Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1904-01-08
Psper Read il Santa e By
Miss Lena Belts u Las We.
gss High Schssl
SENSIBLE VIE VS.
Importance Of The subject %
Those Ii Every Walk
Of Life


The s~ubjoinsd thoughtful and SUI
sestive paper "a read b Miss Len
Bolts Of the Las Vegas High schcu
before ths Educational association 1
session At Santa ne. To the isrg
number who are In school out 0
school the paper wflI prove interesting
AMI profitable. Accordingly II 10 r.
produced ID full Many Of the idea
developed win be relished by the gen
ersl reading public. The paper ~
lows.
Enoissh In tire High School.
II there il any subject III the higi
school curriculum that should 10
need an advocate, Ii Ia the EingIief
language and literature. Yet II Il
: deDiorsbie fact that III many d
the secondary schools u the country
the pablect ls given only those peri
odg OF time that do mol seem avail,
able for anything else. a glance at
The requests sent out by boards 81 ed.
ueatioB Tor teachers fitted for depart.
Inent sork In the high school tells the
same story of neglect. Teachers Of
~scienct, teachers 81 mathematics. Or
physical culture are 10 demand
while very rarely some school board
thinks II necessary to advertise IT,
need fof i weil.equlpped teacher u
English. III fset. he impression
CONS to prevail that any one q
teach English. The prevalence 81
this feeling. and the fact that the de-
mani for teachers ID the grades Is
largely supplied BY high school grad.
yates who have had little or no sub
seqnent training. explains the condL
ton tha, now exists. TSothirds u
the pupils who enter the first year o.
the high school have M adequate
knowledge Of the structure OF the
English language and cannot
write q scntance Of fifteen words
without making gross errors In
syntax. After entering tho high
school, they have two or three
years Of Indifferent training ID IN
slish. frequently taking The form 81
. perfunctory textbook siuJy Of
rhetoric and literature. and al the
completion 81 the course the favored
few enter some college Or uniyer-
sity. Nearly 50 per cent Of the pa
pills who enter the freshman year Of
The university course fatl TO make q
passing grade Ia English The blame
for this defect from the grades %
the university lies at she door Of the
high school.
However, the prominence that j.
given English in our institutions ot
higher learning must eventually have
81 effect upon the secondary school
The high school i me Errat itefsi'
Ing agency for the university. md
what the higher Institution demands.
the secondary school must 10 time
supply.
But there N another and perhaps
more potent factor In The struggle ~
our language and literature for recog
milton This factor u The strong Her
bartian tendency 81 The present day q
pedagogy The inststent demand thai
the school hall become n power 10
the world Tor moral NJ well III for
intellectual good Not only ~ liter
ature recognized as the teachers most
valuable auxiliary in laying the foun
dation for manhood ana %womanhoo1.
but, let he love " ua true and
beantIfule be thoroughly implanted
In the child''s nature, and you hnyc
built o fortress against which all the
sulphurous hosts IL the yellow hacked
demon cannot prevail.
But the twentieth century demands
that We look at all subjects from the
ultimatum standpoint What il oi
most practical worth? what viii pn,
the greatest number OF dollars In the
pocket? II Is thls spirit that IL dead.
cning the American 20 all appeals u
higher and better nature; that II cor.
ruptiDg all the sources 81 pleasure
and intellectual profit open 70 ths
youth 81 our country. And II is this
spirit that the conscientious teacher
must hight. The aim o. the whole
system Of public. s~ectarIan and pr
vste education Is 10 develop n many
sided character; 70 prepare men and
women for right living and right
thinking"
o. course. no n denies the moral
intellectual, and even financial value
Of English 70 the man who follows
. liberal profession. But Just - the
politicians Of the day spend breath
and energy 10 discussing the Iaborins