Jeannette High School - Jayhawk Yearbook (Jeannette, PA)

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8 i g i 6 YEAR BOOK H. B. SAUL, A. B., Principal and History

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j g i 6 YEAR BOOK 7 Aims and Ideals IN' these days of educational unrest it is well to define a general policy. There is little disagreement regarding the best practice for primary and intermediate grades, but the organization of the grammar and High schools is under discussion throughout the land. (ienerally speaking there is one great principle involved, and this is the struggle between social and state efficiency versus the liberty and opportunity of the individual. Since its beginning, America has been known as The Land of the Free,” a land where society is not stratified into rigid class divisions, where the son of the humblest citizen max rise to the highest position of preferment in the land. e are, as a people, rather proud of this fact and our schools have aimed to give a common culture to all children, in order that every child might have an equal chance to rise to any | osition to which hi'' ambition and energy might carry him. But lately we have been much disturbed by the doctrine of social and,state efficiency, a doctrine which is a product in large measure of k form of government existing in Kurope, and radically different from our own. We are much impressesd with the economic results which this efficiency has secured, and some reformers are urging that we adapt our schools to this new system of things. To have this type of efficiency the children must be trained early in a definite vocation, This early choice of vocation must limit the freedom of the individual to choose his life work in the light of his native ability, for few children at the age of twelve years are capable of forming a correct estimate of vocational v alues, nor are thev sufficiently developed that others may wisely direct them. Nearly all of the educational unrest centers about this struggle between individual freedom and group efficiency. There is one safe and consistent course to pursue. W e must liberalize and broaden our course of study and adapt it to vocational needs of boys and girls only so far as such a course of procedure will not rob them of the cherished American privilege of working out their life’s destiny in their own way. These changes will be made just as soon as suitable room is pr vided for the administration of these much needed studies. And! sv in the c; nfusion f educational counsels, our aim is to follow the ldcn n can, to set a high standard along lines that are tried and aj proved, to be ready at any time to discard anything in education that has outlived its usefulness and to welcome anything that will i ake richer and happier the lives of our boys and girls. K. W. LONG.

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i 916 Y EAR BOOK 9 The High School The American High School, in which are enrolled over one and one-fourth million pupils every year, is the institution of Secondary education in our great country of freedom. The High School itself reflects the democratic principles of our government, for it is a democratic institution in which the educational watchword is: equal opportunity for all the children of all the people. It is, therefore, in a position to render directly a wide and general social service. Our ideals of the true social service are shifting from the vague, general, externally imposed standards of mental discipline and college preparation to those translatable into- twentieth-century individual and social demands: a sane mind in a sound body; the ability to use the intellect upon the problems of ordinary social, civic, and commercial life. These demands are insistent and our High Schools must meet them if they are to fulfill their purpose and function in the everyday life activities of the boys and girls, as the vast majority are unable to acquire no further training for their life work. A word as to how the modern High School may satisfy these demands of society. The first essential in producing any product is first to have an adequate equipment with which to produce finished goods. The equipment, then, of the school plant is the first requisite. From every point of view, existing High Schools present interesting and varying degrees of approximation to an ideal. The poorest equipped High School we have is surely the one or two-teacher High School in a rural community. Aside from the teacher and a few books there is nothing worth mentioning in its equipment. Above this meagerly equipped school plant we have varying degrees of proficiency in equipment until we come near the ideal in the new Washington Irving High School in New York City, which was erected at a cost of one and one-quarter million dollars, and is acknowledged by experts to be the finest public school building ever erected. It is an eight-story structure and occupies half of a city block. Some of the interesting features are: Seven-room apartment for study of domestic science, cages for animals to be borrowed from the Zoological Park, bookbinding plant, four gymnasiums with shower baths, typewriting classroom with cco typewriting machines, etc., besides every modern appliance and equipment to be found in any part of the world has been obtained for the school. The latter High School may satisfy our social demands completely. Our High School claims a successful year's work, but with a more complete equipment it could claim a larger success, a better finished product. It has Literary societies, orchestra and athletics as socializing factors, but is in need of many more and better facilities to fulfill its social demands completely, H, 13, SAUL,