The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1921-04-08
SCHOOL NOTES.

toes. Respectfully, X. WEEK.
SCHOOL NOTES.
Mr.. Lang, the County Agent. called
at school a few minutes Monday and
informed us that he would visit us on
Friday or saturday Of this week in
company with d chicken expert. lie
also stated that lie had a large num-
Der Of shade. trees ordered TO be plant
cd in tile school yards of the county
and offered us free of cost, five or six
dozen for our yard. He further Of
fered to help plant them. We certain
~ appreciate this opportunity to get
some trees started. We expect to pre-
pare an Arbor Day program for the
occasion,
We received a very fine set Of wall
maps this week for the intermediate
room. It is as necessary that the
teacher have the proper equipment
to work with as it is that the farmer
have the proper machinery with
: which to farm. The teacher is paid
TO impart the greatest possible amount
Of knowledge to the pupils and it is a
loss Of money and time TO require the
teacher to work without the proper
tools. When we consider that only
about II per cent Of the taxes raised
in the United States is used for edu-
cational purposes, we feel that our
schools are not getting more than
their just share.
Here are a few reasons why we
think our school grounds should be
fenced: We have invested consider
able money in play ground apparatus
and intend to invest more. We do
not propose to have this costly equip
ment broken up by Stray stock, or to
be perpttually used as hitching racks.
This apparatus is for the benefit of
the children; to develop healthy, clean
bodies. Not only does a well equip
ped play ground develop strong bodies,
but has a decided tendency to create
a purer moral atmosphere. We are
TO well acquainted with the adage,
IAN idle brain is the Devils workshop
| am sure that the parents of our
children Whish them TO be engaged in
haaithiui play du"ing intermissiou
periods, rather than idly congregated
telling indecent stories. We hope to
see the time when u school ground
Will be fenced with beautiful shade
trees growing about the sides Of the
yard Wehope to see the time when
we shall have a we'll equipped inside
gymnasium for cold weatheran rainy
days. We look forward to the day
when the yard will be thoroughly E.
quipped with slippery slides, giant
strides swings, t~etertotters, ocean
wave, horizontal bars, parallel bars,
tennis, volley ball, basket ball, In fact
everything that makes school life
pleasant for the boy or girl during the
hours of recreation. We know from
personal experience that the problem
of discipline Is more than half solved
on the play ground. We, as teachers,
want to help make your boy and girl
what you, as parents, would like to
have them be. We believe you want
them to become strong. healthy men
and women, whose minds are pure,
whose ideals are high and who are pre-
pared to solve the practical problems
of life. We believe the childs later
life is largely determined by his en-
yiroment in early childhood. The
! games he plays, the songs he sings,
the books he reads, are factors in the
molding of character. An education
is not so much an accumulation of
facts as it is a state OF mind. the will
to do and the power to execute.
The worth while education appeals
to the best. there is In man, and is a
continuous growth from the cradle to
the grave DR.. Holmes has nicely
voiced this thought in the last stanza
Of the Chambered Nautilus when he
says:
Build thee more stately mansions,
Oh my soul,
While the swift seasons roll;
Leave thy low vaulted past;
Let each new temple, nobler than
the last.
Shut thee from Heaven with a dome
more vast,
Till thou at length are free;
Leaving thine outgrown shell by lifes
unresting sea-"