Report of the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Academy for the Blind, 1909

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REPORT

OF
SUPERINTENDENT

OF
Georgia Academy for Blind

1909

A'tLAN'tA, GA.
eRAS. P. BYRD, State Printer, 1910.

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Macon, Ga., December 31, 1909.
To the Trustees of the Georgia Academy for the Blind,
Macon, Ga.
Gentlemen: I beg to submit my report of the operation of the Georgia Academy for the Blind for the year 1909. It is not the pUl'pose of this report to be ei theI' an essay on education 01' n. handbook for the direction for other institutions. It is simply a concise statement of what we have done and what we are doing in this Institution, with some suggestions as to what it might be well to do.
ENROLLMENT.
There were enrolled in the white school during the year 1909,45 males, 46 females, total 91; in the colored school 11 males, 19 females, total 30; total enrollment fOl' both schools, 121.
There are some blind children in the State that are not in the institution, but I think the number really entitled to admission is very small. I have taken every possible precautjon against admitting students who could be educated in the common schools, or who, from disease or lack of mental ability, could not be educated at all. The enrollment at the negro school has fallen off nearly one half in the last three years. This is due to the fact that I have dismissed several grown pupils, who were accomplishing nothing, and were a source of great annoyance to the school. A few others who were served with a notice that they must get to work or leave, preferred to leave. A good many colored people living in remote parts of the State do not send their children to the Academy, because of the expense involved in paying railroad fare. In some cases these blind children are a source of income to the family
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by begging. A canvass of the State would probably result in bringing in a few more pupils, although as I have said, I think there are very few not in attendance who could really be benefited by the Institution.

FINANCES.

The monthly reports of the receipts and expenditures with itemized statement of same, have been examined and approved by the Board and filed in the Governor's office as required by law. These reports, however, cover only the amounts disbursed for maintenance by the Superintendent, and do not include some items of expense for insurance, etc. A summary of receipts and disbursements will be found in the report of the Treasurer which is attached hereto. The increased cost of living has made it difficult to maintain the school 011 proper basis and keep within the appropriation of $18,000 for 1909, a balance of something over $2,000 brought from the former year was used, and there is still a deficit of appl'opriation of $500.00. This condition exiated in spite of the fact that many necessary expenses of the Institution have been eliminated. We hope that the increased appropriation of 1910 will enable us to wipe out this deficit and put the school on a somewhat better footing. We are still spending very much below the per capita cost of similar schools of other States. I do not think that this is a matter for congratulati.:m, and that our purpose should be to have as good an Institution as possible, rather than as cheap a school as possible.

HEALTH.

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The health of the Institution has been phenomenal. Sick lists are sent out by the Superintendent on the 15th. of each month, containing the names of all pupils who have been absent from their duties on account of sickness during the previous month. These reports, on file in the Sup'3rintendent's office, show probably the smallest percentage of sickness of any boarding school in the State.

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When it is taken into consideration that the pupils of this school are below normai, physically, this condition of affairs is the more creditable. This result is due to the wisdom of the Trustees in providing new and commodious quarters; to the faithful watchfulness of our physicians, and careful supervision of the pupils by those who have them in charge. Since moving into our new quarters, we have had no serious sickness which could be attributed even indirectly to unsanitary condition, or to unwise management. During the year two serious operations were performed on pupils at the Macon City Hospital, one for mastoiditis and the other for appendicitis, both operations resulting in complete recovery of the patients.
LITERARY DEPARTMENT.
The work in this department shows a slight improvement over last year, although the work done is not yet on a par with the work done in the best grammar schools, for seeing children, either in the course of tudy covered or in general efficiency, but constant effort is being made on the part of the teachers to bring the students up to the standard of seeing schools, and the work of the year has been on the whole very satisfactory. It is exceedingly desirable to have another teacher in order to cover the course successfully. It would be very desirable to have a separate teacher for each gmde as is done in schools for seeing children. Thi , however, is not feasible at present, but regardless of the number of pupils, it will take at least six teachers to teach the subjects covered by ten grades.
The number of text books has been largely incl'eased by books furni hed by the America.n Printing House for the Blind. These books are furnished at the expense of the United States Government, without cost to the school. Our supply of text books, however, is still very meager, and we should have a book for each pupil as is the case with seeing children. The course of study is very much behind in mathematics, and we have tried to correct this defect by having a special tutor in mathematics.
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MUSIC DEPARTMENT.
In this department, the course of study has been carried on with such additions as experience suggested to be wise. Marked improvement has been made in voice culture, chorus work, and a beginning has been made in pipe organ work. Teaching on the pipe organ has been seriously handi apped for the lack of water pressure to operate the organ motor.
orne of our pupils haye been teaching outside of the Institution during the year with very sati factory SllCces. Teaching music is the mo 1, promising field for those I lind people who have the requisite capability.
m:ANUALTRAINIUG.
In this department the :1.uvance has heen highly satisfactory. The work for boys, begun in September, 1908, has been carried on a larger scale anel vvith greater efficiency. The work for girls was begun in September, 1909, an I during the short time it has been in operation, has made yery satisfactory progress. Manual training has had the most marked effect on the student body in general. Many pupils who showed no igns of capability in othel' lines, have been waked up by their manual training work and have not only done good work in thi dep::trtment, but have been stimulated to greatel' effort nnd gl'eater accomplishment in other line. We are now giving the boys in the white school in tructiol1 in loyd, elementary wood work, chair caning, broom making, shoe cobbling, and piano tuning. The girl are being instructed in raffia woi'k, basket making, and chair can;ng. DUl'ing the spring term the girl will be given instruction in plain ewing knitting, and crocheting. It has been a great mi fortune to blind children th:\t they have been so long deprived of the eclucational stimulus which comes from
DOl a THI as FOR THEMSELVES.
PHYSICAL CULTURE.
I regret to say that on account of the lack of equipment and the lack of a teacher, no systematic ""ork has been
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done in physical culture during thi year. The smaller

student play out of doors a great deal and in a limited

way cali thenic is given to pupil in schoolrooms. With-

in a short time, we hope to hava a teacher and proper

eq uipment for this work. It is more needful for blind

children than for seeing children, because of the fact that

blind children have not had an opportunity for play in

their earlier years as seeing children have, and as a rule

are not well developed when they come to this Institu-

tion.

RECOMl\1ENDATION.

I beg to submit for the consideration of the Board the

recommendations stated below. In order to keep this

report from being too lengthy, I shall simply make a state-

ment of recommendations, without cl.iscussing the reasons

for them at this time. At the proper time, I shall be glad

to furnish to the Board a statement of the reasons which

lead me to make these recommendations.

Two additional upervi ors.

One additional literary teacher.

A physical culture teacher.

An Emergency Hospital for contagious diseases.

A steam laundry.

A pumping plant to furnish water for irrigation and for

fire protection.

A stable.

Quarters for colored help.

Change stage in aucl.itorium.

Separate cottage for uperintendent's family.

I realize that all the e recommendations can not all be

carried out at once, but it would be wise to determine

which of them meet the approval of the Board, so that

there may be a well defined plan as to what additional

buildings will be constructed on the grounds so that there

may be no subsequent changes to be made.

Appropriation 30,000

Typewriter Dept.-

Respectfully submitted G. F. Oliphant.

Superintendent.

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