Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1878-02-18
OUR U n SCHOOLS.
Notes OF Inspection by the Superintcn

Three miles from Iankton, in district No.
3, is the school taught by Louis N. Alberty,
which visited Dec. 81, in the first week of
h,a school. Nine of his twelve pupils were
present, in 4 small tenement, there being no
school house, The whole appearance of the
school showed order, quiet, and propricty,
and the children showed good capacity for
scholarship. The teacher has trained him.
self for his work to good purpose, in Wood
bury county, Iowa.
District No. IS has a frame school house,
whose interior exhibits proofs Of hard usage
and \ previous habit of scribbling, cutting
and defiling. Hence its furniture is Of the
rudest and most scanty kind. The teacher,
Mr.. o. A. Rice, was found OH Dec. oath in
charge Of is pupils, out of IS enrolled. This
was the least satisfactory ef all the visits O!
inspection l have made. 1t is needless
10 go into details, but it is still an open
question in my mind whether the parents,
the pupils or the teacher, should bear the
most blame for the final breaking up of the
school.
District No. 20 had a year ago as useless
a teacher and as Improbable a school as
could be found, Judging from reports and
in this discouraging state Miss Mary Law
renee undertook the winter term. At my
visit Jan. 4, I found an orderly, studious,
obedient set of is pupils, out of a total en-
rollment of 81. The house is a small log
structure with chinks plaatered with mud
as usual, but furnished with pine desks, a
blackboard and a United States map, which
were in daily use. Whispering was COM
pletely abolished, as far as l could discover.
The pupils were all German, and suffered
the usual disadvantages of a neighborhood
where few talk English. But with such
good faithful instruction from a teacher who
had won the love and obedience of all from
tine largest to the least, they were fast gain.
ing a good knowledge Of the common school
rudiments.
On the same day, called at B. P. Martins
school near GAINESVILLE, where I heard good
reading in the latter part of the primer, by
Russian children to whom Mr.. Martin had
taught the English letters six weeks be.
fore.
District No. S, at Marindal, has a large
frame building worth about $500, whose in
f terror is fitted up more with reference
to the uses Of a place of divine worship
! than of a school house. 1t has plenty O
seats but no proper desks for children. The
number of pupils able to attend school ii
very small for SO large a district. OF 1;
T. pupils on the roll S were present Jan. Is
Theodore johnson was teaching. He had
kind, genial and systematic manner, ant
gives excellent satisfaction. The house wa.
neatly kept, and the order and studiousnes!
l of the children was gratifying to sec,
, Joint district No. 26. at Oakdale, also hal
a very large, commodious house, and gooe
furniture, which has been we'll taken car,
of. B. A. E. Bagstad. who was teaching ii
? his third week, had the school in very or
! derby and quiet condition, but had not ye
reduced it to that degree Of studiousnes
(which he desired. When he begun, Their
we're pupils who had no idea of studyin,
hard, committing anything to memory, o
reciting good lessons. Others were willin,
and ambitious to learn. Mr.. Bagstad keep
a very still house, and teaches in a kind an
pleasant manner. The younger classes al
read very poorly, for American children
and do not know the names and uses G
punctuation marks.
q An evening entertainment was held at tn
Gayville school, N. NJ. Hills, teacher. TIL
house was crowded with people and the lon
programme consisted of spelling down, e:
says, declarations, singing, geography,
"paper," and remarks by some of those pres
a ent. The whole was highly creditable t
the place and the teacher.
District No. II was organized last spring
and begun its first school last month in til
house Of Mr.. Norman, near T. w. Bris
bine's. The teacher, Miss Lille Z. Jones
r is inexperienced and young, but fully equa
f to the position, judging from what I sa,
Jan. 18th. Her little school numbers onl
l eight pupils but the methods of instructio,
are frst.rate. A good blackboard was use
almost constantly in the various recitation
S in arithmetic, geography, grammar, spelling
&c. -Four of the pupils had just been take
from the city schools.
l District No. 20 was visited a second tim
, Feb. 9Th, finding Miss Lawrencc's school i,
a still better condition. Number Of pupil
! 81; present, "a. Not a symptom Of disc,
n der or inattention to duty. All write o
: print on %alates; nearly all read my writin
on the board with ease. They read fairl
!. in the class, except that old habits OF fault
infections still prevail. Singing and read
{, ing in concert had also been taught wit
good results.
District No. 80 has a nice little school 6
twenty pupils, lG being present at my v'si
Iof Feb. 9th. S. w. Howe teaches in hi
> own house, under many disadvar tages, bu
- II