Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1909-01-14

requirements OF uO16T0 lie are re-
ceiving their share Of attention: and
the most advanced thot on the sub
ject of education recognizes that the
culture of morality and the inculca-
tion and practice of its principles in
the school room are Of equal or even
greater Importance than the develop
ment Of either the mental or physical
being of the child.
The ancient Greeks were a model to
Us IN this respect. Their educational
system embodied a culture Of the
moral and esthetic nature to a marked
degree, as well as the mental and
physical.
Marcus Aurelius the Roman Stole
whose moral work "Meditations'' con-
tains many striking tributes to this
line of thot, opens his book in the
following TERMS From my grand
father Verus, I learned good morals
and the government Of my temper.
From the reputation and remem-
brance of my father, modesty and
manly character. From Appolonius
I learned freedom of will and unde-
Waiting steadiness of purpose and how
to receive from friends what are
esteemed favors, without either being
BUNDLED bv them or letting them
pass unnoticed.
From Alexander, the grammarian
I learned to refrain from fault-fnding.
From MaXimus [ learned self-govern-
ment and not to be lead aside by any
thing and to do what was set before
me without complaining.
When EmerSonS daughter upon
entering school wrote to him concern-
ing her choice of studies, he answered
''It matters not so much what you
study as with whom you study"
And so today the first requisite is
character in the teacher.
When talking over school days the
alumnus ALWAYS speaks first, not of
buildings or the lessons he studied
bat the character and personality of
the Instructor. Ali else Is secondary.
AS we look back in life we realize
that the best our parents and teachers
did for US was to practice before US
every day those virtues which go to
form the warp and wool of right
living.
Oar country is to be congratulated
upon its corps of able public school
teachers who are making their in
fiuence count for good and every day
living up to the spirit of the little
verse which runs thus:
"O'er hayward childhood
Would's thou hold firm rule
Anu sun thee in the light
OF happy faces.
Love, hope and patience
These must be thy graces
And in thine own heart
Let them first keep school,"
| Ii many homes there is little or no
moral training, and the church does
| not reach the majority Of the child
ren so the moral instruction of such
children centers around the personal
ity of the teacher.
The giving of ethical lessons in
school must Of necessity be the
! teachers greatest task. This most
important department of all has no
prescribed course of study so it must
| be taught incidentally and indirectly
as the occasion demands and be always
| first and foremost in the mind of the
teacher Plato pictures the boys on
long benches, in the school of Greece,
receiving moral instruction through
learning and reciting the poetry of
her classics. Literature furnishes US
with unlimited possibilities along
this line Of work Admirable char
acterS in history and literature when
portrayed by an enthusiastic teacher
never fail to kindle responsive emo
tion in the breast of the child
Reading between the lines of Long
fellows beautiful familiar poem en-
titled THE Builders" expresses fully
the thought as to the formation and
attainment of strong character.
THE BUILDERS
All are architects of Fate,
Working on the walls of Time:
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.
Nothing useless is or low
Each thing in It's place is best
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest
For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled:
Our todays and yeSte rdays
Are the blocks with which we
build.
Truly shape and fashion these:
Leave no yawning gaps between,
Think not, because no man sees,
Such thing will remain unseen.
In the elder days OF Art,
Builders wrought wit h greatest
care.
Each minute aud unseen part;
For the Gods see everywhere,
Let us do our work as well,
Both the unseen and the seen;
Make the house where God may dwell
Beautiful, entire and clean.
Else our lives are incomplete
Standing in these walls of Time
Broken stairways, where the feet
Stumble as they seek to climb.
Build today, then, strong and sure,
With firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure