The Palatka news and advertiser., 1916-07-28

From Tlr SOUTHERN WOMAN'S MAGAZINE

fifty and sixty. In one school of
siXty-fve pupils there were twenty
three men and women who had never
before entered school-house and who
did not know A from z, or the most
/ simple sum in counting. In one
school there were three preachers and
two school trustees. An old couple,
paper with much less shame than he
would have felt in spelling out the
fact that "the cat sat on the mat"
as it is told in the first reader. The
news that John Mason, of the Sandy
Valley neighborhood, is putting a new
roof on his barn." and similar infor-
nation, proved of untold value to-
wards creating a desire in the minds
of the adult pupils towards wanting
to read what else was happening.
The news regarding school i'm
provement served two purposes; it
gave the pupils exercise in reading
and aroused in the readers a spirit
Of pride in trying to keep their own
school up to the standard set by the
most progressive. A feeling of
community interest was awakened for
practically the first time.
The arithmetic used was one that
dealt entirely with the problems of
rural life and for home reading prov
ed as popular with the adult pupils as
the county paper. The paper pub
| lished each week u poem by one of
| the great writer's. This served to
correct the misuse of words, among
these grown-up pupils, more effec-
| tually than q regular school gram
mar would have done. The Bible,
Of course, was the reading textbook
most popular, for there are few
mountain homes in which there is not
copy Of this book to be found. BIZ
| HES were offered as prizes for eff
cheney in reading and writing, and q
! surprising number of these prizes
were won. A great number of the
adult pupils mastered their letters
and learned to put them together, in
writing or reading, in week or ten
davs' time. The mothers end faith
ers learned more in that two weeks
time, during the moonlight nights of
Scntember, 1911, than their little
children did during the full term.
Their minds were awake and eager
to take in every bit of knowledge.
They made the most of every advant-
age offered them.
With the opening of the moonlight
school the second year there were
over 1000 pupils enrolled, and this
number included practically every
person of school age in the county
who had had no schooling. The
message of Mrs. Stewards efforts
had been carried into other countries.
In 1913 ten other counties in Ken
tucky had opened their doors to ad-
nit pupils. All the rural schools in
the mountain district were holding
moonlight sessions. From practical
" every household there were attend
ants either to the day or night schools.
The course was extended from two
to several weeks. depending on con-
ditions that enabled the pupils to at
tend. In many instances pupils of
the night school enrolled in the day
school. their eagerness to learn elimi-
mating their shame of competing with
children.
Mrs. Stewart. a gentle, soft-voiced,
little woman with clever brown eyes
and q whimsical curve to her mouth,
doubtless did not dream of the far
reaching results of the opening of
her first moonlight school. For the
results have been far-reaching, not
only in Kentucky, but in other sec
tions of the South where Mrs. Stew
arts idea has been adopted. Better
roads, increased church attendance,
improved school property, a general
elevation of the mental, moral and
civic tone of the community-these
are few of the benefits that Mrs.
Stewart brought to the mountain sec
tiors of Kentucky through the elimi-
mating of illiteracy. Just what the
moonlight schools have done for the
neople themselves doubtless they have
not even yet adequate words to eX-
press. But the old lady who at
eighty wears of age learned to read
her Bible came quite near to it:
"Lordy, Imassy! I never knowed
boolllearning could teach you all
them things!"