Montpelier High School - Mirror Yearbook (Montpelier, OH)

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SUPT, H. W. NEWTON Administration Montpelier, Ohio Hiram College, Ohio State University A. B. in Education, Hiram Col- lege l922, A. M. in School Administration, Ohio State University l925. WHAT SHOULD THE TAXPAYER EXPECT IN RETURN FOR THE SCHOOL TAX DOLLAR? Tax dollars are often considered the best invest- ment which a person can make. However, each tax dollar signifies that the individual is depriving himself of possible more personal and direct uses, and he may therefore show an appropriate interest in the purpose of its expenditure. ln the past, school taxes were paid entirely by the local citizens, and the responsibility for the school was entirely local. However, at the present time State and National governments are also con- tributing a considerable amount to local school revenues, and are also interested in its proper expenditure. Of the three groups of taxpayers the local is probably most vitally interested because it is in many cases his own boy or girl who is being educated in the schools, This local citizen may justly expect that his boy or girl will be taught the basic fundamentals of knowledge which will be used in later life. To this end he should expect the school to function efficiently and to offer and require the calibre of work from pupils which will insure that they will be equally as well prepared as others with whom they will be competing in later life. ln addition to basic knowledge, he may expect courses to be offered in the later years of high school which will aid the boy or girl in actually securing and holding a position by which a liveli- hood may be earned, As recreation is generally accepted as a vital adjunct to efficient work and long life, the school may Well be expected to in- culcate knowledge of, and interest in, sports which will in later life remove a portion of the dull edge of care. Teaching of morality and the social virtues is naturally expected. At the present time the State as a whole is con- tributing a large per cent of the operating expenses of the public schools. ln many districts, including our own, the State is contributing over half of the required funds. The State as a taxpayer can therefore require conformity to accepted standards wliicli will insure good training of the individual for future citizenship in that state. Although the Federal government does not par- ticipate in financing to as great an extent as the State its position, as well as its contributions, auto- matically call for an educational system in the schools which will educate citizens to carry on the banner of this great nation, ln general all three groups of tax contributors are entitled to expect that the basic purpose of educa- tion shall be fulfilled-that youth shall be prepared in the requirements for a successful and happy later life, and that citizenship may be developed which will carry on the cause of progress among a great people. H. W. Newton. FATHERLY INSTRUCTION Page lU

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LORIN HOGUE, Vice Presideni Lawyer A. I. BROWN Merchant Page 9 GILBERT C. ELY Dentist

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H. M, SHAEFFER tPrincipall Mathematics Montpelier, Ohio Heidelberg College and Ohio State University B. A. Student Council, Athletic Di- rector DEFINITE AIMS? ln taking a backward glance at our schools we see an institution pulled this way and that. lt seems some of the parts do not fit, and there we see the reactionary that would gladly return to the school of some previous era or at least fix the program so that it would function once and for all. Howe ever the opposition refuses to be static. ANALYTICAL MEDITATION Change is the result, not radical or reaction- ary, but by acauainting themselves with the lessons of the past they are the better pre- pared to answer the problems of the present and attempt the building of plans for the future. This review of the past calls for more definite aims and aims demand a goal. lt is then a task in defining what the aims of education shall be. Thus the better the definition the more direct becomes the goal, and without a definite goal we are unable to tell what road to take and when we will have achieved the goal. This view of education as presented is not a new one. lt is evident today that there is much confusion in education and yet with- out it we would be in the rut of some by gone year, The democratic philosophy of education is ever changing so that we may at least be making an honest attempt to keep a balance that shall insure our educa' tional, political, social and religious freed dom, To appreciate our privileges, changes and confusion, we need only to look about us to be proud we are Americans. H. M. Shaeffer Page l l