Todd Seminary for Boys Prospectus 1909-1911
Title
Todd Seminary for Boys Prospectus 1909-1911
Creator
Language
en-US
Type
Text
Text
Todd Seminary for Boys Prospectus 1909-1911
Todd Seminary for Boys
Prospectus 1909 - 1911
FOREWORD
THIS little booklet contains no ideal picture of what we believe you think should exist in a boys' school. It is a plain unvarnished statement of conditions as they are in Todd. By reading it carefully you will obtain a good 5 idea of the character of work we are doing for boys.
But after all the real things in the life of any school, those which distinguish one educational institution from another and give character and individuality to their work, cannot be set down on paper. They must be seen and felt to be appreciated.
Some of these things which characterize Todd Seminary for Boys are its genuine home life; its pure moral atmosphere; the spirit of good-fellowship among its teachers and pupils; and an intense loyalty to the Todd ideals which impels every boy to respect and obey the fundamental laws of his school.
Our ideal, "For every Todd boy a good citizen" is not a mere catch phrase, but a living, active principle in the daily life of the Todd boys. The crowning glory of our school is the fact that it is a place where prohibition positively prohibits, —a place of respect for authority and obedience to the law,— where locks and keys are unknown and individual and property rights are respected.
We invite you to become a Todd patron on the conditions herein set forth, and we are willing to be held to a literal fulfillment of the same.
TODD SEMINARY FOR BOYS
Instructors
Noble Hill, Ph.B. Principal
C. Z. AlJGHENBAUGH, Ph.B. Headmaster
A. E. Johnson, A. B. Adv. English
Howard K. Morse, A. B. History
Carl B. Shafer, A. B. Mathematics
Miss Emma McWilliams Elementary English
G. E. Alenzo Music
Miss Mary E. Newman Drawing and Painting
Mrs. T. R. Pratt Nurse
Mrs. Rachel Baker Housekeeper
Mrs. C. Z. Aughenbaugh | Mrs. A. E. Johnson House Mother
General Information
Location
Todd Seminary for Boys is situated at Woodstock, McHenry County, Illinois, about one hour's ride northwest of Chicago, on the Wisconsin Division of the North-Western Railway. This location is especially favorable. It is near enough Chicago to be easy of access for parents desiring to place their boys with us from any part of the country, while, at the same time, it is far enough from the city to be free from the interruptions of too frequent comings and goings, which are very demoralizing to a school of this kind.
In point of healthfulness and charm of surrounding scenery the location is ideal. Woodstock is a beautiful little town of 3,000 inhabitants, with a New England charm about its quiet, shady streets, and surrounded by a country of wonderful beauty and fertility. It has the greatest altitude of any town in the state, being nearly 1,000 feet above the sea. A more healthful spot could scarcely be found on the
TODD SEMINARY FOR BOYS
1909
continent, and in proof of this statement we point to a record of more than sixty years without a death among our boys. Pure air, pure water, plenty of outdoor exercise and viligent attention to the personal habits of our boys have combined to secure for our school this unparalleled record for healthfulness.
The Seminary is situated at the edge of the town sufficiently retired for all purposes of study, and yet within convenient distance of the churches, post office and railroad station.
History
Todd Seminary is the oldest school for boys in the Northwest. It was founded in 1848 by Rev. R. K. Todd, A. M., a native of Vermont, and a graduate of Princeton. True to its New England origin this school has ever stood for plain living and high thinking, and in harmony with Puritan traditions it has had but one change of administration in the more than sixty years of its history.
Mr. Todd, the founder, was principal and guiding spirit of the school for over forty years, when he was succeeded by Noble Hill, its present principal. Both were men of New England birth and breeding with the broad Democratic spirit of the West.
SENIOR CLASS '09
Buildings and Grounds
The school occupies a tree-covered campus of about eight acres on the outskirts of the town. The Seminary Woods,—a wooded park of twenty acres one mile distant,—is also a part of the school grounds. It is used by the boys and teachers as a place of recreation and amusement.
On the campus proper there is a fine athletic field surrounded by a running track, and many other provisions for the boys' recreation and pleasure.
The buildings are seven in number besides barns and outbuildings, viz: The Home Building, The School Building, The Gymnasium, The Headmaster's Cottage, The Rogers Cottage, The Cozy Cottage, and North Cottage, used for hospital purposes.
These buildings are nearly all plain old-fashioned structures, but in excellent repair and supplied with modern conveniences,—steam
heated and electric lighted. The general appearance of the place is very attractive and homelike.
Discipline
The plan of this school requires that the Todd boys be removed from all outside influences. Therefore no day scholars are admitted; and only boys of the best character are received as boarders. The boy life of the school is entirely distinct and separate from that of the town. It is a clean, natural, healthy life, full of inspiration to right thinking and manly conduct.
Unlike most boys' schools in the West the discipline of this school is distinctly that of the home as distinguished from the discipline of the barracks. It seeks to cultivate individuality in boys, not uniformity. The school is also unique in the fact that it is Seminary for boys, as opposed to the college preparatory idea. Our graduates are not freshmen but gentlemen.
Aim
The aim of this school is to educate boys in the fullest sense of the word. Education means with us, not simply book knowlege, but a symmetrical development of the whole boy—mind and body, morals and manners.
We believe that the formation of a sturdy Christian character is the true aim of all education, and so set high ideals before our boys. Too low a standard is as fatal to success as too little effort. We seek to make the social atmosphere of the school so pure, and the home life so genuine, that our boys shall ever cherish as a sacred heritage the influences of their school days.
Teachers
Our teachers are all specialists. Their specialty is Boys, and the varied interests which make up the modern boy life. Except for work in the primary grades they are all men. Every one is a college grad-
graduate, and an athlete and gymnast as well as a scholar. They are splendid examples of the manly life and their lives are lived in constant touch with their pupils. In the gymnasium, on the play ground, and in the varied social relations of the home they are the big brothers of the Todd family. The true work of the educator is developing character, and the true educator knows that character is developed on the play ground and in the social circle even better than in the school room, where individuality is of necessity more hampered by rules and conventions. The specialist in boy education will accomplish valuable results in proportion as he spends less time with his books and more with his boys.
There can be no real home without a woman at the hearth-stone and as we aim to make Todd Seminary a real home, as well as a real school, for boys wre have seen to it that the mother touch is not lacking. A number of good women give all their time to the interests of the boys, and mother hearts and hands are ever ready to receive their confidences, comfort them in trouble, nurse them in sickness, and care for them in health. An experienced and successful lady teacher starts them in the first steps on the road to knowledge, and they are surrounded
surrounded always by those restraining and refining influences without which man in the making or in the finished product is a coarse and unlovely thing.
Course of Instruction
Todd Seminary for boys is not a preparatory school. Its course of instruction is designed exclusively for younger boys. It covers that formative period of a boy's life when his education demands constant personal supervision and direction, such as few parents have the time or inclination to bestow upon it. This is a work which cannot be successfully undertaken by a large preparatory school, and very few schools are giving it their undivided attention.
The following course of study is carefully arranged to conform to the requirements of the best schools in the country,—"and then some." Boys who have completed it can pass easily into the third year in any high school or academy. Indeed our graduates are usually so much better trained in methods of study, and ability to master subjects that, on entering other schools, they are found to be a year in advance of their grade. Some of them prepare for college in one year after leaving Todd.
Special attention is given to laying a correct and thorough foundation in the English branches. We strive to secure for each pupil an easy and idiomatic use of his mother tongue, and to awaken in him a love of reading and a taste for the best literature. Everything of a trashy nature is carefully excluded.
The attention given to reading is a distinguishing characteristic of the course of study. Reading is taught not as an end but as a means to an end, not as a separate branch of knowledge, but as the key to all knowledge. From the very beginning children are taught to read with the understanding, to grasp quickly and hold tenaciously not the words but the ideas—the mental picture conveyed by the printed page. Boys so taught will never degrade reading to a mere pastime, but will ever turn to good books as a source of highest pleasure and profit.
