The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-06-17
FRIDAY, JUNE II, 1921.
LET'S GET "DODE."

% More and more each year athletl-
les play a part in the success OF the
schools and colleges of the state. A
college without a baseball and foot
ball team is not a college. And so it is
becoming in the city schools over the
state. The kind of work these schools
are doing may in most instances be
judged by the record of the baseball
and football teams. This is caused
partly by the fact that the boys who
take an interest in athletics become
interested in all the activities of the
schools they attend, and are thus in
duced to do better work in the school
rooms, and largely by the fact that
in order to get place on the team it
is necessary to maintain a certain
standard of scholarship in the class
es. The teams give the schools. "pep."
Just now we are making forward
step in the matter of better schools.
The fact is that we have school
system that is the equal of anything
in the state. Last year the school did
better work than previously has been
done in Abbeville in twenty-five
years. And one of the most encourag-
ing things about our schools is that
the boys are becoming interested in
finishing their courses in the local
high school rather than deciding to
drop out or to seek the preparatory
training elsewhere. 1t is somthing
greatly to be desired that this con-
tinue to be the case. That is true
largely because of the great expense
necessary to send boy to prepara-
tory school. and because on that ac-
count a great many boys cannot at
tend these schools. A good prepara-
tory school at home which will at
tract all our boys and which they,
and the boys in the surrounding coun-
try, will want to attend, will be
worth g. great deal to the city.
No small part of the increased at
tendance upon the high school last
year was due to the fact that we put
out good football team and a good
baseball team. We may still increase
interest of the boys and their at
tendance upon the high school class
by having better football team and
a better baseball team. And we have
a plan whereby. this may be accom-
plished.
This is the plan. 'Dode" Phillips,
the great football star and baseball
player of Erskine College, has just
finished his college course. We need
principal for the present high school
who could take charge of aesection
of the seventh grade. Experience has
shown that men do better work with
the seventh grade than do ladies, al
though we have had some fine sew
enth grade teachers here among the
ladies, But it would greatly help il!
we could have one man to teach III
the seventh grade and who could as
sumo the principals place in the pres
ent high school when Mr.. Daniel is
transferred to the new high school.
If we can get man who will serve
in this capacity and at the same time
act as director of athletics in the
school much interest will be stimu-
lated amongst the boys who attend
the high school and, many more will
be brought into the. class rooms. And
HDode" is the man. There are others
Of course who can do the work but
we all know "Dode."
Can we secure him? We do not
know, but we can make the effort.
The chief obstacle to getting him or
some other man to assume the work
is the fact that we are short on fin
ances. The income of the District
barely pays the present payroll. Our
plan is to supplement by private sub
scription the salary which the Board
of Trustees is able to pay and get a
man of this kind. We have placed
the matter before the Superintendent
Of the schools, and he writes US that
he believes it indispensable to the
success of the schools that we have
such man. In his letter to the edi-