The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-03-21
CITY'S NEED OF
A new SCHOOL
Building Committee Perplexed by
Overflow of Students

The building committee Of the Ham
cock high school has been perplexed
for the past few months because of tho
overflow of students i'm the Edward
Ryan school and also in the Central
and f.. l.. Wright schools. The over
flow at the Ryan school seems In hc
the greatest however and the members
of the committee are havinq a difficult
time attempting To meet the demands
for room Last year the schools were
nllcd To capacity and this year it is
impossible To find sufficient room for
the children entered iu the kinder
garten and lower grades
The decision Of the voters of this
city two years ago in rejecting the
bonding issue 10 raise funds for the
erection of new high school is the
cause of this and every day during
the past school months the need for
new and larger building has been
felt. At present the means of handl-
ing the children is entirely inadequate
and though every possible method has
been employed to meet the demand it
appears as though only new high
school will accommodate the many
pupils enrolled at this time
Children Seated in Halls.
The building committee of the board
Of education recently visited the Ed
ward Ryan school i'm an attempt To
learn if there is not some method 60
aCcoismodatc the pupils. The condi-
ton at this building has been expert
enccd by the teachers and members Of
the committee since last September
and the enrolment of pupils has
steadily increased. one instance was
cited yesterday afternoon by one Of
the visitors at the little school house
where one Of the teachers had seven
~ pupils under her control and though
an assistant was provided the accom-
modations were still so crowded that
half of the children have to be taught
i'm the halls where chairs are provided
i'm the hall rooms and the pupils sit
around in a circle,
Several rooms outside of the schools
nave It'li bl'Nsllll''l bN wv '''l'''llS
committee such as the North star
Temperance hall and Gcrmania hail
ana here the children journey every
day apart from their schoolmatcs. It
is not the wish of the committee 10
secure greater number of rooms Out
side the schools than have already
been obtained. one of the main OBJ
icctions To- securing outside quarters
is that it takes the children away from
the properly equipped school building
and also from their schoolmatcS and
as the child cannot learn properly un-
less given plenty Of play time and al
lowed To mix with other children. The
teachers are also scattered throughout
the city and cannot keep ana work
together during working hours, there
fore their work is less systematic ana
the welfare of the children is not
looked after ana it would be were the
conditions better.
Hold Glasses in Basement.
The T.. l.. Wright school is crowded
To such an extent that the pupils have
to I've taken to the basement of the
school house to he taught their daily
work. The ventilation is so bad that,
according To a statement made recent
ly by superintendent Lee. any health
officer would prohibit the teaching of
the pupils in these quarters the minute
he viewed them. Yet it is not the
fault of the school board or members
of the building committee, as they
have worked INCREASINGLY i'm their cf-