The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1907-02-21
Gymnastics and Physical Culture.

Gymnastics and Physical Culture.
Although many girls have turned
their attention to the teaching OF
gymnastics and physical culture, and
although not all succeed in securing
good positions or organizing profitable
classes, the field is still one Of the
best to which an ambitious girl can
turn.
The demand for really competent
and well-trained teachers to take
charge of the physical departments in
girls boarding schools and colleges
and In working girls homes is con-
slant, especially throughout the West:
and the women's clubs everywhere
have created an interest in the de-
velopment and preservation Of good
health, to the advantage of the teach
ers OF gymnastics.
A good training is indispensable to
success in this work. It must be SO.
cured at one Of the large city gym
nasium schools, in which the course
usually occupies two years, and costs
about one hundred and twenty-five
dollars year. In addition, allowance
must be made for an expenditure of
about twenty-five dollars a year for
gymnasium clothing and material.
The course of study in the best Of
these schools is thorough and compre-
hensive. It includes anatomy, physi-
elogy, hygiene, both general and per-
sonal, and pathology, all Of which are
studied not only from books. but in
hospitals and laboratories and by dis
section and experiment
Following this solid foundation
comes the study Of English and the
cultivation Of the speaking voice;
massage, practised under special
teachers in the outpatient department
of the city hospitals; instruction in
pedagogy and psychology; and, Of
course, from the beginning, constant
practice and instruction in fencing,
dancing, swimming and rhythmic
gymnastics. In addition to this, the
normal students take turns in teach
Ing their classmates.
The thoroughness Of this instruction
is the result Of the constant demand
for competent teachers in girls
schools. The training schools make
it part Of their business to find
places for their graduates, or at least
to bring possible openings to their at
ton.
Reference has been made to the de.
mand for good teachers of gymnastics
in the West This comes not only
from girls schools, but from some OF
the western cities, where there are
public gymnasiums and Fairgrounds,
These positions pay from three hun.
dred to four hundred dollars year Il
living is furnished, eight or nine hun.
dred If not.
Teachers of gymnastics in the public
schools usually receive about one
thousand dollars a year
Most women teachers of physical
culture add something to their income
by organizing private classes, both
among children and among adults
Women's clubs and mothers clubs are
always ready to assist competent
young women in organizing such
classes, which may meet either in the
daytime or in the evening. The rate
for instruction in classes Is usually
twenty-five cents lesson for children
and from fifty cents to dollar fol
adults.
A girl of good manners and address
who fits herself thoroughly to teach
gymnastics and physical culture may
not only feel reasonably sure Of earn
ing comfortable living; she will also
feel throughout her whole life the
good results of her training in anat
omy, physiology and hygiene, and o.
her constant exercise.
Good health and the consciousness
that one is helping others to enjoy i
also are pleasant perQuisites in any
occupation.-Youth's Companion.