Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-04-24
MGallaaseus Rsaaias,
PLEA FOR HIGH SCHOOLS.
They Should be Such In Fact as Well
M In Name.

They Should be Such In Fact as Well
as In Name.
After more than two centuries since
its settlement, and with all its pros
perity, and with all its boasted educa-
tional growth, South Carolina has dis
ftrict upon district and township upon
township with no other school In 1t
than an elementary one, open for
four or five months in the year. Not
| pupil can pursue a course In a high
school within reach Of his home. He
must be content with the three Rs, or
go elsewhere to get beyond that mar
row limit. Boys and girls Of capacity
| and promise are shut off from an edu-
cation, because they have not the
means to 90 from home to find ad-
equate schools. Boys that have In
them the material to make useful men
in every department. Of life must long
In vain for the advantages Of higher
| schooling. The community itself must
keep on the lowest plane Of intelli-
gence. because its sons and daughters
must grow up with no more training
than that given in the elementary
schools.
In such communities can always be
found some families unwilling to let
their children suffer for that school,
ing which they so much need and de-
sire. These families must either send
their children away from home at a
heavy expense. or they must move to
some, place where better schools are
to be found. Every such family is
distinct loss to the community from
which ii goes. After even one family
has left, 1t Is just that much. harder
for those remaining to keep up their
school and church. One more force
for good has gone. A home in that
community is a little less desirable;
land becomes little cheaper; the av-
erage intelligence Is little lower;
and the prosperity Of the community
is checked. 1t Is only a question Of
time until still others will leave. A
good school Of high grade would have
kept these families there, brought
other families in, raised the intelli-
gence Of all, increased the value Of
land, and given the community an
increased confidence in itself.
Often a name conveys either no
meaning at all, or 1t conveys an erro-
neous one. One Of the most unfor-
tunate facts connected with our en-
tire educational system is the misnam-
ing of institutions. The very name of
an institution may do the cause of
education injustice and harm. Half
educated young women who know
not Froebel, but keep play schools
and call them lindergartens, have
done real kindergarten work untold
injury.
In like manner the village school Of
thirty-five pupils, ranging from be-
ginners to first lessons in algebra and
Latin. Is miscal-ed high school.
Often 1t has not full high school
course of even one. year; often 1t has
no regular course at all. There are
many reasons why 1t cannot have
either. Chief among them Is, that
It has neither sufficient teaching force,
nor enough pupils ready for high
school work 1t would be somewhat
unusual to find in such a school more
than five pupils doing real high school
work. If these five pupils have a full
course of study, what time has the
teacher left for his thirty other pupils
scattered all along through the pri-
mary and intermediate grades? If
the primary and intermediate pupils
receive the proper attention. what
time is left for the high school pupils?
Schools Of this class can be found
by the score. They serve the fatal
purpose Of deceiving. the people into
believing that they have what in real
ity they have not. But some will not
be deceived. They know the rank OF
their school, and they seek other and
higher institutions, And by the time
the pupils of this class get their
schooling they are entirely weaned
away from their old homes and form
er associates. Some people seem nev-
er to understand Why their home COM
munities are kept constantly drained
Of the best young men and women
they have produced. They forget that
training and culture must grow up In
the community If they are to remain
| there.
Few boys and girls when they have
reached the age Of fourteen and have
completed the grammar school, are
settled as to their future schooling.
They have usually the bare rudiments
of an education. They are not yet
fitted for any college, nor are they at
all prepared to do any but the sim
plest forms Of business life. II boy
from such a class determines to Sc
cure a college training, he must first
leave home for three or four years
preparation, because he cannot get 1t
at home. The result often Is that the
time and expense between the gram
SSllOOl anu luC SoiiSoS "'N 49,
great that he gives 1t all up before
he gets to college.
But the notion that the main OBJ
ject of the high school Is to prepare
for college, has had its evil effects.
OF course to prepare pupils for COL
lege has been, and must continue to
be, one of its great objects. But to
fit pupils for every day life must be
the greatest object, because such
large percentage Of its pupils go d.
rectly from 1t to actual life. The high
school must offer better training than
it has done for agricultural. indus
trial. and commercial life. Hundreds
of boys and girls in South Carolina
today out of schools, would be In
frst-class high schools. If we had
them. The farmer, the merchant, the
mechanic, and the manufacturer will
all patronize the county high school
as soon as 1t Is established, and offers
such courses as they wish for their
boys and girls The county high
school with four-year courses leading
either to college or to actual business
Il 4 10 INT