The Washington herald., 1913-02-09


the girls and not the teachers. but they
are the work OF all the girls. Each one
or the six thousand pupils writes part
| or a suggestion or a song. or sketches
costume, or contributes an idea OF some
sort. Then by a process Of elimination
| ON tie part Of the students and their
down to q possible number Of the best
| ideas the school can produce. Heretofore
the girls have had TO go to an armory
or some rented building for their big en-
school Is on Irving Place, instead OF be-
Ing divided up in inadequate buildings
ON Twelfth Street and Grand Street and
! Thirteenth Street and Eighty-second
Street and EIghty-eighth Street. the school
auditorium will be big enough for the
school plays.
: by the departments. A few months ago,
| for instance, the English scholars invited
their friends to a /" Masque OF Thanks
/ Ben Jonson's Masque of Christmas. but
/ that was, in substance. wholly original
with the English pupils.
| II Is one of the features. as education.
Of all these entertainments at the high
| school that they teach the students not
only initiative and resource and organizd-
ton. but naturalness as well The WASH
/ ington Irving High School girls are not
| self-conscious. Whether there are thou
sands of them going over TO the League
chr.sten a ship. or just one singing and
dancing for a visiting Inspector TO show
/ this phase of the school work. the girls
are sure to be unaffected. dignified. self
possessed. And the people who encour-
mind.
Throughout the schools ordinary curric-'
ulum are many little Interesting things
that seem odd 10 an outsider, but that
are Just part OF the schools reality.
There is the marketing. for instance. And
girl In the biology and household de-
! partments OF the high school has in
! supply. has collected in drug stores and
markets labels of harmful articles sold
under the.pure food law. has looked into
the chemical composition of everyday
foods and medicines And IN the business
course, for instance, the discovery that a
stenographer who can make her own
folders and file books is more useful and
can often command higher salary than
one who cannot has led to the introduce
ton Of these lessons into the course.
The employment agency Of the WASH
ingtOn Irving High School keeps In con-
stant touch with the needs Of employers.
with the business careers Of the high
school graduates, and with the various
Already nearly ali the girls who have
just been graduated at the end OF the
first term OF this year have been Offered
knows what positions are vacant what
girls are needed. what especial qualifiCa-
tions are necessary. She knows Just what
girl in the school can fill these needs:
and she knows. too. that the girl who
has been trained at the Washington lrv-
ing High School is competent and capa-
BILE worker.
I Every girl in the school is a prospective
homemaker. to be sure. and she is taught
homemaking- But IL she is a prospective
worker too-and most of the students arc
she is trained to proficiency. And a girl
can learn TO be a secretary, bookkeepsr.
/ saleswoman, stenographer, librarian, cos
tune designer. commercial illustrator.
sign writer. dressmakeT, cook, housekeep-
er. bookbinder. printer. milliner. or other
sort Of worker, and can be sure Of y
good position in her chosen trade when
she can prepare herself for college. teach
ers' training school. or art school. or IL
she decides to become a trained nurse she
I will have learned some useful lessons be-
! fore her actual training begins.
The Washington Irving High School for
Girls did not become the general training
nor were the new ideas OF education put
I in force without great deal OF efroIt
| on the prat OF Principal. teachers. and
advocates OF the new kind Of a school.
| 1916, its $40 students were entered for
the old-fashioned education" AS q
| Faculty member put II:
" The traditional idea was to cover
course Of study, and for the authorities
/ TO pick out some arbitrary pieces OF the
worlds knowledge-geometry.h history. and
so on-and then hire people to transfer
that from books 10 children. The chill
l dren that absorbed II were said to be
I educated This school started on that
idea; but some dissatisfied and progress
sive minds among the teaching force OBJ
| tected. They brought the school gradu-
| ally around to the proposition that the
course Of study and the textbooks were
secondary, and that a school for girls
ought to be a place for girls to grow:
that II ought not, therefore. to be limited
10 any conventional course OF study, and
that the school should use any means
that any considerable number OF parents
wanted to train the girls. That idea and
the idea that the school Is to reflect the
convictions ard the personalities OF every
set OF opinions-thesC are the principles
and the aims of the school"
As the school moves into its new quar-
ters this week the " new girls - whom the
opening OF a new semester brings into
high school for the first time will bs
welcomed by all the girls in the scnooL
They will be met and shown the buId-
ing and introduced TO every one and taken
come souvenir the schools creed" This
is Il:
"I believe in the joy Of
Helpfulness and
Industry. In the blessedness OF
Generosity. and in the satisfaction that
comes from a delicate sense of
Honor. I believe in truth 10 our friends.
which is
Sincerity. in the inspiration and sup
Courage in the sacredness of
Health. and in the privilege of
Opportunity. I believe in reducing the
friction of daily life by the magic OF
Orderliness. and in
Love, for that is the greatest thing in
the world
ness spell high school," And that 10
the constitution " OF the greatest nigh
school in the world.
(copyright, 1913 by stursIs & waIton.)