The Savannah morning news., 1903-04-14
TAKING OF CENSUS
TO BE ARRANGED FOR BY BOARD
OF EDUCATION IN MAY.
TEACHING OF PHYSIOLOGY
DISCUSSED BY SUPERINTENDENT
ASHMORE IN HIS REPORT.

Mrs. Marie Grower Appointed to
Succeed Her and Miss Celia Starr
to Replace Mrs. GrOOver-Teach-
ing of Physiology Specially |
Brought to Attention of Normal
CIass-Present Text Book Gun
tenchabIe" and May Have to BE
Changed.
The April meeting of the Board of
Education was held last night. The
question of taking the school census
was discussed, but action was post
poned until the May meeting, at which
time Supt. Ashmore will submit a re-
port advising the course to be pursued
in taking it.
The quarterly reports of principals as
to the efficiency of the teachers were
also submitted. These reports were
conscientiously prepared and showed
that the majority of the teachers are
doing good work, though there are
few cases where results are not up to
the mark. The reports were received
as information and no further action
was taken in regard to them.
The resignation of Miss Lillian E.
Symons, teacher of the third grade in
Chatham School No. /, was read and
accepted Her place was assigned to
Mrs. Marie Grower assistant teacher
in the Henry Street School, while Miss
Celia Starr succeeds Mrs. Grower.
These changes were made April sub
ject to the approval of the board.
Col. George A. Mercer, president of
the board, reported that he had visit
ed st. Patrick's, Anderson Street and
West Broad Street schools and had
found them all in satisfactory con-
dition. The children of st. Patrick 8
School, by way of an exercise each
wrote a synopsis of the address made
by Col Mercer when he visited them.
Some three hundred of these were re-
ceived by Col. Mercer. He consc1en-
tiously read them all
The superintendent submitted his
monthly report which dealt with the
teaching of physiology in the schools.
Supt. Ashmore said:
Teaching of Physiology.
"At the January meeting was re-
quested to make a report to the board
at my convenience upon the teaching
call your attention very briefly to that
subject.
"At present physiology is taught for /
mally by the use of the text book In
the sixth and seventh grades OF the
grammar schools, and in the first grade
of the High School. In the lower grades
of the grammar schools the subject is
taught informally either by the grade
teacher or by the principal by means
of talks to the children upon the more
important features of the subject per-
tanning specially to the care of the
health.
..As our schools are at present or
ganized. l do not think it is advsa-
Bile to use a text book in the lower
grades and even in the upper grades
of the grammar schools the text book
should be of a very simple and prac-
teal nature. The question as to
whether any subject should be taught
in a particular grade will depend upon
the nature of the subject and the de-
gree of mental development of the chill
dren to be taught.
1.-The faculties of the mind are I'M
folded in the order of the perception,
the memory, and the reason The first
two are developed early and they
reach their maximum degree of activ-
ity in childhood. The last, the ration
al faculty, while present in feeble
form from the earliest stages of life,
does not reach high degree of actlVi-
ty before the high school age. Inc
true philosophy of education requires
that the mind be applied to a certain
subject at the period of development
when those faculties to be employed
in dealing with the subject are at
their maximum degree of activity.
1.-The nature of most subjects is COM
posite, appealing to a greater or less
extent to all the faculties, but in many,
such as spelling, reading, elementary
geography and history the require
ments of perception and memory pre-
dominate, while in many others, such
as higher arithmetic, technical gram
mar and geometry, the rational facul-
ties are called into more prominent ac-
ton.
1.-The subject of physiology occupies
a wide field in the domain of mental
comprehension. The subject is GER
tainly rich in the possible and legln-
mate exercise of perception and mem
ory, and it affords an equal oppor-
tunity for the exercise of the rational
faculty in deducing effects. The adap-
liability of physiology as study in the
schools will, therefore, depend upon the
selection of topics and the skill In pre-
senting them.
New in Savannah Schools.
at must be remembered that the
SUBJECT OF pnySlOlOBy Is new "A OAA
grammar schools, and that the teach
ers do not possess much knowledge or
it. We all feel an awkwardness IN
doing that with which we are not IA
miliar A special effort has been made
in the Normal Glass this year to give
the teachers instruction in the subject
matter and in its proper presentation
to the classes, and l have good rea-
son to think that they understand
how to teach the subject much better
now than they did at the beginning OF
the year.
The text book used in the grammar
schools, l fear, is rather technical,
and what is known to teachers as
'unteachable, and it may be desira-
BILE TO consider a change for some bet
ter book for next year. The subject
of physiology when wisely taught be-
lieve to be an important feature in the
schools. 1t should occupy its legiti-
mate place in the scheme of education,
and when properly presented to the
children by skilful teachers the results
will be very beneficial"
At the meeting, besides Chairman
Mercer, were Messrs. Henry Blum,
Herman Myers, NJ. F. Dunn, S. B. Ad-
ans, and P. A. Stovall.