Gloucester County Democrat., 1912-02-01
THE MAKING OF A TEACHER

Influences Which Mold Them Into
Efficient Workmen-The Train
ing of Hayward Children. An
Interesting Teachers
Meeting.
The school teachers and members
of Boards of Education of the County
met in an interesting session Satur-
day morning in the. Court House at
Woodbury.. Superintendent Twitmyer,
one of the scheduled speakers, was
unable to be present, so County Sup
erintendent Steelman secured Mr..
Enright, County Superintendent of
Monmouth County for the place which
i Mr.. Twitmyer was to have occupied
i The speakers at the meeting were
very interesting and the ninety per-
sons present were we'll repaid for
their excursion into the disagreeable
weather in order to be present.
Miss Lille Cole gave the first talk
her address being entitled, Writing
in the Elementary Grades" She em-
/ phasized the Importance of using the
! muscles in writing and making the
finger motion of secondary import
ance. Do not strive for good form
in the early grades, she said but have
as your object the proper training OF
the muscles of the arm, letting the
muscles do the work of writing in
stead of the fingers. In holding the
crayon at the blackboard, have them
grasp it between the thumb and the
four fingers; also, as far as possible,
do not have the copy for the children
on the board, for all do not see it
equally we'll.
Miss Susie MacMurray, of the
Woodbury. High School, spoke on the
Training of Wayward Children ?"
Her address was founded on the
methods used at the George Junior
Republic in New York State The
4 Republic is a colony or settlement
unto itself, is located at Freevi,ie,
near Ithaca. 1t was founded in the
early 'nineties by Mr.. George whsse
desire was to develop the good side of
/ the boys who were known as bad"
and originally the only requirement
for admission was a bad record
At present, the school has abor
| boys and IS girls, and they carry on
i the school or settlement. They make
tAiCAl oWl AcN p A1fC C1iC1l O8A JuOSCo
/ and sentence their offenders to their
own jail. A supreme court attached
I to the colony, is composed of promin-
] ent lawyers of New York, and in this
/ court the grievances of the boys and
girls against the managers and Off
cials of the school, are settled.
The motto of the school is Nothing
| Without Labor" If a boy will not
work, he is put in JAIL and to be put
in the Jail of the school is disgrace.
They are paid for everything in tin
and aluminium money. For going to
! school they receive certain pittance,
and for work of a manual character,
they are also paid. Out of their
earnings, they must pay their board,
for their laundry and for everything
! that they receive. If they are unable
to pay their debts they are sent to
1 jail, and such procedure is no joke
in their eyes.
After they have reached the age of
! 16, they do not have to go to school,
but if they do not, then they must
work; ais the school is more agree
able than work, it is seldom that boy
does not remain in school after he has
! reached the age of Is.
| Many of their laws are the same as
are in the statute books of New York,
] but with improvements in some par1i-
! culars. There is girl judge and a
boy judge, and their legal procedure
is serious matter. The children can
/ get no money from home, no matter
| how rich their parents may be, but
everything must be earned at the
school.
The object underlying the school is
/ two-fold:
1. /. The idea of self-suppQrt.
2 The idea of self-contlB.
1t is not always criminals who go
to the George Junior Republic. Some,
are boys who have become unman-
4 ageable or perhaps youths who have
/ been tried for juvenile crime and in
stead of being sent to a State refor-
matory, their sentences are committed
1 and they are sent to the Republic.
After leaving the Republic, many of
the boys have done remarkably well.
Some have become lawyers, while
Others have prospered along different
lines, and become good and useful citi
zens The idea of training the boys
and girls by their own peers, which is
the basis of the existence of the
Ischool has been a huge success and
as result of the good work Of the
school founded by Mr.. George, sine
others have been founded in this
country, one of them being located at
4 Flemington Junction in this State.
The Republic is supported largely
by voluntary contributions, although
some of the children are paid for by
4 parents or relatives.
j The final address of the morning
was delivered by Mr. Enright, his sub
ject being, The Making of a Teacher" !"
The first essential of a good teacher
is average material with the proper
spirit The next essential is the
children; they will make the teacher
If she meets them with the right
spirit. "A good Board of Education
and sympathetic parents are good