The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1907-04-12
THROUGH THE STATE
NEWS GATHERED FROM VARIOUS
INDIANA POINTS.
NEW EDUCATIONAL PLAN
Sullivan County Pupils Working Out
Their Own Salvation-Girl De-
scribes Methods Of Prinei.
pal Bieknell.

Sullivan.-A novel scheme OF edu
cation is being tried by George Bick-
nell. principal of the thurman town
ship schools in This county. Though
book learning is not overlooked, the
idea Of the principal Is 70 have the
children taught 10 solve the problems
OF life for themselves. He is giving
his theories a personally conducted
trial at Graysville, whore he is an
active teacher.
The good. the true and the beautiful
are three things that Mr.. Bicknell is
e%ndoayoring TO inculcate in the minds
of the children. and he has been met
more than half way. Manual training
is n of the leading features of the
schools Of thurman township. The
boys are taught 70 do carpentcring in
all its branches; wood-carving is en-
tered into with great zest.
Every second month during the
school year the Graysville schools is
sue a magazine. called the Bud. The
magazine is printed on the G%raysville
nhlAbNA ItioTf anu AOAlNANAo vi AbNNA ~
pages. All the composition and press
work Is done by the children them
selves. after school hours The book
is printed on ~deckle-edged paper and
resembles the Roycroft books from
Ebert Hubbard's press.
1t is probable that no other country
school in the state is working along
these lines. In fact. when state Su-
perintendent Fassett A. Cotton heard
of II. he paid the school a visit
The spirit of emula, Ion priced so
highly in most schools has no place
at Graysyille. OF competition and
rivalry there Is little or none. The
children are specialists Each strives
| TO perfect himself o. herself in some
particular line. and the result is that
one child is superior in one particular
thing over the others. This fact does
not produce envy in the others. They
admit that II is so.
Miss Glenn Emo. a girl Of rs. who Is
in The Graysyille high school, thus
sum up the school work: They
have al some one thing they can do
better than the rest. and instead of
trying to outshine the others with
these talents. they give it all freely to
n another. and thereby have it re-
turned a hundred fold. The one that
can design best helps all the others.
The one that can color best helps the
others mix their colors. and the one
that learns TO sew books first. helps
the others 10 sew their books. And
we are a wel%l-balanced school; there
is none OF us but can help the others
do something.
We carry this love Of u school
work with us further than we ever
dreamed we would. 1t is with us
when we rake our yards and pillow ouI
gardens and wash our dishes and
when we practice our music lessons
and talk to strangers and kneel in the
church on Sundays, l. 3 not a par
of us; Il is us.
There arc other things about this
work more highly priced by most whC
champion manual training in the pub
lie schools. II gives us more prac
tical knowledge than literature anC
algebra. We will know how to selec
from the overloaded markets tina
which is most peculiarly adapted t
our needs.
we will know how TO buy TIL
best chairs and tables and bookcases
perhaps we can even make them our
selves.
we can find what we can do hes
and may be become great artists o
designers or writer's.
we know more about the prin
ciples OF beauty, and can some tim,
dress more artistically. write Nor,
artistically. speak more artistically
and If we have homes of our own, w
can furnish them more artisticall,
than If this had never come into on
lives. Before we were trained, GOO
books were prattlings Of impossible,
love, impossible hate. OF ideal Great
ures who could never have existed
written by dreamers with nothing bet
ter to do; and good pictures wer'
mere daubs of color. Now they thrill
: us with latent meanings.
. These are good. We take then
= and they have their places; but It i
something better and beyond all tina
to which we are working. Ar,
r simply working out our own saliva
I don