Putnam patriot., 1908-12-25
Industrial Education in Fiichburg.

DU0usIfut Iuutdubu III
 Advanced ground In industrial edu- cafionaI work, says the New York Tfi- bupe, has been taken In fitchburg, Masa. Educators in all pans Of ihe country gre watching the development uf inc ambitious undertaking with
 more than passing interest, A upon the success CT failure of the experiment will depend whether or nol the plan Is adopted elsewhere
 Thss fall the second. year high school boys received ihe privilege ef lea1nlng q metal trade by going inte the faeto- firs of the town 10 work one week at regular factory hours, and to return to the schoolfoom the following week thus alternating between factory and schoolroom throughout The year.
 Twenty boys were elected to take the new course, and the reports for ihe first together favorable, not one of the twen- ty boys having shown any desire to abandon the combination Of school room and factory work.
 lt Is the first attempt Of the kind in public sehooi. A course similar 10 this one has been In operation at the slfnieefsity of Cincinnati for older boys, and the Fifehburg departure K pat. terned after the Cincinnati Idea. The course Is one of four yeafs--lhe ilfst consist ting exclusively of sehoolfoom work and the three following years of uf theoreiieal and practical training eqnnily aprnflionei The factory own. CTS, Ken of whom are ee-epefatinR win the seIeal Department, say That ttls high school boys are making better pfurFesA Ihan the f0llslime apprentices, nud Superintendent Joseph ti. t.dEer W. of the filellbnfg pabfe schools, te, ports thnt tbc seho8lfoeht wofk ai these bow le fuil4 up lo The slandafd. fbe .uecess of the titchbutg plan seems sso well assured that steps are being ztaknn in anumbef ei other clties, hose school authorities have been i'll eof4es. 'pondenee with Superintendent Edgof Ely. to begin similar courses next year. Prominent educators ia MassaehH- |seits, believe that Fitchbnrg has gone . long way toward solving the prob. lem how best to keep the boys in The Thigh school fur the full four sears |course--a problem that has been the Fdespair of educators in all mannfactur- Itng towns, such as k fitehburg. The belief of many parents that their boys, EWho must eventually find their way Unto the shops, were wasting lime in [kciiooh when they could be learning |tfade, has been as much tue cause of l the falling ati' in the enrolment of ses | |tond and thifd year high school classes es the youthful longing to break into < |iiIe's real battle and to throw school books aside. How to meet the expenses of the four |years in The high school has been big |factor, bat this has been eliminated In fitchbnrg, as the boys N he take the |nhop-wofk course Will he able to cam [enough to elothe themselves aud exen [psy board, without interference with their school work, since they receive Approximately 10 cents an hour the Efirst year, and work approximately $50 hours, The second year II, the thtrd i2 i-s cents an hour, and they are |ns we'll fitted for their trade as If they had put all their time in the factory better fitted, because of iiyelier intel- |llgence and ability 10 use their heads and hands, besides enjoying both work |nnd school studies from the conscious neas ot becoming masters of their fu. lnfe destiny.
 The manufacturers take the boys in palrs, so that by alternating they have |at ail times one of the pairs at work. Each Saturday at II o'clock the boys who have been tn the schoolroon thai |Heek, 70 10 the shop and ascertain |aehat particular job their ailetnates are |Ru and how IL k handled. so as Ia be ltndy 10 take hold of it Monday morn Inn. The details of the arrangements Between The manufacturers and boys, how the latter choose their trades, how 1hey arc instructed, and how their in. 1Hfastx are watched over, are unneees- |1aFy to explain, but the school officers
 nd employers are mutually interested n the success Of this new plan of in.
 1&tnal esiucalioa. Il has far won Tn appreciation as an ads aneed step <r edueatang 1oys for their lile's work.
 FIG experinentco could be tried in shls
 IT any manufacturing lo2n, wiih-
 littlc trouble or expense II sny. The
 Sbarg exreFtn,ens may be i1npro.
 n& enrtainlr lt is step tn the
 s 6 must ilnaily end
 m xirl | complete
 1< nz tFnintng of all