| Mansfield PA and Richmond Township in Tioga County PA |
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What goes up must come down. The forces of time and gravity will have their way in spite of us. So it is that on the Mansfield University campus another old landmark has reached the end of its days.
Back in 1920, the idea of a junior high school was an innovation. For the education and experience of future secondary level teachers, Mansfield’s ninth graders were removed from the high school and installed on the first floor of Alumni Hall at the Mansfield State Normal School, now Mansfield University. The following year, the seventh and eighth graders from the campus’s Model School – the campus elementary school also for teacher training – were brought in to join them.
In the fall of 1927, the same year that the Normal School became Mansfield State Teachers College, the junior high building was erected on a terraced hillside at the then eastern edge of the campus. It had a student population of 150 in 1928. New programs included vocational education in addition to the existing academic curriculum. Athletics and extra-curricular activities were also among the new ideas put into practice. It was considered unique in its dual function of educating both the youngsters of the town as well as young teachers. Eventually, seventh and eighth grades from Mainesburg and Roseville were brought in by bus.
Dr. Myron Webster was the first principal. Senior teachers in the campus junior high were called supervisors for their dual roles. They taught the young students and also supervised the practice teaching of the college students. Miss Jessie Grigsby succeeded Dr. Webster. Dr. Richard Wilson served in that role, and Dr. Mildred Menge was the last principal when the school graduated its 33nd and final class in 1959.
In the fall of 1959, the junior high classes were relocated to the combined junior-senior high in the expanded facility still in operation on Wellsboro Street. The 1927 building was converted for college classes. The gym became a theater, and the building was named East Hall. Later the name Allen Hall was applied to it in honor of Professor Fordyce Allen, an early normal school principal and developer of teacher training in the nineteenth century.
I was in a college class in that converted building when, on that sad and sunny November day, all the church bells in town tolled for John F. Kennedy.
In its 83rd year, the old “Hillside Penitentiary,” so named by two generations of Mansfield’s children, is to be replaced by a new, modern, and larger facility under construction beside it. The new Allen Hall will serve the same function as before: theater, TV studio and film editing, art and classrooms.
It is a sad farewell for many in Mansfield, but time claims its due.
by Joyce M. Tice
Much of the material I have been able to glean for this history of our local school is taken from the college yearbooks. It is slanted from the point of view of the student teachers and college administrators rather than from the local children who attended. It portrays the people whom we considered out teachers as supervisors of student teachers, which was part of their dual role. Although the junior high students are shown in many classroom scenes, we see only the unidentifiable backs of their heads. But, we can see the classrooms as they were then. We are grateful that this glimpse "from the other side" into this school is available in any form. Were it not for the college yearbooks we would have almost no record at all. JMT
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From 1920 until the new building opened in the fall of 1927, junior high was conducted on the first floor of Alumni Hall. |
| Junior High School students photographed by alumni hall where the junior high school was founded. |  |
1926 Carontawan [yearbook of Mansfield State Normal School]
Junior High School [Note that Junior High was on first floor of Alumni Hall at this time.]
The Junior High School was organized in the fall of 1920 with dual objectives: it aimed to provide more definitely for the needs of the adolescent of the community; and it hoped to afford an opportunity to the Normal students of Group III to catch the spirit and enthusiasm so necessary to successful teaching in this transition period in every child’s life.
The Junior High School has enjoyed a very happy existence through its life in Mansfield. The community has co-operated loyally, giving praise for effort without too close scrutiny of actual results; and student teachers of each class, that of 1926 being in no sense behind its predecessors, have without exception spent time and enthusiasm without stint or measure in order that each Junior High School student might get value received for each minute spent in our Junior High School. It is a pleasure to pay tribute where tribute is due. It is altogether safe to predict that no school system will ever receive more sympathetic, enthusiastic service from the people who have taught in our Junior High School as student teachers than that which they have rendered here as student teachers.
We hope for a happy future as an organization. And we frankly depend upon the Normal Seniors to carry on in such fashion as to justify our continued existence.
1927 Carontawan [yearbook of Mansfield State Teachers College]
Junior High School [Note that Junior High was on first floor os Alumni Hall at this time.]
