Bill Dalton
I can't help but conclude that school kids were better off before the 1960s than today. I don't mean financially better off, I mean better off in the education they received and the way they were treated by their schools.
It's difficult for me to come to a contrary conclusion, because in the last two decades I've reviewed thousands of resumes and interviewed hundreds of people for a variety of jobs in the legal profession. The education level of these people ranged from high school to law school graduates. During the resume-reading process, I winnowed out most of the applicants because of spelling and punctuation errors and an inability to be articulate.
For those who reached the interview stage, an inability to be verbally articulate and precise meant failing the interview. During my lengthy interviews, I got a sense as to whether a person had learned the basics while in school. Numerous studies in the past several years have made this point: Americans, on average, know little about history and current events. Today, many young adults know more about "South Park" than the Civil War.
Let me add to this obvious point by making a personal observation: People whose education ended with a high school diploma many years ago are more articulate and have better communication skills than today's average college graduate.
With that as background, let's take a glance backward at what high school looked like in Andover many years ago.
To set the tone, I'll begin with the 1929 Punchard High School Class Book (my mother's) where Nathan Hamblin, the principal from 1910 to 1941, wrote: "The chairman of your Class Book Committee has ordered me to write a few words as a sort of valedictory ... He has taken my orders for so long, I am glad to obey his. Let the first word be one of congratulations. Punchard is rather proud of you ... And now a bit of exhortation ¬�— not official, but friendly.... Remember what you owe your parents whose sacrifices have been so great for you... Don't forget you bear the mark of Punchard and that her reputation will always be in your keeping ... In short, be devoted sons and daughters, good citizens, loyal alumni and good friends."
By my father's account, given to me many years ago, Hamblin expected you to do your best, but was tolerant if you fell short as long as you tried hard.
As indicated in Principal Hamblin's statements, there was a great amount of school loyalty to Punchard in those times past. The Punchard Alumni Association was a strong, vibrant organization with many active alumni.
In 1934, the association created a booklet commemorating the "Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the First Commencement of the Punchard School." It said the association started in 1891 and by 1934 had eight officers, an executive committee, trustees of the alumni funds, a memorial service committee, an anniversary committee, and a banquet committee. The booklet says, "In addition to annual reunions, there have been dances, plays, concerts, lectures, and other entertainments ... Beginning in 1896 the Goldsmith Rhetorical Prize was awarded annually." Over the years, such things as pianos and athletic equipment were purchased, and, of course, scholarships were awarded. (The Goldsmith Prize was named for William G. Goldsmith, who was Punchard's principal from 1858 to 1869, and 1871 to 1885. He was the father of Bessie Punchard Goldsmith, a well-known, colorful individual who was, among many other things, a columnist for the Andover Townsman. She was given her middle name as the result of being named after the school and not as a result of being related to the Punchard family.) William Goldsmith wrote the "Punchard School Ode." Its best known stanza was the last of four. It read:
Our Dear Alma Mater, fair Punchard all hail!
In faith, ever filial and true,
Our pledge of a love for thee never to fail,
Again hand in hand we renew;
To thee, in the spirit and light of the hour, -
This oasis green of our way, -
All gemmed with bright stars of our hope-in-the-flower,
We bring a fresh garland to-day!
I suppose by today's standards many people think that's pretty sappy stuff,
but I like it.
In 1946, a booklet was created by the Trustees of Punchard in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the town and the 90th anniversary of the school. In addition to the headmaster of the school, Eugene V. Lovely, there were 20 faculty members. (At various times in Punchard's history, the title "principal" and "headmaster" were used
interchangeably.) Although largely a picture book, there is descriptive writing that gives hints as to why the students were better off then. What follows are snippets from the booklet.
"The two-fold objective of the English course is to train pupils to use language effectively in clear purposeful self-expression and to interpret sympathetically, yet dispassionately, what others say and write. The department fosters individual initiative by encouraging projects such as class newspapers, class anthologies, and other individual creative work. The Bernard Essay contest with prizes awarded at public speaking contests furnishes especial incentive for the latter type of work."
"The course in oral English is aimed at making those young people who take advantage of it conscious of how they sound and how to use the vocal apparatus ... The most important by-product, perhaps the greatest gain, is an increased confidence in one's ability to conduct himself in a manner poised and suitable to the occasion. Various means are used to bring this about - student-conducted assemblies, classroom recitations, one-act plays, and of course a large amount of class drill and exercise."
"It has become a practice to invite men who are successful in their chosen field to explain to the Economics class [the business] with which they are associated."
"The school nurse is the central figure in the school health program. Working in cooperation with the school physician and optometrist, she has the executive, day-to-day responsibility for the physical well-being of the students."
"The teeth of Andover's school children receive a routine examination regularly. This is, in turn, followed by a homeroom check to see that every cavity discovered by the dental hygienist has been attended to by the family dentist."
I'm old enough to have known many Andover folks whose education stopped at high school in the early decades of the Twentieth Century. If you speak with those who survive today or remember speaking with those who have not, you will note that they are or were articulate and knowledgeable citizens. That's what we should expect high school graduates to be, and that's what the town's high school produced.
(Thank you to Ron and Joanne (Emmons) Smith for the booklets mentioned in his column.)
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Bill Dalton, a former town moderator, writes a weekly column for the Andover Townsman. He can be reached at billdalton@andovertownie.com.
