The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1919-03-20
EDUCATIONAL COLUMN

tention to this week is an erro-
neous statement made by the Ed
itor of The News in last weeks
issue. 1t is a statement which I
know he believed or he certainly
would not have made it. But
nevertheless it is not true and is
a very dangerous statement; for
it will have tendency to make
us pat our selves on the back, and
be pleased with our progress
when as a matter of fact we
should be very dissatisfied. Many
of our teachers have had excellent
training, and are good communi-
ty leaders; and those neighbor-
hoods are progressing. But our
county as a whole is far behind
the majority of the counties of
the state. Many might say
the majority of our teachers
are lacking in in either a true
conception of the the word teach
err, or in professional spirit. They
do not read a Teachers Magazine
and never attend a teachers
meeting. This session we have
not had a Teachers Association
for the county, although small
number of teachers met last fall
and elected officers not meeting
has been called. Of course "the
flu" has been the excuse, but
other professional meetings have
not been altogether suspended.
Why should ours? Mr.. May tells
me that only the very fewest
teachers even take the Brandon
News. Now my individual opin-
ion is that if teacher has not
enough interest in a county where
she teaches to read the county
paper, that teacher does not de-
serve place in it's schools.
What has Rankin done in the
Junior Red Cross? Almost moth
ing. Whose fault is it? What
has Rankin done in the Thrift in
1919? Very little so far. Whose
fault is it? Entirely the teachers
if she has made no real effort a.
long that line. If she has made
an effort and failed, it is either
lack of leadership, or too weak a
trial.
/ have as leader of these acti-
vities had an opportunity to study
the teachers and / know whereof
| speak. Rankin county is made
up Of people who are far above
the ordinary in intelligence. What
they need is not somebody to tell
them how favorably they compare
with others and how we'll they are
progressing, but they need lead
ership in teachers that will see
their failures and help change
them to success. We must realize
how far behind we really are in
the educational world. Until we
know this we will continue to
have poor schools, poor teachers,
poor roads, and poor community
spirit.
A great many counties in the
state have already 100 per cent
enrolment in the State Teachers S
Association. / wonder how many
teachers in this county have sent
their $1.00 to Mr.. Bullock for
membership. / had a letter from
Mr.. Bond today asking me to
help the superintendent to enroll
the teachers of the county. /
take this opportunity to urge you
to send your dollar to Mr.. Bullock
at once. / will publish next week
the names Of all teachers so do
ing before the 23rd of March and
will thereafter publish weekly
those sending dues later. These
funds are going to be used for a
campaign for better salaries and
a higher standard Of teachers.
So every teacher should enroll at
once.
The first Thrift drive was
carried through Beat one last
Friday. The county superintend-
ent and school director visited
the following schools, where they
we're cordially received and were
promised cooperation in this i'm
portant work if the government /:
Briar Hill, Florence, Clear
Branch, Mountain Greek and Star.
| would like to speak in detail Of
each visit but space forbids. Each
community has q fine and prom
Using set Of future citizens. May
they always have good leader
ship.