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

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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

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xn O o s

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Progress of Education in California Thirty-three years ago I came to Cahfornia as city superintendent of schools at Pasa- dena. The state at that time had one of the best elementary school systems in America. Ample provision had been made when the system was established for state school funds w ith which to pay teachers ' salaries and rather high requirements for the certification of ele- mentary teachers. In matters of secondary education, however, provisions were less ample, and the higher institutions of learning at that time did not equal similar institutions in the East, or even in the Middle West. I find, however, that California has made very marked progress in a third of a century, particularly in matters of secondary and higher education. Her high schools seem excellent and they are highly differentiated. Instead of one or two big general high schools in a city, there are a number of smaller specialized secondary schools. Los Angeles, for example, has sixteen senior high schools, to say nothing of her junior high schools and they are along rather varied lines — commerce, technology, agriculture, horticulture, teachers ' colleges, general colleges and the like. And the California high schools are full to overflowing. The colleges and universities of the state last September had to refuse students by the hun- dreds — some of them by the thousands — because of lack of room. California has abolished her State Normal Schools, or, rather, she has converted them into State Teacher colleges with four-year courses. The elementary teacher of the future must have the A. B. degree to be certificated and the secondary school teacher the A. M. degree. Both must have pursued rather extended courses in Education and Psychology. The present minimum salary of elementary teachers, fixed by state law, is $1,200 a year; and an educational leader recently told me that they hoped to bring it up to $2,000. The California pension system, for at least the men teachers and the higher paid women, is not as favorable as our New Jersey system. But it is easier to obtain and the monetary contributions of the teachers are slight. Any teacher with thirty years ' expe- rience, ten of which must be in the state of California, is entitled to an annual pension of $500. California now has an excellent State University at Berkeley, with a branch at Los Angeles. These provide free instruction to students who have resided one year in the State. Stanford University, Pomona College, and other private higher institutions of learn- ing are doing excellent work and have long waiting lists. I am told that parents make application for their children at Stanford University when they are born. But even then they are not always able to enter when they have acquired the required training and age. Taken altogether the young state of California is setting a pace and establishing norms that the older school systems of the East may find worthy of emulation. WILL S. MONROE. A PAUSE What is this thing I seek to do, — I read, I play, I write, I sing; I rush headlong, unthinking, through. What is this thing? May God forgive my reckless haste And cause some worthy deed to live. The days I lose, the hours I waste May God forgive. EDITH M. LUFBURROW. 12