Tennessee Military Institute - Radiogram Yearbook (Sweetwater, TN)

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k N T E i 3 E M fr f , , k' ' ' r s s V. . fa ' .. fi ,Q 2 ' if This room is 'che center of the school life and influence. Chapel exercises are held here each morning, and lectures by visiting speakers. ,uf ,pu-v-H l l C llss alll . ,Q.. THE BATTALION ASSEMBLED AFTER SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR CHURCH All cadets are required to attend the Sunday- Pizge Eighteen morning church services.

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WORK ADAPTED TO THE INDIVIDUAL PUPIL Each boy entering Tennessee Military Institute represents a unit of in- dividual interest and potentiality, and is, therefore, due all the individual de- velopment that can be given him. Hence we undertake to treat boys as indi- viduals, to study their needs, and to assist them in their attempts at proper progress. However, for general classification purposes, boys fall into two rather distinct classes, and these classes are usually distinguishable by the end of the Sophomore year, or tenth grade. The first class is composed of those hav- ing the mental keenness and intellectual interest to qualify them to complete the fairly exacting requirements of thorough college entrance preparation and thereafter to continue successfully with work in standard colleges or techni- cal schools. The second class is composed of those who have abundant physical energy and mental alertness, but who lack the native interest in textbooks of ordi- nary academic content. We have found that boys of this type frequently re- spond with an immediate interest in courses dealing with matters of busi- ness interest and that they develop into good business men. The logical inference from the foregoing is that it is just as much the duty of parents and teachers to guide boys of the second class into prepara- tion for business as it is their duty to encourage those of the first class to enter college or technical school and prepare for a profession. As far as is possible, we keep all pupils in the same lines of instruction during the first two years to enable us to discover their special aptitudes before allowing spe- cialization. After that, we concentrate our energies on the best possible col- lege entrance preparation for those going to college, while allowing those show- ing other lines of aptitude to undertake courses more in line with their tastes. For further discussion of this question, see page 47. CHARACTER OF STUDENT BODY Few, if any, considerations in the selection of a school are more impor- tant than that of the kind of boys attracted to it, and the reputation of these boys for good conduct during their period of school attendance. It is our belief that inquiry from those who know T. M. I. both locally and throughout the large area served by it will bring convincing testimony, first, that it draws boys of much better than average character and general promise, and, sec- ond, that the atmosphere and influences of the school and community on boys enrolled result in a record, year after year, of superior student conduct. Page Sevente n

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There are good reasons for this. In the first place, T. M. I. is a school of well-deiined policies and traditions developed through the continuous super- vision of the same administrative officers. It is known to be a school of excel- lent government and orderliness. Quite naturally, such a school makes its appeal to parents of similar ideals and to homes where orderliness, regard for parental wishes, and respect for parental authority prevail. As a rule, such homes are homes of culture and refinement. Boys with such family back- ground are better material for a school to work on, and from them there em- anate better influences on their associates in the intimate life of the boarding school. An unusually high per cent of our boys come from these better homes and display evidences of better home training. It is a fact well known throughout the area served by the school that un- seemly conduct will not be tolerated, and for this reason boys of the more rowdy sort simply do not seek admission here. Our boys are live, healthy, red-blooded young fellows, but not of the sort that think wild parties and ob- jectionable conduct essential to a goo-d time. The new cadet entering the school comes in contact with old boys already proud of its fine traditions and loyal to its higher interests. This appeals to his better impulses and arouses or confirms in him a purpose to make for himself a good student record in the school and school community. This sort of process has gone on through the years and still continues in T. M. I. It has become a mighty power for good influences in the life of the school as a whole and in the individual lives of boys enrolled. MORAL AND RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES While Tennessee Military Institute is not a church school in the sense that it is supported by funds from any particular denomination, the importance of religion in the life of the individual and the claims of the churches on the trained leadership developed in the schools are held before our cadets con- stantly. Hence, it is our constant effort to create in the school a wholesome and vital religious atmosphere-an atmosphere that will inspire and elevate the life and purposes of our cadets as distinguished from the thin veneer of professional religion and pretense which disgust boys with things religious. DAILY CHAPEL We consider our daily chapel exercises conducted by members EXERCISES of the Faculty and visiting speakers a very important part of our daily schedule. True enough that the boys learn by heart some of the standing and oft-repeated messages of some of the ofiicers of the school, but some of those learned-by-heart messages will be recalled months or years afterwards and guide the life of some boy during a moral storm period. Therefore, our day's work will continue to be started with a few minutes reminder of Whose we are and Whom we serve. SUNDAY-SCHOOL For sixteen years the voluntary attendance in Sunday ATTENDANCE School has been remarkable. Special classes for the T. M. I. boys have been provided for in all the Sunday Schools of the town, the classes being organized with a full quota of class officers, Page Nineteen