Maplesden, R. R.

English

James Madison University

70 ....22. turgid ...23. leprechaun ...24. vapid .. .25. livid .. .26. bourn .. .27. bucolic ...28. samite ..29. eclogue . .30. avaunt •. .31. prithee ... 32. wane ..33. an .. .34. wot .35. demesne THE VIRGINIA TEACHER [Vol. 12, No. 3 (1) stormy, (2) bombastic, (3) gentle, (4) impolite (1) diseased person, (2) pariah, (3) elf, (4) shamrock ( ) insipid (2) damp, (3) cold, (4) bright (1) pale, (2) lead-colored, (3) vivid, (4) red (1) boundary, (2) country, (3) blister, (4) yellow (1) urban, (2) pastoral, (3) oxlike, (4) elegiac (1) weapon, (2) tapestry, (3) silk, (4) jewel (I) an idyl, (2) glory, (3) rules, (4) conversation (1) welcome, (2) farewell, (3) begone, (4) hello (1) perhaps, (2) I pray thee, (3) peace. (4) private (1) wax, (2) grow less, (3) lure away, (4) bucket (1) doubtless, (2) if, (3) yet, (4) till (1) what, (2) know, (3) bless, (4) told (1) behave, (2) ruler, (3) appearance, (4) region Carrie Belle Parks Conrad T. Logan WHY SHOULD OUR SCHOOL GET OUT AN ANNUAL? I WELCOME this opportunity to speak to a group who, as D'r. Fretwell tells me, are anxious to consider all sides of the question. In what I have to say, I recognize that I am presenting my own ideas, and that these ideas may or may not be the same as those of your instructors. The answer to any question depends largely on the spirit in which it is asked. I o the closed mind, no answer can be con- vincing—not even answers to those tax- payers who ask, "Why should our high school have an expensive new building?"— Why should we pay our principal more money than I make myself?" In the open-minded consideration of the school annual, it is necessary to consider not only what it has been, but also what it can be. It will be well, however, first to take a brief look at the histoxy of the case, to see how it all came about. Since the most frequent objection to the annual is its cost, it will startle many to hear that the original reason for its existence was to save money. The "halftone" en- graving, making possible the reproduction of photographs, did not come into general use until the early '90's. Because school days are and always have been among the This article is reproduced from a lecture de- livered before classes in Extracurricular Activ- ities of Teachers College, Columbia University, during the summer session of 1930. happiest and most memorable epochs of a normal life, students had always made more or less elaborate collections of photographs, programs, and other momentoes. Some en- terprising genius saw that with these new- fangled halftones it would be cheaper to make a book than these collections of photographs. As the idea spread and took form, it was also observed that the year- book was more complete, better organized, more convenient, and more permanent than the awkward, bulky memory books or loose collections. These factors still remain the essential services of the yearbook, and they will al- ways continue to be important. Except in the very small schools, the annual still costs less to produce than individual memoxy books. The motive behind it all grows out of an instinct which is a fundamental of human nature. It seems to be a fashion, in certain ultra-smart teaching circles, to deride it as cheap and silly; but if it is, so also is every monument erected by the human race, from the pyramids of ancient Egypt down to our own Lincoln Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is one of the primary ways in which man differs from the beasts of the field. Teachers and others who get bored with school routine should remember that it is once-in-a-lifetime experience for the average individual. Nor is it likely to build up future esteem for the schools and March, 1931] THE VIRGINIA TEACHER 71 the teaching profession if teachers depre- ciate and ridicule youthful efforts to pre- serve schoolday memories. The annuals of the past have had plenty of faults, goodness knows; but they were not and are not inherent faults, any more than automobile accidents prove that auto- mobiles should be prohibited. The fault is not with the car, but with the way it is operated; and the same is true of school annuals. It is the step-child, the Cinderella of the family of school activities, the only important one without advisers of special- ized training. In fact, the annual is the sole surviving e^fra-curricular—the only 100% amateur. It is an interesting conjecture as to how well athletics or music or debate would have fared if they had been admin- istered in the haphazard way common to annuals. This much at least is sure—that when the annual is given interested, constructive thought and capable supervision in some- what the same spirit and measure as other activities, it returns rich rewards, as a good many schools and school administrators have learned. But the greatest interest and significance to be found in the annual today are in latent powers which have long gone un- realized and unused. Produced primarily for the graduating class, its influence upon the underclasses, and upon the parents and the community, has been thought of only in a negative way. Yet the yearbook has values along these lines which are unique. In promoting a better understanding of the school and its work in the community, and especially of the need for adequate financial support, the great need and the great difficulty are the same. That is to present the whole school program—to give a real idea of its scope. It is, of course, far more diversified than the average adult realizes, basing his notions on school experi- ence of ten to fifty years ago. Speeches won't do it—people won't listen now-a-days. Being a "good fellow," be- longing to a luncheon club, or singing in a church choir, won't do it. Evening