Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1915-10-06
COUNTY,. SCHOOLS
HOLD CONVENTION
Three Days Of Last Week Spent
PrOfitably.
Nearly Three hundred Attend Inspir-
alton, Information and CO-ODe.a-
ton, Spirit OF Meetings.

tAOAks hCEAA1G VI S---cJ %
The annual school board end teach
ers' convention held last week was
quite successful from an attendance
point of view and what is still more
important, it fulfilled its promises Of
being both interesting and instructive
The attendance for the three towns
was 284. Lancaster had twenty-five
teachers, sixty school officers, twenty
two training students and two visit
ors in attendance, making a total of
106. Platteville had twenty-five teach
ers, fifty-eight school officers, no
training students and two visitors,
making a total of eighty-five Fenni-
more had twenty-five teachers, forty
seven school officers, sixteen training
students and five visitors, making
total of ninety-three
County Superintendent Brick pre-
sided ably at all the conventions. He
urged the school officers and teach
ers to give their office their utmost
cooperation in making reports and in
general bringing the school standards
up to their highest point He touched
upon the work of the new school in
spectOrs and asked that the districts
assist the inspector in every way when
she calls upon the school,
w. 3. Larson, state inspector of ru-
raj schools, talked entertainingly and
instructively during the morning ses-
sions. His main address centered up
on the necessity of having sanitary
conditions in and around the schools
and that the pupils should have proper
instruction along hygienic lines.
Schools should be built to make things
pleasant and comfortable for the pu-
pills, Mr.. Larson declared The text
books should be kept bound up and in
good condition. Floors should be
scrubbed frequently and the little
things in general that mean so much
toward the teachers and childrens
health, should be kept in view
Mr. Larson also spoke on the school
laws, and cleared up some points that
may have been puzzling to school Off
Gals. Mr.. Larson is man without
any frills who speaks earnestly and
convincingly on his subject. His re-
marks were given careful attention by
all. w. P. Roseman of the university
extension, talked to the meetings on
some of the things the department is
doing toward bringing the advantages
of the university to the door of those
unable to go to Madison for a regular
course of study. Nearly 800 different
courses were open to the student who
must conduct his studies by mail. The
department is ready to send speakers
and instructors at any time for any
special occasion as a short course, q
farmers institute, etc. Each state is
entitled to a large sum of money by
the terms of the Smith-Leever act
passed by congress last year. Without
much local expense it will be possible
for the state to establish county
agents" who will look for methods Of
lettering conditions. Mr. Roseman
spoke of his early school days at Mt.
Hope and compared the country
schools of that time with the ones Of
the present.
We believe President Sutherland, of
the Platteville normal school, can
crowd more wisdom, wit and horse
sense" into few minutes talk than
any man in this part of the country.
Mr.. Sutherland talked Of the advantage
of a teachers having wide general
knowledge brought about by judicious
reading so that she may illuminate
the fragramentary abstracts of liter
ature and history found in the text
books. He spoke of the sheer waste
of time when the children of the school
have a fuzzy" teacher. A fuzzy"
teacher meaning one who is careless
in appearance, reports, instruction and
class discipline Pick out the import
ant things and teach them thorough
ly, urged Mr.. Sutherland. Superficial
knowledge induces bad mental prac-
tees and the basal things must be
known thoroughly. Every child should
be taught to spell, read correctly, the
rules of grammar and speech, just as
they learn the multiplication table
from beginning to end. Mr. Suther-
lands talk was full Of snap and while
he spared no one in presenting his
views, he had his audience in a gale
of merriment from time to time, and
interested always.
In brief, the conventions are fine.
While. the school officers and teachers
attend very well the general public
should also do so. The conventions
give the teachers new inspiration in
their work and the visitors can gain
a great deal of useful knowledge
about what the modern schools stand
for and what they are doing.