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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1950)
TW1S G3EDF0RD mm TUIEfJT: SCHOOL S Three Boys' Classes Provide Techniques By Bill Fore Mill Tribune Staff Writer John Doe's boy isn't going on to college when he gets out of high school. He doesnt have the inclination for four, or even two, years of academic study but he is an alert youth with a capable pair of hands and a mathematical turn of mind. If proper training were available he could become a skilled artisan in any of a score of trades and be learning a respectable wage within a few years after he left high school. Multiply young Does situation by several hundred in each of the nation's communities and you begin to get a picture of the gap in American education that has gone largely unfilled until the past few years. Recognition of the need for vocational education at the high school level has developed into a national trend lately with the western states taking the lead. The Medford city school system is oDviousiy in uie vauKUHra 01 Started during the war when facilities were installed to train welders for defense industries, the vocational education depart ment at the Medford senior high school now includes three fully equipped shops for carpentry, metal working and machine shop trades. In addition there are sev eral classrooms for the more conventional vocational courses for future homemakers and of fice workers. Many Attend College The percentage of high school studends who go on to college is somewhat higher here than in the rest of the state about 30 per cent here compared to 20 per cent for the state as a whole but the need for vocational training is considered no less im portant. In fact, Superintendent of Schools E. H. Hedrick says the present program is to be ex panded. But expansion, he said, will proceed along sensible lines not flooding the local market with skills not in demand. A sur vey is being conducted in Med ford to determine just what skills are needed in this area and the vocational curriculum of the immediate future will be based on the findings so that students will not find themselves thrown on the labor market wtih un wanted knowledges and skills. Placed In Jobs Classroom and shop training at the high school here is followed up by job placement where possible. The three shop instruc tors say they believe their boys have about a year's advantage over other apprentices who have not taken the courses. One glance at the work these teen-agers are doing would convince the aver age observer of the public serv ice the school is doing in the way of providing craftsmen for local industry and in giving students skills that will stand them in Out-Of-Class Schools Heavy, List Shows Use of Medford's public school buildings docs not end when stu dents are dismissed from classes or extra-curricular activities in the afternoon. Nor is the use of the school facilities limited to the younger generation. A typical week finds some ac tivity in progress almost every night at the school and on Sat urdays during the day as well. School officials encourage this use and make an effort to have the facilities occupied. When the buildings are idle, they are do ing no one any good, according to School Superintendent E. H. Hedrick. Demand Heavy Demand on the part of organ izations and business firms for the gymnasiums or auditoriums is heavy. Many groups have to be turned down. Others have to utilize school property other than that originally asked, and at different times than they re quested, according to Hedrick's office. Requests must necessarily be made far in advance. To obtain the facilities, groups must have some adult respon sible. That person must see that his group conducts itself in or derly manner and that lights are turned out and doors locked when the evening program Is over. . To show a typical week at the Itnior high, Hedrick pointed to fie week of February 20 to 25. Typical Week On Monday evening there was a Christian Science lecture in the auditorium, Shrine patrol session in the girls' gymnasium and clothing construction, home nursing and public speaking ex tension courses for adults in var ious classrooms. Related train ing classes were held in carpen try, plumbing and electrical trades. On Tuesday night AAU bas ketball finals took place in the boys' gym and the Kiwanis club used the auditorium to rehearse its show. Adult courses in tail oring, foods - cooking, business law, business English and chil dren's literature were held in classrooms. More related training courses nd an adult class in clothing construction met on Wednesday and a current affairs college ex tension class met on Thursday. Medford and Ashland Kiwanians staged their Kiwanis Kapers Bnd Minstrel show on Friday and Sat urday nights at the auditorium. Cym In Use During one week the junior high gym was used In the even ings for city league basketball. The parent - teachers associa tion, the hobby club and the Shrine patrol used the girls' gym. Adult classes occupied the jun ior high sewing room on Monday nd Tuesday evenings. iAt Jackson school in the even ''Vf of an average week Boy twuts and Smith-Dynge Lumber mis leaaersmp. good stead when they start look ing lor jobs. But vocational education is high cost education small schools can't hope to provide stu dents with the kind of equipment that would be comparable in any way to what they would encoun ter in actual trades work. Use War Surplus Medford was fortunate in find ing a stock of war surplus equip ment that could be purchased for a fraction of its true value, and with several thousand dol lars worth of lathes, drill presses and welding equipment the school formed the nucleus of its present machine shop. The shop is housed in a separate building adjacent to the high school ana is used by 28 boys during two three-hour day trades periods. Instructor is George Barnum, a retired machinist. His students get intensive training in acety lene and arc welding, motor over hauling, machine tooling, and job shop repair techniques. If they complete their regular courses of study within the pre scribed time limits, they are al lowed to earn more practical expericene by bringing in their own cars for repair and over hauling. The course would be more crowded if it weren't for the fact that trades students represent a more or less hand-picked group with a serious attitude toward their work. Those without a pro fessional eoal take less specializ ed courses designed to give them only a general, overall under standing of the crafts. Superin tendent Hedrick characterizes these general courses as "shop courses. 