Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-09-03
VOCATIONAL SCHOOL
Twenty Boys Attended the
School Last
Year

The second year Of st. Johnsbury'S
vocational school opens on Sept. .
and the prospects for the entering
class are good. Last year the school
directors started this school in coop
Grafton with f. & T. Fairbanks q
Co., and 20 young men availcd tnem-
selves of the opportunity to get Il
start towards a technical education.
This is n four years course and the
bows will continue the coming year
in their shop work and general stu
dies.
The school board has just issued
an attractive circular calling partlcu-
lar attention to the merits Of the
school with several illustrations OF
the boys at work both in the scale
factory and in the school room.
The purposes OF the school arc to
educate boys to become skilled indus
trial leaders, such as foremen and
factory superintendcnts, for the de-
mand for trained men always exceeds
the supply. 1t was Mr.. Vail who
once said that his telephone corpora
ton had five positions for men that
could each command a salary of $lO,-
600, but that they could not find the
men. A four years course in this
school at the scale factory enables
the boys to learn the business, not
merely to run one machine.
The school provides a technical
education for those who have me-
chanical ability. The boys receive in
struction in shop mathematics. sci
ence and English, thus furnishing
them with the knowledge necessary
for further advancement. After be-
coming familiar with the different
departments of the factory, the boy
naturally specializes on the partlcu-
lar line he likes best.
Those taking this course get an
excellent preparation for the tech
nical college which means higher sal
aries later. The practice in mcchanl-
cal drawing, shop work and applied
mathematics and science, give the
bow a great advantage in the tcchLi-
cal college.
The courses in English, history,
mathematics and science not only
cover the same ground as those Of
fered by the best high schools and
academies, but also applied directly
to the work in the shops, as far as
it is practical to do so. With the
exception of the foreign languages
the curriculum is practically the
same as that of first class high
school. The boy that learns trade
commands a higher salary when he
completes his education. He also ac-
quires habits of industry while an
employe of the factory.
There is another factor in this ed
ucational system that particularly
appeals to the boy, and that is that
he is earning while he learns. The
boys are paid for their work in the
factory IL cents an hour for the first
year, 16 cents an hour the second
year; 20 cents the third year, and
"a cents the fourth year. 1t is
therefore quite possible for the boy to
earn $1,000 in the four years course,
and one boy last year earned 5000.
This school is made possible by the
generosity and hearty cooperation of
the scale company, and by the pro-
visions of the Smith-Hughes act. The
school board have taken advantage
of this bencfcent act which pays
one-half the teachers salaries, and
exercises general supervision over
the administration of the school. The
work must measure up to the re-
quremcnts laid down by the Fed
eral authorities and the school has
attained this standard and has met
through the year the hearty ap-
proval of the Federal Inspector.