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Show DEFENSE OF HALF-DAY SCHOOL IS GIVEN IT he per Parents Dny exercises were observed observ-ed at the Quincy School this afternoon, after-noon, under the direction of Principal i Hohson. Included in the forepart of the program were arithmetic and spelling drills for the students, a song by Virginia Neuteboom and a spelling spell-ing match for the parents Prizes were given to the winners In the spelling spel-ling matches. Mr. Hobson announced that the students' poultrv show, which was to have been held this afternoon, would be held tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock. The latter part of the meeting was taken up with a talk by Superintend ent J. M. Mills on the half-day school i which was followed by a general discussion. dis-cussion. The superintendent pointed out the immense value of practical woik id the education of the youth. He showed that a boy or girl who has to work at practical things to get a liv lng is actually better In his scnocl work than the one who is relieved from this struggle. He said that h a boy had to choose between ah work and no school, or all school and uo work, both being bad extreme!, hi would be better off to choose the work, but that he felt that a mingling ming-ling of work and study and play would b the ideal education for either a boy or girl and the half day systom would provide this Mr. Mills was extremely anxious to correct a false impression that a few people had with reference to the proposed pro-posed plan that the same work wouid be carried on in the schools under the new plan as under tho old with two or three added advantages; flrjt. the child would be in school all day-doing day-doing the very same kind ot work that he Is doing today, except thai he would be doing it better. The nay would be lengthened for him if he 'Jeslres It bchool would commence at 8:30 in the morning and run to 4:30 in the afternoon, and he could remain there all the time. His mtel- I Iectual studies would be put either in I the forenoon or the afternoon with some study period in each hall day. He would take his Intellectual work during either half day that he might choose and In the other half day he could get a longer period in manual training organized play and study There Is much Interest In manual training, but one of the great diffi-eulties diffi-eulties in the present organization is that the time Is short for that work that many boys, in order to get their work in now would like to work late in the evening and all day Saturday. The boys and girls would do better In manual training and sewing, if they had n little more unbroken time dm I ing the day to devote for It. The new j plan, he said, would provide that time. "Anyone w-ho could not put in that time could be excused for a pait ot I it, either at the beginning of the day or in the middle of the day The great wrong of the school system Is that it is now organized so that the child has to fit the school The new-plan new-plan makes the school fir the child Any child that wanted to be out under these circumstances doing practical work would be more greatly benefited by the contact with real business life than he would be in the industrial work in the school, to 6ay nothing of th- income that he might have througn nis ettorts, and It is no small part of a necessary training for a child to learn to make and save his money, though the money itself s.iould not be the aim in education. It If. the smallest part of thp whole scheme, although sometimes a very necessary part." It was explained by Supt. Mills that no boy or girl would be excused . rou. school without a complete understanding understand-ing among those most interested, the principal, the parent and the employer, employ-er, the signatures of all being required on the certificate with a guarantee from the employer that he would re port monthly to the school ano home on the report card the standing of the pupil. It was difficult for Mr. Mills iu see why a parent should object to this plan when that parent could get exactly what he want6 the sam hours as now If he chooses, or h can hae either n longer or shorter day than now, but. no matter which la taken, the work in school will be vastly superior to what It now io, since the groupings and gradings will be better, the classes will be omalloi and the teachers will be more expert. In addition to the added advantages to the pupils, the new plan would aid the home in many instances and il would hurt the home iu no instance. It would be an advantage to teacu ers since their salaries could be increased in-creased and they would not be overworked over-worked Many teachers have applied ap-plied for the privilege of going into the half-day system and doing double J session work even at the same sal dry as now. It would be an advantage advan-tage to the school itself since tnere would be more room and better tench ers. It would be an advantage to the tax payer since the teachers who resign at the end of the year would not need to be replaced ana their salaries could be saved. With thm saving increases would be made to the salaries of other teachers and an annual saving of $25,000 could read Ily be made. "However," said Supt. Mllis. "thus money saving is the least of tae advantages, ad-vantages, and w here money is to be rayed at the expense of the training f the youth, it should nevtr be considered, con-sidered, but where large sums of money mon-ey are spent needlessly to do work that could be better done without tho expenditure, a serious blunder ib committed. com-mitted. It would take at least three years to put this system into operation, opera-tion, and there will, therefore, bw ample am-ple time for discussions, and plenty or time to make proper adjustments, and the grades that would be hardest tc provide for, namely, the fifth and sixth; would be left as at present un til that time and even then the tran-1 sition would be so gradual that no one would feel it except for good. "As far as the Senior high achoor is concerned, there would be uO c hange necessary except a very minor adjustment. There are many boys now taking the half-day either ia the forenoon or in the middle of the day and working the rest of the time. The only change necessary, therefore, would be to have some sections ot certain classes put a little later in the afternoon so that students could get their half-day in the afternoon it Lhey choose to do so. At present the day lacks three-quarter of an hour of being long enough to allow the full list of subjects in the afternoon. Some students may want to take five subjects and get through high school in less than four years' time. That is done now by a few students and will continue to be done. Some pupils may want to take five years In which to get through because of ill health or Inability. Some are doing that now and may still continue in that man ner. "Likewise in the junior high schools a very slight adjustment can be made and the system will be in operation. Someone may ask what would happen if all the boys and girls choose to remain in school all day, would there be any saving then? The answer is, "Yes." A great saving since the groups in study and play and manua' training could be much larger and could be handled by the people already al-ready conducting such work without auy additional expense. It 1b the opinion of all the high school principals princi-pals who have met on this subject, that better work than wo are now doing do-ing in the high schoolB can be done under the new plan and save the en tire expense of one building, which last year was 115,568.49. Is this worth saving as a mere beginning? If so,. the future will prove the worth of the entire plan.' The superintendent said that he would recommend using a part of this saving to increase the etticiency of teachers. One or two people have raised the child labor question and the question of children taking employment away from men, and working teachers beyond be-yond eight hours. He said that no child and no teacher was to be over worked for that would impair the system sys-tem and that he was not ambitious to put into operation a plan that was going to injure education and that thp training of children to work for a few hours each day ought not to str tie any able-bodied man, that the men who are now working are gencrall) men who have been taught to work while young. He asked "Why not give the boy of today an equal chance to be taught0 The real work In reai competition is always the best ani the work that can be given in school is next best." |