Tennessee Military Institute - Radiogram Yearbook (Sweetwater, TN)

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SCOPE OF WORK OFFERED... COLLEGE Dating from the adoption of the present name of the school PREPARATORY in 1904, the primary objective has been the adequate prepara- tion of boys for successful work in the better colleges and technical schools. It is constantly borne in mind that adequate preparation for college comprises thorough teaching on the part of teachers, the acquiring of right habits of study on the part of stu dents, and, still more important, the cultivation in the pupil of the fundamentals of sound character. The preparatory school course is usually thought of as a four-year course comprising the ninth to twelfth grades, inclusive. Considering our college- preparation Work our chief function, and keeping the emphasis in the school in that direction, it has been natural that most of our pupils represent this group. WORK FOR Courses below high school are limited to work corresponding YOUNGER BOYS to the Seventh and Eighth Grades in the public schools. Class sections are small and very thorough instruction with close personal attention is given. For further discussion, see page 44. PREPARATORY Since 1904, elementary courses in Bookkeeping, Com- COMMERCIAL COURSE mercial Law, Commercial Arithmetic, Commercial Ge- ography, Typewriting, etc., have been provided for pupils of high school grade who did not contemplate entering college. We con- sider this a permanent department. For outlines of course, see page 35. SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTING AND In 1930, to take care of demands arising from BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION our own graduates and those coming from other schools, we started our School of Accounting and Business Administration, comprising courses covering two years of inten- sive business training of the Junior College level. Those interested should examine the courses outlined on page 35 of this catalog and should also write for our special pamphlet describing courses oEered. SPECIAL POST- Besides the advanced courses in business training re- GRADUATE COURSE ferred to above, we have likewise found it desirable for a good many years to provide advanced work in English, Mathematics, Languages, and Science for pupils who desire to spend one additional year after completing the regular four-year course here or in pub- lic high school. The brilliant success in college of those availingthemselves of this additional training is the best proof of its value. It is a further fact that many boys are now completing the high-school course at an age when they are really too young and immature to make their immediate entrance to college advisable. In recent years we are having an increasing number of pupils who enroll for this work. For further discussion, see page 45. Page Sixleen

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HISTORICAL DATA TENNESSEE MILITARY INSTITUTE I904 TO PRESENT Succeeding SWEETWATER MILITARY COLLEGE Founded I874 Tennessee Military Institute has been built on the foundation laid for it in its predecessor, Sweetwater Military College. Sweetwater Military College was founded in 1874 by the Rev. John Lynn Bachman, one of the outstanding great men of the South. Dr. Bachman's purpose in founding the school was to provide a place where young men could have good educational advantages under safe and wholesome influences. Dr. Bachman continued as the active head of the school for twenty-four years, establishing its policies, fixing its standards of work and government, and influencing the thought, purposes, and ideals of the institution. The administrative officers in charge from 1902 to 1915 changed the name to Tennessee Military Institute and inaugurated policies which brought the school into nation-wide recognition. By 1909 the school had completely outgrown its buildings. Consequently a large tract of land was purchased on the Hill,', just outside the corporate limits of Sweetwater. All buildings now used have been erected on this new campus since that date. In the early days of the school, all military drill was under some employed teacher in the faculty, just as is now the case in the rather large number of semi-military schools. In 1911 the first army ofiicer was detailed by the Gov- ernment as instructor in military science in T. M. I. Since that time, all mil- itary work here has been directed by army officers. For further informa- tion about the military, see page 59. In 1919 the administrative ofiicers now in charge became connected with the school. Since that date, a remarkably steady faculty organization has been maintained, teacher changes during the period being less than ten per cent annually. Thus there has been developed here an order of teamwork such as can be found in very few preparatory schools and such as cannot be had in any school that is continually changing ofiicers and teachers. This ac- counts for the higher standards of scholastic work and the greater steadi- ness in governmental policies that have distinguished this school. Page Fifteen

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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 Seventeen