The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1904-05-14

tlon, which met in Meridian last week,
When at least six hundred of the
states most wide-awake educators
met together for the good Of the
cause, the discussion of plans and
methods for their own and their
pupils improvement, and, incidentally,
for the pleasure of all concerned.
These annual meetings Tin May),
or the teachers have come to be of
prime Importance among conventions
n of profound interest to the
teachers and the public.
From various circumstances, and be-
cause of special conditions. the con-
vention this year early assumed i'm
portance far beyond any of its prede-
cessors, and every school in the State
sought to send at least one representa-
tiv to share in the glorious feast
of reason" about which the profess
ions brightest and best were TO
gather. But as is the case always,
some had to be disappointed, and a
sore deprivation 1t was, as we scribe
knows to her very great regret.
Meridian, true to the energy n de-
termination that is so marked a
quality in her success, long since set
out to make due preparation Tor her
guests, n when, on Thursday, the
5th, the meeting was called TO order,
everything had been we'll done and
the city was, like all good hOstesses.
ready and waiting for her guests, n
anxious to please each and every one.
A splendid program had been ar
ranged and into every available MIN
ute some attraction had been crowd
ed for the visitors entertainment
Pleasant homes had been Hospitality
-0ry;lO g. oil ryhN conn 0nh If Wa
may judge by the complimentary COM
ments of the returned delegates, the
Queen City of the East did herself
proud from start to finish. This is as
it should be. for there is nothing too
good for our teachers. 1t was our
intention to print a write-up OF the
meeting, from the pen of a delegate,
but our deputy saw and heard so much,
went so often, and had so many cour-
tesies showered on her, that the bare
recital of it all would overflow these
columns.
The officers for the past year have
shown great interest and efficiency,
and we doubt not their successors
will prove worthy to fill their places.
It was a cause of real regret that the
splendid secretary. Mr.. Scott, OF the
Brookhaven schools, was kept at home
by sickness. He has labOred indie
fatigably for the success of this meet
ing. and his presence and partlc1pa-
ton in the events of the week would
have added to the pleasure OF all.
Now that this great event has
slipped into the past. as events
whether great or smalD have a per
sistent way Of doing, and everybody
has slipped into harness again and re-
l 49, Iai1v Edn1n1hinO - with a
goodIv store of bright and happy
memories from which to draw as days
grow long and weary, we beg thai
each Of you will pear in mind the let
ter we sent to you, while in Meridian
and do your part toward helping make
this department the success 1t can SC
easily be made. Begin right now
(while enthusiasm over all the beau
tiful and helpful things you heard
from the great ones of the protes'
sion is at fever heat, and look
around you to see just where you
should begin.
am almost certain that there Is
room for improvement in your school
room, or building, or grounds; tha'
being the case, why not begin at once
to lead the children into thoughts OF
work like this? Not only will 1t
help the school, but it will help the
child. | do not know of anything that
would give me greater pleasure (be
cause of the lasting benefit it would
confer on the children of Mississippi
than to be able to put into the hands
of every teacher and pupil in the State
the bound volumes of the annual re
ports of the Rural School Improve
ments' of New York, for ten years
-oc+ II ir cin1n1U marVnlOUc-the
great things accomplished there II
the past decade. Not only has the
work transformed the bare and ugly
schools into buildings of real archi
tectural beauty, set in grounds tina
are, many of them, worth going miles
to see, but it has educated the Chile
from u~nlOvely surroundings to love
the beautiful and to demand 1t. This
in turn. educates the parent, and sc
the goodly work of improving thu
race and identifying the world goe:
on. Nor is this all; from the small
beginning when "Arbor Day" mean
the planting of a single tree, there
has now grown in many States a wid'
knowledge of forestry-a compre
hension Of what our forests do TO
us and a desire to preserve them-or
at least. to replant those so wantonl,
destroyed.
New York today owes more of he
present and infinitely more of her flu
ture wealth to the progress of thi
work of improving and beautifyinj
her rural schools, than she can est
mate. Why. then, cannot Mississippi
too. begin this work? We have, read,
at hand, so much more than New
York could ever command for tn
work, that we ought to be ashame,
to hesitate longer. Today is tn
very best time to begin. any needle
work. Won't you who read this co
m stop, today. and think about thi
matter. then look about you for worl
that should be done? You will no
have to look long-the work is a.
around you, begging for strong youn
hands to do it, and SO begin the trans
formation of our too long neglecte
rural schools, and, through them, OF
State.
The Officers for 1eo4-1eo5.
A fitting conclusion to the excellen
work of the session was the choice c