Lyman Hall High school - Singer Chronicle Yearbook (Wallingford, CT)

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THE CHRONICLE 15 November, 1933—pages 386-393 Tentative Criteria fur Curriculum Selection—Fannie W. Dunn October, 1934— pages 373-378 Begin with the Teacher—William Boyd March, 1931—pages 235-2.37 School Buildings That Educate—Philip Youtz March, 1932—pages 189-194 Articles from the Scholastic Magazine: Schools of Tomorrow—Arthur B. Moehliman February 23, 1935—pages 39-41 A Note on Tomorrow's Teachers—Richard M. Pearson February 23, 1935—page 41 ♦ ♦ ♦ OUR SCHOOL TODAY Essay with Valedictory Rank Doubtless, there is no one who has not stood on the shore of the sea and thrown a stone into the waves and watched the ripples growing wider and wider as they extended from him. Did you ever wonder where each one would end? Some probably went miles away gathering more and more ripples as they went and came to rest on some far oil’ shore; others presumably cattte directly hack to the shore. Assume for the time being that the education of three hundred years ago was the stone thrown into the sea. The ripples grew' wider and wider and expanded farther and farther until today, three centuries later, America has the most complete and universal program of education in the world. No one can answer specifically the question of who started education, but one thing is certain—education can never stop; the ripples from the stone will never find a definite shore. As long as America continues to progress, her schools will continue to train young people to live in this progressive country. What vast strides secondary schools of today have made over those of the past! From the belief that education was chiefly that of the mind we have come to the modern idea that the school aims to train not only the mind of the individual but also his body, his hand, and his character. An educational aim, as the word implies, is the purpose or goal which is to be attained by an educative process. Sidney Smith has offered a statement which concisely states the educational aim as a whole—“The real object of education is to give children resources that will endure as long as life endures. ” Generally speaking our country has accepted individual development and social efficiency as the main purposes of education. The vastly changing conditions in our country today and the remarkable transportation and communication facilities have made it necessary for the schools to train the individual for co-operative effort. Therefore among the chief aims of education come seven purposes which have been recognized as the reasons why we should go to school. Education's first concern is the health of each individual. You will agree with me, I’m sure, that nothing is more valuable to the individual

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14 THE CHRONICLE A theatre for the study and enjoyment of drama will be in the large recreation room. A gallery of copies of the finest paintings in the world will occupy a portion of the building. Here one may develop individual appreciation and self-expression. The library will be an important part of the new school. It will be a large room with plenty of quiet corners where one may read for the sheer pleasure of reading. 'The librarian will be a librarian only in a secondary sense. She will primarily guide and stimulate reading tastes. In every way possible the child will be prepared vocationally. This will include more than the mere technique of his vocation. He must be a good citizen; he must have skill in the use of his mother tongue; he must know how to protect his own health and the health of the community; and he must know how to spend his leisure time properly. The use of leisure time will be an important factor in finding the better and more abundant life. In the new school through the active study of nature, an appreciation of the beauty and order of nature will be developed. The art galleries of the school will foster a true taste for the finer things in life. In the world as we know it people live together. To live together as harmoniously as possible we must understand society. First of all a child must see how interdependent we are; he must develop a consciousness of the effect of his acts upon others; and a realization of his limitations. He must have a respect for variations in personality, points of view, and practice. Then he must realize his debt to society. A hackneyed phrase, yet one that too often is employed only in speaking. This debt includes an active desire to contribute to the improvement of the life of the group of which one is a part. He must be willing to co-operate; and, last but not least, he must develop a personal philosophy of life. All this may seem very far from school, but it is not. Education, I repeat, is a way for a better and more abundant life for all. Heading from text books will not guide us to that more abundant life, but active participation in the ways of living will. When the sun is high in the heavens of the new day, we will see happy, busy people who have been properly fitted into the world. 1 myself as a high-school student of today feel that if this plan of living with your job in school is carried out, I should like to be a high-school st udent of tomorrow. MARGARET HOTCHKISS References: The Evolution of the Educational Ideal—Mabel E. Emerson The Activity School—Adolph Ferriere New Schools for Old—Evelyn Dewey Present Day Tendencies in Education—W. B. Bizzell W. H. Duncan The New Education in the Soviet Republic—Albert P. Pinkevitch Articles from the Progressive Education Magazine: What do we mean by progressive education? W. It. Kilpatrick—Decemt er, 1930—pages 383-386 Progressive Education—What Now—Hilda Taba March, 1934—pages 162-168 Is the High School Moving Ahead?—Burton P. Fowler November, 1933—pages 363-366 Education for Orientation—Vivian T. Thayer

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16 THE CHRONICLE and to the community than health. To the average person ill health is like a stone about his neck dragging him to the depths of inefficiency and despair. In view of this the school aims to establish permanent habits of healthful activity. Today classrooms are properly heated, lighted, and ventilated. It goes without saying that an individual in the right environment will be more likely to acquire correct habits and knowledge of health. The school also strives to correct the personal defects of its pupils by physical examinations at regular intervals, and physical education courses now help to develop the pupil’s body. The mastery of the fundamental subjects is the second aim of education. The fundamentals are the “tools by which the individual gains one or all of the educational purposes. If he knows how to read, he will no doubt be a better citizen; he will be able to preserve his own health and solve more intelligently the social health problems; and he will learn of and be in a belter position to solve the great economic problems of his day. Hence, secondary schools strongly stress the ability to use the library, books, and newspapers to gain information. Everyone needs the fundamentals of mathematics, reading, and writing in order to carry on the necessary duties of later life. Schools are now training young people for intelligent use of scientific apparatus and for skill in everyday household appliances. By these tool subjects we gain a broader understanding of the world about us, and if we are educated, we do not walk blindly through life, wondering what it is all about. After the middle of the eighteenth century mechanical inventions began to replace hand appliances; old trades have been reduced by the machine. Because of the countless divisions of labor, it is now impossible for a youth to come in contact with all the varied lines of work. Nor is the task lightened by the fact that the percentage of people seeking positions is constantly increasing, and a young man can no more migrate to the West and set up a farm. The people of the United States are constantly looking to secondary schools for light and hope, and so the third aim of education is to prepare the individual for useful service. It would be impossible for the school to prepare each one to step from the schoolroom into a position, but it does give the basic training in various vocations and enables him to have a fair understanding of industry and its relation to the general public. One part of the vocational preparation is to discover one’s own abilities and aptitudes; the other is to give some practical knowledge and experience in one’s chosen field. The changes in social and economic conditions in the past few years have made many alterations in family life, the most serious being the unstable condition of the home. The fourth purpose of education is to train the individual for home life. This need not be thought of as a matter of future duties, but worthy home membership is a goal for both boys and girls, and one can learn much to help him take the right attitude toward his present family circle. The social studies taught give knowledge of the social importance of the home and the meaning of home in mankind’s progress. Most schools offer courses in home economics, which develop in girls the true virtue of home-making, while the manual arts courses prepare the boys for practical service in the upkeep of the home. The American public wants young people to be able to fulfill intelligently the duties of citizens in this democratic government of ours, and consequently the school has taken as its fifth objective the training of the