The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1893-04-25
GEORGE w. WEISS.
schuylkin County's Able superintendent
of Public Instruction.

| of Public Instruction,
| From the school journal"
The Office of county superintendent is one
of more influence and honor in Pennsylvania
than in other states and commands better
remuneration; the officer receiving from
| 81 900 to $4,000 per year, according to the
size Of tho county and the amount of labor
required. schuylkill county is one of the
largo counties of the state, and Supt Weiss
holds position of much responsibility. He
was thrown in his youth, upon his own re-
sources, and the early contact and struggle
with the world, thus necessitated, developed
in him the energy and pluck which has so
| largely contributed to his success in his after
life. He began teaching rural school at the
/ age of seventeen, and has ever since, except
during his years of student life, been ac-
| lively engaged in public school work. He
was educated at the Freeland seminary NOW
Ursinus college,, at Collegeville, and at the
State Normal School at Millerville, gradu-
ating from the latter in 1870 He labored as
principal of the schools of Port Carbon for
seven years, then as principal Of the schuyl-
kill Haven schools for -four years. In 1881
| he was elected by a large majority to his
present position as county superintendent,
and has held this for four terms of three
years each
During these twelve years, Supt. Weiss has
made a remarkable record for effective aud
progressive educational work. When he
came into office, the school work all through
/ q r a..
kind. The B c was taught in the primary
schools instead of writing from the start
pupils printed" their lessons; there was an
absence of all supplementary reading the
study of geography consisted Of memorzing
definitions and studying map; the spelling
was all from the spelling-book clay-model-
ing ard kindergarten methods in primary
SC hools were absolutely unknown, and what
little drawing there was consisted of useless
copying of a picture from one page of o
drawing book to another.
Supt. Weiss has literally revolutonized the
work in the schools Of his county. To-day
the schools in the villages, and in many of
the rural and mining districts of his county,
have in them more of the spirit and the
methods of modern education than the schools
of any other county in the state, and more
than many of the cities of the state. Any
one who wishes to see the principles of the
"New Education" worked out under difficult
/ conditions in rural schools, will find it done
in Schuylllill county.
! The old A B method has disappeared.
Arithmetic is taught effectively in the
primary grades Clay.modeling and draw
ing are taught in the majority of the schools,
and most of the schools are supplied more or
less with supplementary reading. The mold
ing board and rational methods of teaching
geography are employed in most of the
schools. There have been exhibits of school
work at the annual county institute, in
arithmetic, geography, history, clay-modeling,
drawing, etc, which would do credit to the
schools of many large cities, and much of the
work Of these exhibits was done by children
in farming and mining districts.
| The efforts of Supt. Weiss, at the outset to
bring the schools into line with modern
ideas were naturally opposed by conservative
teachers and citizens; but he soon won the
hearty support of the progressive people of
his county the changes proposed have been
tried and approved.
As a means of aiding the advancement OF
education, Supt. Weiss divided his county
institute into sections according to grades for
part Of the session, and employed experts to
| give instruction in methods of teaching
He also organized local teachers institutes all
over the county, at W hich the instruction is
given by progressive teachers under his own
supervision. For two summers he held a
summer school in the county at which he
had recognized experts from abroad to give
instruction in methods Of teaching. All this
has made Supt Weiss known throughout his
native state among educators as possessing
sound as well as progressive ideas, and caused
him 10 be regarded as one Of the leading
representatives of the new education, thai
has taken Ioot so strongly in Pennsylvania.