And what did we learn in school today?

Dan Sernoffsky

School is back in session, which means it’s time for a
quick quiz.

Divide 304,487 by 931.

But do it without a calculator.

Question two: Find the sum of 5/9, 5/6, 3/4 and 11/36.

Those are two of the math questions students expecting
to graduate from eighth grade in the state of Washington were expected to answer. In 1910.

Other questions required students to identify the author of Rip Van Winkle and The Raven, among other short literary works. Students were also asked to state the qualifications of a U.S. Senator, and to identify the Senators from Washington. They were required to diagram a sentence. They were required to identify Alexander Hamilton, U.S. Grant and Clara Barton, and to state their historic significance.

Times have changed and so has education, but the significance of what students were required to know 95 years ago is still important. It is true that technology — computers and calculators — have made solving math problems easy, but knowing how to solve them longhand is still important. In 1970, 60 years after eighth graders in Washington were learning how to do long division, a group of men in Houston were relying on their ability to work out equations with only the help of slide rules (a quaint, pre-micro chip tool used in math) to achieve what may have been the most impressive accomplishment of American space exploration, the successful return to earth of Apollo 13.

Of course, learning math is difficult, even with a
calculator, but it is important. So is learning how to diagram a sentence, as well as the various parts of speech. It requires a certain discipline and focus. It also helps create a greater understanding and appreciation of the language, and enhances communication skills.

That was one of the reasons students in 1910 were required to read short works like Rip Van Winkle (written by Washington Irving) or poems like The Raven (written by Edgar Allen Poe).

Knowing the qualifications for a U.S. Senator, or for a member of the House of Representatives, is simply a matter of learning the U.S. Constitution, and considering the rhetoric emmanating from a variety of outposts on the political extreme, knowledge of the Constitution is sorely lacking.

So is the ability to identify historic figures. Alexander Hamilton was the first secretary of the treasury. U.S. Grant led the Union Army to victory in the Civil War and later served as President. Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. How important is that knowledge? It is said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. It is significantly more important, however, to remember that the past provides the base on which the future is built, and with no base, there can be no future.

Hamilton helped set the nation’s first monetary policies, policies which enabled the United States to
survive following the success of the American Revolution. Grant ensured the survival of the United States with his victory, and, during his presidency, did much to heal the scars of separation created by the Civil War. Barton created one of the most successful humanitarian organizations in history, an organization that continues to provide aid and comfort to victims of a variety of calamities.

Education is about learning, and learning requires discipline. That was true in 1910 and it remains true today. Computers and calculators make life easier, but they are just tools, and like every other tool, education is what makes using them possible, and how to get along without them in a crisis.

For the record (and without a calculator), 304,487 divided by 931 is 327 with a remainder of 50. The fractions add up to 2 4/9.

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Dan Sernoffsky is an award-winning sportswriter and political columnist for The Lebanon Daily News in Lebanon, Pa. A career journalist, he is a graduate of Ottawa University, Ottawa, Ks., and attended graduate school at Central Michigan University. The father of four grown children, he and his wife reside in Lebanon.

dsernoffsky@yahoo.com