Wells River High School - Chatterbox Yearbook (Wells River, VT)

Page 30 text:

28 THE CHATTERBOX dents held their instructors in the highest respect and remained ever grateful to them. The greatest help to education at this period was the royal support. Kings and Princes were favorable to the decreas- ing of illiteracy for the good of their kingdom and for the wel- fare of the people. At this time Universities sprang into prominence. The oldest of these were at Paris, Bologna and Oxford. Later Fred- erick II founded one at Naples. Italy and invited students from other countries to attend. These universities were not large stone structures with massive Doric columns, as we think of them today, hut often rude, unfurnished buildings in which the students sat on the straw covered floors. 1'here were no text- books, and instruction was given in lecture form and by conver- sation. No examinations were given to students, no diplomas were granted, no degrees were conferred. The very features that we have come to consider essential requirements and honors in university life were entirely lacking in these early institutions, but the educational system of today is the outgrowth of these early forms. Education owed its greatest advancement in the sixteenth century to Francis Bacon. He studied at the University of Cam- bridge. England. He possessed a remarkable intelligence and great intellect. He made it a point to search the field, freely ex- press himself, and detect the faults which other men had not even thought of. He maintained that since the day of Plato and Aristotle the field of knowledge had been broadened, so instead of limiting the course of instruction wholly to the teaching of these philosophers, he believed in applying the knowledge al- ready gained to matters of general interests in the time in which he lived. mong other men who saw the benefits of knowledge and education were John Milton, John Locke of England and Jean-Jaques Rousseau of France. These were the foremost educators of the seventeenth century; the most critical period in which education passed its greatest test. The great advance in the nineteenth century was made when a special course of instruction for teachers was required.

Page 29 text:

THE CHATTERBOX 27 hardly a University in the United States or in Canada that does not have some of Mr. Bentley’s slides for use in class work. You wonder what our Snow King does in the summer? We find that he keeps himself busy by making pictures of dew drops. Although his dew pictures lack the extraordinary variety of the snow crystals, in some ways they are most beautiful. There seems to be something about water, in all its forms that fascinates Mr. Bentley. He has made hundreds of pictures of frost including wonderful photographs of window panes, which Jack Frost has so artistically decorated. He has photographed curious forms of hailstones, rain- drops and clouds, but it is the snow that really commands hi: passionate interest. Mr. Bentley is very content with his role in life. In his own words he says, “As you see, I am a poor man, except in the satisfaction I get out of my work. In that respect I am one of the richest men in the world. I wouldn’t change places with Henry Ford or John D. Rockefeller for all their millions! and I wouldn’t change places with a king—not for all his power and glory. I have my snow flakes!” And We? We Vermonters? We Graduates of Wells River High School? We have Vermont and all she has pro- duced—patriots, a president, authors, teachers, artists and a king. M. GLADYS LATURNAU. THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION Education, to some, seems to have reached perfection; and to understand the means by which the present standard has been achieved we must delve deep into its past history. Learning had its start in the middle ages, during the twelfth and' thirteenth centuries known as the Renaissance Period—the time when the desire for advancement in all lines of human activity dominated all classes. The learning of that day, scanty as it seems to us. contained one main point, the stu-

Page 31 text:

THE CHATTERBOX 29 However, before this it was not always a case of the blind lead- ing the blind, for many were natural born teachers, while others, although fully acquainted with their subjects, were not qualified to impart their knowledge to younger people. The course pre- pared for teaching teachers to teach, marked the great forward stride in education. The United States in its infancy had to cope with new and difficult problems. The energy of the early colonists was devoted, not along scholastic lines but in the development of courage and initiative,—characteristics which are known the world over as truly belonging to Americans. Later, after schools were formed, those very traits formed the basis of American ed- ucation. They have afforded historians the material for those thrilling stories of colonial struggles and the rise of our country to its present place in the world. Educational institutions in America received their great- est support in the New England States and Middle West until after the Civil War. Illiteracy in all sections has been decreased since that time. The method of instruction throughout the United States is universally the same. There are three classes or divisions in the first eight grades of school; the primary, the intermediate or grammar school, and the junior high consisting of the seventh and eighth grades; next are the high schools and academies. The colleges train one for a profession while the normal schools give a teacher the training for her vocation. The three debatable questions in our educational system at the present time are; Compulsory education, the maintenance of separate schools for foreign born and those of white parent- age and and coeducation. Compulsory education has found favor in Europe as well as in the United States. Good results are constantly seen by the adoption of this method. This system has been adopted throughout the states and is now a law. Should separate schools be maintained for foreign born and for white children? As an answer to this question it has been found that there is higher efficiency by mingling them. Time has proved the value of Coeducation. It elevates