The course of instruction as outlined in the following pages, is necessarily incomplete. It is designed merely as a suggestion for the assistance of the teachers. Each may modify it to suit the best interests of his pupils, and to infuse into it "all the beauty and wealth of his own individuality." Teachers are not limited to the text books named. We always seek to have the best. Boys are not dealt with as chases, hut as individuals, in studies each boy is placed just where he belongs, and advanced as rapidly as is consistent with accurate scholarship. Bright boys are not obliged to wait for the slow ones. Backward boys are encouraged and successfully advanced.
Primary Course
FIRST YEAR
Reading—Board Work. Vocabulary Work. Supplementary Reading.
Orthography— Oral from the Reading. Arithmetic—Hall's Primer.
Language—Oral from observation. Nature work, to develop powers of observation and expression.
TODD SEMINARY FOR BOYS
SECOND YEAR
Reading—Stepping Stones to Literature, II. Supplementary Reading.
Orthography—Oral and written from reading work. Arithmetic—Hall's Primer, completed.
Language—Oral and Written. Simple dictation exercises. Nature study, with descriptions and reproductions. Simple Punctuation.
THIRD YEAR
Reading—Stepping Stones to Literature, III. Supplementary Reading.
Orthography—Stickney's Word by Word, Primary, to page 65.
Arithmetic—IIall's Werner, I.
Language—Maxwell's First Book, to part III.
Physiology—Blaidsdell's Child's Book of Health.
FOURTH YEAR
Reading—Appleton's Introductory Fourth Reader. Orthography—Stickney's Word by Word, Primary, completed. Arithmetic—Hall's Werner, I., completed.
TODD SEMINARY FOR BOYS
Language— Maxwell's First Book, completed.
History—Montgomery's Beginner's History of the United States,
Geography—Tarr and Mc Murray's Introductory, begun.
Intermediate Course
FIRST YEAR
Reading—Appleton's Fourth Reader.
Orthography—Stickney's Word by Word, advanced, begun.
Arithmetic—Hall's Werner. II.
Grammar—Maxwell's Introductory Lessons.
Geography—Tarr and Murray's Introductory, completed.
Physiology—Blaisdell's How to Keep Well.
SECOND YEAR
Reading—Appleton's Fifth Reader.
Orthography—Stickney's Word by Word, advanced, continued.
Arithmetic—Hall's Werner, II., completed.
Grammar—Maxwell's Introductory Lessons, completed.
Geography—Tarr and McMurray's, Complete. History—Barnes' Primary.
THIRD YEAR
Reading—Appleton's Fifth Reader. Orthography—Word by Word. Arithmetic—Hall's Werner, III. Grammar—Maxwell's Advanced Lessons.
Geography—Tarr and McMurry's Complete, finished and reviewed. Physiology—Blaisdell's, Our Bodies and How We Live.
FOURTH YEAR
Reading—Masterpieces of American Literature.
Orthography—Power's Business Speller.
Arithmetic—Hall's Werner, III., completed.
Grammar—Maxwell's Advanced Lessons, completed.
History—Montgomery's Leading Facts of United States History.
Latin Prose will be taken up where pupils are able to carry it.
Advanced Course
CLASSICAL
FIRST YEAR
English I. See below.
Composition I. Herrick & Damon.
Algebra I. Well's Essentials to Quadratics.
Physical Geography. Gilbert & Brigham's Introductory.
Civics. Lansing & Jones' Government.
Latin I. Bellum Helveticum, completed.
SECOND YEAR
English II. See below.
Composition II. Herrick & Damon, completed.
Algebra II. Well's Essentials, completed.
History. Greece and Rome, Botsford.
Latin II. Caesar, Books 1-IV.
Latin Prose. In Latinnum on Caesar.
TODD SEMINARY FOR BOYS
ENGLISH
FIRST YEAR
English I. See below.
Composition I. Herrick & Damon.
Algebra I. Well's Essentials to Quadratics.
Physical Geography. Gilbert & Brigham's Introductory.
Civics. Lansing & Jones' Government.
Spelling. Powers & Lyon's Business Speller.
SECOND YEAR
English II. See below.
Composition II. Herrick & Damon, completed.
Algebra II. Well's Essentials, completed.
History. Greece and Rome, Botsford.
English III. Painter's Introduction.
Botany. Bergen's Elements and Gray's Manual.
Requirements in English
English (I)—Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield. Kingsley's Greek Heroes and Classic Myths. Tennyson's Idyls of the King, Scott's Lady of the Lake, Rhetoric and Composition.
English (II)—George Eliot's Silas Marner. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, and Merchant of Venice. Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Gray's Elegy, and other poems. Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal. Rhetoric and Composition.
Work Common to All Departments
Writing is taught in all departments, using Practical slant copy Books.
Practical lessons in Letter Writing is a part of regular school work throughout the course.
Weekly lessons in singing and drawing.
Regular work in gymnasium four times a week.
Special attention given to natural emphasis and inflection in reading and declamation.
Exercises in voice culture, Rhetorical Modulation and Gesture.
Literary work in connection with Literary Society.
BASEBALL TEAM
Lessons in morals and manners inculcating habits of neatness, promptness, obedience, cheerfulness, politeness, self-control, honesty and purity.
Bible study.
Manual Training
That is a very defective education which attempts to train the brain exclusively to the neglect of hand and eye.
We believe in putting the whole boy to school; in teaching him to do as well as to think. Acting on this principle we have opened in connection with our school a manual training department. This has proven a very popular innovation. Boys almost invariably take up the work with enthusiasm and are eager to spend hours of extra time in the shop. Instruction in this department is confined to simple exercises in woodwork, including lessons in mechanical drawing, in the application and use of the different kinds of wood in the industrial arts, and in the design, structure and use of tools. Little more can be attempted in a school of this kind. The object is not to teach the boy a trade, but to give training to the hand and eye, and form habits of accuracy and attention to details. Two hours per week are given to this work. Each boy is furnished with a bench and the tools necessary for this work without extra charge.
Music and Art
Some knowledge of music and art is now recognized as a necessary part of every education, and we are prepared to give our boys special advantages in this department. All our pupils have free instruction in singing and drawing through the entire course. Private lessons are given in both at a charge of $10.00 per term.
Modern Languages
Classes in German and French are organized every year for pupils beginning the study of these languages. More advanced pupils will find classes suited to their requirements. In these branches the aim is to secure for each pupil a conversational knowledge of the language.
Both written and oral work are regularly required.
Admission
Boys will be received at any age which brings them within the limits of the course of instruction, provided the Principal is satisfied of their moral fitness. In order, however, to accomplish the best results we are anxious, when-ever possible, to undertake the instruction of pupils at the rudiments. It is desirable that boys should be entered between the ages of seven and fourteen years, and if they make satisfactory progress with us, and are interested in their schooh parents should be quick to realize the importance of continuing them under the same discipline and instruction through the course. Owing to the limited number admitted and the fullness of the corps of teachers, we are enabled to receive and carefully instruct pupils in the various stages of advancement. Each boy is dealt with as an individual, and in every case a pupil's studies are arranged to meet his particular needs, thus giving opportunity for the greatest progress of which a boy is capable, unimpeded by boys of slower development.
Outfit
Pupils will be received at any time during the year, providing a vacancy exists. Each student upon entering should be provided with the following articles :
1 Bag for soiled clothes. 2 Pair Blankets, medium size.
1 Pair Overalls, for use in woods. 1 Couch Cover for bed.
1 Umbrella. 4 Sheets, single.
1 Pair Rubbers. 4 Pillow cases, 20 inches wide.
1 Rug, 3x6 feet is convenient size. 12 Towels.
1 Suit Case. 6 Napkins and Napkin ring.
Parents and guardians are reminded, also, that they should furnish their sons or wards with wearing apparel and toilet articles sufficient for at least one term.
