Montclair State College - La Campana Yearbook (Upper Montclair, NJ)

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xn O o s

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To interpret this new age the teacher must be a part of the new age, must study it, must Hve in it, must know it and, in a measure, understand it. The slender store of kno vledge car- ried away with the diploma of college or normal school will not suffice a teacher even for his first term. If he is to teach out of a full treasury he must never cease to be a student. He must enrich himself each year from books and from life. No teacher can meet the new day who is not a progressive. A conservative has been defined as one who thinks nothing can ever be done for the first time. All progress begins in a dream and an experiment. The teacher w ho is too tired or too timid to try anything new is dead before he begins. He w ill become a hopeless reactionary, an obstructionist, and will join the ranks of the critical, the formal, and the grouch. But he who grows by study, observation and experiment w ill find keen intellectual relish in his profession, an increasing sympathy for childhood and youth and will find the fountain of perpetual youth for himself in helpful, hopeful, happy service. He may become tired in his work, but he will not become tired of his work. Such a teacher will be and remain always an enthusiast, the rarest and the most precious of his kind. His pupils will rise up to call him blessed, and America, whether she knows it or not, will owe him more than her armies and navies. Of course, such a teacher must have a sense of humor, must know how to laugh and how to enjoy the laughter of others, must be able to recognize a joke when he gets into the same county with one. He will bear the burden of the day better, he will see the foibles of youth in a clearer perspective and he will be happier and healthier himself because he can see and enjoy the funny things with which life abounds. Our new teacher must be a genuine patriot. He is a true patriot who knows how to respect himself, his neighbors and his God; who does each day an honest day ' s work and lays him down each night to an honest night ' s rest; who adds his little mite to the nation ' s store of power or goods; who holds a steadfast hope in the things that are worthwhile; who proves his Americanism not by his much shouting or by his genuflections to the flag, but by the clean, square democracy of his daily life. In a word, he is the man or woman who knows his present humble duty and, seeing, does it. America needs men who in the hour of need will die for her. Even more she needs the unknown and unnoted millions who know enough and care enough and dare enough to live for her. Is this order too large? Is the ideal too high? Are such teachers too rare? In the class of 1922 there are some who measure up to this stature. There are others who may do so. Everyone who aspires and struggles for this ideal will be a better teacher for the struggle and the aspiration and along this road, the road of endeavor and of idealism, lies happiness. CHARLES S. CHAPIN NORMAL HILL AT NIGHT Alone against the night hills, Beloved our Alma Mater veiled in night Stands silently And dark; o ' er the myriad-eyed vale A sentinel of wisdom. Stars come Casting a glory round her, 1 ill from out the dark she rises Fair as the temple of Athene. Moonbeam silver touches campus. Trees and bushes, into life; Comes the Goddess, then, of Wisdom From the portals; And loyal spirits Whose love will not die, walk with her.

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To the Class of 1922: Greetings: You have asked me for my observations and a last word. It is a much harder task than I have ever assigned you, and I hope that you will be as generous in grading it as I have been with some of you. For as a father excuseth the shortcomings of his children, so have I excused some of you who w ere born short in mathematics. But now to my task : My observations cannot be set down in a sentence. 1 am sometimes handicapped as Washington was. So, I cannot say that you are the best class I ever had. But I can say that you are one of the most interesting classes 1 ever had; for, as you have been told in pedagogy, variety adds to interest. And for variety you take the prize. As you come marching into Assembly, some in step and some out of it, you might be called The Montclair Normal Revue — a pageant of the fourteen years of the school ' s existence. In looks, there is a type for every taste. In dress, you range all the way from near- extreme conservatism to bobbed hair, bobbed skirts, and highly decorated hosiery. In abil- ity, you range all the way from the little Ford to the Packard twin-six. But remember this. The little Ford when firing in all four cylinders can climb a hill that will stall the twin-six when firing in but six or eight of its cylinders. But I must not forget our two young cavaliers. While they have been too modest to show their real abilities, feeling that it is better to under do than to over do a task, they have the brains, poise, and personality that w ill place them in the front rank among our Nor- mal School men. And nov r as to a last word: I ' ll try to sum up in a formula the factors of a suc- cessful teacher. The formula is 3S + 3P + SxH=T The explanation or evaluation of the formula is as follows: 3S, from the meaning of multiplication, is found by adding three S ' s. The S ' s stand for Scholarship, Spirit, and Skill. It means this: (1) You must know your subject; no amount of pedagogy will enable you to teach what you do not know. (2) You must be filled with a spirit of service; no other calling offers such an opportunity. (3) And you must have skill to sell your stuff — to make learning attractive. The three P ' s are Pep, Patience, and Personality. Pep nieans not only alertness and vivaciousness, but enthusiasm for your work. While good health may not give pep, lack of it will always destroy it. So keep fit. You may need Fleischmann ' s Yeast Cakes or Walter Camp ' s Daily Dozen. But keep fit. The second factor, Patience, makes the other factors function. Without it you are a failure. As long as you can see a spark of intelli- gence in some little dumb-bell, don ' t give up. You may have to feed him small predi- gested portions for a long time, but you may be saving a future Congressman. It is from the third factor, your Personality, that the child gets something more than the multiplication tables; — take a course in Cultivating Personality. The cross (X) in SXH, is read of as in fractions. The expression means A sense of humor. A sense of humor helps to keep you out of trouble, and helps to get you out if you slip in. It helos you to live with your class five hours a day, and it helps them live with you. It aids digestion, and, like Palm Olive, it helps you to keep that school girl complexion. And finally, look upon your work as a profession and not as a temporary job. It may not be as temporary as you are expecting, if you make good. Rent and coal are still high and it is a mistaken idea that two can live as cheaply as one. And even if they could, remember that Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear; Full many a flow er is born to blush unseen And w aste its sweetness on the desert air. Wishing you every success you deserve snd desi , and a haopy and useful life. I am Most sincerely, JOHN C. STONE. 11