The Spanish American. [volume] (Roy, Mora Co., N.M.) 19??-19??, 1918-05-25
Graduation

Grade Graduation, which has
been the all absorbing topic of
many for the past several weeks,
eliminated Friday night in the
most brilliant Commencement |
affair ever attempted in Roy.
The new Baptist Church, built
on ample lines and which we
had belived was large enough to |
accommodate any crowd we were
apt to have here, was filled to it's
cepacity and many were unable
to get inside to hear the program
The two classes made a brave |
array Of chivarlry and beauty as
the High School class of five
young ladies' and one young man
and the eighth Grade with Nine
boys and seven girls filed upon
the stage and were seated under
their class colors and notices.
We wish we might mention
each member of the classes espec
tally but that is beyond our facili-
ties. The program as published
last week was presented and
every number was gem in its
class. The Valedictorians Miss
Dorothy Gibbs, for the Eighth
Grade who refused to say Goodby
but looked ahead into the future
for her class, and Miss Erma
Russell who presented an impas-
stoned plea for Patriotism and
Loyalty" to her audience and
classmates, were splendid spokes
men for their classes and credit
to their teachers and themselves
One number not on the Pro-
gram was an address by Dean
Carroon of the N. M. State
Normal which was surprise to
all and coming from one of his
high rank in educational machiE-
cry was absolutely revolutionary.
He declared that the Colleges
and Schools were not up to date
that they were not giving the
younger generations the things
they should have in the training
for their lives which are to be
lived in the future, not in the
past. That they were not teach
ing them the patriotism the COM
prehension of the necessity for
our Democracy that they should
in short that they were dragging
along a lot of old dead bodies of
pets of a former generation now
obsolete and disgusting in the
form of Latin and useless forms
Of Mathematics and history that
were better forgotten, to the eX-
ciusiQn of the things and Ian
guages and mathematics and
general learning that is now
vital and useful and necessary
and which is not permitted in
school because the teachers who
learned this old junk are too old
to learn modern things, and they
excuse the dragging along OF the
old carcasses by claiming that
if the children can learn them
it will stretch their minds SO they
can better grasp MODERN ideas.
These are not the Deans words
but the idea, and he urged
strenuously that the schools
should teach things that are
useful now and will be in the
future, that old men cannot
comprehend but that is the
heritage this generation is leav-
ing to pupils of the schools.
We have long belived this to
be true but dared not suggest it
in public as the High -Brows"
would Immediately hiss it as the
dream Of the ignorant and show
that there was no Precedent
for it. If the Dean has his way
Precedent" would soon be a
properly obsolete word in the
bright Lexicon of youth and we
say heartily Amen, to all Of it.
We can see however that SO
long as the colleges demand this
dead stuff the common schools are
compelled to teach it as well,
that their graduates may be
ctortad for college hv the nublic