The Junior High School was organized in the Fall of 1920 with dual objectives: it aimed to provide more definitely for the needs of the adolescent of the community; and it hoped to afford an opportunity to the Normal students of Group III to catch the spirit and enthusiasm so necessary to successful teaching in this transition period in every child’s life. The Junior High School has succeeded in attaining its objectives to a degree altogether encouraging. We wish to pay tribute to our Principal, Dr. William R. Straughn, who has a very large part in its growth and success. Due chiefly to his efforts we have now under construction a fine two hundred thousand dollar Junior High School building.
Mr. Webster, our Junior High School Principal, is author of the prediction, “No school system will ever receive more sympathetic, enthusiastic service from the people who had taught in our Junior High School as student teachers.” We appreciate such a compliment from one who has had a large share in our training. We wish for the Junior High School a lasting and increasing success. – Robert E. Merrill.
Wellsboro Gazette, August 18, 1927, p.1
New Junior High at Mansfield
$225,000 Building Will Be Opened for Use When School Convenes, September 6 [1927]
The new Junior High School building at Mansfield, will be used on the opening day of school, September 6. This building was built at a cost of $225,000.
On the first floor of the building are two entrances which lead to the class rooms on the second floor and to the large combination auditorium and gymnasium on the first floor. This room is arranged for basketball court and has a stage and bleachers. Under the bleachers is a storage room for chairs. At each side of the stage are dressing rooms and back of the stage, in the second floor, are shower baths and on the same floor a swimming pool.
On the second floor is the shop for the boys, where woodworking, auto repairs and printing will be taught. The domestic science rooms, consisting of cooking, laboratory, sewing room, kitchen and dining room, are also on the second floor. The third floor is devoted to class rooms, lecture room, science laboratory, offices for the supervisors and store room.
The building is of red brick and is situated on Wilson avenue to the east of the other buildings.
The junior high school was organized seven years ago, the seventh and eighth grades of the borough high school being taken over by the Teachers' College for this purpose. The school has been housed, since its organization, in the rooms formerly used for the model school.
The faculty is as follows: Principal and supervisor of social studies, Prof. Myron Webster; supervisor of science and geography, Prof. Hugh W. Alger; supervisor of mathematics and Latin, Miss Dorothy Hutchinson. The special departments of music, art and home economics will be directed by members of the college faculty.
1928 Carontawan [yearbook of Mansfield State Teachers College]
The Junior High School
Mansfield again proved itself one of the foremost institutions in teacher training when it opened its new junior high school last fall. The building is unique among its kind, for it is constructed for use in a small town and is now serving about 150 pupils. It has almost complete facilities for giving thorough all-around training to teachers. They are given training not only in teaching academic subjects, but also in teaching art, physical education, health and special classes. Besides these classroom activities they are given opportunities for library service, for noon-hour supervision, for coaching of athletics and for observation of demonstration lessons. In short, the aim is to turn out young people who have had the best possible preparation for their careers as teachers.
It is to be expected that in the future, when the adjustment period is past,
the facilities of the Junior High School will be more completely efficient in
teacher and pupil training. We depend upon our successors to use these
facilities to the utmost.
- Laura Vail.
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1929 Carontawan [yearbook of Mansfield State Teachers College]
The Junior High School The Junior High School was founded for two purposes – the training of the pupil and the training of teachers in the Junior High School field. In carrying out the first purpose Mansfield founded the Junior High School on the belief that the most important function of the school was to look to the well-rounded development of the individual, not as an individualist, but as an outstanding, thinking member of society. Provision for individual differences, therefore, is essentially a foundation of the school. The second purpose, that of training young men and women to carry out this important, primary function of the school has brought about the development of a program to meet the practical needs and specialization of teachers under the direction of competent supervisors. Probably of first importance, is the school’s distinctly human attitude toward all its members. The question in mind at all times is: “How can we so use the school situation and the materials at hand as to bring out the best possibilities in the individual, either pupil or student teacher?” The answer to this question may sometimes mean making the path a little smoother; it may mean making the going a little more difficult. But whatever the policy adopted the purpose remains the same. The school attempts to know each individual as he or she is. When pupils enter the school they become individuals in a group small enough for the teacher and supervisor to make personal daily observations of their personal and social behavior traits, and yet large enough to offer the challenge for endeavor.
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1929 Carontawan [yearbook of Mansfield State Teachers College]
Faculty of the Campus Schools - Elementary School and Junior High School
Training School
George A. Retan, B.F., Pd. M., M.A. – Director of Training School. Mansfield Normal; New York University
Myron E. Webster, L.L.B. Principal of Junior High School. Mansfield Normal; Cornell University.
