The Opelousas courier., 1888-09-01
State Normal School Of Eouisi
ana.
10 the Pe0ple of Louisiana :

TO the People Of Louisiana:
I feel that in accepting the presidency
Of the State Normal School OF Loulsl-
ana I assume no ordinary responsibility;
for upon the success of this institution
depends, in a great measure, the future
efficiency of the public schools of this
State. Such institutions have been
found an indispensable requisite to the
proper advancement of public educa-
ton in other lands; and the Act Of the
General Assembly of 1884, by which
this Institution was founded, is an en-
couraging sign that our lawmakers are
alive to the necessity Of sustaining in
stitutions designed to carry enlighten-
ment to the masses Of our people.
In this age universal education is adj
mitted to be necessary to the preserva-
ton of social order, and the functions
of government have been enlarged SO
as to include, among the "inalienable
rights" which governments are insti-
tuted TO secure" not only slife, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness" but also
free education.
Weighed down by al oppressive
debt, her people not yet fully recovered
from the ravages of war and the hor-
rors of reconstruction, Louisiana is
poorly prepared to give to the masses
of her people the education which mod
ern progress demands. Her public
schools are not what her people would
wish them to be either in number Or ih
the Quality of their instruction. To in
crease the number of schools or the
length of school terms would require
an expenditure which neither the State
nor the parishes can afford. To inn
prove the quality of their instruction is
the aim of the State Normal School.
This it proposes to do by training
teachers for the public schools. It's
faculty, composed of nine able and ex-
perienced instructors, gives to the
student thorough training in the most
approved methods of teaching the Or
binary branches of q common school
education ; and its practice department
"a model graded school-affords the
student an opportunity to observe, and
to take part in, the practical applica-
ton of those methods.
1t is believed that no where else in
the South can teachers obtain this
thorough preparation for their life
| work at such moderate cost. In many
instances the total expenses per session
of seven months has been less than one
hundred dollars. And the value of the
training received at the State Normal
School is shown by the number and
character of the students in attendance
during the three short years of its
existence.
Its usefulness in the past, and the
ability of its present corps of instruc-
tors, furnish the best guarantee of its
success in the future. But that success
can not be achieved without the earnest
sympathy and active cooperation of all
classes of u people.
1t is to the people and to the public
press that we appeal for support in our
efforts to build up in Louisiana an in
stituti0n that shall be the peer of any
Normal College in the United States !;
an institution from whose walls shall
60 forth each year scores of trained
teachers to infuse new life into our pub
lie schools.
Consecrated to the cause of popular
education, they will carry their enthusi-
asp into every nook and corner of our
State, and will hasten the coming of
that day when every Louisiana child
a acquire at K6me the elements of an
education when in every valley and on
every hilltop the school-house will in
vite the sturdy toiler of the Northwest
to settle in our midst and reclaim our
waste places; when our Colleges and
Universities, freed from their burden
some preparatory departments, viii
be enabled to compete with older insti-
tutions Ga other lands and Whealbur
beloved State g,dill lead the van tn the
march of enlightened Christian pro-
gress, not, as in the past, by paying
heavy tribute to the schools of other
States, but by patronizing and fostering
her own.
Respectfully submitted,
THOS. d. BOYD,
President, State Normal School.