Alma record., 1915-05-20
ALMA HIGH SCHOOL
HISTORY

y
that man has ever done, or thought,
or hoped, or felt. The problem which
at once presents itself to the teacher
of history i'm the high school, is what,
i'm all this mass of material, TO empha-
size to the student, realizing as the
teacher does, the impossibility and the
impracticability of giving him the to-
tai of this limitless science of past
human affairs A somewhat different
group of questions arises in the minds
of many,-why teach any of it? Is
history a practical and worthwhile
subject of study in the high school :?
Does it justify its position in the high
school curriculum? And, from the
person whose school days have been
over with, fifteen or twenty years,
comes this old, old question-What is
he sense in cramming a students head
with dates and names?
The last question may easily be dis
posed of by the admission that we gain
nothing from the mere emu
meration of events and dates and have
long since supplanted that barren
learning of names and dates by "a
study of sequences among events.
The technical details of war and pol
tical administration have given way
to a study of wide economic and social
movements in which battles and laws
are merely overt results reinforcing
the current of change. History, once
a self-inclosed school discipline, has
undergone an intellectual expansion,
which takes into account all the as
poets of life which influence it, making
geographical, economic and biograph-
ical materials its aids"
The second group of questions may
be answered briefly. We have said
that history is a record of past events
of all kinds,-the recorded experiences
of the ages. Experience, we all admit,
is the guide of life, man would never
progress beyond certain point if he
did not go outside of his own expert
ences. We study history, then, to
learn the experiences of the past so
that we may be saved from its fail
ures And profit by its successes. The
Students of the high school are citi-
zens of the Republic and by their vote
will shortly influence, for good or i'll,
the destinies of the nation. Is it
practicable for them to know how
other people have lived, what were
their institutions their occupations,
interests and achievements Is not
that subject of study justified which
teaches one to live more completely?
AS to the selection of material for
the high school students considera-
ton, only such of the past as is of
dominant concern to the present inter
ests us. We study that past which
explains and interprets the present.
For that reason in taking up ancient
history, we consider only those an
cient civilizations which i'm any way
affected our civilization and omit, for
instance, the ancient civilization of
the Chinese and Hindoos because they
have not much affected our progress.
Until after Columbus, our inter-
ests centers in Europe. And when
we look for the early peoples who
shaped European life, we see three
pre-eminent,-the Greeks, the Rom
ans. and the Teutons Ancient history
deals especially with these three peo-
pies, from their earliest records until
their separate stories become merged
in one" The chief contributions of
the Greeks to civilization are intellec-
tual and artistic Rome on the other
hand, stands for government and law
and her donations are political insti-
tutions and systems of law Entirely
different offerings. but all essential.
BY IS A.D., the merging Of these
three peoples-Greeks, Romans, Teu-
ton, has taken place and at this point
we begin the study of medieval and
modern history. In this we study the
most significant achievements Of west
ern civilization during the past eleven
hundred years.-"the explanation of
how the Roman empire of the West
and the wild and unknown districts
by the German races, have
become the Europe Of Gladstone and
Bismarck, of Darwin and Pasteur."
Since our political institutions are
based largely on those of early Eng
land, about one third of the time spent
on the study of modern history is de-
voted to the history of England
American history and civics are Of
fered the last year of the high school
course. This course is pursued in such
a way that particular emphasis shall
be placed on those phases of our nd
tional history as shall enable the stud
ent to intelligently execute the func-
lions of American citizenship. Dur
ing the three years course, geograph-
ical note books are used i'm connection
with the texts.
ST. LOUIS YOUNGSTERS WIN