Hugh W. Alger, A.B. Supervisor [Geography and Science] Junior High School. West Chester Normal; Bucknell University; Yale University.
Blanche Ross, B.S. Primary Director. Colorado State Normal; Columbia University.
Cathryn Parker, A.B. Supervisor of Kindergarten. Kearney Teachers College; University of Nebraska.
Drucilla Worthington, A.B. Supervisor, Grade I. Beloit College; University of Wisconsin.
Jessie P. Willett, A.B. Supervisor, Grade II. Davis Elkins College; Columbia University.
Edna Puterbaugh Marsh, B.S. Supervisor, Grade III. Stroudsburg State Normal; Columbia University.
Mary Elizabeth Ruf, A.B. Supervisor, Grade IV. University of Illinois; Harvard.
Elizabeth P. Stalford, B.S. Supervisor, Grade V. Mansfield State Normal; Bucknell University.
Mildred L. Grigsby, B.S. Supervisor, Grade VI. Mansfield State Normal; Bucknell University.
Jessie Grigsby, B.S. Supervisor [Mathematics] Junior High School. Mansfield State Normal; New York University.
Margaret O’Brien, A.B., M.A. Supervisor [English] Junior High School. Syracuse University; McGill University.
Louise Barnhardt, B.S., M.A. Art Supervisor in Training School. Mansfield State Normal; Syracuse University; Columbia University.
Margaret Dick Steadman, B.A., B. of Ed. Music Supervisor in Training School. Kearney Teachers College; Iowa State Teachers College.
Edytha L. Keeney, R.N. Training School and Community Nurse. Clifton Springs Sanitarium and Clinic.
William Caswell, B.S. Manual Arts. Mansfield State Teachers College.
1931 Carontawan [yearbook of Mansfield State Teachers College]
Faculty of the Campus Schools - Junior High School
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Myron E. Webster, LL. B.
Principal of Junior High School. Diploma, Mansfield State Normal School; Cornell University. Hugh W. Alger, A.B., M.S. in Ed.
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William E. Caswell, B.S.
Manual Arts. State College; Geneva College; Carnegie Institute of Technology; Mansfield State Teachers College; Ohio State University. Jessie Grigsby, B.S., M.A.
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Margaret O'Brien, A.B., M.A.
Supervisor [English] Junior High School. Syracuse University; M.A., McGill University. Louise Barnhardt, B.S., M.A.
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Irma Marie Scott, A.B.
Music Supervisor in Training School. University School of Music; University of Omaha; Columbia University, summer session. Edytha L. Keeney, R.N.
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From 1931 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
A modern building architecturally, an intelligent practical administration, up-to-date equipment including a modern "Industrial Arts" shop and modern "Home Economics" practice rooms, a practical program of studies and a normal group of 180 pupils, constitutes the Junior High School the very efficient training and practice school for all "Degree Seniors."
The Junior High School follows an arrangement in design and architecture that thoroughly lends itself to the needs of Junior High School pupils. The design of such a building necessarily calls for adequate light, a stage, a gymnasium, floor space, practical adaptation for a quick change to various classes, and a method for combining two classrooms into a large homeroom.
Professor Myron E. Webster and his corps of assistants, the various supervisors, form a very efficient administration. Their guidance, help and enthusiasm has awakened in many an indifferent student-teacher an ardent liking for the work, and has spurred the ambitious to greater efforts.
The program of studies besides the regular Junior High School courses with Industrial Arts Course for boys and Home Economics Course for girls, includes a very unusual combination in each of the said courses. One offers home economics work for boys and the other industrial arts work for girls. This is indeed a progressive step in curriculum making. The Industrial Arts Shop is one of the most important parts of the school. Here, excellent instruction combined with practical machinery gives the pupil some basic knowledge concerning some of the "Arts," as printing, metal work, carpentering, and others.
From year to year the Junior High School adds new features to the already efficient program of contacts, athletics, and various others. More intimate contact is obtained with the pupil and consequently, a greater knowledge and acquaintance is the result. Other features of importance are the athletic expansion, the warm lunch, and the fitting of the new stage.
Fundamentally, this school has two purposes. First it is a school providing instruction common to the Junior High School movement, and second it is the means by which student teachers put into practice the theory and technique of teaching. It is certain that every graduating student teacher leaves with regret but also with a personal interest in its welfare and a wish for its continued success.
