The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1910-10-27

The familiar little structure at
the country crossroads IS
A doomed to extinction. Two hun
dred thousand Of them. spread
from ocean to ocean and from border
and border. are marked by the hand
Of progress. The keys have already
been turned in the doors of several
thousand, to be opened no more 10
the of education for the
country youths.
The half dozen families who sent
their children TO the district school
each morning. who watched them
trudge down the country roads in all
kinds of weather. and who gathered
IN Friday afternoons in the little
schoo1room to hear the speaking.
have come to realize that what they
could not do by themselves they can
10 in cooperation with the families
If the next district and the surround
.ng districts.
The one-room neighborhood school
With one teacher, is passing away. In
is place is coming a new factor in
country life. a school six or eight
lines as large. with three or four
teachers of training and ability; n
school prepared 10 bring to the coun-
Try boy or girl an education hat
promises TO revolutionize the rural
development OF America.
The country school mas passed the
point where it constitutes a playroom
FOR the country lad when there is no
work to be done on the farm. 1t has
taken on more Importance than as a
rendezvous for bobsled and hayrack
parties. box suppers and ice cream
festivals.
Education for the Farm.
a remarkable movement is under
way in the United States. almost IN
noticed by the general public and lit
lie appreciated by many of the farm
ing communities themselves. bur
destined to play a most important
ps t in the education of the 100000
country children Of school age. and O!
The generations that are to follow
hem along the devious road of learn
ing.
Yesterday the country boy toiled
through Indifferent roads and across
plowed fields to the district school.
Today a big carryall, full of rollicking
children and drawn by excellent
horses. rolls up TO the farmhouse gate
each morning with the regularity of
he rural nail carrier.
The children pile in. the van moves
On to the mex farmhouse and ac-
cumulates more children Through
The winding roads of a district. often
forty miles square. a ~half-dozen of
these big wagons. maintained at pub
lie expense. are bringing hundreds OF
children every day to a two-story
schoolhouse. such as the country
pupils OF a few years ago never
dreamed of. At night the wagons
roll back over the mornings route.
iepositing children at their own door.
steps.
The country is thus solving the
back to the farm problem. II has
found the means to stop the great out
pouring Of sturdy boys and girls to
he city schools. where they have been
educated away from the country ."
II has succeeded in bringing into the
country. almost to the farmhouse
foor, an education for the country
youth equal in its general features TO
that of the city school. and supple
mented by a vocational training for
permanent life on the farm. 1t is an
education for the farm. not for the
pilgrimage TO the city.
New Consolidated School.
The new school is known for want of
a better name as the "consolidated
rural school," The name fails to de-
scribe this great new institution of
rural life. 1t is more than a consolj-
iation of country schools. 1t is a
graded school, a high school, a man.
ual training school. agricultural
school. domestic sclence school. al
most a miniature university.
II is an institution that is turning
out country pupils FIN shed" as TO
education. and fitted to do greater and
better work on the farm. 1t is n So
cial center about which the interests
Of an entire township are beginning
to revolve. 1t is a model experimental
farm, a dairy farm. a forestry school.
4 horticultural school. 1t is an insti-
tuition whose keynote of education is:
Educate the country youth for the
world; but give him at least an equal
education for the farm. Teach him
the interesting n important things
OF farm life. and he will generally
choose the farm as his home"
In nearly 500 communities. chiefly
in Indiana. Massachusetts,, Ohio. Flor
ida and North Dakota, the new
schools are besieged daily by the
scores Of children tumbling from the
incoming carryalls. Several thousand
OF the little district schools, unable
to offer n reasonable excuse for ex
fstence in the face OF the new com.
petition. have yielded their preroga
tiYes to the united institution, end
have been gathered under it's spa.
cious roofs.
NAB4LFHl