At the thirty-seventh annual session of the California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, held at Fresno, Cal., Jan. 31, 1908, the following recommendation was passed:—
“Resolved, That we look with favor upon the following plan: (a) That the Pacific Normal Institute be established in a suitable place, separate from the Pacific Union College, where children for the training-school can be had, and enough land to provide for the school gardens; (b) that a corporation be formed, the details of formation to be worked out later; (c) that there be an advisory board to consist of the five members of the incorporators and two additional members, to be selected from the executive committee of the California Conference.”
WESTERN NORMAL INSTITUTE, LODI, CAL.
As a result of this action, a corporation was formed, and the incorporators took definite steps to secure a suitable location. Invitations, accompanied by promises of a substantial bonus, were received from various cities and localities in the State. The consideration of climate, central location, agricultural advantages, a large church-school, together with the hearty interest shown in the project by the public, and the offer of a very substantial aid from our brethren, together with the gift of eight thousand five hundred dollars in land from the chamber of commerce and leading citizens, led the Board to determine upon the city of Lodi as the proper location for this normal school.
The corporation was organized June 2, the land deeded to it on June 3, and excavating for the buildings was begun June 5. During the summer the normal building and the ladies’ home were erected, the former to accommodate two hundred fifty pupils, the latter, forty. The erection of the boys’ home, which is to accommodate about forty-five persons, will begin in a few days. School opened September 23, with an enrolment of one hundred ten. Our present enrolment is one hundred fifty-four, divided as follows: In the training-school (church-school), eighty; in the normal academy, sixty-eight; in the training college, six. These figures are being weekly augmented by new arrivals.
The aim of the Normal Institute is to train teachers for our intermediate and church-schools and for academies and training-schools. This means to train teachers for all departments of teaching, whether academic, music, or manual training.
The Normal Institute is divided into three parts, as follows:—
1. The Training-School. The training-school consists of two divisions: (a) The assembly rooms, where the children are taught by experienced teachers; these rooms serve as a model school, where pupil teachers observe good teaching; (b) the practise-teaching rooms, or rooms where pupil teachers teach classes under the supervision of the critic teachers.
2. The Normal Academy. The academy is divided into three parts: (a) the academic, where pupils receive academic training; (b) the professional, where prospective teachers are taught pedagogy, school management, methods, and other professional studies. Here teachers are trained to teach before they enter the practise-teaching rooms; (c) the practise-teaching department, where academic graduates who are preparing to teach in academies teach their classes.
3. The Training College, where prospective academic teachers receive additional academic instruction sufficient to qualify them for positions they wish to fill. Besides this, there is a professional department, where these prospective teachers receive training in pedagogy, institutional administration, methods, etc.
We have a class of about fifteen in the church-school department who are in active training, most of whom are teaching classes. There are six in the training college, three of whom are teaching in the normal academy. They are doing satisfactory work, and there seems to be no complaint on the part of the students who are thus taught.
We are organizing four lines of manual training,—woodworking, gardening, cooking, and sewing. The aim is to make each department consist of three parts: for instance, in the woodworking department, there are three classes: (a) a class in general carpentry, organized to qualify students to handle tools; (b) a class for boys of church-school age; and (c) a class where prospective teachers receive a normal training in methods of teaching the same in schools.
We are organizing a commercial department, and our aim is to make this of the same character.
We have an excellent class of young people this year, and the prospects for the school are very encouraging. We hope to make the school stronger each year, so that it may become indeed a training-school for teachers.
We earnestly solicit the prayers of God’s people in our behalf.
