The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-12-01
KUsEplI6
MONTPELIER. Vt. USE
Gone Only Where There Are No Pup
lis to Fill Them.
Vermont State LIbrary.. !.

to achieve any ulterior object, cries
ont for the 'little red schoolhouse" ex
poets and generally gets rise" This
condition is not peculiar to Vermont
only--it exists the country over A
feeling prevails that, In the progress
of education generally the rural ccm-
mun.ties have not shared as they
should Colleges and universities
can hardly open their doors wide
enough to admit the throng Of young
men and women who would enter.
Business and technical schools are
crowded The high schc OILS that al.
most every sizab'e village maintains
have large and growing enrollments.
The graded and elementary schools
likewise.
But when we turn to the rural
school what a difference? A few
pupils Of all ages from first primary to
eighth grade. gathered in from wide
.eree a teacher, generally a beginner
in the work. often discouraged and
homesick; a none too comfortable
school building, measured by modern
standards of comfort a meagre school
equipment compared to that Of the
village schoo'; general air of lone
somene-s and depression. AS to the
quality Of work done, it surpasses
what might be expected
The mind involutarily goes back to
the old days. 1t sees a hive we'll
filed with youngsters, some as large,
If not quite so old. a the master"
hat worthy a bright, alert young man
on his way to the achievement Of
scme profession; a plant and equiD-
ment very modest but on par with
academies of the period wherein the
best scholars hoped to round out their
education with a 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 CT the community and
about it circled large part of the
community's current and ultimate in.
terest
Those were the halcycle days Of the
little red schoolhouse 1t did the
work of public education and for the
period did it well. Why the change to
present conditions? Are we better or
worse eff. Can the little red school
house" ever come back? What is the
ultimate hope ahead for the rural
SCHOOL,
Let us allow for the mellowng in
fuence Of time. which inyariable en-
hances values. Most Of us will claim
that. the schools OF our own period
what ever they were, surpassed those
Of the present We didn't regard very
highly then but looking back, we do
now The present always suffers by
contrast with the past in this way, 1t
is more than likely that parents and
grandparents,out Of patience with
1fads and modern frllls' in education
land mourning for a return OF the good
old days when all there was to It was
the three R'sand the masters big
stick would be the first to cry out IL
by some magician's wand the old
school should he restored and their
offspring shoh'd be translated to it
as pupils, We are, in fact, adjusted
to a different gauge
II takes several factors TO make a
successful school of any type The
first and most important is the teach
er. Right here has occurred a great
change from former times in respect
to the appeal made to the rural teacher
by his job. to put it bluntly Com
paratively we mean two generations
ago the avenues to able young men
to get a start in the world were few.
Few OF them entered college where
thousands, supported bv wealthy par
ents now do,and very often those who
did were compelled to teach betimes
Ditto those who sought the old fash
ioned method Of entering professions,
There was no Unsuitable demand, as
now, by business for young men and
women as soon as they learn the
typewriter keyboard h fact teach
ing OF necessity became the avenue
up through which icurneyed a host OF
young men who left SPLENDID mark
behind. OF these the schools, espec
| tally rural, are now bereft The same
type of young men doubles exists
but rural school teach ng has no at
fractions for them, They don't have
to teach Dad foots the bills fer their
life preparation or If not they can
choose from wide selection of oI
portunities more to their taste and fiji
ting The rural schoolmaster is a
species almost extinct
Enter the young lady school teach
er Preheps Just as we'll qualified
scho'ast callv even better trained
but for ell that she cannot make the
came impression. And the whole stu
alton has changed from former times
This girl either a village resident ol
a farmers daughter with four year,
of village high school life fresh il
mind, is often out of touch and out c
sympathy with the lot that falls t
her She lacks that sense of keen il
terest in her work needed to upbuilC
an institution none too fourishing a
best 1t is for her too often merely (
lob. at so much a week endured unit
she can better herself The quietude
the lonliness the depressing dullnes
Of it revolt to one suddenly and almos
completely removed from the moder
life in town. There are actual harl
ships to be met. In many rural cen
munities a comfortable boarding plac
is not available What some Of thes
girls encounter in occasional case
does not tend to stimulate their col
rage or interest Generally, howeye