Riverside High School - Mercury Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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THREE HUNDRED YEARS This year we rcelebnate the three hundredth anniversary of the secondary school in America. The Freemen of Boston in 1635, feeling the need of an institution of learning between the dame school and the university, established what became known as the Latin Grammar School. Let us travel down the winding rivers of years and make a tour of inspection of this forerunf ner of the American high school. Having learned that the school is located on School Street, directly back of King Ghapel, we quickly discover it, in spite of the winding streets.We enter the small wooden frame building where we find the day's session already in progress. The master is seated on a high stool before his rough wooden desk, while the pupils have to be content with hard, backless benches which are placed be' fore shelfflike desks, along the walls. We see but very little paper,,the pens are goose quills, and the ink, since it is made at home, is very poor. There are neither 'blackboards nor maps, and very few pencils. For practice work birch bark is used instead of expensive paper. The class is com' posed of boys, for girls are not formally educated beyond the damefschool which teaches the three R's only. This school, the Latin Grammar School, includes in its curriculum Latin and Greek, and not much of anything else. There is a great waste of time in evidence, due to the lack of proper materials and poor teaching methods. Each pupil recites his lesson separately to the masterg and by the time another lesson is assigned, the class has grown restless, and order has to be restored. Now we find the explanation to something we have been puzzling over. In the center of the room, near the master's desk, stands a post about five feet high. In order to maintain the necessary order, discipline is resorted tog thus we learn the purpose of the post. As whipping is the most generally used form of discipline, this post is a very necessary part of the school room, at least to the master, for this is the whipping post. We wonder if ever a longing sigh for its passing is ever raised by the longfsuffering teachers of today. As we return from our journey thru the past, we mentally thank our guiding star that we were not destined to be educated in such a Spartan man' ner. However, this humble institution of learning was to be the strong foundation upon which the modern high school has now risen. The next step in the erection of the American secondary school was the establishment of the Franklin Academy in 1751. This, indeed, was an important milestone in education in the United States, for it not only enriched the curriculum, as it included Latin, English and mathematics, but it also opened the doors of higher learning to girls. Heretofore it had been thought that the educaf tion of the female was entirely sufficient at the completion of the common school work. Nev-er' theless, the academy type of school was aristocratic in nature, as only the limited few who could pay the tuition fees were able to attend. This school bridged over the period of church control system of the Latin Grammar School to the public control system of the present time. Then came the first public high school, It made its appearance in Boston in 1821. Open to boys only, it offered in its three year course only one language--English, and- these other subjects: declamation, science, mathematics, history and logic. The purpose of this school was to furnish a more complete education to those who did not intend to take a college course. The institution was a complete transformation from the Latin Grammar School, with its limited curriculum. From these very primitive foundations, the American High School has risen to heights unf dreamed of by our hardy ancestors, who realized so acutely the indispensable need of fitting the younger generation for a future life of vigorous citizenship, which the youthful country then so greatly needed. Perhaps the high school has been made the stronger because of the struggle it has made for its existence. From the opponents of free public education in the early days, who thought the system would be undemocratic, to the present day criers for reduced taxation, it has been a matter of constant discussion and controversy. The battle is not yet over, and the outcome will have a direct bearing on the future power of our nation. The training of the youth of today will decide whether the United States will still be recognized as the leading nation of the world tomorrow. So we salute you, Ereemen of Boston! May we have the strength, and the foresight to carry on this work of fitting Young America to face courageously their apparently uncertain destinies. Margaret Valentine. Six

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MR. CHAMBERLAIN Principal