Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-28


IN which to establish itself. Manual
training, chemistry, physics, electrical
engineering, Photography, zoology, me-
chanical drawing and meteoroIogy will
all find here in Worcester and Worces-
county an educational sentiment dis
! tlnctly in their favor. We have only to
remind ourselves of the skill in invention
and the mechanic arts, and the great
| variety of manufacturing industries
that distinguish this community to be
assured that this enterprise will receive
here hearty approval and ample patron
age. Students will be drawn to US in
| apprecia'ble numbers, not only from cen
trail Massachusetts, but also from the
country at large; and instead of the build
lngs becoming in any degree a charge
upon us, 1t will undoubtedly carry the
number of pupils in the next two or
| three years up to and beyond the full
complement our dormitories and dining
hall were designed to hold, and so
prove to be, as every addition we have
made to our equipment has, a means of
added income as well as increased use
tulness. We have only to recall the
perfectly familiar factt of the increased
prosperity that has Immediately followed
each of our advances in the enlarge
ment of the school
Again, the fulfillment of the present
plan will draw to our school many
young men of that large and important
class that do not carry their education
to college, but go into the business of
active life direct from the secondary
school, completing their education when
they finish such a course of study.
There should be the fullest opportunity
for this class of students in our school.
which, as an endowed academy, can Of
fer a freer and more Independently elias
tic course of study
AGAIN, the erection and equipment of
THIS building will give the school anoth-
er distinctly unique and noble character
lstlc; 1t will be the first school that we
know OF in our country to develop its
sclentl1c side as fully and consistently
as 1t mas its classical. Unlike the two
great German schools of secondary rank
that exist under distinct and separate
organizations, and are supported by pol
lcles that are hotly antagonistic and mu-
tuaIy weakening, our school will pre-
sent the Two great educatiVe principles
unlced under one administration and
Iostered with the same jealous care.
Inc classical, or the gymnasial side. as
the Germans call it, will show
70 the scientific or realschule.
the school that deals with things and
concerns itself with doing. the refine
ments OF culture studies that awaken
imagination, that idealize life. that lead
10 reflection and sentiment and that
emphasize the value and necessity of the
inner furnishings and equipment of the
mind as the real possessions and riches
OF llfe On the contrary, the influence of
the scientific side of the school will teach
that tne executive powers are also to
De trained, have also their field. are
also essential to the life of the state.
me one side will soften and refine, the
othef Will strengthen and keep virile,
each being modified by the other and
modifying the other, so that both are
preserved from the undesirable extreme
The natural sciences, nature know
Iedges, as the Germans put it, are the
newcomers into the educational arena,
put they are to remain and properly
enough do their part in training the
mind of the young for useful and noble
| HE. There is education in contrast and
in comparison
The school has most successfully
| answered the question whether the
poor and the rich may safely and wisely
| be united in the close relations of a
large family. 1t is the democratic and
| American spirit and way, and the great
facts of the national life are successfully
repeated on smaller plan in our little
republic. We can also as safely solve the
| problem whether the two chief educa-
tlonal forces to be found in schools can
be strongly and fully developed at the
same time in the same school, Prudence,
| courage and determination are needed,
| but these alone. Given these and all else
we need will be Immediately forthcom-
| ing We never began an enterprise so
certain to be crowned with success. The
educational tendency is Enthusiastically in
| the direction of the development of
scientific studies: we are miserably in
adequately equipped to do such work.
All that is needed Is simply your word
to go ahead. The past fifteen years are
a commanding inspiration and encour-
agement to do So We have been able
because we thought we were able We
shall now be able because we determine
to be-"
These words have already been proved
true, and coming years will only increas-
ingly attest their truth
President Mendenhsll spoke as follows
in his address: mo earlier day in the
history of the institution has been, in
my judgment, of greater moment than
| this. The opening today of the Kingsley
laboratories adds so greatly to the facili-
ties of the academy, enlarges so much
its capacity for kind of work which
has only recently come to that promi-
nence which it deserves, and thus places
it so much in advance of other schools
of its kind, that 7 cannot but think it
occasion of these exercises means a
great deal in the way of bringing about
so desirable q state of things 1t means
| much to this institution, but it also
means much to the cause of education
everywhere"
1t may be that the thought still forms
itself in some mind, ''Yes all this may
be true, but how does it apply to our
school? Have we not a preparatory
school, and is it not to continue so?'
Most certainly so; but permit me to
read another paragraph from my report
of year ago:
"The term preparation school partly
confuses the real Importance and aims
of the schools to which 1t applies, or at
least does not fully define their real cha
racter and function. Neither does the
term secondary, though somewhat less
doubtful, adequately describe the ma
ture of the institution that is the middle
member of our commonly accepted
scheme of education, The phrase pre-
paratory school has come generally to
mean a school that regularly, and to
some minds necessarily leads to the
| college, or so-called university, and to
the higher schools OF science. The
phrase secondary school does not so
precisely carry this meaning, and so
| allows latitude for the school to which
! it applies to have some individuality in
| the expression of it's curriculum and of
its training.
while, as a member of coherent
system, a secondary school like our
own should seek the wisest and sound
est articulation with the higher mem
bers Of the system, we must never for
get that it should, in a very important
( sense, be an Independent educational in
stitution with an institutional spirit of
| Its own, with something of Individual
ized methods and aims. There should
be articulation enough with the higher