The Junior High School
From 1932 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
The Junior High School, in which the "Degree Seniors" do their practice teaching, is one of the most up-to-date buildings on the campus. The building and its furnishings are arranged to perform those functions in which a Junior High School is concerned. Everything is arranged to give the pupil every advantage and to give the teacher every opportunity for successful teaching.
Professor Myron E. Webster, with a group of assistants who are specialists in Junior High School problems and administrative duties, form an efficient guiding faculty.
Various courses of special interest to boys and girls are given. For the boys the school provides an excellent Industrial Art Course; for the girls a Home Economics Course provides adequate opportunity to develop the home sciences. Another feature is the number of clubs, the interest in which precludes the absence of any child.
A pupil who has been graduated from the Junior High School has a firm basis
on which to build himself in the way of other studies. He has explored the
various curricula and is prepared for some achievement, the goal set or
suggested by this exploration. In this the Junior High School is proving itself
one of the most efficient organizations on the campus.
| Dr. Myron Webster
First principal of Mansfield Junior High School From 1934 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College The Principal of the Junior High School Since the establishment of the Junior High School twelve years ago, student
teachers have enjoyed an excellent reputation for going about their teaching
with splendid enthusiasm. To this reputation it is now becoming necessary to add
a word of praise for greatly improved academic and social preparation - an
improvement brought about largely by the increase in the length of the college
course. No school deserves more than a well trained and enthusiastic faculty.
This the Junior High School appears to be getting, both presently and
prospectively.
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From 1934 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
The student attending a teacher-training institution presumably intends to
become a teacher. It is essential that he be given a complete training with the
art of teaching as a goal. There is needed in this training an opportunity to
observe teaching and actually to engage in it under expert guidance. The Junior
High School provides this opportunity, at the same time serving as a model of
Secondary organization. The establishment is housed in a comparatively new
building, is well equipped and furnishes excellent advantages for those who do
their practice teaching in this department. It is the source of many of the
student's most meaningful experiences while training.
From 1925 Carontawan - Mansfield State Normal School |
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From 1935 Carontawan - Mansfield State Normal School
In September, 1920, the 9th grade in Mansfield met in the basement of Alumni Hall, the old Model School chapel. This grade formed the nucleus of the junior high school "movement" in Mansfield. For one semester it continued to be the "Junior High." Then the 7th and 8th grades were moved over from the Training School, all the rooms on the ground floor of Alumni Hall were appropriated for junior high purposes, and the present organization got under way.
For several years the new school continued to occupy its cramped quarters. In September, 1927, the new building was ready and amid much rejoicing teachers and students moved in. Appropriate changes were made in the organization, work and play started, much happiness prevailed. It seems safe to say that the Junior High is still a spot on the campus where happiness and good cheer reside. Aside from the purely academic courses, the Junior High School has well-equipped Industrial Arts and Home Economics departments, which aim not only to give the pupil an opportunity to explore certain vocational fields, but also to give him practical experience. The physical well-being of the student is provided for in a well organized and varied program of athletics, in which every child has ample opportunity to participate.
Here, also the student body experiences the social and cultural value of extra-curricular activities. In this way each student at some time is permitted to share with the others in presenting the weekly assembly programs. Other features serve to make interesting and constructive the in-and-out-of-school hours of the pupils.
The outstanding feature of the current year was the Training School Fair, held April 12th and 13th, to which both Training Schools contributed. Here was ample material proof of what a worth while experience the children have had in both these schools.
Primarily, the Junior High School was organized in Mansfield for the purpose of training teachers in secondary work. The institution is, and should be, looked upon by our student teachers as an organization concerned with their professional welfare.
The Junior High School Cafeteria
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Cafeteria - Mansfield Junior High School
From 1934 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College (above) 1942 Carontawan (lower left), 1944 (lower right) [Looks like elementary school students brought up for lunch.] |
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The Junior High School Cafeteria
From 1934 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College The objective of Home Economics is to prepare women for their two oldest
profession, homemaking and teaching. The curriculum is planned with this
objective in view and all activities contribute toward its realization.
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The Junior High School Lunch
From 1942 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
For six weeks during their junior year, groups of homemaking students
conduct a school lunch in the Mansfield Junior High School under Miss Farrer's
supervision. The duties of managing and operating the school lunch are divided
and rotated so that the student has the responsibilities involved in carrying
out a successful school lunch program. All the activities are conducted
according to high standard of sanitation and food preparation and service.
