Imperial Valley press., 1914-06-19
SCHOOLS AND NEWSPAPERS

ing tIlS use ol lOCaI newspapers nave
recently been made to the school peo-
pie of the state by Superintendent Ed
ward Hyatt at Sacramento.
"a school teacher noglocts his op-
portunity when he does not make use
Of the newspapers of his bailiwick. AL
most as we'll not run a good school
if nobody ever finds out that it is
good. In these days the newspaper is
everywhere. reaching out even further
and more universally than the influ-
ance Of the achoolhouse. The func-
ton of the newspaper is to make
things known to men. People believe
a thing when they see it in the paper
unless they happen personally to know
that it is false. Usually it is approx
mately correct.
you may talk yourself blind to
everyone within reach, you may deliver
addresses to audiences till you are
black in the face, you may send word
by the children and write letters and
shout from the housetops; yet all
your efforts will not accomplish the
publicity that is given by one item
n newspaper. No. not one-tenth,
-hundredth of it!
''Now, the public school is peculiar
ly the creation of public opinion, de-
pendent for its sustenance, its sup
port, its success, upon the public.
When it loses the support of the
public, when the public does not know
about it, care about it that school
is bidding for membership in the
down and out club. The wise teacher,
therefore, sees to it that the good and
worthy things done by his school have
chance to create public sentiment. The
children and the teachers do more
work and better work if they see that
it is recognized and approved, noticed
admired by the outside world, that is,
the public, that reads the papers. That
S necessary for support and success.
"Some school people, however, get
into. curiously narrow mental atti-
tude about it. They say, Now, here
was an important occasion education
ally, of greatest interest and moment
to the community, costing great mon
ey and effort, a real piece of con
structive work. Yet what did the pa
per do? Gave it a 10-line paragraph,
with four mistakes in it! Yet if a cir
Gus comes to town or a prizefight is
pulled off, a whole page shouts in
headlines and columns of smart de-
scription follow"
"This way of talking is folly. L
gets nowhere. The circus and the
prizeiight don't waste time that way.
When the mountain doesn't come to
Mahomet, Mahomet goes to the noun
tain.
1--WE should not be too proud, or
too impractical or too Indifferent to
get acquainted with our local news
papers, to cultivate them in the same
way we do the school trustees. They
should be informed of the progress
of the school and should have tips
and suggestions all the time. Go tell
them all about your entertainment,
your spelling match, your athletic
contest, your prize essay, your in
creased enrolment, in a lively and
spirited way. Or write it down and
send it to them; and in so doing, for
mercy's sake, get some notion of what
the newspaper can use. Cut off intro
Guctions and closings, cut out the big
words, tell the story directly and cut
it down to paragraph. Make the
first sentence tell the gist of the story
if possible. No newspaper can use
a long-winded account cncumbered by
literary style, but any newspaper viii
welcome a short paragraph telling q
fact ia a snappy way Twill do you
good to study and try to acquire the
newspaper style of telling things for
that is the language in which facts
are conveyed to our world in these
days. 1t is not possible for busy,
overworked newspaper to send the
editor to spend day in your school;
but all good newspapers will meet US
more than half way in printing good,
helpful constructive things about our
schools if we give them a chance and
do our part in making it possible.
Wherefore, let US cultivate friendly
relations with our local newspaper. It's
business is publicity, and it is one aJ
the institutions Of modern life 1t can
give the right kind Of publicity to our
work better than any other agency
if we who are wise do our share OF
the work"