Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1921-02-18
SHOSHONES GREAT NEED

II one SnOulu make Careful STUDY
of conditions in Shoshone, he would
find the greatest need to be. more ade-
quate facilities for the care of the
orfldren # tie village. Shoshone is in
worse shape. so far as the children are
concerned, than the largest cities. The
children Of the villa ge do not have the
opportunities of parks, play grounds
eynnasiums Y. NJ. c. A., Y. w. c. A
nd rnanv other places Of entertain
ment and amusement that the child
zen of TIE cities have. Though the
cities offer greater temptations than
he snrall towE, they also offer more
( antidotes. No provision has been made
FOR the Shoshone children and their
general welfare, outside of the six
hours a day five days a week, that
they spend in school. No provision has
been made for their physical and moral
deveIonrnent, which is absolutely es-
sential to a well developed mentality
Our schools. as far as they go, are
, second to none in the state. Our
greatest trouble is that we do not go
! far enough and that we do not make
! provision for the three phase man and
/ roman. Have you ever gone to town
/ in the evening to see what there was
| there. for your boy or your girl? II
you have. did the need of a place, the
proper kind of a place, make an i'm
nression upon you? The Board Of
Education of District No. IL feel that
this provision should be made, il we
are to take care of the best interests
Of the children and produce well
rounded men and women. A number
NJ citiZens have expressed themselves
in the same way. and to such an ex-
tent that the Board has decided to
ofser to the people Of Shoshone, for an
oroval or rejection. a band issue for
the purDose of erecting n auditorium,
gymnasium and extra cIassroon1s. The
cost of such q building will be approx
imately $4,000. II is also planned to
increase the bond issue to allow the
Board to take up the greater part of
the present bonded Indebtedness. there
by relieving the taxpayers of that
burden. The plan would be this: We
have coming due during the present
vear. between five and six thousand
dollars worth of bonds. We propose
TO pay these. as well as some $4,000
more. by the notation of a new issue.
the principal for several years. II is
true that the enlarged issue would call
for more interest, but by cutting else
where. we will be enabled to take care
of the yearly interst without increas-
ing the present tax rate. Therefore
instead OF increasing the burden of
the tax payer we hope to tighten II
for the next few years. At the same
time the children OF Shoshone will be
enjoying the use of a building. which
they Will help paw for some ewenty
years from now. Building at this time
does not call for higher tax rate. II
we wait until all the money needed
for this purpose is in the treasury we
would never build, but by the issuance
of bonds we can build and our child
rens' children will be getting the bene-
fits long before the building is paid
for
That new building of this kind, for
the use Of the schools, is needed can
not be denied. We now rent hall for
the two basketball teams to use for
an hour or two per day. The arrange
ment is not satisfactory. and the
majority of the children do not bene-
ht thereby. What Is needed is sys-
tematic drill and exercise. BY having
an adequate auditorium the children
can get the greatest benefit from
classes in public speaking, debating,
educational moving pictures, drama
tics and educational entertainments.
This is all becoming an important
part in the education of the child, and
II we do not furnish it for him he
a1O
under conditions that are not con-
ductive to his general welfare. 1t is |
not oefter to have all OF these things 1
under the direction of the schools, |
supervided by school officers, than to |
have thin proevided by persons in |
terested only in the money they bring? |
Is 1t not better for boys OF the ado
lescent age to spend their odd hours
and evenings in a well esuipped gym
nasium or school picture show. than
on the streets and in the pool halls?
Would they come and take part II we
had all of this? l do not know. hut
the child is governed largely by the
herd instinct. and when he saw that
he school was the center of the COM
munity, the place where verybody
else was, and the place where things
happened 7 am OF the opinion that he
would be there. rather than be left
put
Give the boys and girls everything
N the school that they can get else
where, and they will stay in the school
Make the school their community
Make it not grind of study but
place where interesting things happen,
md you will then remove the bad ,
aste OF the pill, and the child instead ,
II running away from it, will insist
lpon taking it.
If a condition like this could be .
reated in Shoshone, would it not be
worth the price of a new building?
-ets put it over-W. E. ].
Moons Time for Sleep. q