The Weekly Tallahasseean. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 18??-1905, 1901-12-20
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Educational q; Department.


educational llt!l Department. F;
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THE e9MaAAs144ss 445tpnssgs ss1;I3 11+s
r2 PUBLIC SCHOOL -.
Forbes President Stetson Uni
versity.
Is often assumed that the onlv du-
STssrng upon the community in its
.etal0n OF the public school ia that NJ
49, Hpolng and criticism. By q Gu
~ process Of inversion, very diff
~ Ro account for, the very persons
VIZ as citizens and taxpayers, create
any pay Tor the school, look upon it
asYsomething foreign to them. as
sometnlng which somebody has foist-
euIor forced upon them, and thus at
once ppt themselves in the attitude
elener or open enmity, or stolit sindif-
Aeience! line first essential condition
% the existence of a cordial and help
Aui relatlon< on the part of the commu-
nlCy to2 the, school is the feeling Lat
tne school is its very own, blood of its
oIood and bone. of it's bone; that the
nonor and efficiency of the school is
aus own honor and efficiency; that any
1anure IN the school room is the COM
munltys failure. Whenever you find
tnese conditions, you will ind a good
pubic school. The writer has visited
many schools of all grades in this
State, In many different communities,
and has yet to find failure in a COM
munlty where the people took a pride
In their locaP school, and thus felt and
Tuinlled theiSresponsibility to it. This
responsibility should take two direc-
IONS, VIZ, toward the teacher, on the
one hand; and toward the school it.
SELF, IN its, equipment and Organiza-
ton, on the other. The teacher should
be alphabetically and Loyalty support
ed. Let us suppose, for the sake of ar
gument, that the teacher is not all that
could be desired, that he is conspicu-
ously weak in some direction and be
row the ideal in all; yet what course
should the community take in such a
case? Well, it isn't at all likely that
these defects will appear at the very
first, possibly not until the school Isl
fairly under way, and then to break
up, dismiss the teacher and attempt t.;
find another is quite sure to be disas|
trous. Unless the teacher is POSITIVELY;
bad, unless there is some unquestione6s
defect, fatal to any possible success. il
is better to retain teacher, once he Is
fairly under way with his work, to thv
end OF the session, and it is possible
for the community to stimulate, uphol6
and assist such weak teacher, and
thus get the best results out of him
II the community assumes a sympa1
thettc, attitude and not a censOrious
one; If the teacher is made to feel thai
the community has high ideals AM
confidently expects him to realize
them; if an effort is made on the pal4
of all to urge him on to his best eT3
deavor, bad situation may be verS
much relieved, and much good gOute44
from even relatively poor teacle4
When we remember what a conside&
able proportion one school year bear
to the whole of life, and especially -
the much shorter school life, we reaiiz
that all possible should be gotten OF
of 1t, and this can only be done, be tie
teacher good or bad, by the earnet
sympathy and cooperation of the con9
munity. If possible, however, moe
lapse VI uuIJ Ou LuC pal VI
community lies in the failure to prOS-
erly equip its own school. / am salts
fed that mucn can be accomplished sy
laying stress on this point, and brinf-
ing home to every citizen his duty ADD
responsibility in this matter. 1t is MT
too much to ask that every school
should have a comfortable house, fUS-
nished with suitable desks, blacE-
boards, maps, library, and simple illpk
tratiVe apparatus, and this is enIirGSy
within the range of possibility, wnfn
once the people are aroused to Its in
portance and a real conviction Lad IS
hold of them that. it is worth wh$ e
from every point of. view to have& q
good school. Entertainments can pc
held; and the money thus secured q N
be supplemented, by circulating a Iii
vate subscription, and if The teach
really propose thoroughly gdbd
equipment, the pride and interest $of
the; better element Of the community
is sure to be aroused, and liberal hSlp
will be given. This is not theory; IL is
now actually being done by live teash-
ers in many places. Teachers ofssn
make the mistake of attempting Zoo
little. Every one has respect fOlN q
large and liberal plan. Men like to do
a really unusual thing something tat
will make the community conspicutkis,
and this motive, though perhaps ct
the highest, may well be utilized.
Another very successful plan is for ;$;he
teacher to select man OF means, md
undertake to gradually bring hOme to
him the pleasure and satisfaction tSbe
found in some large service to the G.! IN
munity in the way of building or edEp
ping a public school. There are plSAty
of good men with money, who are
waiting for a live, wide-awaka SnI
downright earnest teacher to SLOW
them how to best enjoy their moAey
on the one hand, and how best to ssrve
their fellowmen on the other. The
resources of the community in thi4di-
rectlon are almost untouched, but; Lhe
day Will come when it will be a $ery
common thing for the wealthy mea OF
a community to commemorate &eir
own names and serve nobly their Siay
and generation by large and literal
gifts to public schools.