Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1904-06-11

Ebia on the VnIuc OF Good schools.
Comfort and Health OF Pupils Are
of Vital Irnportnncc.
a town or village may have good
streets, good water and II good record
for health, but II it lacks good schools
the defect is one to tell against its
prosperity. People may be inCon-
venicnccd for lack of churches, but it
is demanded on behalf of their chill
drcn that they be provided with facili-
ties for securing an education. and this
demand is becoming more positive all
the time. AS matter of fact good
schools alone have pulled many Il town
up and given ii Il reputation, while, on
the contrary, the lack of them has kept
many Il town, cnterpriSng in other di-
rections, from being heard Of outside
its own county. In discussing this
matter recently DR.. Edward Brooks.
superintendent of schools of philadcl-
phia, said:
"Thc crowning feature of modern
civilization IS the public school The
church, the state and the library have
existed for ages. The public school is
the product of the nineteenth century.
For the education Of the people the
state provides not only for the inStruc-
tion, but suitable place for such in
struction, by erecting the buildings in
which the schools are gathered.
"a century ago a public school was
n curiosity; today they dot the rural
landscape and adOrn the streets Of our
cities. Fifty years ago it was the
courthouse and the church that attract
ed the attention of the visitor to
strange city; today the public high
school building yies with the church
and courthouse in the city's architec-
tural attractions.
"The most of our children are elu-
Gated In the elementary schools, and
these buildings, therefore, should be
especially adapted to their purpose.
They should be we'll lighted, heated
and ventilated and equipped with the
most modern improvements In steel
ceilings. hardwood floors, wide corri-
dors, lncloScd tower fire escapes of
brick and slate and every facility for
assuring the safety, health and con-
fort of scholars ana teachers.
"The school building IS the home Of
the pupils for five or six hours of the
day. TO many children III towns and
cities it is the only place that may real
ly be called n home, and 1t is rccog-
/ nized that this school home should be
bright, cheerful hcalthful, safe and in
every way adapted to that purpose.
"In Belgium the location, cOnStruc-
tion, drainage, closets, etc, of school
houses must be examined and ap-
proved by the bureau of hygiene be
fore they can be occupied for school
purposes. In Vienna and some of the
| other towns and cities of Europe Il
phySician'S certificate is necessary in
determining the location of school
building. Experts say that the class
room should afford about POO cubic
feet Of air space to each pupil, and this
is what the board of education endeav-
ors to attain In our modern school
buildings as well as to assure by prop
er ventilation a constant flow of pure
air.
a sunny, cheerful schoolroom af-
fects the spirits of the pupils and
tends to promote chcerfulncss of feel
ing, attention to studies and amenabil-
ity to discipline. and the reverse, which
can be found in so many of our old
school buildings, violates nearly every
law of hygiene.
"The schoolroOm should be made
beautiful as we'll as healthful. The
furniture should be neat, the walls of
color agreeable to the eye and all the
surroundings In accordance with the
demands of the time. 1t should be Il
place of taste and beauty and thus eX-
erclse refining influence upon its pu-
pills. \ taste for beauty and a love Of
the right should go hand in hand, for it
is the mission of the beautiful to aid in
cultivating Il love of right conduct.
There is thus a strong pedagogical rea-
son for bcautifying our schools and
keeping them so, which some people
unfortunately regard as merely one of
the fads of the times. Let the child
drink in, day by day, the beauty which
surrounds him In the schoolroom and
he will instinctively turn from that
which IS ugly, coarse and unreined.
Learning to love the beautiful in
school, he will carry this taste into his
home and cndeavor to surround HIM
self there with the same conditions
that he has found in school"