Omaha daily bee., 1912-01-14
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American history. The Spanish is taught
as a language study and the children OF
American residents. in Porto Rico easily
learn II. / have four children in the pub
lie schools and they all speak Spanish as
well as English. Their playmates speak
Spanish in their ordinary conversation,
but the children everywhere are able TO
speak both languages. My youngest
child, when talking to the servants, al
ways speaks Spanish"
Porto Rican Teachers.
"who are your teachers?' l asked.
THE most OF them are Porto Ricans.
We have from $50 to 800 Americans
teachers and something like 2ooo Porto
Ricans. The majority Of the native teach
ers are men. although many are women.
There are more women than men among
the Americans. The Americans are nearly
all college graduates. and the Porto Rican
teachers have either studied English in
the United States or Porto Rico. They
have to pass an examination in English.
and the law requires that there must at
least be one teacher Of English in every
municipality"
Graded schools Everywhere.
what kind Of an education does the
Porto Rican get?'
~ very good one.' was DIR. Dexter's
reply. 1--WE have now schools Of all
classes from the kindergarten to the high
school, and We have agricultural schools.
normal schools and good university.
"The public school system is modelled
after that Of America, and the grades
are the same. AS II is now there are
lkindergartens only In the larger cities.
Out in the country the children begin
their school life at in the first grade.
and when they are through the grades
they are able to enter the high school
Of the larger municipalities. There are
now high schools at San Juan, Ponce
and Mayaguez. each of which has a
four-year course. and from which the
graduates are able to enter the Univer-
sity Of Porto Rico or any college Of the
United States without difficulty.
in addition to this we give partial
high school courses in eighteen different
municipalities. and in these schools we
have now almost a thousand students"
Night schools and Normal schools.
Are the people anxious to Learnt"
asked.
Eyes, indeed. They not only want their
children to go to school, but many Of
them go to school themselves. We now
have about 100 night schools, with some
thing like 1000 students enrolled. These
schools are maintained in all but one of
the municipalities. and the majority Of
the persons attending them are adults.
They are held in most cases in the same
school buildings as those used in the
daytime, and are carried on at a very
moderate expense.
LAS to the desire of the children to go
to school. this is evidenced by the large
fact that 1t is greater than that Of the
United States. believe the desire for
education is increasing, and, we are do
ing all We can to populariZe It."
Athletics in Porto Rico.
How about athletics? DO the children
play foot ball and base ball as our chill
dren dor
Yes, although they hardly knew how
to play at all when We first took pos
session of the island. The Spanish boy
Of the past rather looked down on ath-
letics. Today he is as crazy over them
as his little American brother. He be-
longs TO his foot ball team and he en-
joys watching the growth Of his biceps.
We now have athletic meets, at which
the companies from the different schools
take part. We had one last year inn
which more than 800 contested. They
came from many different towns, and
their records were creditable.
Public Fairgrounds for Children.
I'VE are row establishing school play
grounds everywhere. More than 5000
has been invested in their equipment,
and the day will come when every island
school will have its gymnastic machinery.
And then the school bands" contin-
ued Or. Dexter. The Porto Ricans are
naturally musical. and nearly every
school has its band. At the athletic
meets these bands contest as TO which
can play the best. and the banner is
given to the one making the best show