Economical, attractive, and nutritious meals are the objectives. The school
lunch is not a commercial enterprise, but is established to provide practice in
solving school lunch problems and to serve nutritionally adequate lunches to
school children. America can be made strong by making Americans stronger.
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| Junior High School Clothing Class
Woodworking & Metalwork Shop Print Shop From 1934 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College |
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Boys Food Class
From 1935 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College |
| From 1938 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College |
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From 1938 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
The Mansfield Junior High School, now in its eighteenth year, has a two-fold
purpose; that of giving the adolescent exploratory opportunities with special
emphasis on the individual's physical, emotional and social life rather than
subject matter, and that training the college students in the teaching of
secondary work.
Besides regular class rooms the Junior High School includes a fine Gymnasium-Auditorium, a well equipped Industrial Arts Shop, a splendid Household Arts Department and a pleasant Library. The Gymnasium-Auditorium is the center of activities, for here the students participate in regular weekly assembly programs furnished by the grades according to a schedule made up a semester in advance. Here, too, are the gym classes held. These include: Soft Ball, Basketball, Tumbling, Folk Dancing, Social Dancing and parties. One of the most popular spots in the building is the Shop where one may see all types of construction work with machines, wood and printing in progress. With the printing press, the pupils publish a school newspaper called "Hillside News" and all other notices needed on the campus. The Home Economics department, through the household arts rooms, gives training in working, sewing, interior decorating and other home making projects. These rooms include a most attractive cafeteria where noon lunches are served during the winter months. The library includes well selected books of interest to the adolescent student. This is used in connection with all classroom activities.
The second purpose of the Junior High is to train teachers in secondary work. The student teachers, under careful supervision, learn to plan lessons, organize activities, meet and solve problems arising in the classroom and other professional situations. The college music department furnishes exceptional advantages to the Junior High School child through mixed chorus, band, orchestra, music appreciation, song singing and instrumental building.
As Dr. Myron Webster, the former Director of the Junior High said, "In spite of the fact that the organization is hardly old enough to enjoy many traditions, it has some. Probably the outstanding one among these few is the splendid professional attitude of the student teacher toward the work done there."
| From 1940 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
Junior High School Faculty William Caswell (Industrial Arts), Frances Schipbanker (Art), Kimble Marvin (physical education), Margaret Morris (physical education), Paul Davis (social studies), Herbert Manser (French), Jessie Grigsby (mathematics), Eugene Martin (physical education). Leah Hancock (home economics), Bowers, Dr. George Retan (Director of Labortory Schools) , Hugh Alger (science), Margaret O'Brien (English) |
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From 1941 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
Junior High School Supervising Teachers William Caswell, Industrial Arts
Leah Hancock, Home Economics
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Glenn Johnson, Physical Education
Margaret R. Morris, Physical Education Nellie Ashenfelter, Music Kimble Marvin, Health Education |
From 1941 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
The Junior High School along with the Elementary Laboratory School is one of the most important buildings on the campus at Mansfield. It is in these buildings that the College Student Teacher first receives the experience of facing a class of students on his own. Besides affording the college students teaching experience in teaching, the Junior High serves the pupils; that is in giving the pupil exploratory opportunities with emphasis on the individual's physical, emotional and social life.
Through supervision by department heads, the materials and methods of teaching are kept up-to-date in all classes, giving both the pupil and the student teacher benefits.
Many activities are carried out at the Junior High School, through the use of the Gymnasium-Auditorium, and a well equipped Industrial Arts Shop, a Household Arts Department, Art Shop, and Library. The Gymnasium-Auditorium is the scene of many activities including weekly assembly programs furnished by different classes throughout the year, as well as the center of many types of sports and musical programs. The Industrial Arts Shop offers opportunities in some degree to pupils along the line of printing, woodworking, metal artworking, tanning of hides, and pot and clay working. The Household Arts Department gives instruction in sewing, interior decorating and many other homemaking projects. In this department is included the Cafeteria where noon lunches are served during the winter months by the College Homemaking Juniors. The Library includes many books useful and interesting to the adolescent boy and girl.
The Student Teacher receives excellent training and experience, including regular conferences with department supervisors, in which are given helpful criticisms and suggestions for improvement in classroom technique.
The working success of this plan is due to Dr. Retan and his staff of supervisors in the interest and patience shown toward the student teachers in making their work more interesting.
