The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-06-16

The teachers attending the State
Summer Normal School undoubtedly
are receiving the benefit of fine
course of lectures every evening from !
various men and women prominent in |
the educational world These lectures /
take place in the auditorium of the
college and On Tuesday evening, a
woman of whom the state is proud,
Miss Susie Powell, of Brookhaven, Lin
coin county, the president of the State
Improvement Association, gave the
preliminary lecture.
Her talk was well delivered and she
sent home several truths to the hearts
of her listeners, for these teachers
hearts are all enthusiastically in thier
work.
The Needs of the School Grounds
of Mississippi Rural Schools" was
Miss Powell's subject. Telling first Of
gaudy chromos and circus posters Of
ten decorating school walls in rural
districts thus debasing art, and the
unscrubbed floor, inadequate equip
ment, ETC., the speaker stated that
every school in the state is entitled to
clean, light, airy rooms, and the pu-
pills always prefers a grassy yard to
a poorly kept one full of weeds. That
the teachers keep up with current
topics by reading the papers and mag
azines, she went on to say was an
other way of improvement
The teacher might ask the children
and parents to save the daily papers
and magazines, Miss Powell suggested
and this would be a lesson in civics
for that is what the improvement Of
the pupils in a teachers care, to good
citizens, is. Then, too, a way to at
tract unmanageable children is TO al
low them to assist in this work of
identifying school room and grounds
A very good thing stressed by the
speaker was that any flower, however
humble, or a wild flower from the
woods or a tree from the woods will
be pretty in the school yard for the
little eyes and hands to watch grow
and take care of. One need not send
off for expensive flowers at all. Then,
too, from these common sense flow
ers about the school house door, the
children may make botanical chart
thus learning about their home flow
ers and plants in an interesting way.
A strong point was made by Miss
Powell on closing, for she suggested
that the teachers ask some lawyer
to give the pupils a talk on law, or
the doctor one on health, or a carpen-
ter on building, etc, and to ask the
parents to unite with her in getting
up library and improving the room
and grounds.
Perfectly at home on the floor, Miss
PowelPs delivery is clear and her lee
lures instructive, while back of all is
her own attractive personality.
:. :. :.
Dr.. Hulley's Lecture on Robert Burns.
DR.. Lincoln HUXLEY, lecturer and
president of John B. Stetson Univer-
sity Of Florida, was the other speak
er. DR.. HUXLEY has already given .,rv
eral lectures so the teachers were pr,
pared for an hour of interest. The
Plowboy Poets life and poems from
the time he was a lad of thirteen in
love with Handsome Ncll," was told
cleverly and selections from Burns
poems given to prove the speakers
statements.
The begntif i passages were point.
ed out and me folk lore pcer.s nature
poems and love sonnets glimpsed at
by the speaker. DR.. Hulley told the
pathetic stony of The pucm t High
land Mary, a y61"g IS r. betrolhed to
Burns, WHO lied iust before her wed.
ding daT ins) ring some Of the poet
beautiful songs fur u her So writ.