The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1872-02-08

Monthly Report Of G. W. Rollins,
superintendent Of Schools in
Cedar County, Iowa, to the
Board OF supervisors.
Gentlemen Of the Board Of Supervisors:
In compliance with your require
ment ! herewith present you my first
report.
In making . statement OF my work
/ shall not con6ne myself TO the month
of January, but win also speak Of
what did during the unexpired term
of Mr.. Oakley, whom was appointed
to succeed.
l assumed the duties OF the Office
on the 18th day Of Oct, 1871. at
once made arrangements for and held
examinations at eight different points
in the county SO remote from the
county seat, as to render it impossible
for applicants to come and return
home the same day, and have sum
cient time to do themselves justice.
On taking the Office found that
my predecessor had made arrange
ments for an Institute, to be held at
Upton, having already employed 9.
NJ. Greene, ESQ.,, as Conductor,
arranging with him that it should be
held on the 9th day Of November. |
could not well at that late day do
otherwise than carry out the arrange
ments thus made. The Institute was
held and was well attended. As to
it's benefits l will let those speak
whom it was intended to benefit. 1t
is for them to render the judgment,
and not for me. Here wish to speak
of the Institute suspending 1.-THE tdH
term of all the sub-district schools" !
know of no sub-district that had fall
term, that was suspended. There
were several winter terms of the SUBJ
district schools that had commenced;
most of those were suspended and the
expense to the county, in consequence
| Of such suspension was not SO great
as has been represented. As far as !
have been able to ascertain there were
not to exceed twenty schools suspend
ed during Institute week; but for the
sake Of the argument, we will say
there were forty. Let us reckon
average wages Of the teachers whose
schools were suspended to be e36 per
month, which is above the average ;
then each teacher whose school was
suspended received an average of % !;
forty teachers then received 1920.
There were present four principals Of
graded schools, who receive an aver
age Of less than 500 per month,
which would make for that week
paid to them 800. The county paid
S21,88 for expenses of Institute,
making total Of about s450, instead
of thousands of dollars, as some would
have us believe. An Institute can be
held before winter schools commence,
and hope there will be no reason for
complaint on that ground when an
other County Institute is held. Hav.
ing held the examinations, and 1nsti-
tute mentioned, most of the remaining
time was employed in Office work,
meeting school boards and advising
on school matters, until the winter
schools were well under way, when
commenced visiting, and since have
made fifty-nine visits. As there are
one hundred and thirty one district
schools in the county it will be impos.
sible for me to visit all of them during
the winter, but shall visit as many
as l can.
In visiting ! find great many o.
the schools noisy, and the teachers
quite lenient in regard to whispering
look upon whispering, where tolera
ted to any extent, as the bane OF good
government, and the source of nearly
all the trouble in the school room. Il
this could be stopped, and the teacher
could be as quiet rs the scholars
are required to be-being an exam
pie to them Of good order-I strongly
believe that more studying would be
done, and more improvement mani
tested.
also must strongly condemn that
which has been practiced to consid
cradle extent, aud has had bad effect
upon the schools that have experienc.
ed it-that of interference with the
affairs of the teacher in the school
room. The law pnnishes by fine OF
imprisonment any person guilty Of
molesting schools. There have been
two cases Of this kind where parties
that were guilty of the offence have
been prosecuted and have been fined
by the courts in each case. l earnestly
hope that patrons will feel sufficiently
interested to see that any such inter
ference shall be promptly punished by
law.
| | find that directors in many
instances neglect to furnish articles
which are absolutely necessary in the
school room. l have found school
rooms furnished with no chalk save
that provided by the teacher; lights
broken out of windows and their
places supplied by the scholars
clothing, or imperfectly patched with
boards; also, in many instances nc
chair for the teacher or visitor, and
no way for sitting other than by
crowding scholars out Of their seats,
Many school houses are badly seated,
and the teacher is in situation ia
neither do justice to himself or benefit
the pupil and deserves no blame if a
good school is not taught. ] would
also recommend the furnishing of
wash basins for school rooms. II
cleanliness isAext to goodness" as
the old proverb has it, then the work
of education is incomplete without it.
i Teachers registers are something
much needed yet | find as many as
one half of the schools without them.
They can be obtained for dollar and
one would last district several years.
/ wish to make mention Of the local
Institutes that have been held already
at the following places: Durant,
Springdsle and Clarence. In every
instance they have received great
encouragement from the people by
their hospitality to teachers from a
distance, and in their attendance.
They are intended to benefit the
people as well as the teachers, and it
would crafty me to see school boards
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