The Idaho Springs siftings-news. (Idaho Springs, Colo.) 1905-19??, 1916-03-24

the schoolroom the secretary OF
the boys egg club is waiting. On each egg. as
ii is brought in. is written the number of its
owner and the date it was laid And during each
school day the eggs packed and sent by par
eel post to of the clubs customers in Chi
cago.
The arithmetic lesson in several of the Cook
county rural schools consists in keeping
books the receipts and sales of fresh eggs BY
members of the egg clubs
, Once week. instead of the old ia shioned re-
view of lessons. in which the pupils had not the
slightest interest, the weekly remittance for egg
shipments is received and divided by the boys
among themselves in proportion to the number
of eggs each has contributed To them the study
of arithmetic has become a very real important
and interesting matter. All through the $50 rural
schools OF Cook county the same new spirit of
life has been put into the dry bones If study
Boys and girls studying botany for in
stance by testing the seed which their ia
theirs are planning to plant next spring: that
brings in again the study of percentage And
when father is shown that, the average only
60 per cent Of his proposed seed corn will actu.
ally terminate. he Is likely to get new idea of
and interest in the country school
There are few things of which Chicago has a
greater right to be proud than that the rural
schools of the county in which it is located are
probably the most advanced and progressive
country schools in the United States The d.
vision of these schools into five districts with a
trained teacher who II also graduate of an ag-
ricultural college, at the head of each as director
of rural life and of schools has proved ire.
hendous step in advance.
County Superintendent of Schools Tobin WIN
persuaded the county board to make an ammo.
oriation OF 10000 to the salaries of the
I'VE rural life directors for the year has inst
received the reports of these directors covering
lhe work done during the fall and early winter
months To read them is to wish that one might
be again country-school boy going down the
long road every morning to the little red school,
house.
Almost every schoolhouse has been a social
center for the rural community OF which it is
the center. Gas and wood ranges have been
put in many schools and the girl pupils prepare
hot lunches every day for all the pupils They
demonstrate their skill in household chemistry
also by preparing and serving special occa-
sions dinners at which their parents the
guests OF honor.
Day after day the boys and girls bring sam.
pies Of milk to school and test them with a milk
tester for richness in butterfat. After n series
Of such tests they are able to help their fathers
decide which cows worth keeping and which
are only Improbable "toarders."
In many neighborhoods the parents OF the pu-
pills have been organized into agricultural clubs
and have begun to take active and eager in
terest in all the work Of the school On ~ long
winter evenings the parents and pupils have fire.
uuentIy met in of the schoolhouses to take
part in and watch old -fashioned spelling bee.
based on lists of 500 common words sent at
the beginning OF the year by the county super
intendent
Especially interesting and important is the plan
to keep the schoos-or at least the school activi-
ties-in evidence all through the summer months.
With that end in view. a large number OF garden
clubs were organized year ago. on basis
which would keep the children interested, enable
them to apply their newly acquired knowledge
and put a more or less definite financial reward
up for them to try for.
Each member OF of the country school gar
den clubs rented from his parents last spring. at
the regular rate prevailing in the neighborhood,
a small piece of land for cultivation Of which he
was to be entirely responsible. All the money
resulting from the sale of garden products grown
on thai piece OF land to belong. to him
By way of adding additional zest 10 the compe-
tition among the schools and among ehe individ-
ual pupils a series Of prizes were awarded 70