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Familiar Situations
In the Junior High the student finds himself in an atmosphere in which he is
better able to make any adjustments that he must make before he is able to enter
into the teaching profession. The activities which help to make up this
atmosphere consist of a Home Making course, shop work, regular academic courses,
and a well rounded music curriculum.
The building, comparatively new, possesses large, well ventilated rooms and all necessary equipment, Assemblies, sports-meets, organization meetings and gym classes are held in the gymnasium. The library has books having a special interest to children of Junior High level, as well as books beneficial to the student teacher. The school shop contains among many machines a printing press which does considerable work for the college. During the winter months, the Home Making teachers operate a much patronized cafeteria where delicious lunches can be had "but reasonably." For practical training for the girls, there are cooking and sewing laboratories excellent equipped.
Here under the watchful and guiding eye of a supervisor, the student teacher first meets and learns to solve some of the problems dealt with in secondary education. Here he develops the necessary attitudes to cope with the classroom difficulties he will later face in his own classroom. Here he begins to realize more fully that the student of Junior High School age has his own set of values and that the adolescent student must be taught to re-evaluate some of his concepts to better fit his relative position in society.
Junior High School
From 1942 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
The Junior High School holds a unique place on the Mansfield campus. Its purpose is two-fold. It offers an excellent program in academic and extra-curricular activities to the seventh, eighth, and ninth grade pupils of Mansfield and Richmond Township. In addition it affords the college students enrolled in the fields of secondary, music and homemaking education an opportunity to have contact with teaching situations in preparation for their future work.
The Junior High School is now one of the most modern laboratory schools in this part of the state. The physical plant includes classrooms, library, gymnasium-auditorium, homemaking department, art shop, and a industrial art shop. In the library are many books which are both helpful and entertaining for boys and girls of the adolescent period. The gymnasium is the scene of gym classes, assembles, sports, and social activities. In the industrial arts shop, the pupils are given an opportunity to learn clay-working, printing, wood-working, metal-working and tanning. The homemaking department is cultivating an interest in sewing, interior decoration, foods, and similar projects. Beneficial to both pupils and supervisors is the cafeteria service maintained by the homemaking teachers.
The personnel of the Junior High School includes the supervisors and the students from the college, who are doing their practice teaching. The supervisors are teachers with much experience in their field. They have a dual task to perform, to teach classes and to supervise the work done by the student teachers. This latter is done by means of a system of observation and conferences where the student receives constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement in teaching procedure.
A student in secondary education enters the teaching program in the second semester of his junior year. He participates in the teaching of a subject in either his major or minor field, under a senior teacher. In the senior year he faces the class on his own. With the second semester of this year, the student-teaching program was put on a different basis. A supervisor is to be in each class at all times. This enables them to give more personal attention to both the pupils and the student-teacher. Through this process, the student learns how to deal with problems arising in the classroom. Thus, he leaves after his senior year well prepared to enter his chosen profession.
Photos of Classroom Scenes from 1942 Carontawan
Student Teachers Practice
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The Junior High School
From 1942 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College The Junior High School, one of the two laboratory schools on the campus, has two main functions. First and foremost, it provides public school facilities for pupils of grades seven, eight, and nine. The purposes of any junior high school as stated by Thomas H. Briggs are, "to teach pupils to do better the desirable activities that they will perform anyway; and to reveal higher types of activities and to make these both desired and to an extent possible." The Mansfield Junior High School strives constantly to accomplish those purposes through its academic program, its club and assembly activities, and through constant emphasis upon personality and the social development of individuals. Its second function is to provide a typical public school in which college
students in the secondary, homemaking, and music fields may begin their teaching
experience under expert supervision. Here, with the help of trained and
sympathetic supervisors, the college students, through directed observation,
participation and actual classroom teaching, gain first hand knowledge of
adolescent boys and girls, develop skill in utilizing teaching techniques, and
acquire a genuine and growing professional attitude and interest.
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| Supervisors of Special Fields
Mrs. Nellie Ashenfelter, Music Supervisor Miss Margaret Morris, Physical Education Supervisor Mr. Paul Fenstermacher, Industrial Arts Supervisor Miss Leah Hancock, Homemaking Supervisor Miss Frances Schipbanker, Art Supervisor |
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In addition to the supervisors of the academic curriculum, there are, at the Junior High School, supervisors for the special fields of music, physical education, industrial arts, homemaking, and art.
