The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1915-03-05
Big Meetings Of
School Boards


meeting of the boards of education Of
Medina county which was held at the
court house last Saturday. Not only
was the meeting held to comply with
section of the State laws which says
that the various county boards shall
meet, for the purpose of discussing
matters relating to the schools, but
because it was the consensus Of opin-
ion of all those who had been sounded
concerning the idea that naught but
benefit could result therefrom.
Promptly at 1890 a. M, County
Supt. jerks called the meeting to or
der, then followed the roll call Of mem
bers. Mr.. A. G. Abbott, president OF
the county board, made the opening
address. In part Mr. Abbott said:
"The object of this meeting as stat
ed on the front page of your program
is to discuss matters pertaining to the
good of the rural schools of Medina
county. If each board member pres
ent will feel that this is his meeting
or so far as he has something to say
for the good of our schools or to ask
a question that may be troubling him,
| am sure that this will be the best
school meeting ever held in this coun-
ty. This is, of course, the first
meeting of the kind ever held and it
seems to me to be an opportunity for
those interested in the welfare of the
schools of the county to accomplish
something. I, for one, hope that
much good may come of this meeting
today.
"Inasmuch as our school law is new
and is, we might say, 'on trial, it is
not to be wondered at that good
many of us do not understand it in
all of it's workings. 1t is so differ
ent in so may ways from what we
have been accustomed to-, that it
seems to take one good while to get
used to the new order of things. When
one moves from an old house into
new, or from one house into another,
it always requires quite length Of
time to get acquainted with the new
surroundings and changed conditions
of living and it is just this same state
of affairs that we find ourselves to-
Il day. We have, moved out from sun-
der the antiquated, unsatisfactory and
long since worn out school law into
the sunshine and warmth of new
progressive and up-to-date law that
proposes to give the country boy and
girl the best there is in education. For
/ generation after generation, the coun-
try boys and girls have been COM
PEELED to gain their education under
very unfavorable conditions as COM
: : pared to the boys and girls Of the
towns and cities. The improved
means of education for the use of the
city boys and girls have until the
present law came into effect, such as
+ manual training, domestic science, and
: in fact, all that goes with technical
/ high schools-these things | say, have
e been denied the country boys and
girls, but now they are to have all
these things or as many as our school
= boards will furnish.
81 want to say this, however, in
,, justice to our country scholars, while
!, they have been denied many of the
schooling advantages of the town chill
0 dren, they are the equal, and often
e further advanced than the town chill
f dren at, say, the end of the eighth
S grade. | think it is only fair to say,
however, that a smaller per cent. OF
the country scholars stay in school u =
: til the end of the eighth grade than I
Il the towns, and it is of course, true as
a rule that the best scholars are til!
q ones that stay in school.
IS "The fact remains that, looked at
e from any angle, the schooling coma
e. tions in the country have been at.N
le ious and it was this fact that inspired
'; '; some of our leading educators and
- prominent men of the state to make
' survey of the state and then using this
knowledge, together with the aid OF
prominent educators in other states
our present school law was drafted in
IN to shape and later enacted into law
Y. as we now have it,
"It was not supposed that this new
as law would be perfect in all its de-
lg tails, but we do feel that in its main
w features it is so far in advance of the
:, old that they are not worthy of com
al parison.
in in at has been, said that this law
rv would save the county and states
some money. Whether OF not this il
he true, time only can tell We hope i
'ir will, but we shall not condemn it i
1g it doesn't, because all good things cos
I'll more than the poorer ones. ! thor
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