Millersville University - Touchstone Yearbook (Millersville, PA)

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19 3 1 T II E I o I C II S T O N E general it is only natural that grent changes should take place in the curricula of the school- . In the early colonial schools especially those controlled hy religious influences, tin classics were the main phase of the program offered for study. In contrast to this, the private masters devoted more attention to the practical subjects. The curriculum in the early academies, for the most part, was unorganized, and the students were usually permitted to select tin subjects which appealed to them most. The public high schools which developed later, based their curricula on those of the academics. The vast majority of them were one-curriculum schools. Since 1831, however, the changes in the program of study have been most significant and the present day curricula arc based upon the social and civic needs of life today. Other noteworthy facts regarding Pennsylvania’s general educational progress can he mentioned only in brief here. The Pennsylvania State Education X X X Martha A. Dietz Hallam, Pa. X Association has grown from a mere organization of teachers interested in forming a brotherhood to what is today the largest voluntary state association of educational workers in thc United States. The need for remedying the irregular attendance situation gave rise to the law of 1895 which was the first compulsory school attendance law enacted in the Stule. Provisions were also made for the prosecution of parents in cases of non-attendance. The facts then present the outstanding points of interest in the wonderful stages of advancement that education has gone through since the establishment of the earliest schools in the Commonwealth. We present with pride this review of the educational accomplishments of our State, and hope that the next one hundred years will witness an even greater program of expansion to meet the needs of our ever-changing democracy. I.eon Dissinger Lititx. Pa. Seventeen

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T II E I O t C II S T U N E 19 3 1 gram of education would not he com plete without mentioning the growth made along the special lines of education. It is necessary to mention here the fact that in the School Code of 1911 provision was made for the education of mentally handicapped children. The Act provided that if the parents or guardians of deficient children between the ages of eight and sixteen years were not able to defray the expense, such children might he educated in some institutions outside of the school district at the expense of the district. The demands of parents for improved health conditions in the schools led to the founding of the State Department of Health on June 6, 1905. The earliest type of health service consisted mainly of the examination of those children who were referred to us having symptoms of communicable diseases. One of the first steps in the program providing attention for the general health of school children was the provision for a physical examination of each child. This led to the employment of special school nurses. At the present time the State lias about five hundred nurses employed in its public schools. In the school laws of 1911 physical training was included as one of the subjects that might he taught. Today many of the districts in the State have placed exceptional emphasis upon the health programs included in their curricula. Much could he said about the growth of art and music education in our schools. Suffice it for us to realize that these contributions to the enrich- Emily Corrigan Lancaster, I’a. yj Y11 CJ yf Cl X k c’l r n r % Ci rh i Cl X r ment of the child's everyday life have made steady and worthwhile progress along with the general academic routine. Today all of the elementary and many of the secondary teachers of the State are qualified to teach music in their classrooms. Public School Libraries, too, have grown considerably in the past decade and the new methods of teaching and extended curricula give promise of extending the service of school libraries in years to come. Inasmuch as extra-curricular activities play such on important part in education today it might he well for us to notice that this type of student interest was unheard of in our earliest schools. The progress of extra-curricular work was slower in the elementary schools than in the secondary. The demands of students for a program of activity to help broaden the experiences of school life led to the development of our present day program. Perhaps the earliest forms of extra-curricular activity was the literary society. Another early expression was the organization of student government. In 1777 the hoys at William Penn Charter School organized a court. Tin students of this school also showed a great deal of interest in journalistic activity. Perhaps the first printed student paper in America was The Athenian, published by the students at Athens Academy. Athens, Pennsylvania. These various forms of activity have grown into the present-day program of dramatics, debating publications, and athletics. With the growth of education in Esther Collins l.ynuood, «. Sixteen

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T II E T O I C II S T O N E I : I A REVIEW OF MILLERSVILI.E S FIRST EIGHTY YEARS By Harold Zarfoss LANCASTER County Normal School, established in the Spring of 1854, was the first Normal School in Pennsylvania to he recognized by I he state. After a thorough inspection by the State Superintendent of Schools and other outstanding notables in the field of education it was officially recognized as a State Normal School, December 2. 1859. “This Institution is emphatically tho outgrowth of the present increased interest in education, especially in education by common schools. During the Summer of 1854, a number of the citizens of Millersville, and its vicinity, desiring a more liberal education for their children than that furnished by the common schools of the neighborhood, erected a building for the purpose of establishing a school which they proposed to denominate the Millersville Academy. In the Spring of 1855, learning that the County Superintendent desired a suitable building in which to hold, for the space of three months, a Teachers’ Institute, the Trusteesoffcred their buildings gratuitous- Nancy E. Eby Paradise, Pa. ly, for the purpose, promising to supply any want of hoarding accommodations by private hospitality. “The Institute opened on April 17, and, during the term there was an attendance of 135 regular Students. The results were of a satisfactory nature and pointed so clearly to a want of permanent institutions of like character, that the Trustees resolved to treble the size of their buildings and establish a regular Normal School. “By the 5th of November the new buildings were ready for the reception of students. The experiment was successful and the number of students proved that the projectors of the school had not miscalculated its necessity. “During the term, the number of students increased to over two hundred; nearly all of whom either are teachers or arc preparing to teach. “It is admitted, among educational men, that Normal Schools arc necessary to perfect our system of education. A high standard of qualifications may he adopted by county Superintendents, hut without some source from which to obtain better teachers it involves the disagreeable necessity of causing many schools to remain untaught. The peculiar object of the Lancaster County Normal School is to offer the opportunity of careful training in teaching, and, thereby, elevate that profession and furnish common schools with well-qualified teachers. Its interest and those of common schools arc closely connected, ami, we hope to send forth teachers, who in honoring us, will . Wilbur Eshleman Millersville, Pa. Eighteen