Western Military Academy - Recall Yearbook (Alton, IL)

Page 22 text:

READIIXV, 'RITHMETIC For The preparaTion oT iTs cadeTs Tor college and Tor laTer liTe, WesTern lv1iliTary Academy can oTTer The be'sT. The TaculTy, oT course, is an imporTanT parT in any school, and The WesTern TaculTy is ex- cellenT and well balanced in all Tields aT educaTion. AnoTher decided advanTage aT WesTern is The smallness oT The classes. Tor in These each sTudenT receives more individual aTTenTion Than he could iT The classes were larger. AT WesTern The sTudenT is graded upon his own abiliTies and noT upon his class ranking. This meThod is noT compeTiTive and has proved The TairesT and mosT encouraging meThod aT grading. EnTering WesTern Ias+ Tall as a plebe , one prob- ably did noT noTice The many changes which have Taken place in The scholasTic deparTmenT since lasT year. However, an old sTudenT, reTurning To The campus, could poinT ouT many. Probably The TirsT change To be noTiced would be The new arrange- menT oT The large Tormer school-room in The Admin- isTraTion Building. In place oT one immense room There sTood Two, which were small in comparison To The original buT which sTill made up Two good-sized rooms. The rear room, somewhaT The larger oT The Two, was converTed inTo a library, Tor sTudying. Along The walls were lined book-cases, well equipped wiTh volumes aT all Types oT liTeraTure Tor The use oT The cadeTs. Upon enTrance inTo The TronT room one could immediaTely see ThaT This was The assembly place Tor The corps. Here were row aTTer row oT TheaTer seaTs Tacing a large plaTTorm in The TronT cenTer. This room was where The cadeTs were To hear ouTsicle lecTures, and hold Their own chapel -periods. ATTer viewing These Two surprising changes, The curious cadeT began To wonder whaT had been done wiTh The Tormer library. Upon invesTigaTing he Tound ThaT iT also had been changed. lT resembled The old larger school room wiTh builT-in individual desks excepT ThaT iT was on a smaller scale. This was now The sTudy hall Tor all grammar school cadeTs. BeTore leaving This room, The searching eyes oT The inquisiTive would Tall upon a queer obiecT in The corner OT The room, Desiring To learn whaT iT was, he would make inquiries and discover ThaT iT was a meTronoscope and iTs use was Tor The purpose of Teaching pupils To read rapidly and well. Words and phrases are Tlashed on a screen one by one aT shorT inTervals in The sequence which They appear in a senTence. The Time oT The inTervals beTween The swiTching oT words can be regulaTed. A greaT many reading problems can be simpliTied by This machine. As The year progressed, one could noTice cerToin changes in The schedules and procedures OT The scholasTic programs. One oT The mosT popular addi- Tions was Major Persing's idea Tor using parlia- menTary procedure To begin all periods. Each class elecTed iTs own chairman, vice-chairman, secre- Tory, and parliamenTarian every Two weeks. Class meeTings were opened by The chairman, The minuTes read by The secreTary, and old and new business discussed beTore The insTrucTor Took charge aT The class rouTine. This procedure has been successTul The new Headmasfer checks over a iunior speech wiTh lmboden.