The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-21
PLAN CONFERENCE
 AT STATE NORMAL
Rural Development Workers
 to Meet at Florence
WORK OF EXTENSION
Farm Workers Will Give Accounts of Results Secured-NOrmal School Has Assisted 9 Communities
 in North Alabama Counties
By H. J. wILLINGHAAI

Florence February 20.-The rural de- nartnent of the Florence Normal school is planning a conference of rural teach CTS. county superintendents, farmers and others interested in rural development to be held June Is and IT. A number of prominent workers from outside the state as well as persons from different parts of this state. will take part in the discus sions during this conference. The chief feature of the conference is to be relat- ing of the experiences of community lead CTS here in north Alabama as to how their communities are being helped by or ganization.
 AID TWENTY TOWNS
 The rural department of the Normal school through it's extension division has assisted 20 communities in Lauder dale. Colbert and Lawrence counties. ana is assisting these communities in main raining the organizations by sending to each of these communities once month one or more of it's extension workers. Other communities are catching the spirit of organization because of the good things coming to their neighboring communi- ties through these organizations. A con ference ties is expected to prove great help III formulating further plans for community development Representatives from un- organized communities should receive sufficient information and inspiration to enable them to go back and organize their community. The following account of the happenings in Midway community, four miles out from Hillsboro, on the Moulton road, IS an example of what is being done in many of these organized communities. There is no finer spirit to be found in a community than is found in this com munity. community club was organ ized here last october with farmers club and a farm women's club as dl- visions of the community club. They meet once every month and sometimes twice a month. The community was or ganized under the direction of an exten- sion worker of the Florence Normal school and is visited once a month by this worker from the Normal school
 TEACHERS UNTIRING
 The chief factor in promoting this pro- gressive spirit is the untiring efforts of the teachers of the local school. Prof. Anderson Mcbride is the principal, and his sister, Mrs. Sallie Darnell, is the as- sistant Last year this school was one-teacher school and enrolled 46 pupils. This year they have enrolled 101 pupils. They go out into every byway to find them and if any claims that he is not able to buy books, they are at once bought for him. One girl IA years of age, who had been to school only five days in her life before this year, is now in school with the books furnished her by the teachers and she has already learned how to read.
 Every condition about the school is be- ing improved. Closets have been built, yard has been cleaned off, stumps are being dug, 13 swings have been put up for the small children and two high swings for the larger ones; good ball ground has been made, the building is being painted this week. patent desks have been ordered.
 The community is planning still great CT things. They are now getting ready to build a third room this summer. They say that they shall continue to work until they have a brick building and a school that adequately prepares for life in the country. Sixteen men in the com munity have already set aside one acre of land each on which to grow cotton, the proceeds of which are to be used for com munity improvement