The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1920-06-11

Methods in vogue in Montana In
dealing with the vexatious problem
of providing educational opportun-
tiles for neglected foreigners in re-
mote localities are being followed
by the naturalization bureau of the
department of labor. A plan of CO.
operation between the division of
citizenship training of that bureau
and the local public schools is let
ting the light into isolated home
steads, into logging and mining
camps, into shacks and bunk
houses.
In two states, Minnesota and
Washington, the rural teachers and
the adult foreigner are brought to-
gether through the naturalization bu-
reau and the county superintendent
of schools. While details of the plan
vary Slightly in these different fields,
the general principle is the same.
The need of the foreign born man or
woman for education is made known
when he takes out his "first papers. 4"
The naturalization bureau makes the
need known to the county superinten-
dent. The county superintendent
brings together the candidate for
citizenship and the nearest available
teacher, who agrees to give him a
certain amount of instruction and
gives him the textbook loaned to him
during this preparatory period, to be
his own property when he is finally
admitted to citizenship.
Training in go Districts
In Montana there are already 60
districts where citizenship training is
being carried out through similar
plan worked out by Miss Flora Sims,
Phillips county superintendent and
naturalization examiner for that dis
trict. The same principle is being
modified to suit the special eXigen-
cies of the lumber and logging camps
in Washington and Oregon. In that
case, specially qualified ones are
teaching, under the supervision of
the county superintendent, the Ian
guage of the country and the ideals
that have nodded the nation.
1t is wonderful, in view of the diff
ficulties, what results are being OBJ
tanned by an enterprise which adds
another duty to the task of hard
worked and poorly paid rural school
teachers, with, as rule, no addition |
son is, as one such agent in Ameri, |
canization said, that these teachers
are more willing to take hold of the
work than city teachers because they |
are brought more closely in contact |
with the foreigners than city people I
are and thus realize the need of
Teachers Show Devotion to Work
The splendid devotion shown by
many of these rural teachers, and
the rewards of it, is exemplified by
olished in one room county school
at Cross S Creek, Coalwood, Mon
ANA. The Bulgarians who formed
The settlement spoke, besides their
own language, Russian, Rumanian,
German and various Slav tongues,
put centuries of oppression by Tur
Key and the czardom had made them
backward in civilization. Mrs. Crow I
lad about 26 pupils in her one room
school, Of ages ranging from six to
30 years; father and son, in one
Ease, attending at the same time. Six
If the men were preparing for ma
In teaching these Mrs.
Crow found the book furnished by
he government very helpful.
The women and girls of the COM
nunity the teacher found were best
cached in their homes. So this
warm hearted woman with vision
made friends with them, visited them {
in one case living with one of the
antilles three weeks-had the girls I