Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-02
NEW SCHOOLING IDEA
Vocational Training Advocated
by Supt. Stuart.
PLANS TO PUT IN PRACTICE
Modified Academic Teaching fol
Prospective Wage-Earners.
TO BE QUALIFIED FOR TRADE
Small Appropriation Delays Develop.
ment Of Educational Scheme in
Washington Schools.

Brand-new ideas on the subject Of
teaching the school children OF Washing
ton. especially in the trade branches OF
the public school curriculum, are being
developed by Supt. A. T. Stuart. who re-
turned to town yesterday and appeared
at his Office today with a fine coat of
Atlantic City tan.
From the talk Mr.. Stuart had with
Star reporter today It is evident that the
entering wedge Of q new system of MAX
ing boys ready to take up q job as soon
as they leave school will be sharpened
and inserted this year.
Instead Of drilling fifty Thousand pupils
a year along purely academic lines. the
start will be made along trade lines. or
vocational lines. just as soon as Congress
deals generously enough with the school
appropriation.
Preparing to Earn Living.
teen will. under this new schedule OF
teaching be prepared to do more than
wrap bundles in department store or
carry messages for q telegraph company.
1t is the idea Of Mr.. Stuart to bring up
q generation Of boys who Will be able 10
take the place OF the men just as soon as
the boys step from school,.
Thousands Of boys who will have to
leave the public schools before they reach
the high school will, under this improved
system, be fitted to take a mechanics job,
to step into a machinery plant or TO fnd
handy employment in some big enterprise
where, instead of being the typical al
ways-in-the-way" style of apprentice.
they will have a knowledge of practical
things in addition to the ordinary three
r" style Of book learning.
Not Enough Cash Available.
Thirty thousand dollars is needed to
start this style Of course this year. All
the schools have at their disposal Is
81, 500.
This will 90 into the night schools,
where q tremendous advance was made
last year toward the very thing that Mr.
Stuart wants to bring about In the day
classes every effort will be made to intro
duce the new vocational or trade training
at the first minute possible.
1t 10 evident NOW, also that the COM
metcial and ehustness. courses 1T the
Business High School have become so
nearly perfect and so attractive that
there Will have to be an annex course
introduced In the Eastern High School
this year, IL II Is possible to set apart
from the appropriation q salary big
enough to attract the right teacher. II
the right teacher or teachers cannot be
obtained. II IL probable that no new
course will be established.
Business Alumni Helping.
"rhe Business High School is the
only school we have now from which
a graduate may step Immediately into
a job" said Mr.. Stuart today. Il be-
lieve it is true that every Business
High School graduate who wants q
"The alumni association Of that
school has conducted an employment
bureau for some years, and takes
mighty good pains that every one OF
the graduates gets his name bofore the
business world in some way
These special schools are taking
great prominence. in the eyes Of the
educational world. The time is right
at hand when they will be the big
things In education.
us right now is the question of what to
do for the boy or girl who wants to
leave school before the high school. The
average age of this kind Is fourteen
years.
Trade Training Needed.
For centuries these children have been
trained in things which are academic.
What want to see is trade training In
as great q degree as possible.
Il want to see them taught carpenter
ing and woodworking. and such ele-
ments of mechanics as will make them
able to live by their hands. The girls
should know housekeeping and cooking,
sewing and the like
1.-The night schools which we ran last
year on little or no money will be con-
tinued this year. That will be the enter
ing wedge Of this new training in trades.
We have 500 this year, although we
81 believe that the night schools give
| the greatest results for the money of all
the schools. The people who go there
attend the classes because they want to
learn. and not because they are COM
PEELED to 60"
Another thing Mr.. Stuart Is going to
work out for the 10000 school children of
| the city 10 the problem of having every
| child go through school In as fine physical
condition as possible. First and foremost
comes the simple little use Of the tooth
brush.
Tooth Brush Not Popular.
Odd as It may seem to the ordinary
dainty-mouthed person. there are schools
| In this city where q tooth brush Is as lit
tie used as IL an image Of Buddha. says
Mr. Stuart. A long study Of children's
teeth last year resulting in q thick COM
pilation Of figures shows him that two
dentists ought to be added to the regular
force Of medical inspectors.
/ Its just q step in caring for the ply
/ sical side OF the school child's life. But
the tooth brush Is certainly important"
i said Mr.. Stuart.
| In the examination OF the children Of
four regular schools and one special
school II was found that 1881 children
didn't use q tooth brush. and that 1857
\ ala use them. or the total number. 2. 2.52S.
Il was found that 536 were mouth
breathers," suffering from adnoids. which
a a defect found In large proportion in
| the "atypicaf' schools.
| II was found that only 341 children out
| OF the entire 2,52S were free from cavities
| In their teeth and that 2,425 had never
| had teeth filled. showing an enormous
percentage Of teeth that should be at
| tended to by q dentist. There were
| found 662 sets Of misft teeth. and ! 1.220
children had teeth that should be ex-
i tracted.
i Nrsv limit Entrance Nls~aAa