Kemper Military School - Yearbook (Boonville, MO)

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Public Speaking Growing attention is being given to public speaking. This matter is not left to the inefficiency of literary societies, but is taken up as a regular part of class instruction. Numerous debates are held in the English and history classes, not to mention the inter-class debates and several debates with other schools. The members of the graduating class are required to speak several times before the school on timely subjects. Several public entertainments are given during the year in which as many cadets are given a part as possible. Extemporaneous, im- promptu and set speeches and declamations form a part of the regular instruction in the English classes. Miscellaneous Subjects Un the ground that while it is no particular credit to be a good speller, it is a great discredit to be a poor speller, ten minutes of every day is devoted to a written test in spelling required of every cadet. Old-fashioned spelling matches are occasionally held. There are several classes in penmanship for the younger boys and for others that desire the work- compulsory for all that are deficient in the art. Captain Bates has aroused considerable interest in the subject and has developed a large number of very excellent penmen. Realizing the beneficial effects of singing, and the pleasure most boys find in singing good school, popular, and sacred songs, the morning exercises are usually begun with singing. As seen in the outline of the English work given below, a great deal of en- couragement is given to the reading of good books and magazines. No such reading is allowed during school hours, but at odd times during the day and from 9 to 10 in the evening there is opportunity for the boys to cultivate and gratify a taste for good, wholesome reading. On Sunday evening there is a reading period for those who do not prefer to go to church. Only the best books and magazines are allowed. Every boy has at Ions! oncformal TC'Cl'flZfI.07Z a week in Current Events. S unclay ancl Monday The School is divided into Bible classes, which meet with the teachers Sunday morning for half an hour, after spending .three-quarters of an hour in preparation. The Bible is studied from the standpoint of history, literature, and morality, and with no intention of impressing the tenets of any par- ticular creed on the minds of the page twelve Cldff RUOI11

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boy may at first think it a bit strenuous, but he soon learns the invaluable lesson that duties are to be performed and performed on time. The really energetic and ambitious boy realizes that it offers him a rare opportunity for advancement, for the idlers do not hold him back. The excellence of the system is attested by the fact that our scholarship winners are frequently boys that have done poorly in high school. When a boy has the right stuff in him he is willing and anxious to be held to a high standard. Small Classes A powerful contributor to good individual work is the small size of the classes. This year they have averaged ten. Large classes, with the consequent lack of attention to the individual student and his peculiarities and needs, are not to be found here. With small classes we are able to find the needs of every boy and meet them. The recitation periods are forty minutes long, laboratory, typewriting, and manual training periods are eighty. Study Hall The average boy while preparing his lessons needs a good deal of attention in the way of assistance, encouragement. and supervision, for this reason he is required to prepare his lessons in the study hall during the day and the evening under the direction of a teacher. Absolute order, perfect quiet, and strict atten- tion to lessons are required and maintained. Long experience has shown here and elsewhere that this system is preferable to any other. The only boys allowed to study in their rooms are from thirty to forty each week who stand highest in scholar- ship and deportment. , l Two Views in Large Study Hall l l page eleven

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students. Church attendance Sunday morning is required. Cadets that are members of churches go to their own church. Sunday afternoon every boy is required to write a letter home. The contents are not examined, the letter being entirely private in its nature, and the School supervising the matter merely enough to know that the letter is written and mailed. This is entirely apart from the class work in letter writing and com- position, which is a school exercise, carefully revised and frequently re-written. Monday morning is given over to the Military Department for reviews, inspections, target practice, etc. Monday afternoon is a holiday. High Standing as a Preparatory School This school is a member of nine years' standing in the North Central Associa- tion of Colleges and Secondary Schools. This entitles our graduates to enter any college or university in the Middle West without examination. Membership in the association is a stamp of genuine merit. It is conferred only on schools that have a large force of capable teachers that are specially prepared for their line of work, classes that are reasonably small, a good scholastic atmosphere, which insures much study and real accomplishment, work that meets with the hearty approval of the inspector, and a good record made and maintained by graduates that go to college. Kemper is also fully approved and heartily recom- mended by the University of Missouri. The fact that Kemper constantly main- tains the high standards of scholarship required by these two institutions is a guarantee of excellence. No other military school in Missouri equals its record in this respect. Kemper now has over thirty graduates in Cornell, Dartmouth, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Michigan, Texas, Rensselaer, and other leading colleges and universities. Much of the success of the year may be attributed to the fact that the faculty, with the exception of the Superintendent, are young men, in the prime of health and vigor, exemplifying the adage, An old head and young members. All are college men, and are specially trained for their work. Being young, they under- stand boysfa condition which must exist. . x 2 - f s. page thirteen