Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1914-12-16
HOME SCHOOL FOR GIRLS At
SAUk CENTRE.

HOME SCHOOL FOR GIRLS At
SAUk CENTRE.
The one state institution where wo.
mans influence Is supreme is the Min
nesota Home School for Girls, located
near Sank Centre. Though under the
charge Of the Board of Control women
are largely in command, and the work
OF the resident staff is supplemented
by women's board of visitors, who
act in an advisory capacity.
While the school is among the old
est of the states correctional institu-
tions, the location Of the Home at
Sank Centre is comparatively new,
having been authorized by the legisla-
ture in 1907. Prior to that the institu-
ton was conducted in connection with
the Boys Training School at Red
Wing.
The change of location from Red
Wing to Sank Centre was due to the
activities of the club women of the
state, and those interested in correc-
tiOnal work. They believed that CON-
plete segregation and location free
from the communicating influences Of
the population centers would afford
the best method of handling those
committed to the school, and the leg
islature answered their demands by
the selection of the site at Sank Cen
tire.
Though custodial in character the
Minnesota Home School for Girls is
a home in every sense of the word. In
this institution are confined the delin-
quent girls Of the state, committed by
the juvenile and district courts, and
as the majority Of them are the pro-
duct Of homes lacking every element
Of uplift, the duties of the Home staff
| are naturally exacting. The Home
consists Of an administration building,
a hospital and nine cottages, and is
admirably located on tract of wood
ed land $50 acres in extent, with Sank
lake, a beautiful body of water, in
close proximity. A farm, much of it
cultivated by the girls, is in connec.
ton.
Between paroles and discharges the
population of the Home is an ever
changing one, yet one of the problems
Of the institution staff is the proper
housing of the growing additions. The
cities are the principal contributors.
At the close of the 1914 biennial per.
iod, the number of girls in the school
was 172. In addition there were 139
girls out on probation over whom the
school staff exercised Jurisdiction
During the past two years 80 girls
received training in the school,
The Remarkable Record.
AS showing the movement of the
Doulation during this period and the
excellent results from the training,
which is the feature of the Sank Cen.
ire School, 81 girls placed in homes
not their own are now self-supporting
48 were returned to the homes of their
parents and are now making good, six
were discharged because of age limit
the same number left to be married
and now have homes of their own, and
two we're transferred to other institu
tions. OF 1873 girls placed during the
two years only rs girls were returned
to the school and only 13 Of this num-
Der were so returned because of ser.
ious offenses. The other II came back
because Of illness.
The school, with it's group Of cot.
taees ideally placed, is a community
with it's family homes, it's farm and its
lcentral interests. The girls are grad.
ed and the conduct of every one deter.
mines more or less the standard of
the community. Each is listed as a
citizen in the community and is sub.
ject to it's control and opinion. Every
girl lends hand to the material max.
ing and upkeep Of the community
and in that way enters into sense of
possession and personal pride. In each
cottage every attempt is made to fur
Their mutual service and cooperation
and to that end each cottage is made
a distinct home. Those within are
counted as a family, and every pro-
cess of family support is met and car.
ried out in order to intensity the home
|sense. This duplication of work and
interests by the various cottage
groups would seem loss, but those
in charge do not view it in that light
They say need determined, nothing
which more fully meets that need car
in the end be accounted loss.
The Wage Earning System.
One of the unique features of the
school is the wage earning system 1t
in large measure characterizes the
work Of the school in a training way,
for besides it's educational value it has
proven the chief source of discipline
Every girl on commitment is for a
month in dependency. At the end of
the month she is assigned a cottage
and becomes a member of the family
and a citizen in the community. She
is given food and shelter, but beyond
that she must earn her support The
school of course has it's own legal ten
der, but it's buying value is none the
less. For all work done she is paid
IoccOrdinc IN omount ond chill opd &c