The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1920-12-02
In nIRAI .annnI

fHE SO RAJ = H0Ul
Thrt 81 nstrnt demand far
mere ID better arnpo.s % ~ farm
irF roumunfte Ans politician -
,. ep-gsudiF ut.o ~ any psIPaa ~
3 ehiesr any aiienar ebiert rrE
oai ~ 49, htils rsa ahaoIhauaf
erp.rts and generally Fets use
Ttt oeaoition Z aoi pssaItar e Yer
mont alone eKiHz 80 -o1rtr1
over 4 fseiinR prevails that il the
prugres - oi1eation generally the
uE-l eommunit.s have not sharei -
hey should College and uuiversi-
tlrs ean hardly open their door wide
enough 70 admit the throuR q yourg
men and some6 She would enter
Business and teehnieal schools arr
rrostea The high schools that al.
mot etcg stable village maintains
have lary, and growing cnrolImerts
Tee adcd and elementary schools
likewise
But when We turn 10 the rural
school what q difference few
pupils u all ages from FIRST primary
70 eighth grade. gathered IN from 3
vide area. . teacher generally be-
ginner IN the work, often discouraged
and homesick d none too comfortable
school building measured By modern
standards u comfort 4 meagre school
equipment. compared 10 that Of the
Village school 4 general air Of lone
someone's and depression A. to the
quality u work done IL surpasses
what might be expected
The mind iuyoluntarily goes back to
the old days II sees hive well filled
with youngsters, some a. large, II not
quite SO old. A. the master that
worthy 4 bright, alert young man on
has WAY 10 the achievement Of some
profession; a plant and equipment
very modest, but on par with acad-
cmieg u the period where in the best
sehol; rs hoped TO round out their edu
cation with term or two, as the
master" did There WAS in addition
this distinct difference from the pres
ent. the district school stood as the
hub and center Of the community and
about II circled large part Of the
community's current and ultimate m
terest.
Those were the halcyon days Of the .
"littlc rcd schoohouse' II did the
work ~ public education, and for the
period did It well Why the. change TO
present conditions Are we better or
worse of? Can the "little red school
,ouse" ever come back What is the
ultimate hope ahead for the rural
achool
let US allow something for the mel (
lowing influence Of time, which nvari
ably enhances values Most Of us will
claim that the schools Of our own
period, whatever they were surpassed
those Of the present We didn't re-
gard them very highly then, but look
ing back. W. do now The present +,
always suffers by contrast with the
past in this way II is more than like
" tn I parents and grandparents, out
Of patience with modern 'fads and A
frills" in education, and mourning FOR
a return Of the good old days when all /
there was to Il was the three RS and
the masters big stick would be the
MT to cry out II by some magician's
" nd the old school should be restored 4
and their offspring should be translat-
ed to il as pupils We are, in fact,
adjusted TO different gauge.
Ii takes several factors to make a
successful school OF any type. The
first and most important is the teach
-. Right here has occurred a great
change from former times in respect /
to the appeal made to the rural teach
er by his job, to put i bluntly. Com I
paratively. we mean. Two genera
lions ago the avenues for able young ,
men to get start in the world were
few. Few Of them entered college ,