N. B.—All articles of clothing and bed covering must be distinctly marked with the owner's name in full. Marking done by the Matron will be charged for at the rate of one cent per name.
It is recommended that two lists of all articles of clothing, etc., be prepared by the patrons—one to be retained by them, the other to be placed in the hands of the Housekeeper.
Calendar
1909— 1910
Fall term opens Sept. 22, and closes Dec. 22, 1909. Winter term opens Jan. 5, and closes April 1, 1910. Spring term opens April 4, and closes June 15, 1910.
1910— 1911
Fall term opens Sept. 21, and closes Dec. 21 1910. Winter term opens Jan. 4, and closes Mar. 31, 1911. Spring term opens April 3, and closes June 14, 1911.
1911— 1912
Fall term opens Sept. 20, and closes Dec. 20, 1911. Winter term opens Jan. 3, and closes Mar. 29, 1912. Spring term opens April 1, and closes June 12, 1912.
Division of the Day
A. M.—6:30, rising hour ; 7 :00, breakfast ; 8 :40, morning prayers; 9 :00—12 :00, recitations and study.
P.M.— 12:30, dinner: 1:30—4:00, recitations and study: 6:00, supper; 6:45, evening prayers; 7:00 --8:00, study:
9:00, hour for retiring. Sunday—7:30, breakfast; 9:00, morning prayers; 10:30, church service ; 1:00, dinner; 2:00 to 4:00, quiet hour and Bible study; 6:00, supper ; 7:00, evening prayer, reading and singing.
Promptness
It is of the utmost, importance that boys form, during their school days, habits of promptness. There can be no well developed character without it. "Always on time" is the watchword of success. Parents should co-operate with teachers in the effort to form this habit in their boys. As pupils are inclined to prolong the time assigned them for vacation, parents should see to it that every boy is at his post at the beginning of each session promptly on time.
Parents are also requested not to ask permission for their boys to visit home in term time except in very urgent cases. It is not simply a question of loss to your own boy. Such interruptions are demoralizing to the entire school.
General Expenses
The charge for one school year is as follows:—
For boys occupying single room......$500.00 to $600.00
For boys occupying double room..... 450.00 to 500.00
For six small boys in dormitory.......... 400.00
Lessons on piano and clavier, per term....... 20.00
Lessons on violin and mandolin, per term...... 15.00
Lessons on band instruments, per term........ 10.00
Lessons in French or German, per year....... 25.00
Church sittings, per year............. 3.00
Pupils remaining during the Christmas holidays will be charged $5.00 per week. No pupil will be retained during the summer vacation.
Incidental Expenses
A bill for incidental expenses will be rendered at the close of each term. The general charge covers board, tuition, washing and mending clothes, light, heat and furnished rooms. It does not include school books, stationary, and other school supplies, which are furnished to the pupil at cost. Steam laundered linen is charged for at the laundry rates. Malicious or wanton injury to property will be charged to the author of it.
Under normal conditions the incidental expenses amount to a very small item, scarcely worth considering in an estimate of yearly expenses. We make no purchases of clothing, etc., and place to account without your written order; and in general it depends on the patron more than the school what this extra expense bill shall be.
Payments
The general charge must be paid in three installments, one at the beginning of each term, as follows :—
For single room: Fall, $190.00 to $225.00; winter, $160.00 to $195.00; spring, $150.00 to $180.00.
For double room: Fall, $170.00 to $190.00; winter, $145.00 to $160.00; spring, $135.00 to $150.00.
For dormitory: Fall, $150.00; winter, $130.00; spring, $120.00.
Failure to pay any installment during the term for which it is due forfeits a pupil's place in the school, and it may be let to another. If a pupil enters after the opening of a session, or is absent on account
and drafts payable to Noble Hill.
Correspondence
Every pupil of the school is required to write to his parents at least once a week. A portion of one day in each, week is set apart for this purpose, and special attention is given to the matter.
No other single accomplishment embraces a knowledge of so many common English branches, or is of more practical importance than the art of correspondence, and yet it receives so little attention in the public schools and higher institutions of learning as to have become practically a lost art.
Pupils of a private school have special advantages in this respect. Having no other means of communication with parents and friends, they soon learn to express their thoughts clearly and forcibly on paper. All letters pass under the eye of a teacher. Those not clearly expressed or carefully executed must be re-written. Boys will not be
permitted to have any correspondents outside the home circle except by special request of their parents, nor will they be allowed to subscribe for any paper, or bring any book, into the school, except such as the Principal shall approve.
Religious Instructions
The religious exercises of the school are: Daily prayers morning and evening; attendance upon divine service, with the family of the Principal, every Sabbath morning. There is a meeting of the whole school for Bible study at 3 o'clock on Sabbath afternoon, and in the evening there is song service, after which it is customary for the Principal to read to the boys some good story—not necessarily religious, but of a healthy, moral tone, and sufficiently interesting to hold the attention of all. The school is non-sectarian, but decidedly Christian.
Library
The library contains about two thousand well selected volumes, to which additions are constantly being made. It is on the same floor and in easy communication with the different school rooms, and the plan of school work is such as to bring it into constant requisition. Some of the recitations are so conducted as to make its use a positive necessity in the preparation of the lessons. In this way the boys become familiar with the uses of a library, and unconsciously acquire a knowledge of books and authors and a habit of literary research which is a liberal education in itself.
Literary Society
The Todd Seminary Literary Society is an organization of the whole school for literary purposes. It is carried on entirely by the boys under the supervision of a teacher, the object being to encourage the boys in independent literary work, give them practice in extemporaneous speaking, and render them somewhat familiar with parliamentary usages.
The Society meets weekly, and carefully prepared program is presented at each meeting. The constitution provides that every program shall contain at least the following parts, upon which the
TODD SCHOOL FOR BOYS
VIEW OF THE FRONT LAWN
Literary Committee may enlarge at its option: Report of the critic, one oration, two select readings, two recitations, two essays, reading of The Society Echo, and a debate by two or more principal speakers previously appointed, and afterward open to all who wish to participate.
Pocket Money
Parents are requested to place in the hands of the Principal what ever spending money they wish their boys to have. It will be granted to the boys in the form of a weekly allowance. In this way only can we be responsible for its proper use, and it is recommended that the amount be reasonably small.
Gymnasium
Believing, as we do, that no system of education is complete which does not provide for the development of the physical as well as the intellectual man, we require boys of all ages to take regular exercises in the gymnasium.
The work in this department is based upon a physical examination of each boy, which is made twrice a year. It is carried on under the eye of Physical Directors who, in addition to the regular military drill and exercise with Indian clubs and dumb bells taken in common, prescribes individual work for different boys to correct the particular defects revealed by their examination.
We make military drill a special feature of the work in the gymnasium, for while we do not approve of military discipline for boys, we are fully persuaded of the advantage of military drill for the correction of a shuffling gait, an awkward carriage and a tendency to "hump," so prevalent among our boys. Even more important is the mental and moral effect produced by the habit of prompt and unquestioning obedience.
Boys invariably enter into the gymnastic work with enthusiasm, and the result is a most gratifying improvement in the physical vigor and manly bearing of our pupils.
Recreation
Boys will be encouraged at the proper time in all health-giving exercise and manly sports. To the normal boy, play is as essential
TENNIS COURTS
as sleep, and among the strongest and most natural passions of healthy boyhood is the desire to be victor in physical contests. This spirit in the boy, while not the highest form of manly virtue, is nevertheless worthy of sympathetic recognition on the part of the teacher. Athletic sports, if properly controlled and directed, will do much to develop in boys a spirit of justice and fair play and a healthy contempt for everything dishonorable or mean. If neglected or discouraged by the teacher, they will be very apt to develop the spirit of the bully, which spirit is responsible for the brutal practice known as hazing, still in vogue in many, so-called, educational institutions. Nothing of this kind is tolerated in Todd Seminary for Boys. The nature that derives pleasure from inflicting pain is essentially brutal, and belongs in the slums rather than in an institution of learning.
