Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1902-04-17

RURAL. SCHOOL con 6fdhArIon|
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~ the. Members q he School Boards Of
Gent lemen:--I una Il absolutely impos.|
20
70 the needs Tor. and the advantages OF.
.consoii0ation OF rural district schools.
and for this reason We have decided to
Nowhere y the quality Of usefulness
reaching. than in the schools Of this
extremes of capacity. This difference is
we'll illustrated by the work Of two
schools of this state only few miles
under the direction OF the same board.
In the village Is a trained. experienced.
capable teacher who receives $4s5 annu-
ally ally fSr teaching aa primary grade Of
thirty-six weeks. Over her Is an expert
principal who gives much-Uf his time to
the work Of supervision. and he receives
school. two and one-half miles away.
taught twenty-four weeks during the
year. is . young. unframed. inexperi-
pills, and paid for her services $3.50 per
week. What is represented by this un-
trained, immature girl is existant in the
and " where ae o he ss 9
the people are being trained. The large
amount of helpless. aimless, amateur
work under the guise Of teaching, is but
acquainted. themselves with the funda-
mental points. who are not In touch
with modern ideas. do not appreciate.
and. ill-fruitage Of much Of the teaching
rural district schools. ! Therefore. this
the and the
done?
Our normal schools cannot meet the
exigency: # they were to turn out 500
SUFFICIENT to meet this unfortunate con-
dition. Then again the normal gradu-
ates are everywhere in demand, and they
in our and cities tn were
training Is demanded and where there
are means Of purchasing skilled labor.
skin in supervision. greater capacity on
the part of the teacher and-consolida-
It is high time that something be done
to enable our youth to learn trades and
form Industrious habits and taste for
work: 1t Is not enough to instruct a boy
in the. branches Of learning usually
him there; It takes more than mere
knowledge of books to make q useful
member Der s Of society y. and good citizen
inst e Of in parts Let hs hands
trained to the end that he may be pro-
tected from the cupidity. of the manufac-
turer and the pressure OF home poverty.
very poor. we must, in some way, give
them study and work together.
The rural schools should. and must, re-
ceive far greater attention in the future
tnAn
recognized that the foundation must be
better laid IL higher education is to ac-
seho 5o Is nd the
statue, the root to the tree, the founda-
tion to the superstr9cture;
and the old times the idea that the ia
mer is "The Man With the Hoe" . This
may be true Of some particular sectieas
Of Europe. but 1t is not, and should never
Our philosophy, however. has allowed
farming to be too nearly irksome toll.
Our eyes have not been taught fully to
for our S ears not attuned to the mel.
odies of animated nature; our lives not
trained to appreciate Gods outdoors .
We have not fully learned the advan-
as family, and we have been only too
eager to Over-estimate the real advan-
tages Of city life. and to put a false value
bilities. We should have rural schools
conducted more with reference to the
vocational needs of the children who are
pursuits: schools in which shall be
taught the elements of the Sciences upon
which successful results in agriculture
will depend; schools in which farm life
shall be made more attractive for boys
With the introduction Of the Course
Of Study. with the machinery of opera
schools, the introduction of new methods
of teaching, closer and more skilled SUI
pervision all along the line the logical
and the growing knowledge Of the neces-
sity for such schools in districts and viii
lagos, there is no reason, whatever. why
the country boy and girl should not have
that of his brother or sister In the larger
The great evil Of the rural school at
present lies in its nonsocial character.
1t is wholly unable to furnish each of its
pupils that educational influence that
comes from association with many Of
aeH eannot ave q
classes, enough of honest and helpful
competition to establish q standard to
which many xI bright pupil would raj, raise
from him that supreme effort which. de-
velops and ennobles, and which can come
only from a vigorous contest with his
from a recitation In one-pupil class is
discouraging to both pupil and teacher.
Not only Is the mental work Of the
pupil thus retarded, but lack Of enough
pupils to organize a game on the school
grounds prevents adequate exercise and
tends to make morbid, selfish and pes
simistic all who live in its atmosphere.
The deadly quiet and inactivity OF the
small school kill the spirit.
In the beginning Of the past century,
90 per cent Of the population lived in
the country; at the close Of the century
but 66 per cent were left. OF the II ,0O(
school districts in the state Of New York
nearly 5000, or more than one-fourth,
have six pupils or less, and two-thirds
have less than twenty-One. Vermont has
254 schools with less than seven. Maine
has 1000 schools with less than twelve.
Wisconsin has 1893 schools with less than
six and 1858 with less than eleven.
No school can claim good conditions
for work II It contains fewer than
twenty-five pupils; net ertheless. three
fourths Of the rural districts of North
Dakota are In operation with numbers
of pupils ranging from four to fourteen.
The problem Of the small school, there.
fore, is a hard one. and each year be-
comes increasingly difficult. 1t is press
ing. more and more upon our attention
and now requires a solution. In these
schools we must lessen the cost; we
must enlarge the classes. The question
now arises: How shall we proceed to ac-
complish this much needed reform?
Upon one proposition we must all agree,
namely: that our pupils must be collect
ed in larger groups. We know that this
means the abandonment of many school,