Mrs. Ashenfelter is the music supervisor. She graduated from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music, attended Ursinus College, received her bachelor's degree from N.Y.U., attended the University of Pennsylvania, and received her M.A. from Temple University. At the Junior High, she supervises all music classes, and has charge of the chorus and both boys' and girls' glee clubs. Through the music program, she tries to develop interest in and the right attitude toward music by means of participation, class work, and appreciation.
Supervising the physical education program is Miss Morris. She holds a bachelor's degree from Iowa State Teachers College and a master's degree from N.Y.U. At the Junior High, she teaches girls' physical education, with the assistance of student teachers. The aim of their program is, through many and varied physical activities, to develop a foundation for future, wholesome, recreational enjoyment.
Supervisor of industrial arts is Mr. Fenstermacher. In his educational background are Millersville State Teachers College and Rutgers University. At the Junior High, he teaches industrial arts classes as well as boys' physical education. His aims through industrial arts are to develop work with the hands, coordination between mind and muscle, and a general knowledge of the activities that are useful in everyday life.
Miss Hancock is supervisor of Homemaking Education. She holds an A.B. degree from the University of Illinois and an M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia; she also has done advanced work at the University of Chicago and the University of Pittsburgh. The homemaking program aims to develop attitudes, appreciations, and abilities which will aid in living more fully within a family group and a community.
Miss Schipbanker, one of our alumni, is supervisor of art, holding a degree
from Syracuse University. She teaches art classes at the Junior High School and
sponsors an art club. The aim of the art program is to promote general aesthetic
appreciations and attitudes through working with various mediums.
| Mansfield Junior High School Supervising Faculty
from 1944 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College Photo taken in school library Lewis Higley, S. Marjorie Murphey, Margaret O'Brien, Hugh Alger, Jessie Grigsby, Clarissa Randall, Gertrude Allen, Kimble Marvin, Leah A. Hancock. |
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from 1944 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
The Junior High School is a lovely red brick building located upon a hill above the main part of the college campus. It accommodates the seventh, eighth, and ninth grade children from Mansfield and the surrounding township. These students are very fortunate as this is one of the best equipped schools in this part of the state.
The variety of courses offered presents to each individual pupil an opportunity to develop his interests and talents. In addition to the regular academic subjects, there are others which seek to achieve a broader refinement. A well planned program of physical education is executed. Art and Music are designed to serve the purpose of expanding the cultural aspect. The industrial arts shop provides the means of familiarizing the youth with the different handicrafts. The homemaking department strives to give the boys and girls a practical foundation which should make them better qualifies to take their place in the home. The homemaking department also maintains a cafeteria luncheon service which is beneficial to both students and supervisors. This service helps to insure the health of the child by offering a well balanced and nutritious meal.
Extra curricular activities are planned to enrich and extend the students' social life. For example, an interest in sports is encouraged. A fine selection of books is to be found on the shelves of the library.
The supervisors of the Junior High School have a dual task to perform. It is that of teaching the pupils and also training the student teachers to take their place in the teaching profession. Their rich background of experience makes them very well fitted for this work.
Junior High School Supervisors
Student Teachers
Who are the student teachers? They are the college students in the
secondary, music and homemaking departments who have entered the last stretch of
their college training before graduation. A student teacher participates and
teaches either in his major or minor field. At first they participate and
observe while their supervisor demonstrates how it's done. Later the student
teacher takes over and teaches the class on his own. Their supervisor offers
suggestions and constructive criticism.
The basic principle of this program is the slogan, "Learning by Doing." It
seeks to iron out any problems or difficulties that may confront the budding
teacher. Thus he leaves the college confident that teaching is really what he
wants to do.
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Mansfield Junior High School Supervising Faculty
from 1945 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College Jessie Grigsby, Principal S. Marjorie Murphey Elizabeth Allen Margaret O'Brian Hugh Alger
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from 1947 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
"To provide modern, progressive, educational facilities to the boys and girls of the community of Mansfield, and to provide laboratory school experience for the college students," that is the dual purpose of the campus Junior High School.
The Junior High School serves the children in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades. To them it offers the educational opportunities of a well rounded curriculum. In addition to the academic subjects, such as English, social studies, science, and mathematics, there are modern departments, offering constructive programs in health and physical education, music, art, homemaking, and industrial arts.
In the campus Junior High School, college students in the secondary, music and homemaking departments have opportunities to teach, to correlate, to evaluate, and to put into practice the educational theories and principles which they have acquired in college classes.
