The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-05-13
POINTS TO SHOPS.
Kansas City Educator Says
Trades Are Taught There.
Conservative in His Support of
Vocational School.
TEACH REAL WORK.
Cautions Against Fitting Stu
dents for Unsuited Calling.
Manual Training Found Good
But Wanting.
TEACH REAL WORK

ct am convinced that we should act
with a good deal of prudence" said
J. NJ. Greenwood, superintendent of
the Kansas City, Mo, rublic schools
before nearly hundred members OF
the Commercial club and educators OF
the city in the club parlors Friday
night. Superintendent Greenwood was
speaking on Vocational Training, a
subject of intense interest to those in
Topeka who are devoting their
thoughts to educational questions, and
especially to the members of a spe-
cial committee of the Commercial club
under DIR. F. L. Loveland, which was
appointed to investigate the PROPOSE
ton. Here 1t might be mentioned that
the vocational school idea was sug-
gested to the commercial men by w.
J. Berkowitz in speaking few weeks
ago at a meeting of the club.
THE first thing to be considered in
establishing trade schools " the speak
er continued, lis what are the people
doing in your city? Don't engage in
use for-you know what kind of work
you are trying to do in Topeka
Problem Solved Here.
''The trade school problem in To-
.peka was largely solved before you
Thought of it. You have a great ad-
vantage here over Kansas City and
other cities, owing to the fact that
over HAIL your DOyo CdH 81 lAllO lIlC
Santa. Fe shops and earn one dollar a
day or more at apprentice work. Your
problem is to organize the manufac-
turers of the city so that they will re-
ceive the boys into the shops to learn
their respective industries
Girls Get Attention Now.
"The interest in education through
out the United States was never more
intense. For the last several years
books, lectures and magazine articles
have been written on what to do with
the boys and girls on the farm, but
new question is now to be dealt with
what to do with the boys and girls
in the city.
Topeka has not been behind in
manual training work. 1 spent some
time looking over your schools and do
not hesitate to say that the work done
in the manual training school is ex-
cellent and compares favorably with
the work done in other cities I was
delighted with the Santa F'e appren-
tice school.
I'VE have excellent manual train
ing in the high school, but this does
not reach the majority of the boys
and gi-ls-the majority does not go to
the high school. There is a little mis-
conception in regard to what we call
vocational training. The manual train
ing work is work that is fairly sat
isfactory throughout the country. 1t
the wage question-would hold the
boys and girls in the schools.
There are 1900 different kinds of
manufacturing industries in Kansas
City. A shoe factory in our city takes
40 processes to make a single shoe,
each person contributing something. /
asked one bright man who had worked
in the business Is years if he had ever
made a shoe and he said he had not
only the uppers.
"It takes IA persons to make a pair
OF overalls-20 to make a shirt. In but
a few trades one person can do all the
work that is to be done. This makes
the vocational problem a complex prob
lem
I'm connection with certain Cali
fornia school in the third year of the
high school if a man buys a lot and
furnishes the material, the students
will go out and actually build the
house under the direction of a COM
petent instructor.
Students Get Higher Wages.
''In the course of my Investigations
over the country-in all 1 Travelled 5000
miles investigating the vocational