The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-08-24
9th Number of
the Ten School
Sections. of 1913
BY DIR. DOUGLAS FREEMAN.


large number. of announcements made
by schools for girls, and if he is discern
ing, he will see in the variety and
diversity Of these schools evidence that
Virginia is mindful Of her daughters.
There is every reason that the
State should be- Even as many wise
men have seen in the training of young
boys the great educational opportunity
OF the day, SO others have become con-
vlnced that in developing the mind of
the young girl the teacher is perform
ing his great service to his age.
Of all nature, the little girl is the
most plastic clay. With soul unsullied
and mind alert, she may ascend to the
heights nearest the Throne, or she may
plunge into the deepest pits If she is
developed into the full flower of noble
womanhood, society is the gamer, and
the future the beneficiary. If her life
is marred, posterity suffers, and the
world is the loser.
All of this is at once obvious and
familiar, but its bearing on the general
problem of feminine education NAV not
be SO apparent. 1t is because the girl
her education is matter of religion
and patriotism; it is because she is so
speedily shaped for good or for evil
that her training during early life is
SO vitality important. One may delay
the training of the boy and will lose
thereby, but if one postpones the educa-
ton of the girl, the golden opportunity
is past forever.
To appreciate the full significance
of this, one must remember the funda-
mental psychological changes which
take place in the mind of the little girl.
Properly reared, her childhood is spent
in the glory of innocency and her girl
hood begins when new emotions are
stirring her spirit. When she passes
through the marvellous years of early
adolescence, her spiritual powers
develop with her body, and she enters
that Land of Dreams, where character
is made and life-ideals fixed. Then, if
ever, she is capable of the closest COM
munion with God and with Gods fair
world; then, if ever, are sown the seeds
which bear fruit in holy motherhood.
The wise old fathers of the church, dis
covering this, rightly made early
adolescence the age of confirmation,
and about that solemn act they threw
all the mystic holiness of union with
Christ They knew that if they could
take advantage of the girls dreams and
aspirations, they could then inspire her
with a faith that would not die. From
the church the schools are learning
their lesson.
What Does the School Aim to Do?
On this fundamental basis, what
does the preparatory school of the type
whose announcements are admitted to
this section aim to do for the girl?
Making the most of it's golden oppor-
tunity to shape the young, pure spirit,
what ideal does the girls school set for
itself?
The first ideal, of course, is to con-
firm and strengthen the spiritual
impulses of the young heart. Indeed,
to be concise, the first duty of the
teacher of young girls is a religious one.
She is not bound by sectarian views, to
be sure, and she moulds the girl to no
creed; but if she is honest and high
minded, she regards herself as the
minister of sane gospel, called to gain
converts to idealism. There is not a
school for girls listed in this section
whose teachers do not regard their
calling as sacred one and their mission
as spiritual.
Little MARY X"
AS illustrative of this, let us cite the
case of a young girl whom we may call
Mary x. Mary's parents were North
ern people, whom business had brought
to the South. They were good people
-well-born and high-minded, but they