The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-10-07
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL.
INF ORM A TION
B u r E AU
FREDERIC =, HAaKIN. Dtroctes.
WaAhfngtsn. D. G.
A SHORT CUT TO EDUCATION.


| wrong. The antiques system whereby
We struggle thru eight or nine years
| of reading, writing, and arithmetic,
| and then were suddenly landed In high
| school to tackle such mysterious sub
jects as Latin, science and algebra,
| is all wrongs Educators now advocate
sort of shock absorber known as
Junior high school.
| A junior high school, in case you
| haven't kept up with the styles in
| education. takes the place of seventh
and eighth grades and first year high
school The pupil Is promoted from
\ the sixth grade into the junior high
school. where he continues some of
! the old grammar school studies, and
| at the same time is gradually and
| painlessly introduced to high school
( subjects and high school methods OF
| teaching. Graduates from the junior
| high school enter the second year of
a regular high school The need for
a transition school of this sort may
/ seem a trivial matter. but experiments
| have proved its practical value as a
means of keeping the growing boy
and girl in school, and now the num-
! Der of Junior high schools in the coun-
| try is increasing by hundreds every
year.
! According to a report by Commits
| sioner of Educat ton Claxton, only one
| out of every sixteen children who en-
ter the first grade of our public
schools progresses far enough to OBJ
tain high school diploma. To elab-
| orate-4,06 .291 children entered first
grade in 1906 In 1913 the class
reached the eighth grade with an en-
rollment of 1.244,09S. The next year.
/ when these same children entered
/ high school the class had shrunk to
| $40, GOO, and of these only thirty-nine
| per cent graduated in 191S-245. 200
| high school graduates out of 100000
| first graders.
| The big drop comes between the
eighth grade and high school. and dur
| ing high school years the enrolment
steadily falls. The reason for this. it
| is stated. is-rrot so often that the pupil
| is needed at home or has to leave
school to work. as that he is kept at
! elementary studies too long and does
not take enough interest IN school to
enter high school, or else that he en-
! tiers high school but never gets ad-
| justed to the standards there.
He leaves the eighth grade, where
| he is called Harry and treated ac-
! cording1y, and enters the classical and
| altogether different atmosphere of
high school to be called Mr.. Smith.
| teacher to keep him on the job, he
| now has from two to eight, none Of
whom take any special interest in MIR.
| Smith aside from his conduct in one
| particular class room. The greater
/ amount of freedom given is not always
used wisely and the student s. sense
of responsibility is not always suffi-
GENTLY developed for him to work
alone. AS a result, he falls behind in
| his work, becomes discouraged and
sooner or later quits school for good.
| IT is in cases of this sort that the
4 Junior high school scores. Instead OF
being counted in with ''the children"
j until she lis thirteen or fourteen, Harry
| Smith is sent to junior high school
at eleven or twelve. Instead of hav-
ing one teacher, he has two. or pos
sibly three, but one is his particular
guardian and is definitely accounta BILE
for him. AS his interest in geography,
American history and grammar is
rapidly waning on account of too long
familiarity with such subjects, some of
these are dropped and lie is given a
chance to take up a foreign language,
typewriting or manual tlaining.
As he progresses thru the three
years, the course becomes more and
more the typical high school regime.
Athletics, debate, and dramatic work
are introduced to take the place of
playground games and other amuse-
mentS in vogue in the graded school
+ In cities, the Junior high school
course usually includes domestic sci
ence for girls and shop work for boys.
In rural schools, agriculture Is added
to the vocational schedule, and a
!
studied by the pupils.
The vocational work Is an important
| branch of the course. In Vermont.
where Junior high schools are estab-
lisEed by state law, every effort is
made to adapt such work to the local
ity and to make it, of practical value.
In one school the boys manifested
special interest in biography. A
course was soon Instituted, and the
boys established stations in their
homes and in the school. In an orch
ard community tree pruning and cul-
ture were stressed and the boys were
urged to apply their school instruc-
ton to the trees on their home land
Girls in some of thse Vermont
schools utilized their lessons in cook
ing by taking charge of the school
lunches. both preparation and service7
while at sewing class they killed two
birds with one stone by use of the
family nending as material for the
lessons.
The maxim that education should
prepare for citizenship was practically
applied by one principal who took
his entire school to the town meeting.
I'VE occupied seats in the gallery"
he reported, land the order was SPLEEN
, did. The moderator called the atten-
ton of the voters to the school and
suggested that they follow its ex-
! ample"
A resume of even a few of the
| junior high school systems now in
force in this country shows great
variety of subjects taught. The Junior
high school is planned on more flex-
ible order than the regular high
school. and everywhere the aim Is to
fit the pupil for life in the country.
| At the same time, the courses are SO
t arranged that a prospective college
| student can take the work required for
college entrance. Promotion is made
t by subjects. as in high school. SO that
= pupils failing in part of the work
, ordinarily repeat only those subjects.
5 The junior high school idea has
( been under consideration for about
twenty years. A change from the
eight-year elementary. four-year sec