The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1910-12-15

The following address reprihteo
from the Spokane Spokesman-feFie"
was delivered by Miss Mary +. Carpen
ter at the Country Life Day ConVen-
ton at Spokane during the Apple
show. Miss Carpenter, whose term a7
County Superintendent expires Oh jan
list, is believed by many TO be the pes
SUPERINTENDENT this county has ever
had. We are glad to know That her
ability is being recognized at more uls
tant points.
Good live directors meetings are
the best things / know OF to get peo-
nle To work" she said las soon us
the director sees what he is expecteu
to do and has been shown that II 10
the right thing to do, he VIII 40 IT.
At the directors meetings We nave 4
formal program. We select persons
who talk right to the point, giving
heIuful suggestions. For instance, We
take up the line, WHAT CONSTITUTES
Them or How to Finance oui
School Districts We take the supJec'
of Architecture or how to buiid ouf
buildings, how to light them, vehtiiaIe
them or heat them. | do not nave
more than four or five numbers Oh
the program, but endeavor TO make
them interesting. If we have too nhs
n program we will lose the object oi
the meeting. :.
Now. it is not always easy for III
rector to attend. 1t costs MIN money
to do SO. In our county dalrylhs ~
the principal business, and when the
directors leave home, this means some
one must be secured to do it, POSSIBLY
maid Yet at our meetings We have
from IS to 100 out of 249 present,
some times better.
"The directors like the meetings
better than the teachers like teachers
meetings. They get something they
want Last year | thought ! would
hold the directors meeting In connect
ion with the last day of the INSTITUTE
so that they might see our teachers
together. The directors, however, came
and asked me If they might not meet
by themselves. They had become IN
terested in their own purposes to me
extent that they preferred not to meet
with the teachers. They wanted to pei
alone.
when | first went into office. inI
visiting the schools it seemed TO me
that every other school ! came To was
among the stumps. The stumps were
for the most part, hollow inside. and
big enough for playhouses. All III
them are blackened with char, hav-
ing been burned. Imagine what thel
children looked like when they came
out OF such playhouses. We endeav-
ored to clear the school grounds. In
my correspondence with the teachers
got them working up picnics. The
men would come with their teams and
the women would come with their bas
kets. In that way we cleared the first
year 81 grounds. ! have seen them
working with five or six teams on an
acre of land. Some of them did not be
lieve in blasting. However, We man
aged to use powder just the same. 10
get the stumps out. This is one OF the
means we have taken to beautify the
grounds.
One of the school patrons was so
delighted with the plan that he wrote
me letter about it. He was one of
the Swedish directors, and because he
does not understand the English Ian
guage very well and expressed his
thoughts in a manner not just as we
would, | have never shown the letter
to any one. 1t Is one of my treasures.
He was thankful, he said, because he
thought 1t was through me that they
had mustered sufficient courage to get
the stumps out. The result of this is
that we now have u two-acre clearing
there, with manual training establish
ed. There Is three-roOm school with
Fairgrounds, including basket ball ami
other athletics.
Il feel sure that the people of my
county do not always know just what
| am doing when they see me hobo
Ing 1t over the country. walk goo
deal. When ! walk | can go where
wish. and II ride have to go where
the team goes. When evening ap-