Soldan High School - Scrip Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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.. -,.--ff'- -g .2 ' -Q lf? G- - -- 541, 51,15-2 - 1,-'-f-jg.: ., .1 G1-HARD 'lS'EN5 JOHN W. WITHERS, Ph. D. Superinlendenl Sain! Louis Public Schools

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'wg g ' Nw'-1 +-aft,-.Nr-',1r --'- -- - J,-1. :gf -Q 'ff--' lr,- Our New Superintendent .PfTfi ITH some dread I entered the building where the ollices of lf? the Board of Education are situated. Mr. Wiley, the sec- 2 retary to the Superintendent, told me that Dr. Withers 'A if would see me in a few minutes, and as I glanced about me, ' I caught sight of several familiar names: Mr. Rathmann, Mr. Knox, Mr. Bryan, each above a door leading to a small private oliice Then the door of the Superintendent's office opened, and I found my- self looking upward into the kindest blue-gray eyes imaginable, and heard a pleasant voice asking me to come in. Tall, extraordinarily so, and broad, Dr. Withers is a commanding Figure, His grayish hair is thick and his eyes, though kind, are piercing. Not until a smile lighted his face and filled it with kindness did a feeling almost of awe leave me. His very look inspires a trust that he can do for our schools what no other man could. He is a man to follow, to emulate. The room in which Dr, Withers works is long and narrow. The walls and hangings are a soft gray. At one end is a large table abso- lutely bare, with chairs about it. At the other are two desks covered with papers, for Dr. Withers, coming into his new duties at a time when so much was to be done, has been very busy indeed. And down one side of the room is a large case filled with books. Such is the workroom of our Superintendent. When asked concerning his education, Dr. Withers mentioned bare facts. He said nothing of the determination, the sheer grit that held him to the struggle, ever drawing him nearer the ideal before him. He did not speak of the hardships endured, first earning money, then going to college until it was spent, and returning again to teaching. This is his story. john W. With.ers was born in West Virginia. There he received his elementary education in the public schools. Some- times his way led through woods, across streams, over hills. Then came his high school training, at Gallia Academy in Ohio. So far his father helped him. Then began his struggle. Ever faithful to his ideal, he fought onward toward his goal. He taught for money for his college course, and borrowed enough to complete his last year at the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. His I-irst position was at the Kentucky Normal and Business Col- lege, where he received a salary of seventy-five dollars a month. There he remained for two years, after which he returned as dean of the prepara- tory school of the National Normal University, from which he had been graduated. In 1894 he became a professor of mathematics there, and in 51

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, ' .H :J-2 A kr -f--N ffzr-V-f-A-H -- - .ff---.,?,- -i T--f '-,gr .f z-w ir. 51 r 1897, president of the University. By this time he had received the de- grees of A.B., B.S., and Pd. D. In 1901, he resigned this position to work at Yale, where he took his master's degree in 1902. There, in 1904, he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. That same year he came to St. Louis as princi- pal of the Yeatman High School, and a year later became principal of Harris Teachers College. Thinking that such a career should encourage the boys and girls of Soldan to try for a college education, I asked Dr. Withers if he did not feel that he would advise them to make the effort. He replied, By all means. I should tell them to get the best education possible, to make every elfort, if they have any leaning in that direction. And with such an example as his life before us, we certainly shall feel it worth. while to do so. Dr. Withers believes that our courses of study are I-illing a great need, both in preparing boys and girls for college, and in helping those who are unable to continue their education further than the high school. He says that the changes in those courses have been progressive, that the Board considers each change carefully, so that, when it is made, the movement is apt to be a forward one. Dr. Withers thinks that all branches of athletics should be generally encouraged, because, for the boy not physically fit for football, there is baseball, or track, or basketball. But he adds the warning that athletics must not be overdone. The school is primarily an educational institu- tion, and the academic side of school life must not be underestimated. In Yale, while I was there, he added, men on the athletic teams had to maintain a higher standing in academic work than those not on them, in order to be allowed to stay there. The task before Superintendent Withers is so great as to dismay a man of lesser ability. The thousands of pupils for whom he is striving to better our schools are with him, heart and soul. We of Soldan wish to know him. We know already that he is a great man. We should like, each and every one of us, to enjoy the privilege of his acquaintance. For this reason I asked Dr. Withers if he had formulated any plan for getting to know us better, and he replied that, though he had as yet had little time to make any such plans, he intended to do so as soon as pos- sible. And his words, in reply to our wish to know him better, run in my ear. You can't wish that more than I do. -Elizabeth A. White, 8. sa