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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 1955)
t Sac -l-Statatnan, Sclen, Ort Sunday. Jan. 2, 1855 Lets Visit Our Schools: 1 : h .Grade Guidance Along With Students Share in School Government: Teachers' Pa Compares Favorably With Other Upstate Cities Gets Education- l: --:tr: v.. v ... Christmas theme furnishes many art inspirations for teachers and pupils in Salem schools. David Read works diligently en a silhouette pattern to decorate the bulletin board at Richmond School where he is a fifth grader. - David works at a desk, familiar in type to his parents, but almost a thing of the past in the Salem school system. Modern classroom furniture is more comfortable, better looking and more adaptable to the various classroom activities. 1 U- Teacher is still the pivotal center of classroom activity in Salem schools and here Miss Helen Zistel gets foil attention to her demonstration daring -an art' class of her Richmond School room. Watchful pupils are (L to r.) Gary Olson, Yonda Waiters and Gerald Stubblefield. L For the Veterans of the hickory limb era of education this may sot look like a typical classroom situa tion, bat It is today. Most teachers permit certain amount of free movement, whispering is aot a ' ponishable off ease or even an off ease. ; And if yea have need of the room, go to it. Is this seeae.at Salem Heights are (L to r.) KZy Folk, Penny Nelson, iim If r Encuey ana Konaja rur, ' : ,,;v'-'X7 fy conferring with another popil across Bonnie Ireland (back to camera). -- - .. f By THOMAS G. WRIGHT, Jr. Staff Writer, The Statesman Salem belies the buyer's adage that "You get what you pay for" by getting a much better bargain from its 440 public school teachers, i . ! Though : Salem teachers this week were still underpaid by most comparative business stand ards, they were still getting a "fair shake" when compared to other teachers in their own state and across the country. A cross-section look at Salem's teachers gave the impression that Johnny Fifth Grade for example, was getting a lot of guidance along education s path for the amount of money his .parents were willing to, pay. What could Johnny's teachers expect in the way of recompense for their years of preparation? Anything from $3,090 to $5,310, although actually the low man on Salem's teacher totem pole was getting $3,210. Single Pay System Classroom teachers are paid on a single salary system in Salem, which mean's a first grade teach er at McKinley School with like training and experience would be drawing the same amount as a teacher at the. - senior level of North Salem High School. For each additional year of training and each additional year of ex perience, the Salem teacher could expect an increase in pay. Salem's average teacher held a bachelor's degree and had about five years of teaching experience. For this background he was get ting $4,249.86 a year. For a mas ter's degree (more than 100 held them) he could count on $250 more." At these levels he was getting more than his fellow teacher in Eugene, Albany or Corvallis, and slightly less than Portland. Compared to 210 cities across the nation in the 40 to 100,000 category, his pay was ranked 21st at the bachelor minimum level, 88th at the bachelor maximum, 25th at the master miojmum and 80th at the master maximum.' While the Salem system per mitted in some cases a dull, un inspiring teacher to draw down the same pay as a less-trained, less-experienced but top-rank teacher, it had its benefits, j It served as an incentive for teach ers to continue their education in summer sessions. It encour aged good teachers to stay in the Salem public schools. Some 'Dodo' Teachers Despite the favorable factors comparative pay, favorably rated schools, "good town to live in" Salem pupils' could still consider themselves fortunate if they got through elementary school with out striking a "dodo" teacher. Most of the poor (qualitatively) teachers were either in their first year of teaching or their first year in Salem. In most cases they had either belied impressive academic records, discovered they were not born to the teaching profession, or were hired at the last . minute to fill unexpected vacancies. K , During the Christmas season for the schools, a good teacher was ex pected to be a dramatist with the direction of a DeMille, a chorister with the flair of Waring, and still have the sympathetic understand ing of grandma. Because : one sour teacher . can quickly spoil a whole barrel of pupils, principals- keep a close eye on their j new teachers. The principal will spend more time in the classroom helping with control, biggest trouble of inexperienced teachers, suggesting teaching method improvements or even tak mg over some of the instruction. School system consultants on art. r , ; -. - . .1 - j . . ; : . 5 - ' - Thoaga tome activities la Salem classrooms call for considerable movement and Iroom furnitnre mm a m A. ft m a m akB a apparent caoroer, a may ae music and physical education will be called, in for extra help in their specialties. ; j . 4 So Johnny may not have a lost year in the classroom even with a poor teacher. ; : - . But with a good one. grade five could be a powerfully important one. : ' j . '. . There was still reading, writing and listening along with all the rest, though the average fifth grader : would rather talk than listen. Johnny was now an upper classman" by elementary school standards and he had the size and the duties toprove it On his credit side , he was con tributing considerable to the func tioning of his school by serving on hall patrols, street ! patrols and helping out in the classroom duties. Most principals admitted they would have a difficult and prob ably costly time operating their cafeterias without the help of fifth and sixth grade students who, in the name ; of citizenship, helped with setups in the dining room, sold and punched meal tickets, and scraped plates. Mostly on a n.in ,).. n.m.mi. i"H"."wi'iM'".uiiii u n . ..m..j;i . .. jf ..... , ... t i . . ) i . .1. '" ' ; ; .Jnyr'.yi ' ttX' '"'i- 1 7i ; - :' t " - M' c1 1-. - f f rf J 1 " ' t . : , J - . : - if I ' ? '.j$"r s ' " t f f If - - ' ' 5 - i Vi , ' l.V;f : J.l vi 7 ( . - V' V- e' -" 'J,.'- f : - '.!.. 11 4 . - - .:, 1 - ; Tl " " . ; - - ,r ,- --.; , t I A , . V K' ' - v. ' f--1 sVT ijtoaMJn ........ Think," is what Richard Severson is invited to do here by Mrs. Nan Denhem, his fifth grade teacher at Salem Heights School. Scene and situation are typical of Salem classrooms. Teachers invite youngsters to work out their problems to increase self-reliance. ; They discourage homework in most cases for this same reason and because they are unable to tell where Johnny's efforts end and papa's begin. (All Statesman Photos by Thomas G. Wright Jr.) ' . i , ,m mmm 1 "Ts.'"V: siraigiu-uno aneaaoa in ue nexu moaera cuss-1 classroom cecorma in uus saiem iieignu aia volunteer basis, principals had little trouble keeping the posts filled. . ; : Girls Grow Faster " Johnny was growing by hands and feet and he was apt to trip, stumble and fall over them and blame it on Susie who was grow ing even faster. Both had a grow ing curiosity about sex and the older more mature class mem bers were apt to be embarrassed, by1 secondary sex characteristics appearing as the year rolled along. Extra-curricular activities Girl Scouts,. Camp Fire Girls, Boy Scouts, 4-H Clubs were filling one of Johnny's powerful needs for hobby interests and membership in organized groups. After a brief look at the world in the 4th grade, he was back Tor a closer look at his rwu country in his social studies. ! Through films, books, magazines, radio and phonograph, ; Johnny probed the four corners of the U.S. to see how they lived and worked and played. - j v. . 1 , Hesearched diligently through I . magazines for pictures to cut out to illustrate the scrap books he was making on the New England states, the Central States,! etc. If he couldn't find exactly the right picture to suit-him he could illus-j trate it with his - own arj wfucn wai taking more directed form. ; Johnny was becoming familiar with the tales of Christopher Columbus, Hernando De Soto, La Salle. Capt John Smith the Roger Williams, the achievements of Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Paul Jones, Father Serra and George Washington, and the ad ventures of Daniel Boone, Zebulon Pike and Narcissa Whitman. Part of these talqs of history he was finding in his language and reading books. There were excit ing; stories of discovery, explora tion and invention, funny: stories, sad stories and even love stories. Each added a few more words to his vocabulary and he; learned how to look them up in a diction ary, pronounce them spell them and know their meanings. ' He was being encouraged to assume the responsibility for correcting his own language errors and to keep a list of his own hard words. and modern ideas about education find a place far both types of m m a arat mm ariO. 9 . Verb Patterns Appear Correct English usage which ho had been learning by imitation was now coming Johnny's .way in a formal pattern. Verb forms like oegin - Began Degun, grow -grew-grown, write-wrote-written would all be presented, but not con quered during the year. L : But most 5th graders would, by next May, have mastered the uses of capitalization for countries, ti tles of persons and sacred words; commas for . words lof I address, words : of series, after yes or no; and the exclamation mark. Along, the way it was expected he would learn to make! simple outlines jn organization materials for speaking or writing, increase interest in using references such as the dictionary, encyclopedias,' newspapers and magazines and learn the correct use of certain helping words and verb forms. He wuuiu increase 11 :s aumijr u m joy good poetry, but would prob ably memorize' only a fraction of the verses required of his father. But the fraction itself would be a problem proper ana improper . fractions, comparison of fractions. reduction of fractions to the low- . est terms, and addition and sub traction of like and unlike fra tions and mixed numbers. Else where in arithmetic this year. Johnny will hav.e more opportuni- -ties to make money change, meet the concept of area, and have an introduction to reading and under- ' standing graphs. While past participles, double divisors and Abigail Adams were ma kin his head Co 1 around. Johnny was learning9 some other reasons why things go around. Blessed with a variety of attrac tive textbooks, charts and train ing' aids, he was getting an under standing of electricity; steam, . gas and atoms as elements of force- man ' had put to work for him. And he was getting an idea " of how it got; that way. In his science classes he learned steam has force because " it expands, gasoline when it changes from a 11 quia to a gas ana expioaes. tie heard : about erosion and conser- vation of natural resources. And he learned that all things are made of elements and that ele- . ments unite in chemical change to form compounds. . Diet and Sanitation Either in his science class or in neaitn eaucauon. or Doin, Johnny was learning to recognize tYia srlvantaoe nf a cnaA diet TTe became aware that cost is not an indication of the nutritive value 01 100a. Ana ne reauzea inai careful sanitation in food hand ling was important in the pre vention of disease and in the preservation of foods. . . . Johnny's art had more purpose than it did a year ago. He need ed it to help his social study projects and to impress the les sons ; of other fields. He still needed it most for an emotional release. But the teacher 'wasn't allowing the indiscriminate activ ity of the first grader. Johnny was being guided to make 'dis criminations with respect to size, shape, color, general appeal and usability of objects. . He learned about primary colors ana secona- 1 ary colors, ana trom a color ! wheel he constructed himself he -j learned about : complementary ! colors. , . , j Singing was still the basic music experience in srade five. With singing some music expres sion was available to everyone in Johnny's class. The class was lniroaucea 10 two-pan music, not mechanically but by ear. If the teacher taught music enthusiasti cally, Johnny learned it enthusi astically. If not, those members of Johnny's class with no special musical talent beuan .to dron it into the "sissy" category, a dull period of lackluster singing which . U unfortunately was. ; The "Frivolous Fifth" is none theless a knowledgeable one for, Johnny.: Though he may well be in the "wise guy" age hell still have a lot to learn in the "Sophis ticated Sixth." gxaae room. w r- 1,