Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1856-12-03
Ea,reIa,.rna,.
cLEARFIELD AND coanoE SCHOOLS,


cLEARFIELD AND cosIMoE SCHOOLS
InLi,erature, our county does not rank With
its neiehbors OF the East. Il has never esgs-
r.d in any public enterprise that tended to
nror,ote the general interests Of its inhab!-
tauts; and it is slow in moving towards iha.
poiut Of education 10 which some Of the sur
rounding counties are advancing For years
past. almost every county in the State has done
something 10 accelerate common school edU-
cation Some have been buEdeaed With taxes
in order tia; the youth might have access 10
learning, without the labor and toll which the
earlier settlers endured. The log cabin. in
many places are wholly annihilated, and pala-
ces have taken their places. Associations
have been organized for the mutual advantage
/ Of teachers. and weekly and monthly meetings
/ are convening, where every question in the ar:
of teaching is discussed, and every superiori-
~ disseminated. Ia these meetings eachtes-
i cher or member or the association advances
such beneficial idea as may suggest itself TO
his mind. The constant energy manifested
+ l,y every member in order TO excel. makes
these movements OF the highest worth. In
some localities teachers even collect large
sums OF money 20 procure the lectures and seE-
vices OF some celebrated teacher. But what
~+is CIearlield county doing in this great work
Il is to be regretted that, viii her intelligent
norulatfon. she should be 50 far in the rear in
This matter. Size has not been opposed by the
influence Of stif-neckdd population. ike
manv other counties, where conservatives stiH
exist but is populated with entcrprising meR
, from the eastern Statez,who have brought with
80 aT.l F~-a and TarTti
tate the labor OF their pursuits But. ga ia-
day is the token OF storm" and the present
calm may terminate in revival of education
As this time every thing is looking forward
Win hizh asIirations -nf making education
bloom in It's most effnlgent form. For years
We have lain dormant; but our sleep will soon
prove fruitful. We are ripening 10 usefulness,
and very soon education viii assume a sway
second to no1e in the State. All that is ne-
cessary is to leap into the educational arena,
and proclaim lore in ali lis forms. The friends
Of education should meet annually, and a:
those meetings publish and announce those
plans and modes which would prove most ef-
+. fectual in difusing a sound and moral ednca-
ton After these meetings are properly ap-
: preciated, others viii soon follow-teachers
will orgrnize associations, and the work will
20 JravcIy on. Then teaching will become an
/. honorable aud elevated VOCATION vocation
:. to which none but the most worthy ans taeat-
ed should have access. Teata ris ProJitatiE
css, ut cam rel IN hosfs diligamHs. Fellow
Teachers-Let Us move towards something
that VIII exalt profession, which will indu-
bitably add 70 our good, and TO the improve
meut of the youth, whose welfare in future
life depends in a great measure upon the prin-
cipies which daily instiI. School teaching
is destined 70 become the most respectable de-
a partInent Of industry, aDd the time in which
it shall become such is wholly with US. Il "
all strive to obtain the highest honors, making
.sExcelsior'' our motto, the teachers otiec;
: win not be pecuniary, but it viii be fame and
> slove for the dissemination of knowledge. New
: methods viii then be introduced into schools )
n new sciences vii! be taught, and every COVE
nience will be procured that would have : ten
IS dency to make education thrive. All these
0 meliorations will certainly be wrought, if u.
the educationalists viii rally for a reformation,
q or rather. rally for the fulflment of their da-
i ties. Directors should allow teachers portion
Z Of their time for the purpose of attending as
D sociations OF this kind. Three days out OF
5 every school year allotted to teachers for theiI
Il Instruction at stated annual meetings, would
'F be of ten times the value that the same time
: in teaching would render. and by so doing they
J. would be complying with the desire Of the Su
d periutendent OF common schools (See school
l. laws psge 67.) Let every friend of education
a. make effort to organize an annual meeting
% or Institute, or al least attend when one is pro
J. claimed. W. V. SHAW.
II PEezseEf EifI, Nov. q, 1856.
.e