The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1897-02-25
SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS.
An Urgent Plan for Better Facilities
for the Public schools of this
City.
EDITOR HERALD:

The suggestions contained III re-
cent editorial bearing upon our public
school Accommodations deserves the earnest
attention of all right minded persons. This
community in the future as in the past is
likely to find its growth largely from fami-
lies moving in here from the farming dis
tricts for the purpose of educating their
children and so to remain as permanent citi-
zens and tax payers. What is put into the
school work is therefore good investment.
This city is and of right ought to be a
school centre from its geographical situation
and it ought to provide for its own future by
maintaining at this point fitting school of
high grade, gathering in candidates from all
this surrounding territory and holding them
here throughout the three years course of
the college preparatory, on the character OF
the school itself and its reputation for doing
the very best kind of work. In time as pop
ulation increases over all this agricultural
region, this reputation will become rich
inheritance of which every citizen will be
proud and every legitimate business carried
on here will share in the benefit financially
and otherwise. Our pnblic school ought to
become more and more among us, center
of the city's life-giving character to the
community, and the school anniversary in
June ought to be made the great occasion
of the year, with an eminent speaker from
abroad
In order to bring about this that is desir-
able we must magnify the school, and sacri-
fee, if need be, for it and keep it In condi-
ton where it can do its best work.
Some of course in every community, lack
ing in public spirit, will think only of the
immediate pain Of the tax. The citizens of
the first generation, unless very public
spirited, are not as likely to recognize the
present needs or worth of the school work
as those of the second generation with child
rem to educate; nor to appreciate with in
terest matters that concern the future life
and good of the community. They have
presumably already passed the prime of life
and have no large plans or expectations for
themselves beyond their present condition,
but if it is duty to maintain this work at
ALL such men likely having the most taxable
property have large responsibility in the
matter and larger than any one else, and as
probably their present prosperity has come
J to them here they do have or should have
more interest in this matter than any private
advantage would seem to warrant. What no.
bier monument could they rear to their
thoo ,1fe Of hot oh
represents their life work to the building up
ofour public school?
A9yright minded man who is not alre ady
e out ofsympathy with mankind and SO spoiled
flor any important uses in this life, knows
that there is no interest of a secular nature
SO important to the character and future of
our city as this. If any person comes into
our community and establishes private
commercial school or academy of a worthy
:. character, he ought to have the good will.
sympathy and patronage of the city and
even the financial encouragement as far as
prudence may warrant; and how much more
is it our duty to take care of the educational
institution that we are personally response
bic for. This city has already done too well
in the past with this school interest, to allow
of neglect in this direction. We ought to
hold our public school in too high respect to
allow of its buildings being unsuitable for
the present purposes of education or for its
surroundings to be neglected, and in too
much respect to allow some of its depart
ments to be housed with Jail, to the laugh
ter of neighbering cities. We ought to dig
nifty the high school department by giving it
separate and independent Accommodations in
which we could all take pride. This would in
many ways awaken new interest in its
work and under such conditions it would be
far easier to maintain it, and those who are at
FIRST inclined to oppose the undertaking,
when completed, would be the first to drive
around and point it out to their visiting
friends, to show that Sank Centre is live
town. The spirit of up-to-date enterprise is
"a thing of great worth and goes with pros
.Perity.
The immediate necessity of the school is
ito its credit viz: that its rooms are crowded.
The city is growing and education is being
realized as necessity by larger numbers,
and this is the very thing that the public
school system has been instituted for.
l have no disposition to criticize the school
board. 1t probably doing the very best il
can with the means at hand, but any one
who has had any experience in teaching
knows, that no teacher can do good work
where the recitation room is uncomfortably
crowded or where it is not warm and well
ventilated, to say nothing of its being the
breeding place of disease germs; nor where
the teacher is obliged to wander from room
to room with his flock for recitation, dis
stnrbing the order and diverting the atten-
-tion OF other pupils. There are always
those who will plead economy, sincerely
enough, but it is very poor economy to hire
an excellent and hard working superintend-
,ent, and board Of teachers such as we are
nowfavored with, and then deny them the
condition under which we can get the most
hene6f froy,a th4 ;r eerviceS