Arizona republican., 1909-12-13
SCHOOL AAlDGAPs IN s
 RthoIE DISTRICTS EII;ssl-.--I: :si l' 'I'S!isss
There Are Some Arizona Schools the Territory oousht Not to Be
 Proud Of.

Arizona is justifiably proud of her
 schools. Both the system and it's ad-
 ministration for the most part are | entirely creditable. even highly com plimentary to the territory. But the
 present system. like all others. can
 resources, or overcome unusual and
 in sense abnormal conditions As
 the territory is still young and much
 of it undeveloped. in many sparsely
 settled setcoins there are prevailing
 conditions that apparently can be
 overcome only by the generosity of | well disposed persons. or by the early
 settling of those sections by more people of a class who have a higher appreciation of the school house. There are small settlements cut off from general communication with the outside world, whose residents arc
 still devoted to cattle punching. pros
 pecting and hunting as in days of yore. apparently not appreciatins how
 rapidly the school system of the
 country is advancing or how impor-
 tant it is to keep up with it. Other
 districts similarly situated probably
 have as high an ideal of the public
 school as anybody. but no great
 amount of property for taxation and
 an unusual number of children per
 family that need educating
 In view of the generally satisfactory
 condition of the schools in the terri
 tory. it will be of interest to some readers perhaps to learn of the hard
 conditions that prevail in one of these
 exceptional districts. The facts come
 from the pen of the teacher who takes
 a fellow worker in the same vineyard
 into her confidence. She does not
 write complainingly. but sadly. and
 though she recites conditions that are
 hard for her she complains less on
 that score than on the fact that so
 many young pupils are growing up
 without proper school advantages. If
 some philanthropist desired in small
 way to make himself the benefactor of some of these out of the way Ari-
 zona districts. he could doubtless learn of their location through the superin-
 tendent of public instruction. Fol
 lowing are extracts from the letter. the district in question not being located, for obvious reasons:
 'To begin with. there is no school
 building of any kind. not even q rented building. which may be re-
 served exclusively for school work The town hall. built flat on the sand. is about 20xi0 feet outside. This is kindly donated free of charge by the town. The furniture consists of double in, oil Cfa of lat mi lat inn They cannot be fastened to the floor because the town hall donors must have dances in the building At these periods of festivity the seats are placed along the sides of the room to clear the floor for the dancers. Sometimes the desks are put entirely outside the building and left there. If a seat is found broken next morning it is wired up by the teacher or some helpful boy. Ealing wire is used and this is not specially easy on the boys trousers or the girls dress Some times heavy cord is used to tie up q seat Should baling wire or cord break during recitation and the pupils he deposited on the floor 1t affords fine opportunity to indulge in a hearty laugh. good thing at times, indeed, but rather disquieting | to occur at unreasonable moments. | Since seats are scarce the break | must be promptly repaired and lessons | do not flourish we'll at such times.
 The teacher will leave the school | room in a most tidy condition at | night. all swept. dusted. blackboards | and erasers cleaned. desks in perfect | order. work on the board all ready | for a prompt. orderly beginning in the freshness of the morning. But truly she ''knoweth not what a night may bring forth" Fresh and enthusiastic in the morning she goes to her school room to find the tidy room which she left the night before a scene of con fusion. The revelers have been in. They have a right to use the room. Tor no rent is paid for it. The desks ire all against the sides of the room. out of doors. books are lying beneath them. pencil boxes are opened md the contents scattered. On desks, 'ailing of wainscot organ. teachers lesk and against the blackboard andes have been melted and set in he heated tallow and tallow '.drips" v papers. cigarette papers. broken glass. and. dirt are everywhere. No janitor $ employed. The teacher lets who yer seeks the task have it. Two dol ars and fifty cents is the remunera- ion for d month of work of this ind. Never must teacher be daunt- d. so she sweeps the dirty room. puts he desks in place. scrubs off the tai ow drips." dusts. All is finished. but has taken an hour of hard. rapid york. Her enthusiasm is not so high. Ter flesh is weary, and her personal ppearance decidedly soiled. She goes D her boarding place. makes a fresh oilet. dons fresh garments and goes @ to her daily task after laving acted as janitress for the town ! all
 There are twenty eight pupils en- { oiled in this school. ranging from IS own to years of age. Never were
 upils better behaved of better spirit. or more worthy of all that a school {: hould be. Country boys and girls. ( ,ith little in their homes to inspire t igher things. looking with, keen. { uestioning eyes into the beckoning T uture, little ones in the rosy gleam [ fairyland. what have they to attract hem in such a school room. with . roken desks. an ugly. board bottom { q cl,air hrnEap uyindnuS 6netX rod 4