Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

Page 19 text:

A TRIOLET The hillsides are green For springtime has come A bluebird is seen where The hillsides are green ; Over all lies a lush green sheen, Where pin points of flowers grow. The hillsides are green, For springtime has come. Charlotte Curtis, ’37. GRADUATION ESSAYS. Our Debt to Horace Mann by Margaret Hubbard N early one hundred years ago this evening, on June 30, 1837, Horace Mann, Speaker of the House of Representatives in Boston, ac- cepted the post of Secretary of the newly created Board of Education in Massachusetts. He held this po- sition for eleven short years and in that time accomplished deeds and instituted reforms which caused him to be gratefully remembered and honored to-day as America’s first pioneer in the cause of good public school education. Until 1837, the condition of the public schools in Massachusetts, al- though not actually appalling, was extremely poor when judged by our standards and rather low when judged by the standards of those times, especially when we realize that New England was even then considered the center of learning in the United States. The main obsta- cle to fair and liberal teaching was the narrowness, pettiness, and ig- norance of the teachers. Often they were so untrained and underpaid that they knew scarcely more than their pupils. Their textbooks were old, and their methods of teaching were often out of date. In addition. teachers at that time also, especial- ly in rural districts, though serving at a great sacrifice of money and social prestige, were scorned and looked down upon by members of other professions and by society in general. Such a condition obviously did not redound to the advantage of the pupils under their supervi- sion. The buildings, which constituted another source of offense in early nineteenth century education, were unventilated, unsafe, dirty, and al- most without light except for a few dingy windows. It is said that the floors of barns at that time were washed more frequently than those of schoolrooms. Furthermore, the management of the schools was en- tirely under the control of the local trustees who very often allowed their personal feelings, their greed for gain, and their narrow religious sectarianism to get the better of all good educational instincts. Everyone who could afford to sent his children to private schools. Those who were poor, of course, had to patronize public schools but looked upon them as a burden to be borne none too willingly. The chil- dren went because they had to, not because they were interested, for

Page 18 text:

to the high pitched peeping of his cohorts. “Move along, bud !” said the uni- formed officer. “You’ve been stand- in’ here too long.” The boy fumbled nervously for a cigarette as he pushed off through the crowd. Won- der if that frog was still there ? He must write and ask Mom. He had- n’t written for so long, and she’d be wondering! Gee, it would be swell to go home ! Priscilla Bailey, ’37. ijC TODAY I STOPPED Today I stopped and gazed about The paths I’ve trod before I never noticed until now What used to be a bore. Samuel Lombard, ’38. ❖ CRICKET’S CRIES All Crickets chirp : I wonder why? There must be reason Why they cry. But I must sleep. Let cries forego ! (They’re pleasant tunes To my mind though.) Samuel Lombard, ’38. I :5: ❖ ❖ If I had never known The whispering of the summer breeze Through slender swaying woodland trees Or meadows freshly mown. If I had chanced to miss The golden brilliance of autumn leaves. The moonlight shimmering through the trees. Or mornings sunny kiss. If I had never seen The snow-capped mountains’ hazy blue. Or violets jeweled bright with dew, Or a rippling stream. If I had never heard A roar of thunder from heaven above. The gentle cooing of a dove, Or a glad tuneful bird. Then would my soul be dead. No gladness heralding the day No beauty known along life’s way. My songs unsung, my prayer un- said. Ann Mansfield, ’39. :i: ijJ Hs PLOTTING I was reading Carlyle, But I fell to day-dreaming. Excellent his style — I was reading Carlyle, But a cloud used its guile. And all nature was scheming. I was reading Carlyle, But I fell to day-dreaming. Jj: WHITE SUNDAY Apple trees. Blush-pink against a delphinium sky; A honey-laden breeze. Apple trees. Small motors of bees. First flight of a yellow butterfly. Apple trees. Blush-pink against a delphinium sky. Priscilla Bailey, ’37. 16

Page 20 text:

at that time no one thought of in- teresting a child in his schoolwork ; it was merely drilled into him in large doses until he was big or old enough to go out and go to work. Therefore, when Horace Mann accepted his position as Secretary of the Board of Education, he ac- cepted with it the task of remedy- ing these conditions and meeting others like them. He realized the importance which education plays in the life of all people and especial- ly in the lives of those who belong to and make up a democracy. It was this idea which spurred him on to give up a good law ' prac- tice for a position paying less than $1500 a year; to sell a fine library and devote the proceeds to educa- tion ; to work, work, work until he had exhausted his strength, feeble at best, and then to rest only until he could once more stand on his feet, ready to continue his reforms. His first conviction was that there could be no good or fine teaching done until the teachers themselves were trained. He therefore went about the country, lecturing and campaigning in an effort to build up a public sentiment which would make possible a legislative appro- priation for the founding of a Nor- mal school. He gave lectures in every corner of the state, often hav- ing seven lectures a week, each in some remote spot. However, these efforts at first met with little inter- est. In this connection it is inter- esting and to the credit of Ipswich to note that he records in his Jour- nal in 1838: “I went to Ipswich and preached my preachment to a pret- ty full house.” In other places he remarks that in larger towns there were sometimes only ten listeners! At last, in 1839, the first of his dreams came true; the state legis- lature appropriated $10,000 to be put with $10,000 of private contri- butions for the purpose of erecting a Normal School. The place decid- ed upon was Lexington and the principal chosen was Rev. Cyrus Pierce. Such a school was indeed an innovation and at the time was regarded as a truly novel, if not unwise, experiment, for being a girls’ school, it ran up against all sorts of snags, from timid parents who were afraid to trust their daughters away from home, to Vic- torian moralists who frowned upon such procedures. The school pros- pered however, and soon two more were founded : one at Barre in 1838, and one at Bridgewater in 1839. Another means by which Horace Mann obtained support for his ideas was through his twelve annual re- ports to the Board of Education. The first met with considerable crit- icism, but as time went on, his ideas as formulated in these reports be- came more generally accepted. At present, the original documents are of inestimable worth, quite in keep- ing with the man who wrote them. It was at this time, about six years after he began his duties as Secre- tary of the Board of Education, that Horace Mann married again (his first wife having died two years af- ter their marriage in 1830). He sailed for Europe for a rest, but he did not relax even there, for with his unceasing quest after education- al improvement, he visited schools in all the European countries, and on his return published a report on the German manner of teaching 18