Douglas Island news., 1911-09-13
The Sitka Training School

The Sitka Training School Editor of News:-
 In a recent visit to Sitka I was very much interested in examining the new group of buildings just completed for the use of the Sheldon Jackson school for natives, formerly known as the Sitka Training School. The old build. ings have been torn down and during the past year the Women's Board of the Presbyterian church has erected and furnished six buildings at a cost of ap proximately $1O0,OO0. There is a main building containing splendidly equipped ymnasium and four large class rooms. On it's right is a long dor mitory building for the large girls, con- taining reading and music rooms, din ing room, kitchen and teachers quar, ters. Adjoining is a similar building for small girls containing rooms for sewing and domestic science. On the left of the main building are two cor responding buildings which include game rooms, reading room superin- tendent's offices, etc. The heating and laundry plants, with dynamos for cleo. tric lights are housed close by these. All six buildings are two stories high, except the laundry, finished in brown shingles of uniform design, we'll built and all work and fittinge of the best available.
 The central building, higher than the rest, is called the Richard H. Allen Memorial and was given by bis widow. Other buildings are erected by gifts to the board from people interested in the work in various parts of the United States, especially from the Pacific coast.
 This school is about thirty years old and has already done much for the ed ucation of the native Alaskan. #itt the new equipment it can do vaatly more. Bt will have capacity for about 200 pupils teaching force of twelve instructors, including the various mat rons of the different houses. It is tc ] yeopen on Sept. IS.
 The instruction will cover the third to the eighth grades in English branches. Ln addition boys will bt taught blacksmitbing, earpentering boat building, mechanical drawing drafting, and the elements of stean and electrical engineering.
 The boys industrial work is housed in a building on the beach to whicf water for power fs carried by a 9um' constructed by the instructors anc older boys overa year ago. This build ing contains IA turning lathes, banc saw, forges, etc. The girls will be taught cooking sewing, dressmaking and thC care of the house. A large part of th' work will be done by the scholars. A nominal fee of $25 a year will b' charged for tuition.
 The purpose of the school is to f the natives to live in Alaska under tho new industrial conditions which they must meet and to educate them 1T christian principles. Two of the former pupils were leaving Sitka this month one to return to the Broadway Higt school in Seattle and the other to en ter Whitworth college in Tacoma. Most of the pupils come from Southeastern Alaska, but are received from all Alas ka and have been in attendance from ; Nome.
 With such force of competent in structors and with such plant this instution ought to. do large service iE developing the native youth and fitting them for usefulness in their own homes l The schools that take the native out ot his environment have often failed to fl him to live at home any better than hi' uneducated brothers and sisters, but this school on Alaskan soil sets out not to educate the individual away from his people, but to fit him to stay with his people and change his environ ment. If the native races are to sur ViVe in Alaska can only be by know ing how to thrive in modern ways o