West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-04-12

continue after the years Of school building.
In our course Of study think you will find
no frills and rufiles. We have no time for
them anyway"
xviii you explain fundamental idea of
education2'
al look upon IL aS key to unlock a
larger share of what the world means TO the
individual person. The acquiring of infor-
nation must 90 hand in hand with the de-
velopment Of mental grasp. There must he
no divorce between instruction and life.
Study mus, yield discipline, ye, it must not
be barren. There should b. economy of
time aud effort Every edge should be
made to cut. There is lingering idea that
liberal education is like piece of brca-
braei something handsome TO the eye yet
not of unmixed utility. This perncious idea
will never be uproo,ed so long as the student
Il set month after month To studies which in
deed impart mental power, yet which leave
him nearly as much an infant as ut the first,
so far as the meaning of this twentieth cen
tury world is concerned. This is a good
deal as though farmer were to- let kind
Providence look out for his crops and his
livestock, while he maintains his health and
develops his muscle by spending day after
day in heaving rocks over his head or in
pulling himself to the limb of tree The
ornamental IN education is largely RESPONSE
bic for making the student strut and hll with
conceit. II makes him less earnest in his
Puf tuff Ia H. IL.
but degrades education to The level of an
arstocraiic requirement. II sends young
people To college who ought to stay away.
II turns out students too bookish to see the
world as II is, too genteel To work with their
hands, or too inefficient to be better than
parasites on other people. The general re-
suit is To- make the college nest of ex,rava-
gancc aud to discount its work in the mind
of the public. truly practical education
Is an instrument for service and not mainly
for show. II does not tend toward pride
and bombast. 1t is not necessarily to be
measured by the sordid thumb-rule OF dol
lars and cents. Ii rs consistent with more
elevating things in life than mere dollar
chasing"
ga man competent to conduc, n school
like yours is competent to fill a chair in n
college"
"Where he would &c, at least twice the
salary. Very true. But then. his field of
usefulness might not be any broader than
ours. Teaching is not and cannot be a road
To wealth. The real teacher is type Of
missionary, and missionary work demands
earnest, sef-sacrifcing effort II is mat.
ter of common remark that the majority of
country school teachers are half-baked and
of small caliber. They cannot properly de-
velop their pupils in the higher grades, be-
cause they are poorly trained themselves
Even the work of the lower grades is per
formed none too we'll. Now as improve
ment in these matters is exceedingly slow,
submit that the rural communities have need
here aud there, of schools like ours. Such
institutions will raise the grade of citizen
ship. 1t is really too much for the district
school To- overlap both the kindergarten and
the academy and cover all the ground be-
tween"
you are handicapped for want of an en-
| dowment."
True again. We could make good use
of such help, II granted on terms consistent
with our self-respect. But there is more
solid satisfaction in relying ON ones own
exer'ions than in being given aid which
bears The stamp of charity. a small income
g'ps long way with us"
q,
public school syslem3"
''Fur economy of effort, we have more
freedom, we are under no restraint as to the
use OF books and the methods we prefer. we
do not have to receive every applicant who
comes, nor do we have to labor in dincv.
fnihiddng room. a tuition fee is a small
Item in the actual expense of an education.
and it is no essential hardship to pay it. At
the same lime, we are altogether friendly to
the free school system"
yours may be termed a class school"
awe do not attempt to deny that 1t is
with tie brighter and more alert minds that
we prefer to deal. Now it is estimated that
the progress of America IS inspired by only
one in 900 Of the population The other
200 submit to be led. 1t is to be hoped that
the true proportion of these force.uniis is
greater. BE that as it may, IL is for the good
of the whole country that the brighter minds
in every community should have special NJ.
tsntion. The great majority of these persons
can never get to college They must he
schooled near home or not at all. And vet
we find educational fanatics seeking to rake
the country with a ine.toothed comb in or
der 20 swell, regardless Of quality, the mum.
Der Of students in our expensive football
colleges"
will not the eenlalizing Of country
schools do away with the need Of institutions
like Jours2"
'1o large measure i, will, yet not en-
urely."
"What IS your school Year,"
"Thiuy.sx weeks, beginning the las,
Monday Of September and running until
June. Thus we open when fall weather
has become established and we close before
The heats Of summer are fairly on. The
weeks We cut of from the customary school
year are the least pro6ivble for study But
then we have no extended vacations. These
/ inietrupt The even tenor Of school work With.
out compromising gain"
'ls your school co.educational2"
"I, o.. n this community we're like the
average Of America, 70 would cut down our
attendance by sixty percent TO bar out the
girI sisdcofr.n