The Cordova daily times., 1920-11-26

l CT of education for Alaska, who was in Cordova this week after tour to the westward visiting the territorial schools, says the schools were never in more flourishing condition than at the present time. | Commenting on the general cond1- tion of schools throughout the terri tory, MT. Henderson said:
 "The enrolment for the year is 1 larger than ever before. More teach CTS are being employed than in any previous year. More money is be- | ing expended for education than at any time in the past, additional 1 lines of work, such as manual train 1 ing, domestic scinece, definite physi- cal training, normal training, etc, are being provided in many schools, material equipment in the nature of building and supplies is being added, and the interest of the people in the schools was never more keen.
 "When compared with conditions in the states, Alaska schools are particularly fortunate. Conservative estimates indicate that one-sixth of the total number of teaching posi- tions in the United States are either vacant or filled by teachers who are below the standard usually demand ed In the state of Washington closed because it>! was not possible | to secure teachers. But one school in Alaska is closed during the pres | ent year and this was occasioned by transportation difficulties rather than inability to secure a competent teacher While it is true that the standard usually demanded of teach CTS in Alaska has been lowered in a l few instances during the past two years, the teacher shortage which has so vitally impaired the eff ciency of many schools in the states, has not affected the quality of the work in Alaska schools to any ap- preciable extent.
 "The school enrolment in the fol- | lowing communities is larger than ever before Cordova, Fairbanks, Juneau Ketchikan, Petersburg and | Wrangell. A feature of the work that is particularly encouraging is the growth of high schools and the | increase in the number of pupils who are taking high school work. The increase during the school year 1 1919-20 was 25 per cent over the en- rollment for 1918-19. Schools through out the whole territory seem to vie with one another in the percentage of eighth grade graduates who are from year to year enrolled in the first year of the high school. The record of the Fairbanks school during the past three years is per | haps the most noteworthy, although 1 lldHy otICl oCIOOlo lldNC lCPol lCu et 100 per cent promotion for individual years.
 | "LikeWise noteworthy is the num- Der of high school graduates who have found it possible to continue 1 their school work and enter colleges and universities. Fifty Alaska high school graduates are now enrolled in the University of Washington | alone.
 "Those who have been inclined to grow pessimistic about Alaska's fu- ure should remember that one of the best barometers of a country's progress is it's school system Meas ured by this standard Alaska>is now more stable than at any time dur ing her whole history"
 During the past summer MT. Hen- derson visited all the schools on the Yukon and Panama rivers and in the Boring sea and kotzebue sound dis 
 enced, due to the almost continuous storms which were prevalent in this part of the territory during the months of July and August.
 "The commercial future of west ern and northwest Alaska is very bright" said MT. Henderson. "The reindeer industry, for which this section of the industry is peculiarly fitted, is destined to become one of Alaskas leading assets. There are already more than 100000 head of reindeer in Alaska. When one con- siders that herds double every three years and that at the same time it is possible in any one year to kill ne-tenth the number in the