Illinois State Normal University - Index Yearbook (Normal, IL)

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The Index, 1906 Retrospect and Prospect. The lllinois State Normal University is about to enter on its hftieth year. Its past is rich in tradition, glorious in achieve- ment. Great teachers presided in its class rooms, its students went forth filled with high resolve. From Boston to the Golden Gate they have made a profound impress upon the educational thought and practice of the age. Change is the law of life. Educational institutions of the most venerable antiquity retain their prestige and their reputa- tion only as they respond to the instant needs of the humanity they serve. Hence the most worthy tribute we can pay to the virtues of the great souls of other days is not to copy after their prac- tice, but rather to press forward with their spirit. W7 e honor them not by dofng as they did, but by doing as they would do now. The last Eve years have seen much in the way of material advance. The annual appropriation for running expenses has risen from S3Q,5OO to 9E61,300, the monthly payroll from 33,- 250 to 34,280 The buildings have been improved and adorned, new equipment and apparatus purchased, the grounds beauti- lied with shrubs, vines, and flowers. The attendance in the regular terms is 21 per cent less than in 1900-01 3 but the low point was reached two years ago. The enrollment of the present term is Q5 larger than in May, 1904. The summer school has shown an astonishing growth from 444 in 1900 to 916 in 1905. For the summer of 1906 twenty- one additional teachers are employed. But mere expansion in number and resources is not the growth to be sought for. Quantity and quality are both factors of the final product, and in twentieth century education quality is to have the leading place. The old normal school made its reputation on the thoroness of its instruction in the common branches. Little else was taught in the common schools forty years ago, Now the field of education has wideiied, f,XX2e-Qseiigl Vf

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The Index, 1906 the whole boy to school. Forms of training that formerly were left to farm-life, to the play ground, to the incidental lessons of experience now are given a place in the school curriculum. Recent changes in the normal school have been chiefly in adjustment to these new demands. The required work in physical training has been trebled and systeniatized. Manual training introduced two years ago in the form of bench work suitable for grammar grades has ex- panded until the courses taught may cover three years of con- secutive work. Nature study as related to the science of agri- culture is growing alike in scope and popularity. The school garden and the greenhouse are proving valuable adjuncts in this work. Geography at the hands of Mr. Ridgley is taking on new interest. The thousands of stereographs now available in his department, the daily use of the stereopticon have brought freshness and a new reality to this subject. A new emphasis has been placed upon public speaking by the appointment of a special teacher in this held. Teachers ought to be leaders in the civic and social life of their communities as well as in the narrower educational interests. Effective leadership waits upon forceful speech. The decision of the Supreme Court adverse to the present union of our training school with the local public system has obliged us to reorganize that department. 'We shall provide a complete graded school system from the kindergarten thru the high school. There will be ample means to make it a model school in every detail of its equipment. Wfe regard this neces- sity as in some respects unfortunate. It would be better for the town to have a unified school system. VVith the material re- sources and stimulus that the normal school could bring to its aid, there would be a fair field for the realization of the ide-al public school system. The success of the plan was doubtful in the face of the extensive local dissatisfaction, now it is declared impossible. The lines of future advance are plain. First we need a new building tot give ample space for physics and chemistry, bench iworkf, film-::1'i'y ghand work, domestic art, household economics, e ff! 4 'v e 'v . 5 to 9 o O 5 IW Y 5 '- 1 J