The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1899-02-22
B B B STORE
THE REDWOOD GAZETTE.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. %, 1899.
SCHOOL TALK.
Mr.. Race Makes a Few SuggeS'
tions Before Leaving.

tlons Before Leaving.
Should patrons visit schools!
Certainly. Why? To cooperate
with the teacher. GAS is the teach
er SO is the school. A school is
always as good as is the community
in which the school is situated.
One gets such notions as the above
when one gets in district like No.
45-the Weldon school in Charles
town township. The building has
been newly painted, the desks nice
ly vanished; there's a nice library
in the school room, plenty of good
stone slate black free text
books are furnished. Now, gentle
men, next year add one more month
to the term, first grade, we'll
trained teacher, then add the fur
mace plan of heating the room.
All the above is equally true OF
No. 16, three miles south of No. As
Charlestown-the Bott school. The
two schools vie with each other in
many ways. No. 16 has forceful,
energetic teacher, devoted to her
work. Poor attendance in the past
has seriously counted against No.
Is.
One gets such pictures travelling
over the county. One day you will
come upon school room Of bright
eyed children, whose sole inspira-
tion is the little woman of perhaps
twenty years. She is the Eight Of
the world" to these boys and girls,
whose sum of this worlds knowl-
edge is yet small. But it is a
pleasure to watch her work. Her
soul is on fire, so to speak. One S
mercury goes up into the nineties.
The people of the districtappreciate
her.
Here the picture OF 20 schools
visited between Jan. 18th and Feb.
18th. Ten are good, four are fair and
six are poor. Here's good school.
It's 8 a. m. The teacher, bless her,
is on hand before her school. She
looks into the souls of her pupils,
through their eyes good morning,
children; see that James is not
here; Jennie, too, is absent; Hilda
was gone yesterday; Hans, too, is
missing; who knows why they are
not here; Let's sing stanza of
Holy Lord, Almighty; sing a
stanza of Battle Hymn of the Re-
public who has something for us
this morning?" she says. There
arises from different parts of the
room, pupils. One says, "Dare to
write,it on your heart that this day
is your best one." Another says,
ssGod lives in the ever present now. !"
+'I am thankful for this bright,
beautiful morning Il appreciate
what the school board of this dis
trict is doing for me. y ''Old Glory
waves over Cuba, which means free
schools, good churches and good
everything" All this is done in Is
minutes. Perhaps in no two of
these schools I'm thinking of are
the exercises alike. They should
not be.
Now, for a poor school. The
floor is dirty. The teacher was off
to some rictjunket(d ance.) The
desks are dusty Perhaps, the
stove is an old smoking, cracked
affair. It's9 a. m. The teacher
taps her bell. She calls the roll.
She says: "Take your books chart
class, stand, left, right. left, right,
sit Notice the mercury, (my in
spiration) 60 down. The grind goes
steadily on for three hours. Not
one inspirational fash from her
soul to illumine that sunless child
who wonders, "why do 1 90 to
school. Now, see her call the
history class. Three boys and two
girls. SIet me see," she says,
Hans, where is the lesson? Is it
Grant at Vicksburg?" 'sNo," says