Mexico weekly ledger., 1919-01-23
W. Clyde johnson.

account of the influenza for the third
time. This is very unfortunate.
Miss Retta Burkey is again at work
at Friendship after a very serious
siege of infieuza and pneumonia. She
lost her younger brother a pupil at
Pine. She had twelve of her sixteen
pupils present. They have a fine flag
and pole and some new books. Miss
Burkey after finishing the eigth grade
at Sames went to Kirksville and will
go back this summer. She believes
in thorough preparation.
At Lawson the teacher is Miss Mary
Lewis, a Teacher Training Graduate
at Centralia last year. This is her
first experience. She has enrolled
| fifteen pupils and had eleven in at
tendance. She has a fine large class
doing the eighth grade work. They
had a big supper with which they
were very successful. So they are
buying themselves a lot of good books.
They expect to meet soon the last re-
quirement for approval.
Miss Elizabeth Bolts, a graduate
last year of Mcmillan, is teaching hec
first term at Macedonia. She has ell
rolled nineteen pupils and twelve of
them were present. They also have
some new books. | am glad that so
many teachers are finding a way to
get some new books each year. at
best the pupils in the rural schools
have little enough to read and most
of them are not as good readers as
they should be. But most of this can
be overcome by giving them plenty Of
good books to read. This will also
add interest to their school work and
keep many of them longer in school.
Miss May Hofriehter is doing her
very best to make this, her fourth
year at Pisgah, her most successful
one. However she finds the irregular
tiles caused by the influenza to be very
discouraging. Her regular attend
ance is now only eleven. This seems
like a rather poor showing out of an
enumeration of "a but Pisgah has 4
large number of pupils in school 1T
Sturgeon and at Kirksville. They
have oiled the floor, got some new
books, the flags of the allied nations,
a Red Cross banner, for this is one of
our Junior Red Cross schools, and as
this was one of the three districts in
the county to so largely oversubscribe
its quota of War Saving Stamps they
have a fine W. S. S. Honor Banner.
And they are almost ready for ap-
prevail.
Ed C. Ofutt, the highest paid rural
teacher in the county is teaching his
second term at Canada. He has eleven
little folks regularly in attendance
and is teaching them a number of
games which are very helpful in form
ing correct habits of speech. These
games are for the most part dramati-
cation of the many stories that chill
dren like to act out and which #
properly supervised will teach many
correct forms of speech and yet add
much to the interest of school work.
Mr.. Offutt says that the board has
been very liberal in making things
pleasant and comfortable. About $40
was spent in papering and painting
the house inside, they have new walks
to the well and outbuildings, also new
window shades, many books and a fine
twelve inch swinging globe. Canada
is one of the wealthiest districts in the
county but it does not hesitate to vote
an increase of levy that the children
may not be stinted. They are paying
$77.50 for 8 months.
Pine has Miss Belle Pollard for its
teacher this year. She has had about
four years of high school work and
has done enough at Kirksville to re-
ceive the Rural State Certificate. She
was in kirksville last summer and
expects to return. An interesting
feature of Miss Pollard's work was
the drill. She drills all her pupils on
all the essentials, the fundamentals of
Arithmetic, vocabulary and the like.
| should like to see much more of il
done and done with all the life and
enthusiasm it is possible to put into
it. Pine is using oil on the floor as
they have found that there is nothing
better to keep dirt, filth and disease
germs out of the lungs.
W. S. Boyd, the clerk of Boyd Dis
trict, has written me that they nave
employed Miss nellie Ford to teach
the remainder of the term. Boyd lost
their teacher as a result of the in
f1uenza. Miss Ford has been teaching
in the West. We are glad to have her
return to her home county.
W. CLYDE JOHNSON,
Lieut.. Worrell had two snipers IN
Co. Supt. of Schools.
MI. and Mrs. Norton Nelson are