Arizona republican., 1905-03-30
THE SCHOOLS
Professor Coles Address Before the
 WOman's Club.

The last meeting of the woman's | club was addressed by Superintendent | J. c. Cole on the subject of "Our | Schools" The address was very able one and went fully into the ~natter. | At the request of members of the club | the following extracts are published: i Birth is to a large extent fate A boys parentage is the most important fact in his career Heredity spells ! destiny The first and greatest of all opportunities is to be born of good 1 parents. We see this in every depart ment of life. In Q world where most people are unsuccessful most of the successful individuals have had good mothers and fathers
 Having spoken of the preliminary life of the youth, Professor Cole ,ad- dressed himself directly to the schools, saving: "The primary and grammar schools are the pillars on which rests the whole educational edifice High schools, normal schools, technological schools. colleges, universities, all occu- DIV important places and are necessary l adjuncts in strengthening as well as | in beautifying' the temple The eIe- mentarv schools are still the beams, the siIls. the joists, the corner posts upon which the durability, the stabil- ity of the edihce depends"
 Continuing the professor said: The ] first grade is the most important one of our schools. If We cannot have money for all the grades, let us do the work of the first four grades well and have no higher grades. One fourth ot all the schiIdran of the schools in Phoenix are in the first grade. We have no Kindergarten schools; we fhiC -- ing to the lack or money it was nec-l essary for teachers of the first grade to have one class of children in the ] forenoon and another in the afternoon. l Primary children should not spend long hours in school, but no one who teaches a hundred different children in a day can do good work No less attention should be given to our high schools, but more attention should be given to our primary schools.
 ''I think the time has come for us ito have Kindergarten schools and more manual training but these cost money and as long as we are unable to get sufficient money to keep our school buildings in good repair we must do without them. Before we can add anything to the curriculum the super visors of the county must raise the assessment for the schools above the minimum allowed by law. We have made the test and we know that with the skiIlful teachers we have can accomplish the curriculum laid out for our schools. but to add any
 thing mere than those things named would prove dangerous to the whole system
 Education today is a different thing from the education of q generation ago. Said Professor Cole: We ex- 4 pect more of our fellowmen than our ancestors used to expect. A mason does more work in an hour than a
 mason used to do and he works on a higher building with thicker walls and more angles and corners. The fabrics of staple goods today are more com pIicated and varied than they used to be; we expect more cOlors to be fast and to be more beautiful than were worked with a hundred years ago. The making of roads has become a science. When disease kills a man nowadays we are apt to say that a better doctor might have saved him. Everybody now expects more of everybody else than our forefathers used to expect. The conclusion is obvious-our boys who are to succeed in life must take a longer time in school to prepare for life than boys used to take
 The subject of truancy received con-
 siderable attention. The compulsory attendance law seemed to be adequate but the enforcement of it had been
 found to be impracticable. After hav-
 ing discussed the matter at length the
 professor suggested a remedy in the
 parental or ward schools which have been adopted in many of the eastern
 cities. Further on the subject of non
 attendance Professor Cole said: "Ac- cording to the statistics last year
 there were 400 children of school age < in district No. 1 who were not en-
 rolled in any of the public or private
 schools of the city. In the interest of
 the children whose future happiness
 and prosperity are at stake; in the in
 terest of the community whose reputa- tion and welfare are dependent upon 2 the good character of it's citizens, I ask
 the woman's club and the mothers
 circles to use their influence in bring , ing into the schools of the city, public
 or private this large class of non-at- tendants."
 Other subjects handled in the course
 of the address were the school and the
 home, supeFintendents. principals an6
 the teaching force, school discipline
 industrial training, beautifying build
 ings and grounds and moral training e In conclusion the professor said: '' 'A wish to bespeak for our teachers tht . hearty cooperation of parents ant
 friends rTO-tbic and tHav arg earnest.