Momence High School - Monesse Yearbook (Momence, IL)

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MANUAL TRAINING GROURS

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THE JUNIOR YEAR BOOK. HIGH SCHOOL ORATORICAL CONTEST. The Momence High School Oratorical and Declamatory Contest was held in the M. E. Church, Friday evening, March 20, 1908. There were present a large number of Momence citizens and besides these were one hundred repre¬ sentatives of the Kankakee High School and a few people from St. Anne. Before the beginning of the program, Rev. J. B. Howard, of Peotone ; offered a prayer. A piano solo was skillfully rendered by Miss Bessie Bennett. The High School Glee Club sang a very pretty song which was greatly appre¬ ciated by all present. The orations were delivered first, and Will Parish spoke first, his subject being, “A True Ruler.” This was delivered with a very good voice and cer¬ tainly Alfred the Great, of England, was not without praise. Then Miss Meryl E. Boyd spoke on “ The Italians in America. ” Miss Boyd showed much originality of thought and praised the Italian immigrant’s ability as a laborer and artist. “The Evolution of Man,” was the subject of a well prepared oration by James Crosby. He treated the economic problems and the influences which lead to the development of man. Axel Hanson spoke on the “Civic Spirit.” He spoke of the patriotism of of Americans and delivered his oration in a very good manner. His delivery was among the best of the evening. “Our Flag,” was Miss Margaret Nelson’s subject. Miss Nelson showed her ability as a speaker in the praise of “Old Glory” and showed a true patriotic spirit to her ' country. A vocal solo by Miss Eaton followed the oratory. She is a well qualified soloist and her voice a sweet soprano. The piano duet by the Misses Bigelow was played splendidly. The declamatory contest then began. Chas. Forburger delivered the first declamation, entitled “The Legend of the Organ Builder,” and as lie has a very strong voicq this selection was spoken well. Grace Porter spoke “Mary’s Night Ride.” She showed much training and good ability. “The Swan’s Song” was then spoken by Miss Marie Jackson, whose charm¬ ing voice and pathetic selection held the interest of the audience. “Cherokee Roses” was recited by Miss Eva Lilly, who showed much ability as a speaker and her story was told to a sympathetic audience. Then with much earnestness and in a manner that won the highest praise, George Grabe recited “The Honor of the Woods.” He spoke with the voice of a true orator and his gestures were excellent. The judges on delivery were Rev. J. B. Howard, of Peotone; Supt. F. A. Gilbreath, of Watseka; Supt. E. E. Vance, of Brook. The judges on manu¬ script, were, Prin. E. Sargeant, of Chicago Heights; Supt. W. H. Hawks, of Minonk; and Supt. L. W. Shaw, of Rushville. Each judge handed his number of points for each contestant to Professor Selby, who counted the points and gave the decision as follows: First in oratory, Meryl Boyd and Margaret Nelson, a tie; second in oratory, Axel Hanson and James Crosby, a tie. First in declamation, George Grabe; and second in declamation, Miss Marie Jackson.

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THE JUNIOR YEAR BOOK. MANUAL TRAINING. The intellectual education which we seek to give our children thru the rne- i im of the public school should be equally valuable to them whether they b v me business men, lawyers, doctors, teachers or ministers. The state has no r t to make trade or professional schools of the common schools unless it can c: r a sufficient number of courses to satisfy the demands of all. Smith, who - a pharmacist, should not be taxed to educate Brown’s boy to become his com- . :it r. unless Smith’s boy, who wishes to become a lawyer, can also obtain his : ssional training at public expense. No such attempts have yet been made, h : does it not border on this when some of our cities are spending public funds : quip and maintain expensive departments to train book-keepers and stenog- hers? I have no fault to find with commercial education,— with practical ation, but it should be general not special—of such a character that it pro- - intelligent, thinking men and women who will go out into the world and ■ lily earn for themselves and those dependent upon them the necessaries of E: and some of its luxuries, but who will reflect honor and credit upon their n nmunity and state. Let our public schools lay the foundation for good, lion- - intelligent citizenship. Leave the rest to the business college and the trade - hool. We shall have enough to do. What, then, about manual training in the public schools? I repeat, it is t f place in so far as it is not in accord with the above principles. A manufac- ti :- : • if thirty years experience has said: “We can never send the whole child to school till we give those who are destined for the mechanical class of the . IT workers a fair mental training, and also impart to those who make up : : rofessional class the fundamentals of hand culture. After this has been i we can well afford to leave technical education, whether it seeks to produce wyer. a plumber, an engineer, or a stenographer to the technical schools.” Thirty or forty years ago in the rural schools the children got nine or ten ths of manual training of the very best kind. Their mental training curi- ci in covered two to three months each year, during which time they learned idly. They had too much manual training and too little mental training. 7 v were hungry for the mental and studied hard and learned rapidly. But ti pendulum of progress, always swings from one extreme of its arc to the :cner extreme, and conditions so changed—due largely to the growth of cities the use of modern machinery on the farms—that the child was given eight i ten months of pure mental diet, and from two to four months of hand culture year. (The pendulum never quite reached this extreme in the rural school 5 -tricts i Owing to these changed conditions the children of our city schools 3 l - more mental diet than they can digest. They are hungry for manual edu- n which the home cannot supply, therefore the school is their only hope, x hence manual training is fast coming to have a place in the courses of study ■ r best village and city schools.