The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1909-01-30
NORMAL SCHOOL
GRADUATES HEAR
SPEAKER PRINCE
Twenty-seven Members of Feb
ruary Class Are Now
Ready to Teach.

TRENTON, Jan. 30.-In the presence
of relatives and hundreds of friends
n twenty-seven members of the Feb
ruary class of the State Normal School
were graduated last night. Seated
upon the platform with members of
n class were DR.. James NJ. Green,
principal Of the State schools James
l.. Hays, president of the State Board
of Education; st. John Metuchen. MEM
Der of the board, n DR.. John d.
Prince, Speaker OF the House of AS,
sembiy.
In presenting the class Principal
Green referred to the small number it
contained. but stated that that fact
was no reflection upon the State insti-
tuition, but SIMPLY signlncant of the
number OF OF the high schools
OF n State. y
: Miss Heien Baker Smith, of Hobo
Ken, vaiedlctorlan, delivered an essay
on Practical Benehls Derived from
Manual framing
Speaker Prince, in addressing the
eiass On Higher Education" said in
part:
II am aware that it has been the
naDlt vi late to iaud our system OF pup-
Tic instruction as being quite nawless.
Inat the plan OF d common education
Tor all Is perfect We must admit, but
tneSe is a nav In our system, Decom-
ing more anu more apparent in its
working ont. PracticaAy every uni
vers1ty professor or Instructor will
agree with me IN believing that the
main fault In our entire American
scnool system of today Is a noIiceaple
lack OF that thorough training in es-
sentials when, Tor example, in Ger
many, enables the school pupil TO pass
into the SPECIALIZED career OF his later
life fully prepared to cope with every
problem which he may meet. In this
land OF ours, however, we are almost
daily confronted with the half-trained
inaccurate student from both public
and private schools.
Now We must ask ourselves what
is the cause OF this too general slack
ness and in%accuracy, which l am ready
to acknowledge Is less evident in New
Jersey and Massachusetts than in other
States, but which is none the less
present everywhere. The root of it all
probablyolies in the phenomenal ma
terial growth of the country during the
past fifty years. To grow as rapidly
as we have n has produced haste,
and to this spirit of haste or hustle, in
eyitable in our civilization, l attribute
the growing tendency to superficiality.
That we must have a speed of life in
our peculiar American culture we ad-
nit, but We cannot admit that We must
have haste. Our rapid material ad-
vances should hurt US not at all, if we
speed forward rightly. In other words,
hustle coupled with right living, by
which 1 mean careful living. should in
jure no one. But therein lies the
difficulty.
There is no profession more noble
nor more self-sacrihcing, than that of
the teacher" continued DR.. Prince,
1 do not hesitate to say that the
important of all teachers is the
of the primary grades in u
schools
Diplomas were presented to the fol-
Hazel A. Adams, Belleville; Ella
A. Bartine, Camden; Jeanette V. Bar
Der, Lambertville; Alice H. Butler,
Florence M. Clark, West
Hoboken; Margaret s. Cochran, Lam
bertville; Elizabeth M. Collins, fTren-
ton: Elsie NJ. Creamer, Vineland; Su-
DeCamp. Newark; Edna F. Dilks.
Point; Mamie v. Dolan, Nut
ley; Janet Fitzcharles, Trenton; Grace
B. Fletcher, Trenton; Lulu c.. Haynes,
Helen M. Holton, South
River; Mildred w. Kay, Rutherford;
Lewis. Cranbury: T. Adele
Platt, South Orange; Jane w. Rogers.
Bristol; Anna P. Shoemaker. Penns-
grove; Helen B. Smith, Hoboken; Dora
V. Stafford, Palermo; Lillian M. This
lie, New Brunswick; Bessie L. Wander
bilt, Princeton; Martha E. Westcott,
Trenton Junction.; Mabel V. Wilbur,
Red Bank; Mabel Wilkinson, Arlington.