While we encourage all forms of athletic sports and recreation on our own grounds, and among our own boys, we are unalterably opposed to inter-school athletics. Any school that is competent to give a boy the mental discipline he needs should be able also to attend to his physical development. There is less excuse for inter-school athletics than inter-school mathematics. We are not willing that the merits of Todd Seminary for Boys as an institution of learning shall be judged by the ability of its pupils to excel in athletic sports.
Our boys are provided with a fine athletic park including football and baseball fields, and surrounded by a bicycle and running track of five and a half laps to the mile. There are also tennis courts, swings, teeters, sand pile etc., for the recreation and amusement of boys old and young. For winter sports a toboggan slide has been built for the exclusive use of the Todd boys, and arrangements are made to provide a good skating pond by flooding the playground.
Our gymnasium is large and equipped with every necessary appliance. Our teachers are all in cordial sympathy with the strenuous boy life, and in fact every provision has been made to render the boys happy in their school home and to make the hours of play a means of moral and physical regeneration.
The Seminary Woods
In this connection we might mention also the frequent expeditions to the woods, a form of recreation dear to the heart of every boy.
THE SEMINARY WOODS
The Seminary woods is a natural wooded park of twenty acres, situated about one mile from the school buildings, and dedicated exclusively to the use of the "Todd Boys." There are nutting expeditions in the fall, botanizing expeditions in the spring and picnics both spring and fall. In suitable weather a tramp in the woods or a bicycle ride on the country roads in company with one or more teachers is a matter of almost daily occurrence. Here the boys hold communion with nature in her visible forms all the year around and learn to understand the "various language" in which she speaks to nature lovers. No other book contains so much ennobling truth as the great book of nature. Our boys come near to nature's heart and drink in deep draughts of inspiration from an unabridged edition of that work. Over one hundred and forty varieties of birds have been studied on our school grounds during the spring term, the youngest pupil in school becoming familiar with many of them. The rocks, the trees, the flowers, the clouds, the stars, are all matters of absorbing interest to these bright young students, whose eyes have been opened to see the beauty of God's great universe and whose ears are attuned to its divine harmonies.
A Word to Parents
Parents should not send their children to any private school unless they are prepared to give the Principal and teachers of such school their hearty confidence and co-operation in the matter of discipline. They should entrust the education of their children only to teachers in whose judgment and integrity they have the highest confidence, and no thoughtless criticism of a child should be allowed to shake that confidence.
Most boys enter private schools with no fixed habits of subordination, promptness, regularity or perseverance. These habits must be cultivated in them, and they form an important part of a boy's education. But the boy will not appreciate their importance. The system of discipline most satisfactory to a boy is generally the one least suited to his requirements. Teachers should be able to feel that they will have the sympathy and support of parents in taking that course which will be most profitable for their boys, even though it may not prove the most pleasant.
A WOODS ROAD
As a matter of fact the right course is the one which will in the end prove most pleasant. Boys are reasonable beings, and enjoy being dealt with as such. Like the children of larger growth, they soon learn to despise laws which are not enforced, and as respect for law is one of the first requisites of good citizenship—and we want all our boys to become good citizens—we have no laws on our statute book which are dead letters. We place upon a boy's freedom only such restrictions as are necessary to direct his energies in a proper channel, and we insist upon prompt obedience.
We avoid the necessity of resorting to severe methods in discipline by refusing to have vicious or unmanageable boys in our school. We pride ourselves on the fact that all our boys are perfect little gentlemen, and we want no other class. They are all "our boys," and we do not wish to be ashamed of them.
Persons visiting our school seldom fail to be impressed by the genuineness of the home life, the mutually respectful nature of the relations which exist between teachers and pupils, and the uniform politeness of our boys.
In short, Todd Seminary possesses every requisite for a good school: A location which is healthful and beautiful; a competent, progressive and thoroughly consecrated corps of teachers; a system of discipline which, without being unkind, commands prompt and thorough obedience; a high ideal for both teachers and pupils; and sixty years of successful history.
Prohibitions
The following practices are strictly prohibited : The use of cards or any form of gambling. The use of tobacco.
The use of profane or vulgar language. The use or possession of firearms. Reading trashy books or papers. Robbing birds' nests. Contracting debts.
Selling, exchanging, or giving away any article of clothing or personal property without consent of the Principal. Going off the grounds without permission.
THE GYMNASIUM FROM WEST ENTRANCE
Going down town, except in company with a teacher. Leaving the building at night after evening prayer. Repeated violations of any of the above rules will be considered sufficient grounds for expulsion.
Honors
We offer a gold medal to the boy makng the highest record for the year in scholarship and deportment, provided his average shall be above 90 per cent, in both. All pupils who attain these averages, but fail of the medal, have their names published in the prospectus with "Honorable Mention."
Two prizes are offered each year for excellence in declamation. A public competition for these prizes is held at the close of the year, participated in by the four or more boys who have the highest standing in declamation. The prizes are awarded by a committee of three persons, not connected with the school.
The Rogers History Prize is offered by Joseph M. Rogers, editor of the Philadelphia Enquirer, to the pupil making the best record in United States History.
There are also prizes for loyalty, and physical development.
Only winners of honorable mention are eligible to compete for these prizes.
A complete report of each boy's scholarship and deportment is sent to his parents every month. The boys having an average of 90 per cent, or more for the month receive an "Honor Card."
Pupils who average 95 per cent, in scholarship through the advanced course will be graduated "With Highest Honor." Those averaging 90 per cent., "With Honor."
Honor Hall
We believe in rendering honor to whom honor is due ; in leading the boys to realize that special privileges and opportunities come not to the lucky but the worthy; not to those who have a special pull, but to those who have the requisite push. As a reward of merit, illustrating this principle, we have opened in the gymnasium building a department designed for the special use of our "Honor" boys, and
named it 'Honor Hall." It has been equipped with shuffle boards, ping pong table, and a bowling alley. Made bright with electric lights and comfortably heated, it is a very cheerful place and a source of perpetual interest to the boys. Pupils whose names appear upon the Roll of Honor have the freedom of this hall. The regulations governing the hall are respected and perfect order maintained without the presence of a teacher; a monitor being appointed from among the boys.
Honor Hall is open to the entire school, under the care of a teacher, for several hours every Saturday. Boys who do not win "Honorable Mention" can enjoy its privileges at other times only by special permission.
Roll of Honor 1908
Honorable Mention
Gordon Austin Carrol Hill
Charles Bent Roger Hill
Marston Cummings Leslie Nichols
William Dodge Ernst Seip
Herbert Hartsock Fielding Staat
Prize Winners
Highest Honor Medal........... Charles Bent
Loyalty Medal............... Ernst Seip
U. S. History Prize.............
First Declamation Medal.......... J. L. Buckner
Second Declamation Medal......... Harris Eberhart
Winner of Field Day Events........ Ernst Seip
Graduates
W. W. Dodge............... Classical Course
Carrol Hill................. Classical Course
Fielding Staat............... Classical Course
Marston Cummings............ English Course
Ernst Seip................. English Course
Russel Knox................ English Course
Roll of Honor 1909
Honorable Mention
Charles Bent Herbert Hartsock
Royal Bosshard Dwight Wiman
Arthur Cruttenden Webster Shippey
Prize Winners
Highest Honor Medal.........Dwight Deere Wiman
Loyalty Medal............. Charles T. Bent
U. S. History Prize........... Charles T. Bent
Physical Development Medal......Arthur T. Cruttenden
First Declamation Medal........Roswell F. Field
Second Declamation Medal.......Richard Flagg
Winner of Field Day Events......Arthur T. Cruttenden
Graduates
Arthur Thomas Cruttenden......... English Course
Harris Hurlbut Eberhart.......... Classical Course
Roswell Francis Field............ Classical Course
Joseph Green Morris............ Classical Course
Todd Seminary for Boys
Prospectus 1909 - 1911
FOREWORD
THIS little booklet contains no ideal picture of what we believe you think should exist in a boys' school. It is a plain unvarnished statement of conditions as they are in Todd. By reading it carefully you will obtain a good 5 idea of the character of work we are doing for boys.
