Tensas gazette., 1910-10-28

eoiO anu d ieduer IN tne new eQucd'
ton movement says:
THE desolate rural school. stand
Ing on the bleak plain, Is too un- Amer
lean to endure the changes of the
times. It must be transformed into q
part of our beautiful outdoors, and
1t must be made more efficient In
general studies. in culture, and In
vocational training for country life."
Soil Analysis and Stock Judging.
So education seems to have taken
on a new meaning for the parents Of
the country children. The new sys.
tenn teaches all that the odd one did
all the important studies that the
city school offered; all the phases OF
literature. art. history and science
needed to round out the American
citizen.
But 1t does much more. Il adds TO
these sudies. the vocational training
for the farm" The new schoolhouse.
instead Of standing on a barren lot
1T a wfnd-swept four corners. is sur
-ounded by a carefully plated farm
" ten acres or so. In the more ad-
vanced of the schools experimental
buildings have been erected, small
"ruit and forest tracts laid out, minia-
'ure dairy and poultry plants con.
Structed. and experimental work of
I'll kinds launched.
The boys are taught stock judging.
breeding. crop rotation, scientific
analysis OF the soil. the keeping of
farm accounts. and kindred subjects.
contests are organized between rival
groups Of students to see what results
can be obtained In the experimental
rlats. and also in practical work on
the farm at home. The boy carries
away from the school not a confused
mass Of Information that he cannot
apply to his daily affairs. but a spe-
"ific idea that certain things can be
evolved from the piece Of land he
has been working on for years. He
becomes intensely interested in his
work and studies. and his eyes are
opened not only to the knowledge"
of the world in the ordinary sense but
to the great possibilities Of the land
with which he Is most familiar and in
daily contact
The new school has 200 pupils, in
stead Of 20 II has a lecture han
where spelling bees. class programs.
and amateur plays are carried out
and where the neighboring farmers
families gather for Community"
meetings. lectures. and entertain.
ments
There are lunchrooms for the chill.
dren who come in the vans each
morning. In some Of the schools
there aro gymnasiums as we'll
equipped as those of city schools of
IKE size. There is real baseball in
the country now. not the "one old
cat Of former days; for the new
schools have enough pupils to en-
courage American ideas of class
sports and athletic contests.
The girls are educated In the new
scheme. not simply to be educated
but to make them capable farmers.
wives and mothers of sturdy farm chill.
dren. The district school could not
teach home economics. home manage
ment. sewing. cooking. and practical
home training. The big combined
school. with it's staff of three or four
trained teachers. can and does teach
all that a small domestic science
school would. It introduced new ideas
OF life into the farm house. II edu.
Gates the girls to improve the home
rather than to get away from II he.
cause OF its shortcomings.
The whole neigl borhood. often em.
bracing 200 farms. becomes an I'm.
mense laboratory for the school In
the experimental farm surrounding
the building plats are laid out In re.
semble the leading farm of the neisb.
borhood.
Great cooperative enterprises, such
az creameries. bakeries. laundries. A
well as the churches and the township
buildings. It is predicted, will in the
near future be located about the
school grounds.
The giant successor to the district
school brings into the country two
full years OF high-school life. ana IN
the ninth and tenth grades the eide,
pupils put in six months Of each wear
upon their oFn farms in practical
farm work.
In many sections the farmer. and
their children furnish the CONVEYANCE.
to carry the neighbors' children IN
school; but in the majority Of d,..
tricts it has been possible to estah-
lish regular carryall service. main.
tanned at public expense.
Indiana leads tine way at pree.n,
In the progress Of the new ..chno,
In almost every countx
In the state the school wagons Az.
bringing crowds Of children dailv 80
the central buildings. and the "Hoo
Ter schoolmaster" is Of a dinerer,
type than a generation ago.
Massachusetts, is second, Ohio tb,-a
and Florida and North Dakota con
test for fourth place In almost everv
state. with the exception of some -,
the sparsely settled western ones ~.
farming districts are either exnert.
menting with the new system, or h.v.
proven 1t complers sacce