The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1911-06-15
EDUCATIONAL.
(BY G. w. MEISNEST.l

First Honor Diplomas, 2S were boys
and 43 were girls. OF the l01 who
received Second Honor Diplomas so
were boys and 81 were girls. OF the
80 prizes offered, the boys received 5
and the girls "a. Although there
were not many more girl graduates
than boys, it seems that the girls cap
tured most of the prizes Why should
this have been so? Is it because the
girls as a rule are brighter? Is it be-
cause they work harder? Or is it
because they generally 60 into such a
thing with frmer determinations |
do not believe it is because they are
brighter, nor because they work hard
er, in most cases, but think it is due
to the fact that they go at doing things
OF the contest sort with more of a de-
termination to win than boys usually
do. There is a great deal to this, not
only in winning contests but in winn-
ing in anything. To do a piece of
work with only half determination
to do it well, usually at the outset
spells failure.
Then | believe there is another
reason why the boys have not shown
up as well, and that is that they are
kept out of school more frequently
than girls. They must leave school
at an earlier age. "They are needed
at home," so says the parents. In fact
they are needed at school and no
parent can afford to take his boy out of
school until he has finished it and Sc
cured diploma. No boy ought to be
taken out of school until sixteen years
of age. At the age Of 10 the boy has
learned some of the things on the farm.
AT that age he begins to think about
silo, about cement floor in the barn,
| about the use of concentrated feeds,
about the value of selecting pure seeds,
and how to make the selection, about
sanitary barns and milk utensils, etc.
All of these things are best learned
and have the more lasting impression
on boys at the age of ID or l6, and that
is why they should attend school at
that age.
Good results and high attainments
can only be secured by a constant re-
gular effort on the part of the pupils
and teacher.
In looking over the list Of pupils that
received diplomas and comparing them
| with the ones that failed find that
those that ought to have passed but
didn't were absent fifty per cent more
than those that passed.
The papers showed marked i'm
provement in the penmanship work.
This work was strongly emphasized
the past year and the results have al
ready been noticed With another
year Of emphasis placed upon it, it is
hoped that the basis for better penman-
ship will have been well established.
The examination papers also reveal
| the TACT that some schools are good IN
one thing and some in another. In a
certain school that had six pupils writ
ing, all either failed or barely passed
in arithmetic. The cause for this is
either one of two things, the pupils
were never taught right in the past.
and thus were generally poor in spite
of the fact that they had good teach
er this year, or else the pupils had n
poor teacher in arithmetic. In cases
where the children are backward in
some one or two branches especially if
they be the important ones there
ought be no objection to placing great
er emphasis on those subjects, by hav-
ing more frequent and more thorough
drills and by working more practical
problems.