Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1915-03-12
CLASSICAL ASSOCIATION MEETS.
CONTINUED from Page II

class. The compositions submitted were
astonishingy good, and reflected equal
~ well the ability of the teacher and
the intelligence of the pupils. A So
called ''impressionistic" theme on the
subject of "Wetness", and breezy
dialogue couched in the latest school
boy slang were woithy Of publication in
any magazine; while the weird horror OF
Poe's gruesome stories was skilfully
reproduced in a tale of highly mo ern
setting.
The needless and highly confusing
diversity in Technology that prevails
in the Latin grammars used in our
schools was wildly presented by Mr..
Sanford. One and the same construction
is often called by no less than a dozen
different names, and students taught
from different grammars are often sadly
at loss when assembled in college
class. The attempts at Standardization
embodied in the report of the so-called
commended by the speaker, and the asso-
citation urged to enlist the support of
Vermont school teachers in the effort to
promote uniformity of nomenclature.
Eight students of Middlebury College,
dressed in Classic costume, gave
breezy and entertaining reproduction
of a Roman school. This interlude
between the more serious numbers
seemed to be enjoyed and cordially
appreciated by the audience.
At the opening of the afternoon ses-
sion Mr.. Eddy, in a thoughtful and aptly
worded address, asked the question,
"What is a practical education?" and
answered it by saying that a practical
education was one that fitted young
man to support himself against compe-
tition without favor, gave him power to
deal intelligently with new problems,
and inspired him with ideals above the
sordid and immediate, so enrching his
inner life as to make him fairly indie
pendent of economic or industrial CON
dtion. Measured against this standard,
said the speaker, there is a place for
both the work of the older type of
school and those newer forms that look
to vocational efficiency. The problem
is not so much which of two forms of
education shall prevail in our school
system as, where adjustments and cor
relations are possible that the worth of
both may be conserved.
Mr.. Douglass, in paper replete with
kindly satire, portrayed the wrong
Medicines and stiff-neck edness of those
of the teaching profession who fancy
and loudly proclaim that teachers are
born, and not made. Furthermore.
many teachers, like Plato's cave-men,
are content to play with the little black
puppets of their own world, and sturdily
refuse to look beyond school walls, and
even to admit that there is a beyond
The wise teacher is he who knows all
educational theories, and chooses from
them, for his own guidance, such prin-
cipes as commend themselves to his own
experience and intelligence.
The session closed with a scholarly
paper y Mr.. Ogle, who convincingly
proved the Importance of those arduous
researches into the meanings of words
and concepts which, to the Indifferent
layman, often seem academic and pc
DANTE. The speaker chose, as his main
illustration, the name and attributes of
the Greek goddess, Athena, and showed
how recent archaeological discoveries
had revealed the existence of contra
dictions and complexities in the charac-
ter of dety who, fifty years ago, was
thought of, even by the learned, as a
consistent and homogeneous being.
The TO lowing officers were elected for
the ensuing year: President, Prof. w. S.
Burrage, of Middlebury College; execu-
tive committee, Mr. H. II. jackson, of
Barre, Principal c. II. Morrill,, of Brig
ham Academy, Miss O'Sullivan, of
Bristol; secretary, Prof. S. f. Bassett,
of the University of Vermont
Burlington was chosen as the place of
meeting.