Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1921-12-14
co. EDUCATIONAL NOTES
Attendance


The attendance in a large per cent
of the schools in the country has been
anything but beneficial to the schools
or to the young people. School after
school has been running with less than
500 attendance during the past two
weeks of case weather. / am wonder
ing whether il is good judgment or
economy 70 conduct schools in such a
manner. 1t would seem that if we
must take the children out of school
to help with tobacco stripping, the
best thing to do would be to follow
the example of the schools in the po-
tato counties, i. e., have a tobacco va
cation of week or two in case wealth
err so that all could take care of the
tobacco at the same time. In the po-
tato counties they have a potato vaca-
ton in the fall when they dig the po-
tatoes, then do not have a vacation
at holiday time or in the spring.
T do not say that | advisc CLOSING
down theschools for the purpose of
stripping tobacco but if the children's
good is to be sacrificed by taking
them out of school and htey then get
behind in their classes and discourage
ed, it would be better to have a weeks
vacation when case weather is Just
right and keep all of the children out
at the same time then get back to
school with regular attendance.
Some parents and guardians seem
to think it is no crime to rob a child
of its right to common school educa-
ton, although those same people
would put up a terrible howl if some
one were to rob them Of $500 or $1,000
We have no more right to keep a
child away from the opportunity of
free education then we have to keep
them away from the opportunity Of
free air. The case is more pitiful be-
cause as a rule the child who needs
the schooling is the one who is most
apt to be robbed of the opportunity.
We readily recognize now that the
farmer who takes crop off from the
soil without putting back some fer
tilizer is the soil ,robber. In the same
way the parent or guardian who de-
prives a child of schooling or keeps
a child home from school to help
with unnecessary work or allow the
child to stay home from school when
he should be in school is a robber.
Robbing the child of his right to OBJ
tain an education. You know those
who want an excuse for working on
Sunday can always find one by saying
that his work just had to be done.
However, the neighbor who abstains
from working on Sunday nearly al
ways gets along just about as well.
When farmer believes in the theory
that where there's a will there's a
way, and that where the parents or
guardians are willing that the child
shall have all the advantages for
schooling, somehow or other they make
the way to allow the child to go to
school.
Programs
School programs are a good thing
and each school should have two or
more school programs during the wear,
but no time should be taken out of
the regular school program for train
ing or preparing for these programs
except morning exercise and language
time. In other words the programs
cannot be allowed to rob the children
of their full amount of time in arith-
metic, geography, history, spelling,
etc. The morning exercise period and
language period may probably be used
IN preparing for these programs Of
course the time before or after school
may be used if the pupils and teacher
so desire. A reasonable number of
programs properly conducted are
helpful to the school, the same as de-
bate, orations, athletics, etc. are help
full to schools.
Holiday Vacation
The Office of the county superintend-
ent will be closed during the week be-
tween Christmas and New Years. We
make this announcement early so that
teachers and others having business
at the Office may attend to it up to
and including Saturday, December "a,
rather than want to transact such
business during the week from Mon
day, Dec. 25, to Monday, Jan. 2. There
being no school the building would
have to be heated that week just to
heat the Office so we have decided to
close the Office that week AS a rule
there would not be many calls during
that week anyhow, and it seems UNI
wise to heat the whole building just to
keep the office open.
GEO. E. SANFORD.