plan, and its first class in the co-operative course was started January 4, 1909. The Institute gives these boys a course in mechanic arts, and the employers give them an apprenticeship. The employers hire the boys in pairs, so that they can attend school every other week, alternating with their work in the shop. The shop suffers little inconvenience by this plan, for one apprentice of the pair is always at work while the other is at study. On Saturday the boy who has been in school all week reports at the shop, and gets acquainted with the line of work being done, so that he may take up his work for the follow- ing week without a hitch. His employer pays him five dollars a week for every week he works in the shop, and also pays his tuition fee of fifty dollars a year. The advantages offered by the co-operative course are many. In the first place, nowhere else can such an education be had and the student paid over 31,000 while taking it. Nowhere else can the student pursue his studies and at the same time be in the line of promotion in the shop. The student goes in with an earnest desire to do something, for he knows that if he fails in school he loses his job, if he fails at his work he loses his educational chance. The co-operative course seems destined to become an important feature of the work of American technical schools. Lewis Institute has grasped the significance of the new plan, it was the second school in the country to under- take co-operative instruction. We feel safe in predicting that within the space of a few years this course will be a vital part of the curriculum of every real technical school. 27

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Editorial Lewis Annual 1909 Those Whom We H01101' Three times within four months the students of Lewis Institute have been called together to pay honor to the departed. Monday, February 8, we cele- brated the centennial of Lincoln's birth, Monday, Apfil 5, 3 memilfial SCTWC9 was held for joseph Hora, and Monday, May 3, the fu116TH1 Of MT- MHH11 fOOk place from the Institute. At the Lincoln centennial service judge Christian C. Kohlsaat, judge William H. Seaman, and General Smith D. Atkin, recalled incidents from the life of Lincoln, and paid tribute to the high ideals in Amer- ican citizenship for which he stood. General Atkin was once candidate for state's attorney of Sangamon county, on the same ticket with Mr. Lincoln. The beautiful service heldin memory of Joseph Hora left a lasting impres- sion on faculty and students. Mr. Hora firstientered Lewis in igoo as a student, and later came back to the Institute as an instructor. He was a good student, a clean athleteg a man of civic pride 5 a true friend, a Christian gentleman. Miss jane Addams, Mr. Henry Thurston, Mr. Edward Burton DeGroot, Mr. Craig Hazelwood, and Mr. Arthur Scott, spoke at the service. It was not easy for Lewis to part with Mr. Mann. He was a great student, and a great friend of students. He gave the most fruitful years of his life to the Institute, and his work among us was of a nature that will endure. Mr. Mann was especially skillful in adjusting little matters of difficulty between the students, and he endeared himself to all -by his equitable and just decisions. Judge Kohlsaat, speaking for the board of managers, paid a tribute to his good work. John Smale read the scripture lesson and made the prayer. Director Carman told of his intimate relations with Mr. Mann, and of the loss the Insti- tute had sustained in his death. 26 ...as-4. WN, 2 T l 1

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Acknowledgments The thanks of the Annual are extended to Director Carman, for his Will- ing assistance in many Ways, to Dr. Lewis, Mr. Kohlsaat, and Mr. Owen, for criticism and advice gladly given, to Miss Blanke, Mr. Victor Sherman, Mr. David Campbell, Mr. Harold Bannister, and many others, for the decoration of this bookg to our subscription department, for its good Workg to the faculty, and to the student body in general, for their support and cooperation. 28