The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1901-11-15
THE SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY.

AT the meeting of the Upper Pc
ninsula Teachers Association held
at Hancock. Mich, recently, Supt. L.
L. Wright, of Ironwood. delivered a
paper upon "The Schools and Com
munity." the admirable points be-
ing of such force as to entitle pub
LEGATION of excerpts. No one can
help but appreciate his following
opening remarks:
Il desire in this paper to present
the idea that in these northern COM
munities not the least valua BILE part
of the education that pupil may
get from the school comes from
sources other than books: Here the
schools mean much more to the pu-
pill, and do much more for him than
to teach him arithmetic and geog-
raphy. desire to show that the
aesthetic and moral education, the
spiritual uplift, must come from
the school.
"The boys and girls in the upper
peninsula schools are largely of
foreign born parents. Their faith
ers work in the mines or in the
mills, their mothers have no knowl-
edge or aspirations outside of their
humble homes. AS rule the stand
ard of living is not high; the wages
are not so judiciously expended as
to bring the highest results in CON-
fort. The houses in many instances
are poor, and not enough attention
is paid to sanitation and cleanliness.
There are no pictures, no carpets,
no musical instruments, no Ameri-
can newspapers. There is practi-
cally no family instruction or train
ing in the graces and refinements
of American civilization. Not much
home training in morals, and none
in manners. The home is and must
be influential as an educational
factor. The child spends here his
most impressible years, and the ed
ucation he gets then, whether good
or bad, is lasting in it's effects.
"The purposes of the school is the
development of character, citizen
ship, a true and high standard OF
right living, and the school must
accomplish this end practically un
aided. With these conditions, this
northern section needs more thar
almost any other a teaching force
of the highest class as to PERSONAL
ty, address, enthusiasm, and loft
ness of purpose. On the other hanc
there is no community where the
school is more free to work out its
purpose. Money and material are
furnished freely and ungrudgingly
by the great corporations that pay
the taxes. Here are great oppor
tunities, and here they have beer
improved. I assume that the men
tai training in all these schools is
fairly we'll done, but that the oppor
tunities for developing the physi
cal, the aesthetic, the spiritual are
not always appreciated or inprov
ed. The school has the care of the
individual at the age when intelli
gence, honor, faith, truth can bt
placed first, above wealth and bust
ness success, and if the school doe:
not give to the pupil this spiritua
uplift, it can hardly come from any
other source.
"In these communities I would
like to see the school the socia
center around which the life of thu
town should revolve. The schoo
ought to be the chief source of in
terest and pride to the citizens, anc
that it may be it must have strong
personality as it's directing anC
moving spirit in the person of it:
superintendent"
WILL COMPLETE SUKVEY,
| ~k 4 4