The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-02-02
MONDAY. FEBRUARY 2. 1914.
The Good Work of
Crazy Mountain School.

How boys and girls in a little noun
! tain sc1oolhouse in Montana found
what it was they could do best, and
did it so well that they won first prize
in a statewide competition and at
tracted the attention OF the whole
state. is told by c. ". Tenny, state
school inspector of Montana, in a ru-
raj school circular just issued by T..
&. Bureau of Education. Here is Mr..
Tenny's story of how CRAZY Mountain
school did it's part in rural better
ment:
The Crazy Mountain schoolhouse is
a Joke shack. with a roof which
slants but one way and is covered
with black tar paper. Cracks in the
floor were so big that pencils easily
fell through them. The only light
that came in was from three tiny win
dows, two in the rear and one on the
left. The hole cut through the roof to
accommodate the stoyepipe was 50
large that when it rainad the water
ran into the stove and put the fire
out. Rain also beat in at the door.
which was held shut by chain hooked
over a nail. The desks were bor-
royed from a neighboring school
which had thrown them away as use
less. The seats were held Up by sticks
of wood, unless a pupil was fortunate
enough to find a box of the right size
- - - - ;n5iv;dral chair and the
teachers desk was a plank nailed to
two sticks and set against the wall.
Into this school last spring came
Miss Angelina Barker. as teacher. and
nine pupils, representing four different
families. Although the weather was
damp. for the first three weeks they
had no fire. Most of the pupils had
no books But teacher and pupils
went to work to do the best they could
with what they had and to get better
equipment as fast as they could.
One day premium list OF the Mon
tana State fair, which is held at Hele-
ma each year, came to this little school.
Both teacher and pupils began TO read
to see what there was they could do.
Best kindergarten work." they knew
they could not do that. Best shop
work" that sounded even more hope
less. BEST collection of wild flowers,
pressed and mounted, with a descrip
ton of i've" everybody shouted. "Of
course we can" and the race was
on.
The Mexican children. who lived far
UP on. the mountain. pluclSed the flow
exs belonging to the higher attitudes,
while the rest brought in those pc
culiar to the lowlands and meadows.
At school the flowers We're placed in
textbooks and magazines, end in the
absence Of a flower press the boys and
girls would SIT on them. AT home
The flowers were put in books under
the heaviest weights that could be
found one boy placed two sacks OF
-four on the books. another 4 tool
chest, while third said the heaviest
thing he could find was the large
"huclxet7 IN which his father carried
feed to the pigs. The girls resorted
TO just as ingenious expedients, utt-
lizing trunks, bureaus, and even one
leg OF a bed in which adults were
sleeping, in order that the necessary
amount OF pressure might be obtained.
When the days of collecting and
pressing the flowers were over all of
the specimens were brought together,
and after the very best ones had been
selected. each was carefully mounted
on white cardboard, and the entire
collection of sixty eight wild flowers
was sent to the state department of
education to be entered at the fair.
was found that the Crazy Mountain
school had won the first prize, the blue
ribbon and the s.. for the best col
lection Of wild flowers from any
school in the state.
On the day Of the prizs award the
rural inspector stood in the little booth
and called the attention of the bank
ers and business men to the splendid
exhibit and to the pictures of the little
school. When one of the leading mer-
chants saw it, he said: Go and tell
the people of Park county that boys
and girls who will do work like that
are entitled to a better schoolhouse
and better equipment, and tell them
that as soon as they get the house
they can GENE TO my store and get