58 Metal Workers Instructor Scott Brill has a to tal of 58 students in his metal work shoo but only 11 taking the three-hour day trades course. The rest are enrolled in three one- Use Of Local company had the gym on Mon day, American rruit urowers on Tuesday, Mobilgas and Cal ifornia Oregon Power company on Wednesday, Cub scouts and American Fruit Growers on Thursday, St. Mark's church league on Friday and Nazarene church young people on Satur day. Recreational Use The firms and church groups used the facilities for recreation such as basketball, volley ball and badminton. The parent teachers association has the Jackson gym one per month. At Lincoln school during a typical week, the building was used by Degree of Honor, Boy scouts and the Latter Day Saints on Monday, Boy scouts and Green's confectionery on Tues day. Methodist church and Green's on Wednesday, Free Methodist young people on Thursday and Rogue River acad emy and Latter Day Saints on Saturday. Other groups who use the Lin coln gym but not listed for the one week are Central Church of Christ. Daughters of the Nile, Cub scouts, Lady Activians, Jun ior Degree of Honor and the PTA. At Roosevelt An average Roosevelt school week is Boy scouts and Med ford corporation on Monday, Timber Products and airport on Tuesday, Church of the Breth ren and Medford corporation on Wednesday, Explorer scouts and Timber Products company on Thursday and Brownie scouts and a badminton groups on Fri day. Washington school gym dur ing one week was used by the Baptist church young people and Mann's Department store on Monday, the philharmonic so ciety on Tuesday and Wednes day and First Christian church and Mann's on Thursday. Gyms Open Saturday In addition all gyms of the public school system are open to youths Saturday mornings and afternoons for supervised recre ation. When interest wanes at one gym the activity there may cease but outdoor activity may take its place. There is folk danc ing for girls at Lincoln school on Saturday and for Girl scouts at Roosevelt on the same day. Hedrick has termed the whole program of full utilization of school facilities "very success ful." BIDS CALLED City council park committee members Friday advertised for sealed bids for completing the piping and heating system of the city park swimming pool. The offers must be submitted to the office of Citv Recorder J. R Woodford in the city hall not later than 2 p.m. March 21. Second Section - - t r. a WMKirW . ! ' IK Cap flV tow h t&rh ilk? ui mij" ,iiPsfcj I -4 THEY LEARN THE MACHINIST'S TRADE These students have at their disposal thousands of dollars worth of modern machine shop equipment that has been installed in a special building at the senior high school to train vocational education students in the rudiments of automobile mech anics, motor repair and overhauling and general machine shop skills. reBTS' res i -nKpsr h'i FUTURE METAL CRAFTSMEN This earnest group of senior high school students are enrolled in the day trades class in metal work. Part of a hand-picked group, chosen because of aptitude and interest, they are given a comprehensive course in all phases of metal work, including light welding and brazing, metal spinning and wrought iron technique, instructor is Scott Brill. hour morning classes and do not go into the subject as thoroughly as the carefully screened stu dents who will eventually end up with jobs in metal works. The year's work in Brill's class takes the student through 42 sep arate projects based on a course GREATEST AND... ki i m NO TUBE- TO PINCH TO PUNCTURE TO PURCHASE ROGUE SERVICE & SUPPLY CO. 23 Years In Medford at 8th and Front Striata ROY P. STOY.General Manager PHONE 2-6119 I MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, MARCH 12, 1950 s Li I M &M eMhJ of study worked out by the voca tional education department of the University of New York From the first simple project in volving only a piece of tin snip ped and bent along prescribed lines, the student progresses through a series of problems that TIRE ADVANCE b i nil IMI Mill I L N VI w a m i m w am CONVENIENT TERMS AVAILABLE -v..ss . familiarize him with evcrv phase of the master tinner's trade. And now the metal working shop has added a piece of equipment that is giving the class training in metal spinning an operation de manding skill and precision but one that is in increasing demand Get Joureyman's Knowledge When they have completed the course. Brill's students have a journeyman's knowledge of gen eral sheet metal work, light welding and brazing, metal spin ning, and wrought iron worK. For them, high school education has taken on a new and valuable meanine. Instructor L. A. Mentzer's course in carpentry has attracted 10 students. In addition there is a class of 30 architectural draw ing students and an average of 22 to 25 in the hour-long wood working classes. Major project for each year's trades class in this course is a four-room bungalow that is plan ned and built by the students themselves from the drawing