The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-10-27
FRANK

rhe uroblem or arrested develop |
uart mas been the educators night
mare since teaching became a system.
rbo first school desk was construct
"a for a child, and it was assumed
,r,t henceforth and for all time,
,,hIsren alone should use them. BY
cnmmon sufferance when a boy or a
o,rI reaches a certain age he or she
muediately becomes too old to go to
srbooL A few years later there is
.nother step backward and the boy
- Girl is too old to learn. Now they
wag their heads in sage understand
80 If things as they are, setting up
a. an excuse for themselves, as a bull
uark Of lazy satisfaction, as a barrier
- progress, the principle of the en-
mol You can't teach an old dog new
tricks.
Woman superintendent Of county edu-
cation i'm Rowan county, Kentucky.
Thai was Mrs. Cora Wilson Stewart.
she knew something about dogs, but
che knew more about men. h knew
that there is "A difference between
men and dogs. Above all things, she
had the rock-built conviction that
while an age blind hound may not
become a 1.-the and lively circus ring
performer, q mature man or Oma
entirely without the rudiments of
education. may be brought from the
list Of illiterates in the census column
to take one more stain from the repu-
ration Of the county in the eyes of
civilization.
Mrs. Stewart was not merely a
passive skeptic of the old dog theory.
Night schools for adults. who had en-
loved no privileges of free school and
who had grown up illiterate by rea-
son of it, was the scheme she ad-
yanced. The plan was perfected, and
opening Of the night schools an
nounced for Sept. 5, 1911. When time
for enrolment came 1900 men and
women between the ages of Is and sc
responded. This was the beginning
Of the famous moonlight schools
of kentucky.
But as much as has been said and
written about the moonlight schools
Of Kentucky, not even / per cent OF
the people Of this state know that
the same experiment has been tried
in North Carolina. and with a success
that has placed it out of the bounds
of an experiment into the range OF
community service, real and effective
As late as 1912 and later, Harnett
county, North Carolina, had two little
thought-of and less cared-for schoo
districts. They were Just ordinary
districts, rural communities, where
people farmed, lived and died. ant
sometimes between crops, humOret
the county department Of education
by sending their children to schoo
Tor a few months or a few weeks
Then they rested, satisfied in tn
SNUG conceit of duty we'll done.
But something was wrong. TIL
teachers realized it. The county de
partment of education knew 1t. TIL
yW0 districts uynrn noroo1idofnd Grow
township, districts number 4 and
became Grove township district Nc
2 The time-worn hulls that ha
housed the germ Of progress were de
serted. A new school building wa
erected within reaching distance G
every family in both districts. Wit
'ne erection came a new zeal for edu
Gallon, a willingness to devote self t
service, and to serve by sacrifice.
Cooperation did that. The indie
scrlDable magic Of a union in a CON
mon cause erased the spirit Of laisse
iaire, swept the board clean, and fixe
IN It's stead. indelibly deep in tn
conscience Of every man and woman
mother, father. sister, brother, sol
daughter, a Uniformed thirst Il
progress.
Real Progress.
ana IT was progress, too, inevitabl
V"'ihChhE. into that SCnOOl ana Tn;
community entered an inspiratiC
mat possessed the powers Of the PEI
PIE turning half-formed, forgotte
dreams into abiding purposes AT
making possibilities facts. There, f
,ne nrst time in the history Of Mort
.atohna, three generations sat in IL
pubic schools at one time, studyiI
ous Of the same books, looking to-
aLu the same goal-literacy. For
WIS consolidated school, baptized
~" talth, North Carolina saw its fir
moonlight school.
%iiarnctt's Moonlight Schools.
-. Ezzell was county superb
HH"ueht when the moonlight sch
rVa was conceived. If they we
Gu Tor Kentucky, why not for Nor
luna If a Kentuckian of 80 yea
sru.u suddenly switch from the i'll
~ column to the i~terate, blessi
~, ''ate with a cleaner record, w
~ a North Carolinian?
rtue answer was a call to Princil
%%Nlh Mcleod, of the Grove tow
W school No. 4. The grown-u
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