But after all the real things in the life of any school, those which distinguish one educational institution from another and give character and individuality to their work, cannot be set down on paper. They must be seen and felt to be appreciated.
Some of these things which characterize Todd Seminary for Boys are its genuine home life; its pure moral atmosphere; the spirit of good-fellowship among its teachers and pupils; and an intense loyalty to the Todd ideals which impels every boy to respect and obey the fundamental laws of his school.
Our ideal, "For every Todd boy a good citizen" is not a mere catch phrase, but a living, active principle in the daily life of the Todd boys. The crowning glory of our school is the fact that it is a place where prohibition positively prohibits, —a place of respect for authority and obedience to the law,— where locks and keys are unknown and individual and property rights are respected.
We invite you to become a Todd patron on the conditions herein set forth, and we are willing to be held to a literal fulfillment of the same.
TODD SEMINARY FOR BOYS
Instructors
Noble Hill, Ph.B. Principal
C. Z. AlJGHENBAUGH, Ph.B. Headmaster
A. E. Johnson, A. B. Adv. English
Howard K. Morse, A. B. History
Carl B. Shafer, A. B. Mathematics
Miss Emma McWilliams Elementary English
G. E. Alenzo Music
Miss Mary E. Newman Drawing and Painting
Mrs. T. R. Pratt Nurse
Mrs. Rachel Baker Housekeeper
Mrs. C. Z. Aughenbaugh | Mrs. A. E. Johnson House Mother
General Information
Location
Todd Seminary for Boys is situated at Woodstock, McHenry County, Illinois, about one hour's ride northwest of Chicago, on the Wisconsin Division of the North-Western Railway. This location is especially favorable. It is near enough Chicago to be easy of access for parents desiring to place their boys with us from any part of the country, while, at the same time, it is far enough from the city to be free from the interruptions of too frequent comings and goings, which are very demoralizing to a school of this kind.
In point of healthfulness and charm of surrounding scenery the location is ideal. Woodstock is a beautiful little town of 3,000 inhabitants, with a New England charm about its quiet, shady streets, and surrounded by a country of wonderful beauty and fertility. It has the greatest altitude of any town in the state, being nearly 1,000 feet above the sea. A more healthful spot could scarcely be found on the
TODD SEMINARY FOR BOYS
1909
continent, and in proof of this statement we point to a record of more than sixty years without a death among our boys. Pure air, pure water, plenty of outdoor exercise and viligent attention to the personal habits of our boys have combined to secure for our school this unparalleled record for healthfulness.
The Seminary is situated at the edge of the town sufficiently retired for all purposes of study, and yet within convenient distance of the churches, post office and railroad station.
History
Todd Seminary is the oldest school for boys in the Northwest. It was founded in 1848 by Rev. R. K. Todd, A. M., a native of Vermont, and a graduate of Princeton. True to its New England origin this school has ever stood for plain living and high thinking, and in harmony with Puritan traditions it has had but one change of administration in the more than sixty years of its history.
Mr. Todd, the founder, was principal and guiding spirit of the school for over forty years, when he was succeeded by Noble Hill, its present principal. Both were men of New England birth and breeding with the broad Democratic spirit of the West.
SENIOR CLASS '09
Buildings and Grounds
The school occupies a tree-covered campus of about eight acres on the outskirts of the town. The Seminary Woods,—a wooded park of twenty acres one mile distant,—is also a part of the school grounds. It is used by the boys and teachers as a place of recreation and amusement.
On the campus proper there is a fine athletic field surrounded by a running track, and many other provisions for the boys' recreation and pleasure.
The buildings are seven in number besides barns and outbuildings, viz: The Home Building, The School Building, The Gymnasium, The Headmaster's Cottage, The Rogers Cottage, The Cozy Cottage, and North Cottage, used for hospital purposes.
These buildings are nearly all plain old-fashioned structures, but in excellent repair and supplied with modern conveniences,—steam
heated and electric lighted. The general appearance of the place is very attractive and homelike.
Discipline
The plan of this school requires that the Todd boys be removed from all outside influences. Therefore no day scholars are admitted; and only boys of the best character are received as boarders. The boy life of the school is entirely distinct and separate from that of the town. It is a clean, natural, healthy life, full of inspiration to right thinking and manly conduct.
Unlike most boys' schools in the West the discipline of this school is distinctly that of the home as distinguished from the discipline of the barracks. It seeks to cultivate individuality in boys, not uniformity. The school is also unique in the fact that it is Seminary for boys, as opposed to the college preparatory idea. Our graduates are not freshmen but gentlemen.
Aim
The aim of this school is to educate boys in the fullest sense of the word. Education means with us, not simply book knowlege, but a symmetrical development of the whole boy—mind and body, morals and manners.
We believe that the formation of a sturdy Christian character is the true aim of all education, and so set high ideals before our boys. Too low a standard is as fatal to success as too little effort. We seek to make the social atmosphere of the school so pure, and the home life so genuine, that our boys shall ever cherish as a sacred heritage the influences of their school days.
Teachers
Our teachers are all specialists. Their specialty is Boys, and the varied interests which make up the modern boy life. Except for work in the primary grades they are all men. Every one is a college grad-
graduate, and an athlete and gymnast as well as a scholar. They are splendid examples of the manly life and their lives are lived in constant touch with their pupils. In the gymnasium, on the play ground, and in the varied social relations of the home they are the big brothers of the Todd family. The true work of the educator is developing character, and the true educator knows that character is developed on the play ground and in the social circle even better than in the school room, where individuality is of necessity more hampered by rules and conventions. The specialist in boy education will accomplish valuable results in proportion as he spends less time with his books and more with his boys.
There can be no real home without a woman at the hearth-stone and as we aim to make Todd Seminary a real home, as well as a real school, for boys wre have seen to it that the mother touch is not lacking. A number of good women give all their time to the interests of the boys, and mother hearts and hands are ever ready to receive their confidences, comfort them in trouble, nurse them in sickness, and care for them in health. An experienced and successful lady teacher starts them in the first steps on the road to knowledge, and they are surrounded
surrounded always by those restraining and refining influences without which man in the making or in the finished product is a coarse and unlovely thing.
Course of Instruction
Todd Seminary for boys is not a preparatory school. Its course of instruction is designed exclusively for younger boys. It covers that formative period of a boy's life when his education demands constant personal supervision and direction, such as few parents have the time or inclination to bestow upon it. This is a work which cannot be successfully undertaken by a large preparatory school, and very few schools are giving it their undivided attention.
The following course of study is carefully arranged to conform to the requirements of the best schools in the country,—"and then some." Boys who have completed it can pass easily into the third year in any high school or academy. Indeed our graduates are usually so much better trained in methods of study, and ability to master subjects that, on entering other schools, they are found to be a year in advance of their grade. Some of them prepare for college in one year after leaving Todd.
Special attention is given to laying a correct and thorough foundation in the English branches. We strive to secure for each pupil an easy and idiomatic use of his mother tongue, and to awaken in him a love of reading and a taste for the best literature. Everything of a trashy nature is carefully excluded.
The attention given to reading is a distinguishing characteristic of the course of study. Reading is taught not as an end but as a means to an end, not as a separate branch of knowledge, but as the key to all knowledge. From the very beginning children are taught to read with the understanding, to grasp quickly and hold tenaciously not the words but the ideas—the mental picture conveyed by the printed page. Boys so taught will never degrade reading to a mere pastime, but will ever turn to good books as a source of highest pleasure and profit.
