Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1955-09-29
With Middle Philosophy
Norris Sets -Four Major Goals
For Future of School System
With Middle-Road Philosophy

effort, of meeting Illustration,
failure and competition and the
discipline of learning to respect
property rights and the rights
of others.
Excerpts from this speech
show the direction of DR.. Norris
thinking: Because of the mis-
understanding of the meaning of
democracy there comes h e
middle-muddle Courses are
geared to the middle. The good
student is unchallenged, bored.
Does democracy mean a lack of
standards? Without vision a
people will perish :. democracy
must aim higher than medi-
ocrity."
Comfort is the theme of the
day. Our present-day culture
emphasizes ease, shorter hours,
more pay and less work. Cad
gets have made the housewives
work much easier and we have
hopes of a gadget education,
where learning and progress are
effortless, painless and pleasant,
but does this bring happieness?"
DR.. Norris asked. He feels that
'ftrue learning will come as the
result of work and an ear.
nest sustained effort"
Also ''too many times the
pupil who beats a path across
a beautiful lawn or who tramps
down a flower bed comes from
a home that prizes those things
highly. This wanton an d de,
liberate disregard for property,
both public and private, is a
matter that should cause us
serious concern"
Specifically DR.. Norris ex-
pressed little sympathy for "pro-
noting boy to the next grade
because he's been in school q
year; waiting for a child to get
older rather than seeking to
build readiness and prepare
him for the next step; subvert-
ing a pupils future progress
and good to present whims and
desires; seeking to find alibis
when sustained effort has not
been put forth and condoning an
average mark for a pupil who
should be in the higher brackets"
In his Maryland Teacher ar,
ticle, the Superintendent named
the unit of the modern school as
a group of pupils and their
teacher which should be charac-
terized by the following eight
senses: direction, interest and
achievement, ownership and be-
longing on the part of all, we'll
being, kidneSs and respect, dis
covery and inquiry, beauty and
order and the final one, a sense
orr balance in that child's life
is manysided and his physical,
mental, social, emotional and
aesthetic needs should be in
cluded in the total school pro-
gram.
When DR.. Norris became
Superintendent of Montgomery
County's schools in 1858, he not
only took on all the headaches
that go with the operation of a
multi-million dollar industry but
the difficult job of following DR..
Edwin Broome, whose name had
become synonymous with the
county school system through 36
years of service.
It's a difficult job to fill 4
great mans shoes, without
stepping on toes" DR.. Norris
has managed it without losing
his individuality.
Forbes H. Norris was an
Indiana farm boy whose first
teaching job was in the little
red school house that his mother
had attended. From then on
his education and jobs showed a
steady progress.
He has his masters and doc
tors degrees from Harvard and
five and a half summers of
graduate study at the Universi.
ties of Illinois and Chicago.
He rose from elementary prin-
cipal in Richmond, Va, to assis-
tant superintendent. For 10
years he was in charge of the
complete Institutional program.
From 1915 to 1858, he was
Superintendent of Schools in
Winchester, Mass. During that
time he also taught summer
school at the universities Of
Syracuse and Delaware. He is
the author of a number of work
books and articles.
He married Veda Vose, one of
his teachers, in 1923, and they
have two children. His son,
Forbes, Jr., has just completed
his medical studies at Harvard
and is now interning at Johns
Hopkins. His daughter, MAR
nee received her MA from the
University of Maryland this
June.
| NJ