demon- stration sessions are too artificial and limit- ed to be convincing. Some have turned to the school newspaper with this objective in mind; but the newspaper is weakest at the most essential point—it can only show a little at a time. Only in the annual, teem- ing in interest, can the myriad phases of the school's work and life and service go by in one mighty parade. The fact that this has been done so little by the annuals of the past is of no more consequence than the lack of use of elec- tricity in Ben Franklin's day; and we are already in the process of turning these la- tent powers of the annual to good account. A new type of school annual is making its appearance, which gives a better-rounded picture of high school life as it really is, and which is therefore a better memory book as well as more representative of the school. These new-type books take varying forms, and it is desirable that they should; but all grow out of the same basic process— the cutting away of traditional concepts of the form and content of the yearbook; a fresh appraisal with clear eyes of what makes up a year of school; and the selec- tion of material on the basis of the facts re- vealed by the appraisal. The inevitable re- sult is emphasis on the school's work rather than on its play aspect. Pictures strangely foreign to the conven- tional type of annual, yet as familiar to the eye as one's own mirror, take a large place in the new book—pictures of classrooms and homerooms, of laboratories and shops, of the library, the assembly, the office, the gymnasium, and even of the cafeteria and the lines of lockers in the halls. Further- more, these pictures are not merely empty "views," but are filled with life and action, showing the classes in session, the labs and shops going full tilt, the assembly crowded. ^ THE VIRGII The write-ups" give the meaning and pur- pose of all this activity. The pictures of the superintendent, the principal, and the school board are not accompanied by stereo- typed "greetings," but tell of their working functions and how they prepared for them. Naturally, this new content requires new groupings. One plan of organization di- vides the major portion of the book accord- ing to departments of study—Science, Foreign Languages, English, etc.; and places the extra-curricular activities with the subjects out of which they grow—Le Cercle Francais with Foreign Languages, for example. This leads to one interesting and healthy grouping—the placing of ath- letics under physical education, with a re- sulting tendency to give girls' athletics, intra-mural leagues, and gym classes a truer importance. In fact, this new atmosphere of realism has several odd but highly desirable results. It tends to restore scholarship to its place at the top of all other school achievements. It gives a new spontaneity to the writing— and incidentally, the new idea is to have this done by a great many students, or by Eng- lish classes, instead of by a very few staff members. Curiously, too, the "art work" of opening and division pages—so often an ill-balanced source of cost and grief—be- come matters of far less consequence against this background of realism; while good taste in arrangement and proportions take on added importance. Above all, the book has a greater vital interest for every member of the student body, no matter how humble. All of which suggests another major ser- vice which the annual can render in a quiet, inconspicuous way which is essential to the purpose. It registers its judgments of the importance of things, or their lack of im- portance, in an air of considered finality which is tremendously if subconsciously ef- fective with students. It is a tool ready to the hand for adjusting student values, for IA TEACHER [Vol. 12, No. 3 emphasizing those things that have been under-rated, for letting down those that need deflation. The "mysteries" of technical matters in the production of the book have been elimi- nated by the services and counsel provided by modern specialists in these matters. They may be mastered in a single year's ex- perience by an intelligent adviser who ac- tively uses his opportunities to learn. Al- most any bright student knows more about these things at the end of his editorship, than does the adviser who doesn't want to learn. In any question of cost, the real issue is relative value—what do you get for your money? The individual student gets more for his money out of the annual than out of any other activity. It is certainly the only one out of which he gets anything tangible, objective, definitely permanent. A play, concert, athletic event, or a club meet- ing give the participants good training and the audience a pleasant evening—but nothing that can be weighed or measured; whereas the annual gives its buyer some- thing which he can see and handle, and add to his possessions. Putting it on a basis of hours, the annual gives him not just one or two, but ten or twenty hours of immedi- ate pleasure, and more in the future. To get at the real value of an annual, tiy to buy it from him twenty years after. Dol- lar for dollar, the average student, the bulk of the school, gets more for his money out of his annual than oufi of any other ac- tivity. But the annual does not compete with other activities. It promotes them all, and it extends their benefits by recalling them to memory over and over, when they would otherwise be forgotten. Most of all, how- ever, the annual serves the school as a whole. A good school deserves a good, yearly, permanent record. How else—save by the annual ? R. R. Maplesden. 

Why Should Our School Get Out an Annual?

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Why Should Our School Get Out an Annual?

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