Tennessee Military Institute - Radiogram Yearbook (Sweetwater, TN)

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GROUNDSAND BUILDINGS The grounds of Tennessee Military Institute are ideal for military school purposes. The campus embraces one hundred forty-four acres of land, with the buildings and drill ground on the crest of a high hill, with such slopes in all directions as to furnish perfect natural drainage. Ample space is included for drill grounds, athletic fields, tennis courts, nine-hole golf course, etc. The soil is of a gravelly character, which drains rapidly after rains. The main building of Tennessee Military Institute is one of the most complete buildings in the nation for all phases of schoolwork. It contains under one roof space designed and equipped for every need and activ- ity of the school except outdoor military drill and athletics. This includes an assembly and study hall, 100x44 feet, classrooms, offices for all admin- istrative officers, mess hall, 100x50 feet, living quarters for cadets and apartments for teachers, commissary, storerooms for supplies, armory and storeroom for government equipment, indoor shooting gallery, laboratories and storeroom for chemical, physical, and biological apparatus and supplies, reading room, shower baths, toilets, etc. This building was designed when the school was moved to the new campus in 1909, and the different sections of it were built in 1909, 1912, 1917, and 1920. The school had been in operation for thirty-five years when the move to the new campus was made, hence, every need of a military school was foreseen and provided for in designing the new plant. It is our belief that there are very few school plants in America better adapted to the needs of a military school. More than half of our plant is less than twenty years ol-d. The barracks sections of the building deserve special mention. Every cadet room opens on an outside concrete and steel porch, thus eliminating fire danger and avoiding corridor problems at one time. All cadet rooms are of the same dimensions and arrangement and equipped with the same furnishings. The entire barracks has both hot and cold water in every room. Our rooms are well ventilated, well heated, and furnished adequately for the convenience and comfort of our boys. GYMNASIUM The new gymnasium, built during the summer of 1937, is a two story building 95 X 65 feet. On the first floor is situated the barber shop, school store and caretaker's quarters, a section 65 X 65 feet devoted to boxing ring, fencing, bag punching, ping-pong tables, etc., dressing room with ninety-six individual lockers, shower room and visiting team room. On the second floor we have one of the most beautiful basketball courts in the South. Bleachers with a seating capacity of 350 along one side are so constructed as to make storage space beneath for all athletic supplies and the Athletic Directors office. Page Twenty-One

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0 INTERIOR OE GYMNASIUM A thoroughly modern eighteen- bed intirrnary, designed, built, and equipped during the I923-I924 session to care tor any boy tern- porarily untit tor regular school duties. A competent and ex- perienced nurse is constantly in charge. Separate wards tor iso- Iating cases ot contagious char- acter. The health record ot the school is such that we frequently go tor weeks without a single boy in the intirrnary. 0 EXTERIOR VIEW OF NEW GYMNASIUM Page Twenly

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GOVERNMENT A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. Likewise a school is no better than its government. Scholarship in the Faculty and excellence of buildings and equipment are wasted in schools lacking in governmental con- trol. In such schools, pupils spend their energies on things other than the real purposes of the school. Most parents have witnessed the failure of some school under such conditions. Successful school government consists of sensible regulations carried out with firmness and fairness by teachers of personality. Much is heard these days about resentment of restraints by teen-age boys. This is probably true in schools of varying policies and in home life where one boy compares his restrictions with the liberties allowed to his friends by their parents. In Ten- nessee Military Institute government is characterized by uniformity, firm- ness, and fairness. Consequently, boys here recognize the fairness of the oflicers in charge of government, and therefore accept in fine spirit the re- quirements made of them under the regulations of the school. Any school can impose prohibitory regulations, but not every school can succeed in having its prohibitions accepted in such spirit and good humor by its pupils as to accomplish the real purposes of school government. The suc- cess of Tennessee Military Institute along this line has served as the founda- tion on which to build high standards of scholastic attainment and to main- tain uplifting and inspiring influences on boys enrolled. IDLE-MIND Somebody has said, in language more expressive than elegant, DANGERS that the idle mind is the devil's workshop. This is probably true to a greater or less degree in all stages of life, but is cer- tainly true of the period of boyhood. The busy boy never causes trouble. On the other hand, when there are idle hours of the day or night during which the boy is left to his own inventions and devices, the live youngster will invent and devise and also execute. Unfortunately, many of his schemes for whil- ing away the hours are mischievous and dangerous. KEEP THE Hence, our first eiort toward orderliness and good government BOY BUSY in Tennessee Military Institute is directed to keeping the boy busy. We undertake to prevent the idle-hour offenses against school government by removing the idle hours. The ounce of prevention here is worth the pound of cure. This must not be understood to mean that life in T. M. I. is one continual grind of drill or study, but it does mean that there is such definite provision for the use of every hour in the boy's daily sched- ule that he does not have long periods to himself in which to brood, or be- come discontented and unhappy, or to plan and carry out trouble-producing schemes. For the exact hours of the daily schedule, see page 34. When a boy has met his military and academic requirements for the day and used the night study period in preparation for the following day, he is ready for bed. Page Twenty-Two