Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 118, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 May 1913 — PROFESSOR LEAVITT AT HIGH SCHOOL [ARTICLE]

PROFESSOR LEAVITT AT HIGH SCHOOL

Delivered Address on Industrial Education Which All Patrons Should Have Heard. As previously announced, Prof. Leavitt came down from the University of Chicago last night to talk on industrial education. He defined industrial education as the education of the industrial worker, the education which teaches a boy some definite occupation of ah industrial, character, such as machine shop practice, plumbing, electrical engineering, etc. Industrial education is thus one phase of vocational education. Agriculture education is another phase, commercial education another phase, etc. Prof. Leavitt emphasized the importance of the education of the masses. He deplored the old saying: “There is room at the top”, believing that it held out vain hopes to the great majority of the young. There is comparatively little room at the top, he said, society being much like a pyramid, the majority of the people constituting the base, a few constituting the top. This is the fixed situation, so that there will always be many more people at the bottom than at the top. He held that we cease bestowing all our honor on the man at the top. Honor should be accorded every man who does good work, no matter what place in the pyramid he may occupy. He went on to say that in the past our educational effort had been chiefly planned to help the fellow who was destined for a position at the top. The man at the bottom had been neglected. It is now time to help the man who is going to work at the bottom, giving him such training and enlightenment as will enable him to do well his work and thereby eafn a competence < and consequent contentment and happiness. - -■ Prof. Leavitt announced himself as- much pleased with the work this community is doing in this direction. At a meeting with the board of education this -morning he made a number of suggestions how the loca ? situation might be improved. He left at noon ' for Louisville, where he is to assist in the installation of industrial work in the schools of that city.