The course of instruction as outlined in the following pages, is necessarily incomplete. It is designed merely as a suggestion for the assistance of the teachers. Each may modify it to suit the best interests of his pupils, and to infuse into it "all the beauty and wealth of his own individuality." Teachers are not limited to the text books named. We always seek to have the best. Boys are not dealt with as chases, hut as individuals, in studies each boy is placed just where he belongs, and advanced as rapidly as is consistent with accurate scholarship. Bright boys are not obliged to wait for the slow ones. Backward boys are encouraged and successfully advanced.
Primary Course
FIRST YEAR
Reading—Board Work. Vocabulary Work. Supplementary Reading.
Orthography— Oral from the Reading. Arithmetic—Hall's Primer.
Language—Oral from observation. Nature work, to develop powers of observation and expression.
TODD SEMINARY FOR BOYS
SECOND YEAR
Reading—Stepping Stones to Literature, II. Supplementary Reading.
Orthography—Oral and written from reading work. Arithmetic—Hall's Primer, completed.
Language—Oral and Written. Simple dictation exercises. Nature study, with descriptions and reproductions. Simple Punctuation.
THIRD YEAR
Reading—Stepping Stones to Literature, III. Supplementary Reading.
Orthography—Stickney's Word by Word, Primary, to page 65.
Arithmetic—IIall's Werner, I.
Language—Maxwell's First Book, to part III.
Physiology—Blaidsdell's Child's Book of Health.
FOURTH YEAR
Reading—Appleton's Introductory Fourth Reader. Orthography—Stickney's Word by Word, Primary, completed. Arithmetic—Hall's Werner, I., completed.
TODD SEMINARY FOR BOYS
Language— Maxwell's First Book, completed.
History—Montgomery's Beginner's History of the United States,
Geography—Tarr and Mc Murray's Introductory, begun.
Intermediate Course
FIRST YEAR
Reading—Appleton's Fourth Reader.
Orthography—Stickney's Word by Word, advanced, begun.
Arithmetic—Hall's Werner. II.
Grammar—Maxwell's Introductory Lessons.
Geography—Tarr and Murray's Introductory, completed.
Physiology—Blaisdell's How to Keep Well.
SECOND YEAR
Reading—Appleton's Fifth Reader.
Orthography—Stickney's Word by Word, advanced, continued.
Arithmetic—Hall's Werner, II., completed.
Grammar—Maxwell's Introductory Lessons, completed.
Geography—Tarr and McMurray's, Complete. History—Barnes' Primary.
THIRD YEAR
Reading—Appleton's Fifth Reader. Orthography—Word by Word. Arithmetic—Hall's Werner, III. Grammar—Maxwell's Advanced Lessons.
Geography—Tarr and McMurry's Complete, finished and reviewed. Physiology—Blaisdell's, Our Bodies and How We Live.
FOURTH YEAR
Reading—Masterpieces of American Literature.
Orthography—Power's Business Speller.
Arithmetic—Hall's Werner, III., completed.
Grammar—Maxwell's Advanced Lessons, completed.
History—Montgomery's Leading Facts of United States History.
Latin Prose will be taken up where pupils are able to carry it.
Advanced Course
CLASSICAL
FIRST YEAR
English I. See below.
Composition I. Herrick & Damon.
Algebra I. Well's Essentials to Quadratics.
Physical Geography. Gilbert & Brigham's Introductory.
Civics. Lansing & Jones' Government.
Latin I. Bellum Helveticum, completed.
SECOND YEAR
English II. See below.
Composition II. Herrick & Damon, completed.
Algebra II. Well's Essentials, completed.
History. Greece and Rome, Botsford.
Latin II. Caesar, Books 1-IV.
Latin Prose. In Latinnum on Caesar.
TODD SEMINARY FOR BOYS
ENGLISH
FIRST YEAR
English I. See below.
Composition I. Herrick & Damon.
Algebra I. Well's Essentials to Quadratics.
Physical Geography. Gilbert & Brigham's Introductory.
Civics. Lansing & Jones' Government.
Spelling. Powers & Lyon's Business Speller.
SECOND YEAR
English II. See below.
Composition II. Herrick & Damon, completed.
Algebra II. Well's Essentials, completed.
History. Greece and Rome, Botsford.
English III. Painter's Introduction.
Botany. Bergen's Elements and Gray's Manual.
Requirements in English
English (I)—Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield. Kingsley's Greek Heroes and Classic Myths. Tennyson's Idyls of the King, Scott's Lady of the Lake, Rhetoric and Composition.
English (II)—George Eliot's Silas Marner. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, and Merchant of Venice. Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Gray's Elegy, and other poems. Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal. Rhetoric and Composition.
Work Common to All Departments
Writing is taught in all departments, using Practical slant copy Books.
Practical lessons in Letter Writing is a part of regular school work throughout the course.
Weekly lessons in singing and drawing.
Regular work in gymnasium four times a week.
Special attention given to natural emphasis and inflection in reading and declamation.
Exercises in voice culture, Rhetorical Modulation and Gesture.
Literary work in connection with Literary Society.
BASEBALL TEAM
Lessons in morals and manners inculcating habits of neatness, promptness, obedience, cheerfulness, politeness, self-control, honesty and purity.
Bible study.
Manual Training
That is a very defective education which attempts to train the brain exclusively to the neglect of hand and eye.
We believe in putting the whole boy to school; in teaching him to do as well as to think. Acting on this principle we have opened in connection with our school a manual training department. This has proven a very popular innovation. Boys almost invariably take up the work with enthusiasm and are eager to spend hours of extra time in the shop. Instruction in this department is confined to simple exercises in woodwork, including lessons in mechanical drawing, in the application and use of the different kinds of wood in the industrial arts, and in the design, structure and use of tools. Little more can be attempted in a school of this kind. The object is not to teach the boy a trade, but to give training to the hand and eye, and form habits of accuracy and attention to details. Two hours per week are given to this work. Each boy is furnished with a bench and the tools necessary for this work without extra charge.
Music and Art
Some knowledge of music and art is now recognized as a necessary part of every education, and we are prepared to give our boys special advantages in this department. All our pupils have free instruction in singing and drawing through the entire course. Private lessons are given in both at a charge of $10.00 per term.
Modern Languages
Classes in German and French are organized every year for pupils beginning the study of these languages. More advanced pupils will find classes suited to their requirements. In these branches the aim is to secure for each pupil a conversational knowledge of the language.
Both written and oral work are regularly required.
Admission
Boys will be received at any age which brings them within the limits of the course of instruction, provided the Principal is satisfied of their moral fitness. In order, however, to accomplish the best results we are anxious, when-ever possible, to undertake the instruction of pupils at the rudiments. It is desirable that boys should be entered between the ages of seven and fourteen years, and if they make satisfactory progress with us, and are interested in their schooh parents should be quick to realize the importance of continuing them under the same discipline and instruction through the course. Owing to the limited number admitted and the fullness of the corps of teachers, we are enabled to receive and carefully instruct pupils in the various stages of advancement. Each boy is dealt with as an individual, and in every case a pupil's studies are arranged to meet his particular needs, thus giving opportunity for the greatest progress of which a boy is capable, unimpeded by boys of slower development.
Outfit
Pupils will be received at any time during the year, providing a vacancy exists. Each student upon entering should be provided with the following articles :
1 Bag for soiled clothes. 2 Pair Blankets, medium size.
1 Pair Overalls, for use in woods. 1 Couch Cover for bed.
1 Umbrella. 4 Sheets, single.
1 Pair Rubbers. 4 Pillow cases, 20 inches wide.
1 Rug, 3x6 feet is convenient size. 12 Towels.
1 Suit Case. 6 Napkins and Napkin ring.
Parents and guardians are reminded, also, that they should furnish their sons or wards with wearing apparel and toilet articles sufficient for at least one term.
N. B.—All articles of clothing and bed covering must be distinctly marked with the owner's name in full. Marking done by the Matron will be charged for at the rate of one cent per name.
It is recommended that two lists of all articles of clothing, etc., be prepared by the patrons—one to be retained by them, the other to be placed in the hands of the Housekeeper.