boards to the site. After it is first built in the shop, the complete house is disassembled in sections and hauled to the lot owned by a veteran or other qualified per son, where it is set up, finished, painted and wired and sold at cost, all with the sanction of the local organized building trades. Three Houses Built Three of these projects have SM 50 YEARS! The B. F. Goodrich Puncture Sealing Tubeless Tire Site 4.00-W tock lldtwall 25 65 Plus Tribune Pages 1-8 Lincoln Schoolboy Patrol Now Organized A new schoolboy patrol has been set up at the Lincoln school under the guidance of Traffic Sergeant Clyde Fichtner to di- rect juvenile pedestrians at the intersections of Jackson street with Central and Riverside ave nues. The schoolboy patrolmen will be stationed at crossings of Cen tral avenue and Maple street. Bartlett and Jackson streets, and Maple street and Riverside ave nue from 8:30 a.m. until 9 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. until 4:15 p.m. Members of the safety patrol are Mark and Grant Parrott, Andrew Walker, Terry Krinock, John Foust, Gary Lewis, Dick Payne, Audrey Brown, and Ken neth Hendrickson. been carried to completion so far, giving three different groups of boys comprehensive experi ence in the carpentry business. Training in the science of putting together a modern dwelling is augmented by instruction in cabinet-making, house-wiring and general shop work. Though the chief vocational emphasis at the high school is logically placed on trades nor mally followed by men. the pro gram in no wise neglects the girls. In this respect, courses fall into two general types those for future homemakers and those for girls who will , for a time at least, fill jobs in the business world. Nursing Required Acting on the well-founded as sumption that somethina like 90 per cent of all girls will estab lish homes of their own within six years after they leave high school, the Medford school sys tem has made a course in home nursing a requirement for gradu ation. The school adminislration also feels that every girl should know the rudiments of cooking and sewing whether she sets up house keeping for her husband or in an aDartment of her own. Commercial courses include shorthand, bcekkeeping, Instruc tion in business machines and of Freedom of Choice of Pioneers made this great state This growing eom muunity hat "freedom of choice" ! It -t " Zl .. ,.r, ,r .,u h7 h LtSLW HOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION The day trades class in carpentry at the high school each year builds a small four-room bungalow for actual sale on a site owned by a veteran or other qualified person. But before it is set up on the lot it is first put together in the shop at the high school as shown here. Later it is disassembled and moved to the site for final construction. All the work, including the wiring and painting, is done by the students themselves as part of the class project. course, typing. There are 205 students enrolled ii typing courses not entire'.- vocational, since everyone nowadays wants to know how to type and 92 in bookkeeping, the next most pop ular commercial course. Choice Is Problem Hedrick points out, in com menting on the program develop ed here, that there are some 12,000 vocational trades and pro fessions in the United States. The high school inaugurating voca tional education in its curricula is immediately faced with the question of which of these to feature. Obviously its selection is restricted both by the ability of teen-age students to grasp proles- sional skills and knowledges and by the type and amount of eaumment the budget will siana Hedrick's yardstick has been the needs of the community and the larger needs, of society. The vocational counselling service at the high school invar iably qualifies Its recommenda lions it mav indicate, but never prescribes, vocations with a DO YOU KNOW THE FACTS? England is at present governed by a Socialist type government. They have Nationalized, Railroads, Banks, Mines, Professions .... including Doctors and Dentists. United States Marshall Plan Billions are making it possible for the English to claim success for the Nationalism of In dustry and Professions. NOTE TOO . . . that men who work In these industries . . . work WHERE the government di rects they shall work. Likewise Doctors are paid a set salary set by the government the public is pro vided FREE medical service (lately a small fee is sometimes required). Doctors' offices are packed, "just because it's FREE." Doctors have but little time for study . . . Patients can not be given enough attention. And RIGHT NOW this plan, very slightly altered, is proposed by the Administration In Wash ington for OUR use LIKE IT? GET THE FACTS... NOW! Get the Facts About Socialised Medicine and YOU All 1 I J . m . ; 1 -Ply t .... , .x i.ii iHiWHI hard-headed recognition of what opportunities the local economy provides. Counsellors attempt to fit the student's apparent appti tudes into thit pattern. Stress "Common Factors" In courses which have been chosen as being most appropri ate for this locality, the school has tried to incorporate those knowledges and skills that are transferrable from one field to another. Hedrick terms them "high common factors" and under this heading he classes knowledges like reading and mathematics and skills like welding. They are fundamental in any number of trades and graduates with a mastery of them are better equipped to compete on the Job market. With these principles as a guide and with past successes as encouragement, Medford's voca tional education program can be expected to grow as circum stances permit and to maintain its position as a model for many schools in the state. Freedom of Choice is the RIGHT of . every citizen of the U.S.A. PROTECT Your Freedom of Choice the FACTS! I
