The Cordova daily times., 1919-10-21
need OF MORE
SCHOOL ROOM
POINTED OUT

Henderson of Juneau has just COM
pleted an examination of the Cordova
public schools, and is very favorably
impressed with the efficient manner
in which they are conducted. He also
discusses educational matters in gen.
eral and makes some recommendations
in the following interview given to a
representative of the Daily Times:
''The public school is the biggest
and most important institution in any
community. We as a people have
within the past two years had i'm
pressed upon us the truth of the
statement, The schools make the ma
ton 1t is encouraging to observe
the interest which the school board,
teachers, pupils and residents of Cor
dova generally manifest in the school.
This interest, and the harmony which
prevails in the community, mean much
in the future development of the
school. In no other community insti-
tuition is the need for cooperation so
great or the lack of cooperation so
sure to produce results which will
handicap the men and women of the
future as in the public schools.
81 find conditions in the school gen.
orally satisfactory. The organization
of the work is such as will produce
results. The teachers are competent
and sincerely interested in the ad
vancement of the pupils. The chill
tlren in general seem to be undertake
ing their tasks with a spirit which in
dictates an appreciation of the oppor-
tunity which the school affords them.
The school board is highly progressive
and is laying plans to meet the in
creased enrolment which is antici-
pated with the opening of another
school year, and is planning to in
crease the efficiency of the school
through the addition of further courses
of study.
This community, like many other
Alaska towns, is confronted with the
problem of providing an additional
school building. This building, when
erected should be carefully planned
90 ,no1y i,,r
the needs of a modern school system.
Adequate provision should be made
for physical education, manual train
ing and domestic science. In addi-
ton the building should be so con-
structed as to make it available as
general community center. The time
is now past when any city can invest
from $4,000 to 100000 in school
building which is designed for use dur
ing six hours each day for one hun
dred and eighty days in the year. The
building should be so constructed as
to meet the needs of all the people
and be in truth the peoples school.
81 am very DESTROYS that the schools
in every community shall give par
ticular attention to the physical we'll
being of school children. Dental ex-
animation and medical inspection, in
GLIDING vision tests, should be regu-
lar part of the schools work. The
nation fell down physically when the
war test was applied. Approximately
80 per cent of the young men who
applied for admission to the army
were turned down because of physical
defects, many of which could have
been remedied earlier in life. Stats
tics Show that the average one hun
bred pupils in the public schools have
approximately the following percent
ages of physical defects:
Per Cent
Seriously defective teeth........-l. 40
MalnutritiOn NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. lO
Enlarged tonsils or adenoids..-. Is
tuberculosis NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. III
Defective vision ....-.............-..-.... 20
Defective hearing OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES b
Spinal curvature or other bone
defOrmity OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. .
Organic heart disease................ 21a
Serious nervous disorder......... 5
"The physical condition of Alaska's
school children may be superior to
that of the nation as whole. At any
rate, we are under an obligation to
find out what the true condition is"