At the head of each department there is an efficient supervisor who supervises and guides his department, and who must act as a critic, guide, and good example for student teachers. No word of praise is too great for the supervisors and the part they play in the growth of the student teachers.
| Mansfield Junior High School Supervising Faculty
from 1947 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College Kimble Marvin (health and science) , Clarence Mutchler (science), Richard
Wilson (social studies), John Reese (industrial arts).
Virginia Conson and John Reese later married. |
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1947 Aerial view of campus with Junior High at lower left. |
from 1947 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
The Junior High Laboratory School, located on the hill, fulfills a two-fold purpose. The first purpose is to provide modern Junior High School facilities for the pupils of the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. The second purpose if to give the college Junior and Senior secondary students an opportunity to secure experience in working with adolescent boys and girls in actual classroom situations.
For the Junior High School pupils the Junior High School is organized and conducted according to the basic principles of any modern Junior High School. The curriculum follows the plan prescribed by the State of Pennsylvania. Homemaking courses are required for all girls, as are also Industrial Arts for the boys. A well organized program of physical education and excellent opportunities for music training are among the unusual facilities offered in so small a Junior High School.
For the college student preparing to enter the teaching profession, the experience offered in the Junior High School is of greatest value. Under careful supervision the student gains an insight into the nature of the young adolescent. The student has the opportunity to apply his knowledge of teaching principles gained in his college theory classes. Through careful guidance and advice given by his department supervisor, the student gains experience in actual classroom teaching. Every effort is made to give the college student experiences similar to those he will meet when he enters the teaching field.
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from 1948 Carontawan - Mansfield State Teachers College
The Junior High School, located on the college campus, has modern facilities for the education of seventh, eighth, and ninth grade pupils, and the training of student teachers from the College. The school presents special opportunities in Music, Industrial Arts for the boys, and Homemaking for the girls.
The boys and girls, after graduation, enter Senior High School with an excellent background for continuation of their secondary education. Meanwhile, the student teachers of the Secondary Department receive training which helps to acquaint them with classroom teaching problems. The laboratory situation, wherein they actually teach under the guidance and direction of the supervisors, helps them to become the better Teacher of Tomorrow.
| 1949
Supervisors of Junior High School Virginia J. Conson, A.B. [Randolph-Macon], M.A. [Peabody], Supervisor of English. Elizabeth Duff, B.S. [Kent State University], M.S. [N.Y.U], Supervisor of Health and Physical Education. Jessie L. Grigsby, B.S., M.A. [New York], Principal and Supervisor of Mathematics, Campus Junior High School. |
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| Kimble G. Marvin, B.S. [Lafayette], M.A. [New York], Supervisor of Health
and Science.
Jane S. Mervine, A.B. [Hood College], M.A. [University of Michigan], Supervisor of English. Clarence R. Mutchler, B.S. [Lock Haven], M.S. [Bucknell], Supervisor of
Science.
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| John Reese, B.S. [Mansfield], Supervisor of Industrial Arts.
John S. Sandell, B.A., M. Ed. [Penn State], Supervisor of Social Studies. Richard M. Wilson, B.S. [Mansfield], M. Ed. [Penn State], Supervisor of Social Studies and Science. |
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| 1957-59 Basketball & Cheerleaders |
Faculty Mansfield Junior High School 1958
From Hillside Pen, Yearbook
| John H. Baynes - Band, Instrumental
B.S., Mansfield State Teachers College M.M., University of Michigan Lettie Brace - English, Math, Social Studies
Thelma Y.K. Ching - English, Science
Marion E. Decker - Health
Orville O. Dickerson - Science
Clarice Evans - Science
Leslie Evans - Mathematics
Charles B. Fowler - Music
Pauline Holcombe - Social Studies
Alfred E. Kjelgaard - Mathematics
Kimble G. Marvin - Science, Health
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Ruth McRoberts - English, Social Studies
B.S., Indiana State Teachers College [Pennsylvania] M. Ed., University of Pittsburgh Mildred P. Menge - French, Social Studies
Bertha Palmer - Librarian
John J. Reese - Industrial Arts
Virginia C. Reese - English
Elaine G. Shaw - Physical Education, Health
Edward Stelmack - Health
Joseph Tocci - Physical Education
Richard M. Wilson
Reita S. Woodall - Home Economics
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