Campus School & student teaching ca1930

The 1930 Saga has a nice spread on the campus school, or the "training school" as it was called then. Pictured here is Charles Cooper, who was Director of the Training School from 1911-1936; Cooper Hall is named after him. Here is a little of what they experienced as student teachers back then:

"Who does not recall those first days of anxious waiting... after the Director of Training's announcement that teaching assignments would soon be posted? ... Many a weary hour we spent with Preparations, General Aims and Thought Questions, only to have a kindly but merciless critic (note - the "teacher critics" were professional teachers who both taught the children in the campus school and supervised the student teachers) calmly destroy our work of art...

Do you remember how easily the critic elicited responses from the pupils during those first days, and how nicely and quietly those pupils behaved? And then the storm burst! We attempted to teach from that first Lesson Plan... We all had our First days, our trials, our pupil problems...

Then came the Day of days, when we were admitted to that Sanctum Sanctorum, Mr. Cooper's office, for general criticism. How we secretly trembled as he slowly swung around in his chair and emitted a gruff, 'Well, what do you want?' But then, we found out that behind that gruffness he concealed as kindly, sympathetic and inspiring a personality as could be desired by anyone..."