Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1910-10-26
THE COUNTRY SCHOOL.
LITTLE RED sCHoOLHOUsE PASS.
ING AWAY.
rprSp OF THE TlMEs Is FOR CON-
soLDArEp sCHooIs-rxPRovED
METHODS.


MErHoDs.
RI. district school must 60. II is un-
,mer;oap. II is behicd the times, il has
,.,Ied TO keep up with the march Of prog
rsss 1t has let the city schools steal
s,ys from the farm and educate them for
sity life. BY its own inefziciency it has
hslped turn the boys and girls from the
,.,m instead OF educating them 20 stay at
home.
Now the familiar little structure at the
country crossroads u doomed to extinc-
zion. Two hundred thousand Of them,
.rread from ocean to ocean and from Dor
AR 10 border, are marked by the hand OF
nrosress. The keys have already been
turned on the doors Of several thousand,
10 be opened no more to the purposes OF
education for tho country youth.
The half dozen families who sent their
children to the district school each morn
;ng. who watched them trudge down the
country roads In all kinds Of weather
and who gathered on Friday afternoons
in the little schoolroom to hear the
.spanking'', have come to . new realixa-
lion Of the duties OF county life. What
they could not do by themselves they can
DO in cooperation with the families of the
next district and the surrounding dis
tricts.
The one-room neighborhood school,
with one teacher, often sadly inefficient,
ia passing away. In its place Is coming =
new factor in country life, school six
or eight times a. large, with three or
four teachers Of trimming and ability; .
school prepared to bring to the country
boy or,giri an education that promises to
rvoluiionize the rural development OF
America.
no LONGER A PLAYRooM.
The country school has passed the
point where 1t constitutes . playroom
for the country lad when there Is no
work to be done on the farm. 1t has
taken on more importance than ~
rendezvous for bobsled and hayrsck
parties, box suppers and ice-cream festi-
walls.
A remarkable movement Is under w1y
III TUG &uttEo 0tasTSp 8iLAhHt unottSS-a
by the general public and little appreci-
ated by many OF the farming commune
ties themselves, but destined to play .
most important part in the cduction Of
the 100000 country children OF school
agr and OF the generations that are to
follow them along the devious road Of
learning.
Yesterday the country boy toiled
through indifferent roads and across
plowed fields TO the crossroads district
school. To-day . big carryAll, full Of
roliicking children and drawn by excel
lent horses, rolls up TO the farmhouse gate
each morning with the regularity Of the
rural mail carrier.
The children pile in; the van moves on
to the next farmhouse and accumulates
more children. Through the winding
roads OF . district, often forty miles
square, half dozen OF these big wagons.
maintained at public expense, are bringing
hundreds Of children every day to two
story schoolhouse, such ~ the country
pupils OF few years ago never dreamed
Of. AT night the wagons roll back over
the mornings route, depositing children
at their own doorstcps.
CONSOLIDATED RURAL SCHOOL.
The new prodigy that is rising out Of
the ashes OF the district school Is known
for want OF = better name a. the soon
solida,ed rural school,. The name fails
to describe this great new institution Of
rural life. II il more than q consolida-
ton OF country schools. II is q graded
school, high school, manual training
school, agricultural school, domestic
science school, almost . miniature uni
sersity.
II is an institution that j. turning out
country pupils ssfinished" a. to educa-
ton, and fitted to do greater and better
work on tho farm. 1t is . social centre
about which the interests OF an entire
township arc beginning to revolve. 1t is
a model experimental farm, q dairy
hrm, forestry school, Q horticultural
school. 1t 10 an institution whose
keynote OF education 10; educate
The country youth for the world;
Dat give him ct least an equal edu-
cation for the farm. Teach him the in
teteating and important things OF farm
HE, and he will generally choose the farm
as his home"
In nearly 800 communities the new
schools are besisged daily BY the scores OF
children tumbiing from tho incoming
Arrysiis. Several thousand Of the little
district schools, unable to offer . reason
sole excuse for existence in the face OF the
new composition, have yielded their
pserogatives to the united institution, and
nave gathered under its spacious roofs.
Is powerful force that is aligned
against the s'little schoolhouse in the
nne'' Prof. Willet NJ. Hays, assistant
secretary Of agriculture, and . leader in