p. 19 | The Correspondence School by W. E. Howell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 29, 1909

The Correspondence School

By W. E. Howell

THE correspondence-school idea is by no means a new nor an untried one. Its success as a method of education is no longer questioned either by those who have undertaken to give or to take lessons by mail, or by those who have been careful observers of developments and results in this work the past few years. Our excellent modern facilities for rapid and safe transportation make possible and easy the vast mail-order business of large commercial houses, which handle everything from a package of pins to a thrashing-machine. The existence and rapid growth of such independent enterprises as the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, and of such attached work as the Correspondence-Study Department of the University of Chicago, together with the remarkable testimony of their students, attest the worth of our peerless postal service as a means for educative purposes. Multitudes are taking advantage of the opportunities offered by such schools for self-improvement and for increased earning capacity.

The great universities of our country have not been slow to discern the value and practicability of lessons by correspondence for the extending of their influence and the attracting of some of the best minds to their halls. The University of Chicago has been one of the most active in this respect, correspondence study having been made an organic part of that institution from the day of its founding. President Harper, our pioneer and enthusiast in this type of education to the end of his life, repeatedly testified to its value, asserting that in some of the departments of the university the average quality of work done by students in the correspondence-study department was higher than that of any other. In recognition of its worth, the Chicago University now permits one half the work in its regular courses to be done by correspondence, giving full credit for the same on a degree course.

It is not within the scope of this present article to enlarge upon the benefits to be derived from correspondence study. But let it be strongly emphasized that a proper education is the greatest thing in a man's life. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee.” The correct solution of the educational problem solves all others—all usefulness, happiness, a livelihood. Therefore to every young man or middle-aged man or woman whose education has been or is being neglected, let it be said, and said again, “Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go; keep her; for she is thy life.” If you are unable to leave your home or your employment to obtain instruction, access to a correspondence school leaves you without further excuse. Do not procrastinate. Take fast hold now. The begetting of confidence in your ability to progress in intellectual pursuits, the stimulus to a right kind of ambition, the encouragement and counsel of experienced teachers, and the sense of constant self-improvement, are no mean accompaniments to correspondence study. Yet in return for all the benefits received, the cost is only slight.

The momentous work laid upon Seventh-day Adventists in this generation calls for the most earnest awakening and the most intense activity that any religious organization in the generation has witnessed or experienced. Every iota of time, talent, and latent energy is in requisition, and the powers of every mind connected with this great advent movement must be put to the stretch. Hundreds of our young people can not attend our regular schools, being detained at home for one reason or another. To such we say, The correspondence school is your opportunity. Hundreds of young and middle-aged persons already in the service as ministers, teachers, canvassers, or institutional employees, earnestly desire self-improvement and enlargement of ability to do their work more acceptably. Of such, Inspiration says, “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”

And to all we are happy to announce that provision has now been made by the General Conference to fill up the gap that has so long existed in the work of completing our educational system, by the organization of a correspondence school. A board of management has been appointed, and a principal selected. It is expected that actual service will begin October 1, which will be after our established schools have begun their work. Fuller details will be given as they are developed.

The expense to the correspondence student will range from ten dollars to fifteen dollars for work equivalent to one study pursued for nine months in our regular schools, and the payment of postage both ways on the lessons. Such work will be on the basis of forty lessons to the course, and the preparation and recitation of one lesson a week. The lesson plan will provide for the greatest economy in the use of material in preparing recitation and examination papers, and consequently in the cost of postage.

A high standard of work will be maintained in all branches of study, both because it will be of the greatest benefit to the student, and because it is expected that credits given by the Correspondence School will be accepted by all our regular schools. In fact, as far as our younger people are concerned, the Correspondence School will act as a feeder to our colleges, academies, and intermediate schools, by the encouragement of its pupils to become resident students as early as possible in their course, that they may obtain the benefits of the Christian association, the discipline, and the inspiration to service that the Correspondence School can not give to so great an extent. It is not the purpose of the Correspondence School to draw away students from our established schools, nor is it organically connected with any one of them. Its purpose is to care for those who would otherwise be deprived of school privileges. It is located at Washington because there the machinery already set in motion by the Educational, the Young People's Missionary Volunteer, the Sabbath-school, and the Publishing departments affords the most effective and economic medium for conducting its work. The secretaries of these departments, together with the principal of the school, constitute its board of management. Its policy will be that of co-operation, and not of competition.

A prospectus will soon be ready, and a supply of the same, together with registration blanks and circulars of information and progress, will be kept constantly in the hands of all our conference Missionary Volunteer and educational secretaries.

Aside from the announcement of the foregoing good news to the many waiting ones, the chief purpose of this article is to ascertain what studies are in strongest demand for the first year. The board is planning to offer the following subjects:—

BIBLE.—Academic Bible doctrines; New Testament (life of Christ).

MATHEMATICS.—Complete arithmetic; elementary bookkeeping.

ENGLISH.—Applied grammar (uses of words, common faults of speech, pronunciation); foundations of rhetoric (sentence building, punctuation, writing of paragraphs and short themes, figures of speech); advanced rhetoric and journalism (principles of composition in their larger relations; preparing of essays, addresses, and articles for the press; proof-reading).

HISTORY.—United States history; general history; church history.

GREEK.—New Testament (elements, use and interpretation of words and phrases; selected readings).

PEDAGOGY.—School management and methods.

SCIENCE.—Physiology and hygiene.

Will every one who is interested be kind enough to write the principal a postal-card at once, indicating which of the foregoing subjects he wishes to take? If there is any subject not listed here that is specially desired, please indicate that also. Look for further announcements in the future.

W. E. HOWELL, Principal.

Takoma Park, Washington, D. C.