The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1873-08-28
Portage County Normal Institute.

Portage county normal Ans1lEuIes
This Institute being an outgrowth
of the Portage County Teachers As
sociation a brief review of the history
of that organization viii be in order.
At the Institute held last April, in
Windhanl, initiatory steps were taken
toward forming permanent organl-
zation of the teachers of the county.
Saturday, May 10th, at the call of
the committee, a number of teachers
met and adopted Constitution as re-
ported by the committee appointed at
Windham. No change was made in
the roll of officers elected at Wind
ham. Since then interesting and pro-
4itable meetings have been held in
Randolph, Brimfield and CharlestoWn.
at the urgent request of the citi-
zens 1T was decided 10 hold a Normal
Institute of three weeks at Brimfield,
under the auspices of the Associa-
ton. We have not been furnished
with the minutes, but have gathered
the following facts from variety of
sources:
The Institute met in the good old
Democratic town of Brimfeld Mon
dav, August 4th. The instructors dur
ing the first week were S. Puckett in
grammar, w. w. Patton in reading
and orthography, j. P. Riedinger in
arithmetic. Hiram Sapp in geogra-
ply, A. E. Gladding in map drawing,
and Z. r. Spiers in penmanship.
This week was entirely devoted to
class work.
The second week Mr.. A. A. Clark
took the class in penmanship, Mr..
Spiers being obliged to withdraw to
teach fall term of school.
John Hancock, of Cincinnati, was
present on Monday and Tuesday to
lecture on the t'TheOry and Practice Of
Teaching" He also delivered a lecture
Monday evening to the people of
Brimfeld, upon what subject we are
unable to state, F..
The third week the regular corps of
instructors remained the same as the
perintendent Findley, of Akron, who
lectured on the ssTheory and Practice
of Teaching" and upon the 'iUnited
States Government. - lie was very
popular with the teachers, and his two
lectures upon 6. The Teacher were
considered we'll worth the entire eX-
pense of attending the Institute.
On Friday evening Mr.. j .FHuns-
b6ER0I AOCbOi W LLO POOBlC vi bllC
place on "EducAtion, its Nature and
Design"
The people of Brimfield are forth
nate in securing Mr.. Hunsberger TO
teach their select school this fall.
just before adjOuming the commit
tee reported and the Institute adopted
the following resOlations; Ag
ReS0lUed, That the Normal 1nsti-
tute of Portage county, held in Brim-
field, commencing August 4, 1873, and
closing August %, 1873, has been a
decided suecessf and worthy of the
patronage of all desiring to better
qualify Themselves as-teaehers.I SO
ResOLced, That the lively interest
manifested by all in attendance indi-
Gates that teachers are becoming de-
termined to raise the standard of
their qualifications, thus becoming
better prepared for discharging the
duties deVolYing upon them as in
structoPs.
Z ReSolved, That we recognize in
thos9 who have been our instructors,
able, earnest workers in the cause of
education, and that the practical in
struction which we have received
from them is of incalcnlable worth.
Resolued, That to their untiring
perseverance we attribute the great
degree of success which has attended
this Institute throughout its entire
session. a
ResOlVed, That the thanks of this
Institute are hereby rendered to the
Trustees of BrimfieId for the use of
their beautiful hall and to the people
of the township for their courtesy III
supplying our every want.
Res0lUed, That the hearty welcome
with which we have been received
will leave many pleasant recollec- j.
tions, and that we also accept it to be
a conclusive evidence that the people
of Brimfield rightly appreciate the
worth of a Normal Institute. 'l
BYRON J. BoGUE,
MARY d. WHITNEY,