White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1913-10-12

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attendance in our schools who re
main until the course is complete
is probably the highest in the United
States. and our diploma of gradua-
tion is given under unusually rigid
requirements. The fact that more
than FIVE times as many diplomas
were issued in this county at the
close of the last term of school as
were issued at the close of The tert.'
five years ago speaks effectively Of
the progress tnat has beer mace dur
ing those years. Whilo here is ~.
rent, of loon for Improvement u
tie elementary schools, We IRE No q
r.aking no apologies for the results
that are beins obtained.
The county high school system
was developed for the purpose Of
securing for higher edae ion a bet
ter financial support than could
otherwise be obtained. The distri-
butive school funds were insufficient
for more than the maintenance of the
elementfy schools. and adequate
funds could not be raised by local
taxation. While the schools are yet
in their infancy, they are becoming
more and more attractive as means Of
preparation for life work on the
part of the graduates from the ele-
mentry schools, and their growth is
assured. The installation of praeti-
cal courses has doubled the atten-
dance in the high schools, and the
interest in them is gradually increas-
ing. Fewer complaints of inefiicien-
cy and high cost of maintenance are
heard, and favorable comment is be-
coming more frequent. Until the de-
partments intended to fit students
for something definite in life were
established, many people could find
no adequate excuse for the compare
lively enormous expenditure of mon
ey, and the fact that more than n
half of all the students now enrolled
in White Pine county high school are
taking part or all of the commercial
subjects. is sufficient evidence
of the demand for practical train
ing. High schools throughout the
United States have been the sub
ject of more adverse criticism than
any other existing institution. They
have not developed rapidly enough
to meet the demands of the times,
and have chung too long to the notion
that they are merely college prepa-
tory institutions. As a result, hun
dreds of private schools have usurp-
ed their largest field of usefulness,
both along industrial and commercial
lines. Two years ago a university
inspector found prospective
university students in twelve high
schools in which there we're 162 high
school pupils enrolled. This is about
the usual percentage of high school
students who attend college. Certain
~, there now exists no reason why
the college preparatory course
glould be maintained as the major
course in any high school of the
present time.
The great problem of the high
school is being solved by force
through the demand for such courses
of study as will fit young PEG.
pie for something definite in life
without requiring further prepare
ton. Wherever these institutions
have shaken off the dry dust of the
ages when theoretical education
reigned supreme they are becoming
useful and popular schools. Where
they continue to stick to the ancient
languages, pseudo science. and the so
called culture courses as their chief
object they are begging for students
and must fade away. The world of
teal. This demand is being met in
many places by the organization of
commercial. agricultural, manual
training and domestic science de-
%partments. In my supervision dis
trict, every high school except the
one at McGill is now teaching the
commercial subjects. The time is
soon coming when Spanish will take
the place of French and German as a
foreign language, and departments of
t~elegraphy will be established.
Training classes for those who wish
to become teachers will be provided
as soon as there is a demand for
them. Along these lines, Nevada is
making good progress, and is prob
ably keeping pace with the advance
made in other states.
The matter of supervision is of
prime Importance to every school
system. Until a few years ago pOli-