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How Florida Students Meet Soviet Challenge
Here are the rigid "20 Commandments"
of Russian schools that have been volun
tarily adopted as a basic program by ninth
graders at Winter Park's Glenridge Junior
High School:
Teacher Hugh Ansley.
by Ctanlcy Roberts ,
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It is the duty of every school child:
1. To acquire knowledge persistently, to become an educated and cul
tured citizen and be of the greatest possible service to his country.
2. To study diligently and be punctual in attendance.
3. To obey the instructions of the school director and teachers without
question.
4. To arrive at school with all necessary textbooks and writing materials,
and be prepared for lessons before the teacher arrives.
5. To come to school clean, well-groomed, and neatly dressed.
6. To keep his place in the classroom clean and tidy.
7. To enter the classroom and take his place immediately after the bell
rings; to enter and leave the classroom only with the teacher's per
mission. 8. To sit upright during the lesson, not leaning on his elbows or slouch
ing; to listen attentively to the teacher's explanations and the other
pupils' answers; and not to talk or let his attention stray.
9. To rise when the teacher or the director enters or leaves the room.
10. To stand at attention when answering the teacher; to sit down only
with the teacher's permission; to raise his hand if he wishes to answer
or ask questions.
11. To take accurate notes in his assignment book of homework scheduled
for the next lesson, and to show these notes to his parents; to do all
homework unaided.
12. To be respectful to the director and teachers; greet them with a
polite bow.
13. To be polite to elders, to behave modestly and respectfully in school,
on the street, and in public places.
14. To avoid coarse expressions, smoking, or gambling. (Coarse includes
profanity, cliche" s, and slang expressions such as "wow," "real gone,"
and "yeah.")
15. To protect school property, to be careful of his personal things and
the belongings of his comrades.
16. To be attentive and considerate of old people, smaller children, the
weak and the sick; to give them a seat on the trolley or make way
for them on the street, being helpful in every way.
17. To obey parents, to help in the care of smaU brothers and sisters.
18. To maintain cleanliness and order in rooms, to keep clothes, shoes, and
bed neat.
Vb. To carry student record book with him always, to guard it carefully,
never handing it to anyone; to present it upon request of the director
or teacher.
' 20. To cherish the honor of his school and class, and defend it as his own.
School days, school days . . . now in
clude Saturdays in Florida. At a
time when microscopic cross-examinations
of American education are expos
ing slides of deficiency, ninth graders
at a Florida junior high school are en
gaged in an intellectual revolution.
Strictly on their own, students at
Winter Park's Glenridge Junior High
School flock eagerly to classes every
Saturday during the school year and
weekdays during Summer vacations, all
at their own insistence.
These youngsters are riding the crest
of a learn-it-yourself wave, buoyed up
by such collective zest that Principal
Adrian Stockard admits, "I feel as if I
have a bear by the tail and can't let go."
For the privilege of rolling out of
bed on Saturday mornings, students
pay $15 a semester for lectures in logic
and philosophy. In the Summer, swim
ming and other vacation activities are
foregone for classes in psychology,
American heritage, geography, biology,
and art at $20 per class.
All of this is without academic credit,
but it has answered the query that
nibbled at teacher Hugh Ansley's civics
class: Is the Russian educational sys
tem superior to ours? Or, as John Bow
man aptly expressed it, "Are Russian
students smarter than we are?"
It all started last year when 24-year-old
teacher Ansley shocked his class
with reports on Soviet students' gruel
ing study habits and the alarming com
parisons between Russian and Ameri
can school children. Gasps of amaze
ment buzzed through the classroom.
Finally, 15-year-old Sylvia Schaffer
asked, "Why can't we try those Russian
ideas in our class?"
Her classmates stirred. "How about
it, Mr. Ansley?" coaxed the others.
Deliberating for a second, Ansley re
sponded quickly.
"All right," he resolved. "For the next
seven weeks we'll conduct this class
under the same rules used in the Soviet
system." Ansley's class adopted in their
entirety the "20 Commandments" that
Russian students are forced to mem
orize and observe or be expelled.
The students called their venture the
Traditional Education Experiment and
decided rule violators would weed
sandspurs from the the school lawns as
punishment; they really lived their "20
Commandments"
Results were strikingly apparent, in
side and out of the classrooms. As
though the fine hand of progressive
educator John Dewey had wielded the
hickory stick of learning, Ansley's Russian-patterned
class covered the 285
page civics textbook assigned for the
year in seven weeks. Grades rose 25
percent.
"Before we started TEE," 14-year-old
Marcia Whitney said, "we used to just
. play around too much."
One boy's mother revealed that be
fore TEE-days, her son would dodge
hurriedly through the living room dur
ing her bridge games and avoid her
visitors. "Now he's a perfect gentle
man," she beams. "He even bows
politely to the ladies."
Inspired by their accomplishments,
Ansley's civics class voted to make
their Soviet-style system permanent.
Then, one mid-Winter morning 15-year-old
Bob Andrews rose from his
seat to ask, "Is there any reason why we
can't have classes on Saturday?" Others
in the class were interested. Ansley
hurried to the principal's office and as
sured Stockard that he'd be willing to
Family Weekly, February 1, 19S9