Bisbee daily review., 1908-11-11
MISS WREN DEFENDS THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Mesa Teacher Contributes An Article to the Current
 HouSekeeper Magazine.

Miss Mabel Wren, one of the pop lular teachers of the Mesa schools.
 has an article in this months number of the Housekeeper which is srlen- did defense of the public schools. The Housekeeper has been giving |. great amount of space to the school systems throughout the country anu I Miss Wren's article Is timely and su ! the point IL is as follows:
 In Defense of Our Public Schools. l heartily disagree with Mrs. J. G. | Frederick in her arraignment of tne public school. The things waich she uenoCes as fads and frills are not rightly named; any adult observee knows that the things to which at tention Is not called in youth will never find entrance to the life of the individual. Therefore, 1t is the duty l of the school to open as many ave nues for precepts as possible-the things learned in youth are che things which color all later lie. 10 De sure tae fundamentals must not De neglec.eu-Dut are they neg iecUed! l an not a. ali ignorant oi the three R's; but 1t IS just possibie NIdt the fault lies n tue pupils as
 much as in the sSstem. One is -o az 10 forget that every scnools con ta'ns numbers of pupils to whom the LareIy lnteIiectuaI 0oes not appeal. These pupils will never learn lo solve complex problems in arithmetic Or master the complexities Of gram
 mar; but why call their educauon a failure? Perhaps, after all, they have learned more important things. Al | though they have not learned to ex- press themselves in mental arithmetic or correct english synJax, yet, ir they nave gained broader view of life, their education is not a failure. The gcai or the school is to make knowl- cage an end in itself, and in doins this, 1t must toucA many different sub Jects In order to touch many different natures, and so the thing we need m our schools Is more manual training more gathering of flowers and speci. mems, ana more drawing and music, instead of less, for it takes broad training to make broad men and it takes broad courses to reach the needs of all.
 II our grandfather surpassed us in their mental grtp-of which fact I am not at all convinced-it was likely due to the difference in their nome training. They did not need calls thentics or manual training in school they got 1t at home. But our chjl- dren are no longer brought up in the good old-fashioned way. And right | here l would like to add that on the home rests to large extent, the fail. l ures of the school,
 Mrs. Frederick says that the things which she denotes as fads and frills dn not train the mind. She is cer- tainly mistaken, for how can the body be governed except through the mind? If a child makes a good raf- fla basket it is because the muscles are able to respond to what is in the mind. Man Is put here to subdue 1 nature, and how can he do it unless his muscles are taught to respond to his mind?
 The prime need of our schools to day is teachers of greater moraI weight, teachers with dominant ideals who can teach the children how ro hye-the creation of an ideal world in tangible, practical world is living and this few parents can teach their 1 children, for the majority of them measure life by the things man pos sesses rather than what he Is. If the parents and teachers by cooperating could overcome this idea and impress upon the children the fact that an ea- ucation makes life greater than mere riches or pleasure ever can, our child ren would not drop out of school as they do.
 MABEL WREN. Mesa, Arizonz.