Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-11
PRACTICAL TRADE SCHOOL.
Fuetories ana schools Cooperate in
the Experiment.

the Experiment.
A cooperative trade school experiment
combining the resources of seven factories
and tho local schools, Is under way in
F1tchburg, Mass. IL In said to be the first
OF its kind in the public schools OF this
country, The course Is one OF four years,
the first year consisting exclusively Of
school room work and the three following
years Of theoretical and practical training
equally arportioned. The factory owners
say that tho high school boys are making
better progress than the full-time appren-
tlces, and Superintendent Joseph G E1gerly
Of the F1tchburg public schools reports
hat the school room work Of these boys
is fully up to the standard.
The Fftchburg boys who take the hlg
school shop work course will be able to
earn enough to clothe themselves, and even
pay board. without interference with their
school work. since they receive regular APP
prentice wagcs for the actual time they
work in the factories, The first year they
receive 10 cents an hour, and they work
approximately 1850 hours, Working the
same number of hours the two following
years. they receive II and 121h cents an
hour, respectively, and they are as well
fitted for their trade as II they had put
in all Of their time in the faotory-betteT
fitted, because Of a livelier intelligence and
ability to use their heads as well as their
hands, Superintendent Edgerly says.
The shopwork consists OF instruction
under practical overseers in the operation
Of iathes. planers. drilling machines, bench
and floor work and such other machine
work, according To the ability OF the ap-
prentice, as pertains to the particular
blsLch of manufacture of the shop where
the boy Is employed. OF the twenty boys
Who entered the Fitchburg shops last Au.
gust sixteen are learning the m~achinist's
trade, two are receiving practical lnstruc.
ton in pattern making and two in drafting.
The cooperative course includes English.
mathematics, with tables and simple shop
problems: mechanice, including simple ma
chimes; freehand and mechanical drawing
each five periods a week, and two periods
for current events.
When the ~shopwork is reached in the
second year the schoolroom periods are
arranged as follows: -Four each for Eng.
fish. physics and mechanism of machines,
five for shop m~athematics and eight fol
freehand and mechanical drawing. In the
third year four periods a week are still de.
voted to English and mechanism Of ma
chimes and five periods to shop mathemat.
us IHNSlCB dnQ CHEMISTRY nave three
periods, commercial geography and bust
ness methods have one period. and free
hand and mechanical drawing continues 10
have eight periods. English still has four
periods in the senior year; shop mathe.
MATES, mechanism Of machines and free
hand and mechanical drawing have five
periods each; electricity and heat have four
periods. and civics and American history
are allotted two periods a week, making
what those who arranged the course con-
slider a well rounded mechanical education.
The manufacturers take the boys i'm
pairs. SO that by alternating they have
at all times one of the pairs at work. Each
Saturday at IL o'clock the boys who have
been in the schoolroom that week go to
the shop and ascertain what particular
job their alternates nave been employed on
and how it has been handled, so that the
work may be taken up the following Mon
day morning without delay. In addition
to the regular school work, an industrial
society has been organized for mental
and social advancement. The society meets
each month and is conducted by the boys
themselves. The plan is to have manu-
facturers and others give talks of an in
structive nature and follow up the talks
with discussions by the members. Social
gatherings also will be held from time tc
time, to which others than members will
be invited.
The workers are entirely under the in.
struction of the foremen in the factories
Prof. William b. Hunter of the high
school, visits the factories occasionally