Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-26
MANUAL TRAINING
IN NO. "A SCHOOL
Splendid Result of Teachers En-
couragement Given Students
Rcsourcctulness.

-Four wears ago the boys Of the mcchan-
;cal drawing class nj Public School No. "a
brought cigar boxes and hammers to the
teacher. Miss \ Mary Cornell, and said:
Cant we make things out OF theseE
The school wasn't equipped Tor any kind
of carpentering work, and IT would take
couple of wears 10 90 through the regular
channels OF reuusltlon and allotment, etc.
Miss Cornell did not discourage the youth
full seekers after manual training by telling
them to wait until they had modern, up
to-dats shop all ready tn work IN. Instead,
with the spirit of n pioneer, she started
right in. then and there. cigar boxes
hammers brought from home, sand paper
and other crude tools In the cupboard ot
the shop there now repose three match
striking boards and one match holder,
made out of the old cigar boxes and rub
bed hnc and smooth Now the shop at No.
% boasts work-tablrs. planners, shapers,
drills and smaller tools. It's one of the
most attractive courses IN the school. and
as Miss Salic Reid Shaw. the enthusiastic
principal. said The boys would rather
30 To shop than to any other room III the
school
There is small wonder in this. for about
things We can shape and fashion with our
own hands hangs the instructive Joy OF
creation. that ranges from the Joy of the
primitivp maker of a stone hatchet 70 the
latest and clevcrest flyng- machine. Our
commercial specialization. however. tends
to diSsipatc much Of this Joy by taking
away the pleasure of handling and making
n complete thing In their shOp-work at
school then. the seventh and eighth year
hovs al School No 24 regain much oi the
fascination and romance OF craftsman
ship II sharpcn~ their eyes and fingers.
4. ,Iovv, t4sstt
drawing ono week and shop the next, aud
81 on, alternating, Miss Cornell remark
cd but thev are So eager for the shop
work that am afraid | let them have shop
great many times tn the neglect Oi the
mechanical drawing But after Christmas
told them, We would have Just mecham
al drawing until February and You
should have seen their faces fall The
lessons IN mechanical drawing arC cor
rclated with the shop work The pupils
draw plans Of what they intend making,
and then work from those plans. In some
cases they do not make their own draw
ings. but work from hlueprints. given
them bv the teacher. Miss Cornell IS
devoted 90 her work. and Is the KIND ot
teacher YOU can very well realize boys
would like to work with which is q great
tribute She Is still a student herself At
Columbia University, IN the summers.
taking a four-vear course III industrial
arts.
Through the efforts of Miss Cornell
Miss Shaw and some kind outsiders. the
lovs are now turning ont articles hat
can bc sold 20 the public, and DO sell We'll
Twentv-one sewing stands, tor which the
.,rl> II the sewing classes made the bags
-,,.d the bows the white black, Or brown
uaintcd legs had been ordered for Christ
,naS. and although there were scoffers who
and il couldn't bc done, the stands were
ready Tuesdav The school got $50 Tor
the articles sold All this. except some slight
expense for materials. will 20 to the Red
cross. etc. Elivood Souder, Of the Board
of Education, has given the younger
students his wallpaper books, out OF
which they make the backs for desk-pads
calendars. etc. while they have obtained
pcces OF Fabrikoid free through the du
'ont Company, and pieces Of linen buck
ram al a nominal~prlce from the Joseph
Bancroft Il Sons Co Every Friday the
eighth wear BOYS of Public School No. l
come to No 81 to do shop-work, while
Public School Ne Is which also has
shop-work, takes the eighth year boys of
No. 4, once a week The boys going on to
the High School. take shop work there
John E Whitehead being director.
1t IS very evident that the course IS Of
practical value. Miss Cornell, while
giving each new class a general task at
first to acquaint them with the tools, then
allows them TO state their preferences. and
work out whatever they desire. Although
IL IS much more difficult 10 teach a claS>
where each student Is doing something
different, and they might all be calling
YOU at once, at times, stul, 1t creates great
pr interest In the boys, because they have
:, motive for their work. Mother gets a
>t.zring-stand that her son has made or Il
tabouret. or footstool Father might get "a
.rr,olinr-stand and the bov himself will
get a book-stand. or will come IN TO 1X hls
wagon with the school tools Mothers have
reported that their sons are much handler
about the house, and several OF the pupils
have found II OF commercial value. One
F,ov worked in an architects office during
the summer on the strength OF the refer
enoe of his mechanical drawings. Ono
,ther boy worked with q carpenter, and q
lew have announced their intention OF
specializing in the woodworking craft. In
February, 1918, there was an exhibit OF the
pupils work at Columbia University
which was spoken of very highly.
The Younger children, those In the
,iyth wear, have put together pretty, little
books. which they have designed, pasted
and then stenciled IN color. They make
paper themselves from SHfcos OF olO IIien-
Just as IL is made in paper mill, except, OF
course, on a very small scale. Miss Cornell
encourages them 70 read upon the different
trees from which paper is obtained, and
Also primitive methods Of conveying In
formation such as the writing on trees,
and blocks of stone, manuscripts, etc
through to the modern method Of print
ing in thousands BY machines. This fol-
lows out the theorv Of Professor Dewey
Of Columbia, world-lamous educator
that children should ~ taught through
their hands. and there Is no doubt that
this method makes an appeal and an I'M
preston that a mere study Of the facts
could never give.
Altogether, Miss Shaw and Miss Cor
nell. Of No "a, feel that the manual
training course IS valuable, interesting
and instructive, and that there ought 70 bc
more of 1t.
Importing house Of Stork & %. IS nct