Kutztown University - Keystonia Yearbook (Kutztown, PA)

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FRANCIS B. HAAS Pd.D., LL.D. Superintendent of Public Instruction y. His Excellency GEORGE M. LEADER Governor of Pennsylvania HENRY KLONOWER Pd.D., K.F.A., LL.D. Director of Teacher Education and Certification

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Greetings from The General Alumni Association The Alumni Association expresses hearty sympathy in the joys and hopes of the members of the Class of 1955, and welcome each one into the teaching profession. The school is a spiritual creation, not a material thing. It does not cease to exist in vacation time, nor is it destroyed when a schoolhouse burns down, or crumbles into ruins. Pupils and teachers come and go, taxpayers die, patrons move away, school officials constantly change, yet the school survives. The real school is a fundamental principle embodied in an institution. This principle is the cooperation of all the forces of the community for the systematic training and education of all the children. The best schools are found where the State, the local school officials, the taxpayers, the parents, the pupils, and the teachers all work together harmoni- ously and effectively to accomplish the aims for which the schools exist—the education of children. The teacher, who is on the firing line where teaching takes place, is the all important person. The teacher develops the spirit of the school. It is sometimes said that no one can steal one's education. This is true only after one has acquired that education. But there are many agencies that may steal the child's education by preventing him from grasping that oppor- tunity or by removing the opportunity. Anyone who removes needed educational facilities or who fails to provide adequate facilities is guilty of robbing the child of the opportunity to acquire an education. No one should be willing to close the door of education to children. Rather, as Daniel Webster said, Open the doors of the school houses to all the children of the land. The best public relations come from happy and satisfied pupils. The teacher is the very heart of a good teaching program, and is en- couraged to develop and maintain cordial relations with the parents and the community. Cordial relations don't just happen, they have to be cultivated. When the child takes home a cordial invitation to his parents and friends to attend some school activity, they respond by their presence and become boosters of the school. Invite the cooperation of citizens in educational activities and en- deavors. Cooperation is basic to the principle of public education. School officials, taxpayers, parents, and pupils have work to do. If they neglect their duties, no teacher can entirely overcome all the deficiencies. However, the teacher says, I am here to help the child to come to the best there is in himself, he being what he is. Teachers of today believe that the schools are made for the chil- dren. In the name of the Association may I wish you God Speed and abundant success as teachers. Sincerely, CHARLES F. SEIDEL, President of the Alumni Assoc.

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President’s Message to the Class of 1955 A teachers college receives its students at a point in their lives when, by natural processes of maturation and by developmental influences of social institutions, their characters have al- ready been largely formed. At the same time and for the same reasons, they are becoming capable of academic and professional activity. More importantly, they are able to think for themselves, to inquire rather than merely to learn. Without assuming that no other processes of change are going on in its students or that their professional activities are entirely self-contained and unaffected by their characters and by practical problems of career, love, and status, the teachers college may well direct its whole program to foster the poised professional growth of its students. This function is all-inclusive, but it has two basic limitations: (1) the intellectual nature of an individual is not the whole per- son and (2) formal educational processes cannot wholly occupy the developing capacities of the prospective teacher. The objectives of all activities in a teachers college focus on the development of analyti- cal and critical thinking and on conduct supplemented by significant student teaching experi- ences. This pattern of pre-service education enables the student to evaluate for himself the contributions of putative experts, creative thinkers, and artists, as well as all types of imposters. The teacher educated in this manner is not supposed to be an expert, a purist, or a creative artist; he is rather at this point in his career a person able to profit from the contributions of those who possess expertness, creative genius, character, and culture. He is a cultivated ama- teur in the arts, an intelligent layman in the sciences, an independently minded citizen in poli- tics, and an intelligent participant in the processes of our social order. To achieve these outcomes in the graduates of a professional teacher education institu- tion, the educational pattern embodies not merely imparting masses of information and ac- cepted theories, but a carefully calculated selection and arrangement of experiences appro- priate to the curriculum pur- sued by the prospective teach- er. The use of these materials on a post-secondary school level involves comprehensive treatment and is by no means simple. In the earlier stages they are dealt with directly to introduce the students to art, literature, mathematics, and science; as well as, the sciences related to man and society. In latter stages, on the base so provided, it is ap- propriate to raise questions about the kinds and nature of principles, processes, and practices. From the Pisgah of the practicum in their senior year, students attain the per- spectives to ask questions. They are then doing student teaching, and their questions are neither a priori nor vicarious; they are immediate. Their questions assume the character of the title of Schweitzer s immortal book, OUT OF MY LIFE AND WORK. These questions, formulated not as ummate philosophical problems, with which even seniors cannot deal, but as alternative spe- ci ica ions an proposals in answer to questions which challenge them, enrich and complete their capacity to make responsible judgments. T e Class of 1955 has been privileged to acquire this capacity to make responsible judg- ments as prospective teachers at this state teachers college. The grant of the baccalaureate de- gr e o e ommonwealth of Pennsylvania is a testimonial of achievement. Soon its members i ei er upon a great profession. The trustees and the faculty join me in extending to the Uass best wishes for successful careers. May 2, 1955 QUINCY A. W. ROHRBACH, '12 President