The true northerner., 1899-08-02


every district shall be the proud posses
sor of the national flag.
But it seems necessary here to give a
just criticism which will apply to many
of our rural schools and as we'll to some
of our village schools. This is with ref
erence to the sanitary conditions of out
buildings Many are in deplorable con-
dition. But let me say according to the
annual report of the superintendent of
public instruction this seems to be uni
versal in all counties of the state. have
taken especial pains to call the attention
of school officers TO this when possible
While the school boards are in part to
blame the teachers must not shrink their
duty i'm the matter. A good live teacher
can get almost any director to see that
buildings are at least in proper condition
at the beginning of the year, and then
continual vigilance will do much to keep
them so. A sense of delicacy in urging
pupils in doing what is right in this mat
ter is felt on the part of some teachers,
but this should not be. To conclude,
however, as our Mr.. Hammond states,
this hydraheaded evil of out buildings
sanitation among our schools still thrives
unmolested, and we fear never will be
throttled until the powerful hand of the
law closes upon it and the commissioner
is given legal authority to compel the
repairs that negligent officials fail to
make
The means of ventilation in some
school rooms is not good-for instance a
box stove kept red hot, everything tight
as a drum, windows nailed down and
corked, no means of letting in little of
the life-giving oxygen save when the
teacher may open the door and then
every one shivers. However, in major
ity of our schools this condition does not
exist. The windows of a properly ven
tilated schoolroom should be hung with
cords and weights if possible. A board
of proper width and length fitted under
the lower sash of the window will create
space through which the air many
come in without direct draft on pupils.
How much better if we could have in
every school room the proper fiues and
registers. May | state here, / believe
the greatest need of our schools at the
present time is the proper provision for
heating and ventilating.
Allow me to give some miscellaneous
suggestions. Blackboards should be kept
in proper repairs. Some districts spend
enough money in few years in the re-
pairing of blackboards to obtain good
slate boards that would last life time.
A cheap article is generally the most ex-
pensive in the long run. All windows
should be provided with shades. School
house sites should be high and heathful.
There should be some kind of walks,
either gravel or wood, from entrance of
school ground to school building, and
from the latter to out buildings. Arbor
day should be observed by the proper
setting out of trees and beautifying the
surrounding conditions in general. 1t
would seem necessary that similar work
might be done at different times of the
school year
One person of whom we need to rid
ourselves and the one who is a bar to all
movements. educational or otherwise, be
they right or not, is the ordinary kicker.
He is never quite satisfied with the com
mon run of things. His way of doing
things is just a little better than the
usual and prescribed way. He seems to
delight in being on the opposite side,
and if there is none he creates one. For
this individual the world has little use.
No amount of medi cal skill, mixed with
the oil of human kindness can save him.
When he kindly takes his departure from
this mundane sphere we gladly assist at
his burial. With generous impulse we
fain would write on his tombstone, Peace
be to his ashes" were it not for that feel
ing of certainty that his spirit would re-
turn and efface our work. But, however,
in strong contrast to this class, the true
kicker stands out in his loftiness of pur-
pose. In the average class the predom-
inant motive is too often the elevation of
self To the degree in which the kicker S
motive is self advancement his influence
is harmful; but when he is actuated by
desire for the elevation of others for
greater purity in the advancement of
right education his efforts cannot fail to
bring blessing to our schools.
In commenting on the value of school
to any community, | quote from our
State Supt. Jason E. Hammond. He
says, "How to increase the influence of
the school and to secure a more hearty
cooperation on the part of taxpayers
and parents, is a question that interests
all persons actively engaged in school
work. There is no parent so ignorant
himself or so uninterested in social or
public life as not to desire that his
children shall secure a better education
than he himself has He is interested
in the school in his neighborhood or dis
trict, to a greater or less extent: he has
his opinion, though many times an err
roneous one, concerning the work of the
teacher, yet in many instances the parent
or taxpayer knows comparatively little
of the teacher or of the work done in the
school, There may be sufficient reasons
for this; one reason being a difiidence
on his part to visit the school, another g
lack of time to do so.
| Another statement made a little apart