The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1905-03-22


dren in habits of right doing. Is our ed
ucational system placing too little value
upon the moral character of its instruct
ors or too much upon their professional
preparation? We believe that character
both noble and true, must be the pos
session of one who is to form character
in others. When mothers have the
mother instinct developed into intelli
gent insight, and teachers have their
professional training quickened into low
ing sympathy with child life, when the
one through love for her child seeks
knowledge of her profession, and the
other through love of her profession
seeks knowledge of the child then we
may hope for ideal childhood from which
will develop ideal men and women. One
of the greatest hindrances to the work
of good mothers and teachers is the low
moral ebb of the community of which
the child forms part. If we are to have
a generation of men and women of
greater integrity and uprightness of char
acter we must have a raising Of the
standards of the community life through
a voice of protest, and the vote of prin
ciple of earnest intelligent men,
SCHOOLS will no longer be the homes
of dull routine, nor will the teachers be
the slaves of rigid and uninspiring meth
DDS when the study of the living child
shall have become universal. The par
ent is the teachers best auxiliary. The
teacher cannot have the same opportu-
mites to study the child that the par
ent enjoys, for she has the child before
her from babyhood, whereas the teach
er's time with the children is limited
and she has large class to attend to.
and again the child ut home shows all
its characteristic traits, whereas in
school it is generally depressed. Where
the teacher is at a disadvantage. the
parent is at home; where the teacher
gropes about in darkness the parent sees
clearly; surely then the cooperation of
teacher and parents is indeed much to
be desired. None of us liveth to him
self and he who helps child helps hui
manity.'"
DR.. Henry, who spoke from the stand
point of one of the public, suggested
that we should build school house for
the parents and have them attend five
days out of the week.
These are our Schools" he said; Eve
are the public. We feel that in a way
sometimes when we have some fault to
find, but we ought to feel it at all times.
The public is the creator of the public
schools. The public maintain the pub
lie school, and by the right of mainten-
ance the schools are ours. A further
claim we can effect is that we under
stand, appreciate and sympathize with
the work that is done in the schools. I
speak from the standpoint of the com
munity. I could speak very feelingly
from the standpoint of a father. I ap-
preciate the fact that the best friend my
children have outside of the home Is
their teacher.
4 "We maintain as community the
public schools because We are interested
| in the character of the men who are to
do the work in the future. America is
what it is today largely on account of
what the public schools have done. We
are preparing citizens. The real char
acter of the future citizen should be de-
termined by the influence of the school
room and the influence OF the teacher
upon the children We lay too much
stress upon the material side of life.
The supreme hope of life is not to get
the most out OF it for ourselves but 10
give the most. We must keep that ideal
before the boys and girls ii it is to be
influential in their life.
What are you going TO do with the
child that has no home? ] do not mean
the child that has no place to go, for
there are very few children in this city
but have some place to 60; but the boy
that is Is years old who is out on the
street until midnight. I say that boy
is worse than homeless if he is out on
the street, away from the watchful care
of the home-he is in danger. We make