The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-05-14

The first meeting OF the teachers o
the city in which Superintendent
Cooper has presided, was held in tn
High school assembly room yesterday
The meeting was called by Mr.. Coope
for the purpose of becoming better &C
quainted with the teaching force, ant
the occasion was a memorable and a.
enjoyable one.
superintendent Cooper addressed tn
teachers briefly. Principal Martin re
sponded eloquently in behalf of tn
teachers Mr.. Cooper said in part:
1t is a matter of great regret to me- al
! stand before you today in my new rela
ton, that what l may have to say to yol
cannot from your lack of Acquaintance
with me, have that weight and influences
which l so much crave. But We must &c
acquainted, and this is one OF the mean:
/ may make use of to further our &C
quaintance. 1 wish to speak TO yol
briefly about our relations, about sons
of the things you may expect from me a:
your superintendent, and about some o.
my hopes and beliefs.
/ have many things to learn concerning
practices and presidents, and l ask that
while | an in the learning stage, 1 may
have your forbearance, hoping ultimately
to merit your confidence.
At the outset L wish to assure you thai
I consider myself your associate and youl
assistant, and l desire you TO consider me
so.
We are associated together in a cause
full of responsibilities, and quite as full
of perpleXities- We have common aim
a common hope, and work toward a COM
mon end. We hold together the deStin1es
of the children of our city. You are not
alone responsible, l am not alone re-
sponsible. but teacher, principal, super
visor, superintendent, are together re-
sponsible for the outcome of our commits
sion in these schools. As We are one in
responsibility, so We should be one in
sympathy, and working together, YOU
araH I Nr-f4 Won in
place and l in mine, We shall not fail in
bringing to our youthful charges much
that would be lost if there were lack of
that unity of spirit which is vital in edu-
cational work.
Teaching is essentially a spiritual pro-
cess. Mechanism is necessary, out II is
misfortune of the school that the me-
chanical is always somewhat antagoniS-
tic to the spiritual side of our work.
1 would have you remember that every
teacher. whether her place is in the High
school or in the remoteSt district, is a
part of the whole and essential to the
success of the whole. / recall here line
from Mrs. Whitney. 1t has often en-
couraged me: I'VE are only working by
inches; in a way like the camePs-hair
embroidererS in China. But it gets put
together somehow, sometime. and 1t Is
beautiful and whole and large" You
have your inch of space, l have mine;
and We may confidently expect that some
time, somewhere, what We do unitedly
will be put together and ii Will be beau
IlIul ana WnOle ana large.
1t is not work that taxes nervous en-
ergy. but the doing of work under unfor-
tunate conditions, either within or with
out. What makes work heavy is a wrong
state of mind or a wrong state OF affairs
surrounding US. When conditions are
right, teaching is not drudgery. but an
elevating and satisfying employment If
we would elevate our work above the
drudge's portion. we must put love into
II, and thought, for when love and
thought are in operation, then all of the
self is employed. There is no magic like
putting all of ones self into employment,
no balm for hurts like interest. Drum
mond says that love is the greatest thing
in the world, but from my point of view
il depends upon what kind of love it is.
If he means a discriminating love, then
he is right Second to discriminating
love- l name discriminating thought. Join
thoughtful love TO loving thought and
work out both then We shall have
satisfying employment, no matter where
we work. l want you to think. and think
discriminatory. l want you to express
what you think, and express it always
cOurteousiy, always lovingly, always with
a view TO promoting the good of the
children, whose servants we are. L stated
that l would be your assistant. L hold
the same relation to you that you do to
your pupils. When you exercise your
true function as a teacher, you are an
assistant a servant of the children whom
you teach, and he who is the best servant
is the best teacher. In the same way. L
hold ii to be one of my functions TO be
an assistant to you. l wish TO assist you
TO do your work more easily, more nap
ply more successfully. desire to lead
YOU to make use OF your margin of
power. Every one of us has remainder
of power that he has not yet explored.
If he leaves that remainder unexplored.
he remains at a StandStill. If he explores
It and cultivates it, he grows and in
CT eases his capacity for happiness and
usefulness. l consider it a part of my
duty to help you to find and TO cultivate
your UNEMPLOYED remainders as teachers.
/ may not be able TO do the work you are
doing as well as you do II, but may be
able to help you do it better. It has some
times seemed to me. as L have gone about
among you, that no one could do the
work which YOU are doing better, except
yourselves. If you can do it better, he
gives true and loving service who helps
you 10 improve Thus | esteem 1t to be
a very high function of the superlntend-
ent TO help the teachers by suggestion or
stimulus. or by creating an atmosphere
of inspiration to improve upon what they
are
thought which is a good one for the clos
ing days of a hard year. The teacher
sometimes feels that her life of humdrum
does not count but you know and know
if ii is right and true it goes into all the
earth, to fructify and enrich H. Inc Whoie
world centers about every school room
door. The whole volume of truth IS tr1o-
utary to it If the teacher lays it under
tribute. And the contrary. also, is true.
that every school room door opens INTO
all the world. The paths that lead out
from the school room are many, and they
reach to the ends of the earth. Today at
the battlefront in the Philippines there
are soldiers from Iowa and Utah Brave
boys are there fighting the battle of civil
cation Those boys are the products of
The schools of Iowa and Utah, and the
teachers Of those boys have a part in
NAT contest-how much they know not
The teacher renews her life in the lives
IF her pupils. She multiplies it forty-fold
very year. That influence is not lost,
seems dark and the path is tangled,
when we are weary with the burden We
AIRY. it is well for us to ascend the |
heights. where the eternal sunshine gives !
! broader view of our work and to be |