Connecticut western news., 1922-11-30
Fun damentals of High School Success

to be assured. It would be practi- cally possible in the high school to guarantee a success commensurate with native ability to every puLil who enters the institution, could rhr high school in turn be guaranteed that tie fundamentals of success would be observed by those pupils and by their parents. TIhlic edu- cation is a matter of public co-opera- ticn. The school can only do its part when the pupil and the hol1e do their parts in maintaining the atmos- phere, the out-of-school environment and the attitude of mind that are necessary to insure high school eff ciency.
 Al the outset there gre fundamen- tal3 which parents should be in a position to maiptain if they expect to guarantee their chi.d's., success Briefly hese fundamentals are as follows:-
 Health of body and health of mind. Where either body or mnd are deseased or the creature of ma licious habits, the school If itself cannot overcome the handicap.
 A large percentage of p%pils fa!i i7 their hi.rh school career because of their attempt to sutsrl>ute bluff for honest, personal effort. Bluff will not last long. The honest, plain-spoken, dependable pupil is the one who ultimately succeeds. He may not be so brilliant or so re- sourceful as the blufing pupil, but his honest effort, his work and his character will guarantee his final success.
 To do the work of the high school is real job. It is as much of a job to the high school pupil as is the adults business-job. The work of the high school cannot. be done sue cessfdlly during :the hours of school alone. It demands, as the minimum, two hours of honest, every. day work in the home. The parents whose child is not giving from an hour and half to two hours or even two and half hours to effective high school study each school day in the home may be assured that their child is not doing efficiently the work of the high school course.
 The maintenance of life always 1 demands alertness. This is true and has been true through all the ages. It is true of all types of life. He who is not alert, who, is not aware of the conditions with which he is sur rounded, sacrifices life efficiency, if net life itself.
 This is likewise true of the high school. The high school pupil must always be alert, must always be aware of all legitimate school acti- vities. ; A predominant high schoo, wee is inattention. The child who is mat tsA+.ve at home. and in his general l surroundings. When results show Hack of alertness, the pupil needs to be checked up through the homr. ..
 Success in the daily aifalrs of life, It any sort of business or vocation, is dependent upon the regularly of ones efforts. The world soon ceases to bother with a man who is not de- pendable. Hours of service Ill st be maintained. This is true of tho high s1hool Success depends upon ev- T cry day attendance, upon punctual- ity, upon dependability. The class room recitation missed, means the breaking of the chain of thought.
 The parent who would insure -hc success of his child will watch care fully to guard him against thc sin of irregularity.
 Class work is not all of high school life. There are certain interests which are legitimate and which mean as lmuch to the education of the high school boy or girl as does any one subject for which they re- cRive credit.
 The interests of the high school are and should be as varied as the legitimate interests of society. Mu- . sic,, art, debate, athletics, club work, dramatics, literary work and within , certain limits legitimate social acti- vities; these and other activities are all of value, within a high school I'uey are maintained to a reasonable degree and for legiti mate educational purposes. No pupil can carry all of these activities, put each pupil should choose and co-op ,r&te in some ore or two of them. These activities ;n the high school maintain the same value as do those outside interests which, to the adult. lift fife above tle sordid.
 ; NO man can live efficiently entirely within his business. An avocation ? is as important as vocation. The ; high school offers opportunities through which the child's interests { con be turned into legitimate avo- < Cutions