The Donaldsonville chief., 1914-04-04
cALBAssE SCHOOL PRAISED.
One of Type that Fosters Better LIN
ing Conditions and Higher De-
gree of Efficiency In Community,
Says Supt. Harris.

| gree of Efficiency In Community
i Says Supt. Harris.
! An interesting pamphlet just ISSUED
by the State Department of Educa
tion contains the following para
graphs relating to the Calbasse schoo
in Ascension parish, being extracts
from the reports OF Principal r. e
Phillips to Country School Inspector
c. j. Brown: -
During first month vss.ed 81,
club members and ten aduIss: dis
cussed club work and measured corr
and corn plots; with adults. dis
cussed fall ploWing. drainage, fall DO
tatoes, pure bred hogs, early vegeta
bles, hay crops. Ny greatest diff
Guilty this month has been the fact
that it has rained nearly the Whole
time; another difficulty is that a
great many of my people can not un
derstand English as well as French.
During second month visited fif
teen adults; discussed chiefly hogs
| poultry, gardening, diversificatiou
| (this is a cane growing area.
found a great difficulty in my club
work on account of the fact that
they-the parish organization gave
in 1912 prizes to every one who did
club work whether they were en-.
titled to prizes or not; this year
they gave prizes only to winners and
all the pupils who did club work ex.
peeted a prize. have the home
gardening work progressing nicely.
About ten of the pupils have start
ed to growing strawberries, some
thing they have never even had in
| pills have nice gardens; some have
even better gardens than / had ex-
pected, ] have arranged to have
an athletic meet between Calbasse
and Belle Helene.
During third month visited five
club members and twenty adults.
| Report fourteen new club members,
just beginning 90 organize them
Corn, pig, poultry, and canning clubs
represented. Discussed with adults
chiefly hot beds. early melons, and
! potatoes. Ordered seed for nur-
sery stock
During fourth month visited fif-
teen adults and discussed same sub
jects as before mentioned. Had
contest between CaIbasse and Belle
Helene; about three hundred persons
witnessed the contests. There has
been something like 200 acres of
land fall ploWed in this community.
attempted to have some barns or
sheds erected for cattle this winter,
but my attempt was a failure as far
las ] can ascertain. Hot beds seem
to have awakened 4 great interest,
although some thisas I should plant
/ by the phases OF the moon.
| have hot beds planted in tomatoes,
cabbage, eggplants and peppers.
am also planting tomatoes at homes
| of pupils. Have bedded out some
sweet potatoes at patrons homes
and will do a great deal more the
coming month. The nursery work
is not moving along as nicely as it
/ should
| The Calbasse school is described
as being located at Duplessis post
office, about twenty miles south of
Baton Rouge on the l. r. & N. Rail
road. It is housed in a modern
building worth about s250o, and is
very well equipped, possessing among
other advantages q s45 library. The
school site occupies one acre, with
additional land leased for demon
stration purposes, and the faculty
consists of three teachers, who han
die nine grades. The community
is strictly rural, and the population
largely Of French extraction, with
many small farm owners.
The object Of the pamphlet is set
forth by State superintendent T.
H. Harris as follows:
| .*The following pages are taken
| from a report made to this depart
| ment by Country School Inspector G.
J. Brown The eight schools re-
| ported are all consolidated country
schools, having neither regular state
| approved high school nor agricultural
departments. | am publishing in
pamphlet form the information which
these pages contain in order that
school officials and others may see
that it is possible for even a small
country school to stimulate and fos-
ter better living conditions, better
agriculture, and higher type of
efficiency in the community If the
principal will work intelligently to-
ward these ends, and especially if
he believes that country boys and
girls should be taught how to work
and live successfully
IF you will read the report care
fully, you will be convinced that the
country schools are being trans
formed to enable country people to
secure in them the training that will
aid them in their efforts to earn a
livelihood