The age-herald., 1901-11-24
DISCUSS PLANS FOR BUILDING OF
 A"TECH'' SCHOOL Meeting of Citizens Called by President of School 3
 Board SUPT. PHILLIPS REPOR1 He Says That Such an institution Is Demanded By Industrial Life of
 People In This
 st- District. .iae3 
SUPT. PHILLIPS REPORT

A meeting of citizens was held In the office of Superintendent of Schools Phil lips last night to discuss plans for the building of a high school for manual training and technological work The subject was discussed at considerable length but no action of definite char acter was taken further than to appoint a committee to formulate plans.
 This committee was composed of Mayor Drennen, A. O. Lane, president of the board of education; Superintendent Phil lips, M. V. Joseph and Major Anderson. The committee will hold a meeting short ly and will discuss plans of a more de- tailed nature than were mentioned last night.
 Superintendent's Report.
 The meeting was called by A. O. Lane, president of the board of education, and was the result of the report of Superfn- tendent Phillips made some months ago. This report spoke of the school as the city's greatest need An extract from it which covers the question discussed is as follows:
 ''The spirit of the Birmingham district is decidedly industrial. In this great symphony of diversified interests the fundamental and dominant note must ever be that of intelligent labor. To ig- nore this industrial spirit in our educa- tional institutions is to separate the school from the fife of the people. While the school in its curricula and it's pro- cesses should always embody the higher and nobler ideals of our civilization, its ha executive spheres of society Is unwise and unfortunate. I therefore submit that the high school provided for the Bir- mingham district should embody the technical and manual training features.
 Tn shcrt it should be a technological high school, adequately equipped to give practical instruction in the clements of those trades and occupations that are based upon wood and metal and provid- ed with facilities for training in the lead ing industrial and mechanical arts. I do not mean by this an institution built up- on any sordid or mercenary idea. do not mean a trade school designed to fit young men and women for any specific trade or occupation. but a technical or manual training school in which the ele- ments of the chief industrial occupations of life are generalized. In such an fnsti- tuition the common elements of all the arts, industries and occupations could be concretely presented These common ele- ments by the way are not so numerous and the students could thus master at least the alphabet of the mechanic arts The educational value of an institution of this character, 1t must be remember ed. is in inverse ratio to its commercial value. As the commercial value attached to the finished product of the institution increases, its educational value to the boy decreases.
 Education of the Boy.
 "The central aim of the technological school is the education of the boy. In the trade school, the education of the boy is limited to a single occupation or trade. Commercially the trade school stands higher than the technological school, but educationally it occupies an inferior position. It is but step from the trade school to the factory. where the emphasis Is placed. not on the boy but on the finished product. The boy counts for nothing here except as he produces commercial values. The fac tory represents the commercial element at its maximum, and the educational ele- ment at it's minimum value. The Tech nological School places the emphasis up- on the training of the pupil, not for skill In any specific occupation, but for power over the common clements of many occupations"
 Among those present at the meeting last night and who took prominent parts in the discussion were Mayor Drennen, A. O Lane, John L. Parker. Dr. Phillips, James Bowron. Judge Feagin, M " Joseph. Major Anderson, J. H. F. Nose ly, and others
 An adjourned meeting of the citizens will be called when the committee ap- pointed to formulate definite plans com pletes It's work. The date will be named by MT. Lane-