Calendar
1909— 1910
Fall term opens Sept. 22, and closes Dec. 22, 1909. Winter term opens Jan. 5, and closes April 1, 1910. Spring term opens April 4, and closes June 15, 1910.
1910— 1911
Fall term opens Sept. 21, and closes Dec. 21 1910. Winter term opens Jan. 4, and closes Mar. 31, 1911. Spring term opens April 3, and closes June 14, 1911.
1911— 1912
Fall term opens Sept. 20, and closes Dec. 20, 1911. Winter term opens Jan. 3, and closes Mar. 29, 1912. Spring term opens April 1, and closes June 12, 1912.
Division of the Day
A. M.—6:30, rising hour ; 7 :00, breakfast ; 8 :40, morning prayers; 9 :00—12 :00, recitations and study.
P.M.— 12:30, dinner: 1:30—4:00, recitations and study: 6:00, supper; 6:45, evening prayers; 7:00 --8:00, study:
9:00, hour for retiring. Sunday—7:30, breakfast; 9:00, morning prayers; 10:30, church service ; 1:00, dinner; 2:00 to 4:00, quiet hour and Bible study; 6:00, supper ; 7:00, evening prayer, reading and singing.
Promptness
It is of the utmost, importance that boys form, during their school days, habits of promptness. There can be no well developed character without it. "Always on time" is the watchword of success. Parents should co-operate with teachers in the effort to form this habit in their boys. As pupils are inclined to prolong the time assigned them for vacation, parents should see to it that every boy is at his post at the beginning of each session promptly on time.
Parents are also requested not to ask permission for their boys to visit home in term time except in very urgent cases. It is not simply a question of loss to your own boy. Such interruptions are demoralizing to the entire school.
General Expenses
The charge for one school year is as follows:—
For boys occupying single room......$500.00 to $600.00
For boys occupying double room..... 450.00 to 500.00
For six small boys in dormitory.......... 400.00
Lessons on piano and clavier, per term....... 20.00
Lessons on violin and mandolin, per term...... 15.00
Lessons on band instruments, per term........ 10.00
Lessons in French or German, per year....... 25.00
Church sittings, per year............. 3.00
Pupils remaining during the Christmas holidays will be charged $5.00 per week. No pupil will be retained during the summer vacation.
Incidental Expenses
A bill for incidental expenses will be rendered at the close of each term. The general charge covers board, tuition, washing and mending clothes, light, heat and furnished rooms. It does not include school books, stationary, and other school supplies, which are furnished to the pupil at cost. Steam laundered linen is charged for at the laundry rates. Malicious or wanton injury to property will be charged to the author of it.
Under normal conditions the incidental expenses amount to a very small item, scarcely worth considering in an estimate of yearly expenses. We make no purchases of clothing, etc., and place to account without your written order; and in general it depends on the patron more than the school what this extra expense bill shall be.
Payments
The general charge must be paid in three installments, one at the beginning of each term, as follows :—
For single room: Fall, $190.00 to $225.00; winter, $160.00 to $195.00; spring, $150.00 to $180.00.
For double room: Fall, $170.00 to $190.00; winter, $145.00 to $160.00; spring, $135.00 to $150.00.
For dormitory: Fall, $150.00; winter, $130.00; spring, $120.00.
Failure to pay any installment during the term for which it is due forfeits a pupil's place in the school, and it may be let to another. If a pupil enters after the opening of a session, or is absent on account
and drafts payable to Noble Hill.
Correspondence
Every pupil of the school is required to write to his parents at least once a week. A portion of one day in each, week is set apart for this purpose, and special attention is given to the matter.
No other single accomplishment embraces a knowledge of so many common English branches, or is of more practical importance than the art of correspondence, and yet it receives so little attention in the public schools and higher institutions of learning as to have become practically a lost art.
Pupils of a private school have special advantages in this respect. Having no other means of communication with parents and friends, they soon learn to express their thoughts clearly and forcibly on paper. All letters pass under the eye of a teacher. Those not clearly expressed or carefully executed must be re-written. Boys will not be
permitted to have any correspondents outside the home circle except by special request of their parents, nor will they be allowed to subscribe for any paper, or bring any book, into the school, except such as the Principal shall approve.
Religious Instructions
The religious exercises of the school are: Daily prayers morning and evening; attendance upon divine service, with the family of the Principal, every Sabbath morning. There is a meeting of the whole school for Bible study at 3 o'clock on Sabbath afternoon, and in the evening there is song service, after which it is customary for the Principal to read to the boys some good story—not necessarily religious, but of a healthy, moral tone, and sufficiently interesting to hold the attention of all. The school is non-sectarian, but decidedly Christian.
Library
The library contains about two thousand well selected volumes, to which additions are constantly being made. It is on the same floor and in easy communication with the different school rooms, and the plan of school work is such as to bring it into constant requisition. Some of the recitations are so conducted as to make its use a positive necessity in the preparation of the lessons. In this way the boys become familiar with the uses of a library, and unconsciously acquire a knowledge of books and authors and a habit of literary research which is a liberal education in itself.
Literary Society
The Todd Seminary Literary Society is an organization of the whole school for literary purposes. It is carried on entirely by the boys under the supervision of a teacher, the object being to encourage the boys in independent literary work, give them practice in extemporaneous speaking, and render them somewhat familiar with parliamentary usages.
The Society meets weekly, and carefully prepared program is presented at each meeting. The constitution provides that every program shall contain at least the following parts, upon which the
TODD SCHOOL FOR BOYS
VIEW OF THE FRONT LAWN
Literary Committee may enlarge at its option: Report of the critic, one oration, two select readings, two recitations, two essays, reading of The Society Echo, and a debate by two or more principal speakers previously appointed, and afterward open to all who wish to participate.
Pocket Money
Parents are requested to place in the hands of the Principal what ever spending money they wish their boys to have. It will be granted to the boys in the form of a weekly allowance. In this way only can we be responsible for its proper use, and it is recommended that the amount be reasonably small.
Gymnasium
Believing, as we do, that no system of education is complete which does not provide for the development of the physical as well as the intellectual man, we require boys of all ages to take regular exercises in the gymnasium.
The work in this department is based upon a physical examination of each boy, which is made twrice a year. It is carried on under the eye of Physical Directors who, in addition to the regular military drill and exercise with Indian clubs and dumb bells taken in common, prescribes individual work for different boys to correct the particular defects revealed by their examination.
We make military drill a special feature of the work in the gymnasium, for while we do not approve of military discipline for boys, we are fully persuaded of the advantage of military drill for the correction of a shuffling gait, an awkward carriage and a tendency to "hump," so prevalent among our boys. Even more important is the mental and moral effect produced by the habit of prompt and unquestioning obedience.
Boys invariably enter into the gymnastic work with enthusiasm, and the result is a most gratifying improvement in the physical vigor and manly bearing of our pupils.
Recreation
Boys will be encouraged at the proper time in all health-giving exercise and manly sports. To the normal boy, play is as essential
TENNIS COURTS
as sleep, and among the strongest and most natural passions of healthy boyhood is the desire to be victor in physical contests. This spirit in the boy, while not the highest form of manly virtue, is nevertheless worthy of sympathetic recognition on the part of the teacher. Athletic sports, if properly controlled and directed, will do much to develop in boys a spirit of justice and fair play and a healthy contempt for everything dishonorable or mean. If neglected or discouraged by the teacher, they will be very apt to develop the spirit of the bully, which spirit is responsible for the brutal practice known as hazing, still in vogue in many, so-called, educational institutions. Nothing of this kind is tolerated in Todd Seminary for Boys. The nature that derives pleasure from inflicting pain is essentially brutal, and belongs in the slums rather than in an institution of learning.
