The Holbrook news., 1922-09-08
PRIDE IN SCHOOLS
Dominant Feeling Among Settlers
 in Western Canada.
Despite "Newness" of the Country, There Are No Better Institutions
 of Learning Anywhere.

There is frequently hesitation ex- pressed by those whose minds are almost made up to move to the agri- cultural lands of Western Canada, that the children will not enjoy the school privileges afforded them In their present surroundings. This Is a reasonable doubt. The country is new. It Is within the memory of many who will read this that the bison roamed these prairies at will, that there were no railroads, no settlements beyond that of some of the Hudson Bay posts, few courageous ranchmen and h. dians. It was country of unknown quantity. It is different today, and 1t has been made different in that short time because of the latent stores of wealth hidden in the land. which has been made to yield bOuntifully through the daring enterprise of the pioneer and the railways that had the courage to extepd their enterprising lines of steel throughout its length and a great portion of it's breadth. Villages and hamlets have developed into towns and towns into cities. supported and main- tafned by those who, coming practi- cally from all parts of the world, and many, yes, thousands, from the neigh boring states to the south, have taken up land that cost them but a trife as compared with what they Were able to dispose of the holdings upon which they had been living for years. These people brought with them a method in life that electrified and changed the entire Canadian West. Today things are different, and a trip to Western Canada ill show a country new but old. New because changes have been wrought that give to the newcomer the opportunity to become part or a growing and developing country-it gives the chance to say what shall be made of 1t; old because there has been brought into its life those things that have proven useful in older coun- tries, while there has been eliminated everything that would tend to a back ward stage. A writer, dealing with social matters, treats of the schools, and says:
 Everywhere the school follows the blow. Cities which a few years ago were represented by scattered shacks are proud today of their school build ings. The web of education is being spread over the prairie. Lately, however, a new policy has been adopt ed. Instead of many rural schools, big central schools are being estab- lished, each serving an area of fifty square miles or so, and children who live a mile and a half away are con- veyed thither in well-warmed motor cars. In the summer, of course, they come on bikes" or ponies.
 And the young idea Is taught to shoot in many directions. The instruc tion is not limited to the three R's, but nature study and manual crafts
 are taught, in order that the future agriculturist may have his education al foundation laid. Many rural schools have pleasant gardens attached, with flower and vegetable beds, and the visitor to one such school deep in the country says she will never forget the pride with which a little lad showed her the patch of onions in his plot. Thrift is also taught in the schools by means of the dime bank.
 "Following the primary schools there are secondary schools, where training Is free This includes classics, modern languages, science, mathematics, ad- vanced English, and often agricultural, commercial, and technical subjects, and-but this concerns the girls household economics. For three years this lasts, and then comes matricula- tion into the university, a matricula- tion which admits direct to the arts or science degree, or the education may be completed by course in some special subject at a technical insti- ute. e."-Advertisement.