Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-10-06
100 DIRECTORS GET SOME FACTS
County,.
Law

Mr.. Thompson was introduced by
Mr.. Barrows and for more than an
hour stood the fire of questions. APP
parently every conceivable question
was asked and answered 1t was fas-
cinating exercise for the directors and
teachers and it did not seem to weary
Mr.. Thompson.
Miss Anna Barbre, superintendent
of Christian county schools, gave an
interesting talks of an hours duration.
She confessed that she had never had
so large a collection Of school directors
where they could not escape. She stat
ed a good many blunt facts stated
them with a wealth of incident drawn
from her own experience as a teacher
and director
To the Director.
Among others things Miss Barbre
said: The school director is elected
to an office which he doesn't want and
is holding it, often, against his WILT
was thrust upon him by the three or
four voters who attend the school
election. He doesn't get any pay for
his services, yet the country school
directors of Illinois are "a fine lot of
men and I am surprised that they do
as we'll as they do. yet they should
not forget that they hold an important
position They are officers of the law
and have a duty both to the teacher
and to the patrons Of the school.
1T seems to me that in no other
vocation in the wide world have the
employers such confidence in employ
ees, as school directors have in teach
ers. They hire them-teachers, many
of them without eXperience-put them
in charge of the schools and leave
them to work out their problems the
best they car. Often the directors
never go into the school house except
to replace a broken pane of glass. or
a burned out CRATE in the stove. They
never look into the school room to see
how we'll or ill their employee is doing.
THE school directors duty does not
end with hiring a teacher and furnish
ing him with school house. 1t is his
duty to know what that teacher is
doing and to help in every way pos
sibIe
Little Troubles Grow.
"Tf there are little troubles in the
school-and most of the school troubN
les are little troubles-the persons
most interested, the teacher and the
directors, are often the last to discuss
them The teacher talks about them
over the phone to some other teacher,
a thing she ought not to do, and the
director talks about them to other
patrons of the school, thing he ought
Ia
be smoothed away if the director
would go to the teacher and frankly
talk them over, and the teacher will
be grateful to him for coming.
ITO you teachers | will say this;
if you don't like children don't teach.
You can't succeed as a teacher unless
you like children. And when you hire
to a board of directors, see that you
give them the best work that is in you.
They are entitled to something more
than five hours a day in the school
room / know a teacher who goes out
from town on Monday morning, hires
a liveryman to take her from the sta
ton to the school and to bring her
from that school to the station after
school on Friday afternoon. That
teacher is not giving that school all
II, is entitled to. 1t is her duty to stay
in the neighborhood, to know the
people. Much depends upon the atti-
tude of the teacher toward the country
life If she can not make herself
part of it, to understand it and enjoy
it she has no business teaching in the
country.
BE Uniform and Accurate.
"In your teaching be accurate, be
definate. be uniform Be accurate in
your teaching every day. If necessary,
sit I'D at night to prepare your work
for the next day. You must know
what you are endeavoring to teach and
how you are going to teach it.
mo teacher teaches we'll because OF
the money he is paid. He teaches well
because of what is In him. If he teach
es well the money will come When
Won go out to begin school make up
YOUR mind that you are going to teach
the best school that was ever taught
In that school house. If you do, you
will be a real socializing influence in
that district. Remember too. that
while the Supreme court of Illinois has
decided against the teaching of the
bible in the public schools it has not
decided against teaching the principals
of the bible"
Before the meeting closed an organi-
cation Of directors was effected by the
election of a president and secretary,
Since that time ten school districts
have reported improvements made on