While we encourage all forms of athletic sports and recreation on our own grounds, and among our own boys, we are unalterably opposed to inter-school athletics. Any school that is competent to give a boy the mental discipline he needs should be able also to attend to his physical development. There is less excuse for inter-school athletics than inter-school mathematics. We are not willing that the merits of Todd Seminary for Boys as an institution of learning shall be judged by the ability of its pupils to excel in athletic sports.
Our boys are provided with a fine athletic park including football and baseball fields, and surrounded by a bicycle and running track of five and a half laps to the mile. There are also tennis courts, swings, teeters, sand pile etc., for the recreation and amusement of boys old and young. For winter sports a toboggan slide has been built for the exclusive use of the Todd boys, and arrangements are made to provide a good skating pond by flooding the playground.
Our gymnasium is large and equipped with every necessary appliance. Our teachers are all in cordial sympathy with the strenuous boy life, and in fact every provision has been made to render the boys happy in their school home and to make the hours of play a means of moral and physical regeneration.
The Seminary Woods
In this connection we might mention also the frequent expeditions to the woods, a form of recreation dear to the heart of every boy.
THE SEMINARY WOODS
The Seminary woods is a natural wooded park of twenty acres, situated about one mile from the school buildings, and dedicated exclusively to the use of the "Todd Boys." There are nutting expeditions in the fall, botanizing expeditions in the spring and picnics both spring and fall. In suitable weather a tramp in the woods or a bicycle ride on the country roads in company with one or more teachers is a matter of almost daily occurrence. Here the boys hold communion with nature in her visible forms all the year around and learn to understand the "various language" in which she speaks to nature lovers. No other book contains so much ennobling truth as the great book of nature. Our boys come near to nature's heart and drink in deep draughts of inspiration from an unabridged edition of that work. Over one hundred and forty varieties of birds have been studied on our school grounds during the spring term, the youngest pupil in school becoming familiar with many of them. The rocks, the trees, the flowers, the clouds, the stars, are all matters of absorbing interest to these bright young students, whose eyes have been opened to see the beauty of God's great universe and whose ears are attuned to its divine harmonies.
A Word to Parents
Parents should not send their children to any private school unless they are prepared to give the Principal and teachers of such school their hearty confidence and co-operation in the matter of discipline. They should entrust the education of their children only to teachers in whose judgment and integrity they have the highest confidence, and no thoughtless criticism of a child should be allowed to shake that confidence.
Most boys enter private schools with no fixed habits of subordination, promptness, regularity or perseverance. These habits must be cultivated in them, and they form an important part of a boy's education. But the boy will not appreciate their importance. The system of discipline most satisfactory to a boy is generally the one least suited to his requirements. Teachers should be able to feel that they will have the sympathy and support of parents in taking that course which will be most profitable for their boys, even though it may not prove the most pleasant.
A WOODS ROAD
As a matter of fact the right course is the one which will in the end prove most pleasant. Boys are reasonable beings, and enjoy being dealt with as such. Like the children of larger growth, they soon learn to despise laws which are not enforced, and as respect for law is one of the first requisites of good citizenship—and we want all our boys to become good citizens—we have no laws on our statute book which are dead letters. We place upon a boy's freedom only such restrictions as are necessary to direct his energies in a proper channel, and we insist upon prompt obedience.
We avoid the necessity of resorting to severe methods in discipline by refusing to have vicious or unmanageable boys in our school. We pride ourselves on the fact that all our boys are perfect little gentlemen, and we want no other class. They are all "our boys," and we do not wish to be ashamed of them.
Persons visiting our school seldom fail to be impressed by the genuineness of the home life, the mutually respectful nature of the relations which exist between teachers and pupils, and the uniform politeness of our boys.
In short, Todd Seminary possesses every requisite for a good school: A location which is healthful and beautiful; a competent, progressive and thoroughly consecrated corps of teachers; a system of discipline which, without being unkind, commands prompt and thorough obedience; a high ideal for both teachers and pupils; and sixty years of successful history.
Prohibitions
The following practices are strictly prohibited : The use of cards or any form of gambling. The use of tobacco.
The use of profane or vulgar language. The use or possession of firearms. Reading trashy books or papers. Robbing birds' nests. Contracting debts.
Selling, exchanging, or giving away any article of clothing or personal property without consent of the Principal. Going off the grounds without permission.
THE GYMNASIUM FROM WEST ENTRANCE
Going down town, except in company with a teacher. Leaving the building at night after evening prayer. Repeated violations of any of the above rules will be considered sufficient grounds for expulsion.
Honors
We offer a gold medal to the boy makng the highest record for the year in scholarship and deportment, provided his average shall be above 90 per cent, in both. All pupils who attain these averages, but fail of the medal, have their names published in the prospectus with "Honorable Mention."
Two prizes are offered each year for excellence in declamation. A public competition for these prizes is held at the close of the year, participated in by the four or more boys who have the highest standing in declamation. The prizes are awarded by a committee of three persons, not connected with the school.
The Rogers History Prize is offered by Joseph M. Rogers, editor of the Philadelphia Enquirer, to the pupil making the best record in United States History.
There are also prizes for loyalty, and physical development.
Only winners of honorable mention are eligible to compete for these prizes.
A complete report of each boy's scholarship and deportment is sent to his parents every month. The boys having an average of 90 per cent, or more for the month receive an "Honor Card."
Pupils who average 95 per cent, in scholarship through the advanced course will be graduated "With Highest Honor." Those averaging 90 per cent., "With Honor."
Honor Hall
We believe in rendering honor to whom honor is due ; in leading the boys to realize that special privileges and opportunities come not to the lucky but the worthy; not to those who have a special pull, but to those who have the requisite push. As a reward of merit, illustrating this principle, we have opened in the gymnasium building a department designed for the special use of our "Honor" boys, and
named it 'Honor Hall." It has been equipped with shuffle boards, ping pong table, and a bowling alley. Made bright with electric lights and comfortably heated, it is a very cheerful place and a source of perpetual interest to the boys. Pupils whose names appear upon the Roll of Honor have the freedom of this hall. The regulations governing the hall are respected and perfect order maintained without the presence of a teacher; a monitor being appointed from among the boys.
Honor Hall is open to the entire school, under the care of a teacher, for several hours every Saturday. Boys who do not win "Honorable Mention" can enjoy its privileges at other times only by special permission.
Roll of Honor 1908
Honorable Mention
Gordon Austin Carrol Hill
Charles Bent Roger Hill
Marston Cummings Leslie Nichols
William Dodge Ernst Seip
Herbert Hartsock Fielding Staat
Prize Winners
Highest Honor Medal........... Charles Bent
Loyalty Medal............... Ernst Seip
U. S. History Prize.............
First Declamation Medal.......... J. L. Buckner
Second Declamation Medal......... Harris Eberhart
Winner of Field Day Events........ Ernst Seip
Graduates
W. W. Dodge............... Classical Course
Carrol Hill................. Classical Course
Fielding Staat............... Classical Course
Marston Cummings............ English Course
Ernst Seip................. English Course
Russel Knox................ English Course
Roll of Honor 1909
Honorable Mention
Charles Bent Herbert Hartsock
Royal Bosshard Dwight Wiman
Arthur Cruttenden Webster Shippey
Prize Winners
Highest Honor Medal.........Dwight Deere Wiman
Loyalty Medal............. Charles T. Bent
U. S. History Prize........... Charles T. Bent
Physical Development Medal......Arthur T. Cruttenden
First Declamation Medal........Roswell F. Field
Second Declamation Medal.......Richard Flagg
Winner of Field Day Events......Arthur T. Cruttenden
Graduates
Arthur Thomas Cruttenden......... English Course
Harris Hurlbut Eberhart.......... Classical Course
Roswell Francis Field............ Classical Course
Joseph Green Morris............ Classical Course
Collection
Citation
Todd Seminary for Boys, “Todd Seminary for Boys Prospectus 1909-1911,” Woodstock Public Library Archives, accessed May 20, 2026, https://woodstockpubliclibraryarchives.omeka.net/items/show/13.
Embed
Copy the code below into your web page
Comments