The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-12-15
Union Building Vacated in Nine
ty Seconds Yesterday.
Admirable Morale Prevails in
This School.
TeachersArranging New Course
In English.

From Thursdays Daily.
Fire drills are used in the Mankato
public schools, to accustom the pupils
to vacate the buildings promptly and
without disorder. Yesterday afternoon
the gong sounded an alarm of fire in
the Union building, and instantly the
pupils arose and formed lines without
word from the teachers, and the pri-
mary and first grade children ran out
from their rooms on the sidewalks, fol-
lowed by the larger pupils, who marched
in order down the stairways, some grasp
ing wraps, stepping to the time of a
march played at the piano by little
girl who took her place there promptly.
There was no confusion, and in just
one minute and a half every pupil had
vacated the building. Three hundred pu-
pills had come out of eight rooms ON
three floors and marched down the mar
| row stairways and out into the open air.
After moment or two, during which
all had assured themselves that it was
merely one of the unexpected drills and
not an alarm caused by fire, the pupils
marched back to their rooms. When all
were seated the clock indicated that
just four minutes had elapsed from the
time the gong had sounded.
As showing how well disciplined the
pupils of the Union school are, it is
only necessary to refer to the fact that
as soon as they were seated they took
up their studies and recitations at the
point where they had unexpectedly left
off, and a visitor would never have
known by any outward appearance that
the entire school had been whisked out
of the building and back again by reason
| of a fire alarm. The work went on
steadily, and only four minutes were
lost. This was not because the pupils
are plegmatic, for they are not, but be-
cause of the excellent discipline of the
teachers.
The Union building has eight teachers,
earnest, Woodworking young ladies, who
are enthused in their work and are Civ
ing the district good results. Miss Mary
Willard is principal and teaches the sew
enth grade, Miss Eliza Tenney has the
fifth, Miss Jeanette Funk the fourth,
Miss Isabelle Beatty the third, Miss
Marguerite Kelly the second, Miss Mar
tina Bohan the first and Miss Mabel
Wood the primary. Miss Beatty has
taught in the school the longest. 1t is
strong corps of teachers, and the pa
irons of the school have no cause for
complaint, neither have they complaints.
An excellent morale prevails among
teachers and pupils.
As in the Pleasant Grove building, the
walls of the recitation rooms are decor
ated with pictures, drawings, etc., and
Indian and Japanese corners are ar
ranged. One special feature at this
building is the Holland scenes above the
blackboards in some of the rooms. They
have been cut from wall paper and past
ed on the walls and appropriate back
grounds made by the teachers. Each
room has it's piece of statuary, some of
them flower boxes, now brought indoors,
because of the freezing temperature
without, and other adornments. Every
room carries out its own ideas. The
bare walls that faced the older genera
ton at school are no longer seen, and
the visitor observes that the strict dis
cipline of former years is not so closely
enofrced. The pupils is not expected
to sit bolt upright in his seat at all
times, but in the lower grades may move
about on occasion, within limitations
prescribed by the teacher. Reading clas-
SEES may be broken up into groups of
four or five and scattered about the
building, so that more can read aloud
and the benefits of this be more greatly
diversified. This is done once in week
or two, and the pupils do not abuse
their privilege, but form studious little
bodies. There are other changes that
the visitor will observe when comparing
his own school days with what he sees.
In the third grade at the Union build
ing will be found toy house, two or
three feet high, with the rooms nicely
made by the pupils of the grade, except
the stove, which is toy one of iron.
Beds, chairs, tables, carpets, pictures,
ETC., are all the handiwork of the little
ones, and the house is the pride of the
grade and the envy of the other grades.
1t is to be presented to the primary
grade.
The system of marching in and out
of the building is comemndable, in spite
of the criticism of Graded School In
spector Rankin, that it is destructive of
child spirit to put the pupils under this
restraint. There is nothing prettier than
lot of children marching in an orderly