The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1905-11-17
EDUCATION GETS BIG BOOST
TEACHERS FILLED HIGH SCHOOL
ASSEMBLY ROOM.
Educational Address by John Eldridge
Was GOOd-Music by High
School Quartette.

It has been a long time since any
Sherman county monthly teachers as
sOcaatiOn meeting in GOodland equals
or even rivals the one that was held
in the assembly room Of the high
shoOl building Saturday. It seemed
as though every teacher in Sherman
county was there, and these, includ-
ing the visitors, made up an audience
Of more than one hundred people. II
was a renaissance among the teaching
fraternity, and the program was inter
esting throughout.
Miss Clara Sapp, teacher in the nri-
mary department Of the GOOdland city
schools. opened the literary part OF
the program by reading a paper on
How 10 Teach Primary Reading.
Care should be taken in the early in
strutiOn Of the young" she said.
Habits are easily formed, but un-
easily broken Inc word method IN
teaching reading is conceded to be the
best, as It hastens the development
Of thought, and gives a greater yOcab-
ulary to the pupil. To carry out this
principle, however, the pupil should
not be allowed to read isolated words,
but to read the whole sentence at
once, else the thought Lays and the
learner hands over his thinking pow
ers into the keeping Of memory simp-
". 1t is difficult TO keep children in
fixed reading classes on account OF
their varying talents. Some outrUn
others in the intellectual race in read
ing; and justice TO their talents re-
quires that such be not held back with
the more UnpromiSing kind. So II is,
that in teaching reading the teacher
should exercise skill in adapting the
work to the varying ability Of the
children in hand"
After a song by the high school
quartette, composed Of Grace Griffin,
soprano; Ida Scheigner, alto; Don
Dawson, tenor, and Lowell Shaw, bass,
John Eldridge delivered an address on
education
Mr. Eldridge's speech was as strong
as any we have ever heard him make.
He dealt with two phases Of the sub
ject, namely, the value Of elementary
work, and the value Of education in
general, sUbdividing these, without
much revealing the framework Of his
discourse, into interesting channels Of
thought and observation Of value to
the teacher. He said in part:
The early work Of the pupil, faith
fully led in the way Of strong atten-
ton, counts most We throw away
wv AAA4~AA NAAAAE Al EcAAg AAAEH anu a.
terward find ourselves deficient IN the
things we need the most. Youth is a
plastic period, the time when the be-
ginning Of habits shape and arrange
a life toward a chosen or given course.
If a teacher would know her re-
spOnsibility as a leader Of the young,
let her consider that the child is at
the mercy Of the teacher in early
school life. The children are to an
extent mirrors OF her character Of
habits, thought, disposition and atti-
tude toward the world round about.
For example,: We always think the
most Of the teacher that makes US
work the hardest. We thus learn to
be strenuous and determined, but
those taught by a weaker life are cast
back by ordinary obstacles and fail.
The force Of the teacher must be
unabating to be cOnquering. First Of
all, she must be right, and then she
can cOunteract the abnormal tenden-
cies that the child sometimes gets in
the home. While leading the intellec-
tuaI part, she ought also to nuture the
moral and teach her proteges to be
honest, fair and willing to sacrifice
for what they, know to be right and
just The educated citizen thus be-
comes the best citizen; the state knows
it, and one Of the results is. compuI-
sorry education.
The blessedneSs Of knowledge to
everyone is an accommodating good.
We come to know ourselves, our i'm
mediate surroundings and the crea-
tons and wisdom Of thc, great Cisa
tor"
Miss Pearl Kimmel gave a recita-
ton which was well delivered and
listened to with rapt attention by the
audience.
Prof Mallory closed the program
by a talk on What Constitutes Good
Teaching" He said that the best ed
ucated were not always the best teach
ers, because they failed TO grasp the
end and purpose Of their great work.
Miss Grace Griffin, who sang So
pranO in the high schoI quartette, has,
in the opinion Of the editor. a very
promising voice. For an unframed
singer she handles her vocal organs
splendidIy, and If the young lady is
given a chance, she viii make not
only Mr.. and Mrs. Griffin but the
music-ioving people Of GOOdland glad
some day. Her compass IS that Of a
soprano, and we believe high c can
be coaxed from its hiding to exhibit
sweetness and power
The Farmers National bank cashes