, 1922-09-07
TEACHERS MEET
m YELLOWSTONE


UG btuDe3tt ~ USG u t1fk
As Summer School
Utilization OF Yellowstone National
Park AZ a sort of summer school for
the entire educational establishment
OF the state of Wyoming and event.
ually for those of the other states ad-
joining the park az we'll, is the pros
pect presented as . result of the first
teachers institute held in the Park.
The school teachers Of Sweetwater
and Lincoln counties have Just con-
cluded their joint annual institute
there and have departed with a
formal and unanimous declaration of
intention to bring the annual gath
erings of the State Teachers Associa-
ton, as well as the other county in
stitutes, to the Park in future.
The annual institutes are held to
afford the public school staffs an
opportunity of keeping in touch with
the best modern developments in
the theories and practice Of school
teaching. BY holding their sessions
in the Park this year the Sweetwater
and Lincoln teachers were enabled to
secure as institute lecturers two of
the foremost educators in the coun-
try. And both instructors and in
structed have left with the convic-
ton that the sessions were the most
profitable that have ever been held.
The combination Of formal lecture
sessions in the mornings, studies Of
the natural wonders of the park in
the afternoons, under the tutelage Of
natural history experts, and recrea-
tiona1 activities in the evenings,
proved to be the best possible for ac-
complishing the purposes of the in
stitute.
OF the two hundred Wyoming
teachers attending the institute only
about five percent had previously
visited the Yellowstone Park, their
states greatest natural attraction.
They have carried home the belief
that the Park can be made to serve
a continuous source of great in
s%pirational and patriotic stimulus to
the school teachers and school chill
dren of Wyoming besides merely be-
ing "the playground of the ma
ton"
The institute sessions were held
in the recreation halls of the yell
lowstone Park Camps at Old Faithful,
the Grand Canyon, Mammoth Hot
Springs and elsewhere. The instruct
ors were DR.. l.. D. Coffman, president
of the University OF Minnesota: DR..
Rufus B. Won Kloin smid, president
of the University Of Southern Cali
f~ornia; Charles Kent, director Of
music. Rock Springs, and DR.. Frank
Thone, lecturer on the natural his
tory Of the Park.
trips the institute members were con-
Quoted to the various points OF in
teres along the national park trails
by he park naturalist and other
guides. specially designated by the
park service. During the evening
recreational activities they made
h acquaintance of the camp "sav-
ages" the ''gearjamemrs.'' dude
steerers." and other personalities that
have made famous the distinctive
character Of the human" side of
the Park. They also witnessed the
series Of allegorical and dramatic
pageants held at the permanent
camps in observance OF the fiftieth
anniversary Of the Parks founda-
ton.
At the concluding session OF the
institute O.. G. Schwiering, superin-
tendent Of the Rock Springs schools.
discussed Needed School Legisla-
os o"a IA ouRpOA( VI Iuc lCdCu-
ers was pledged to the Legislative
program to be presented to the next
Wyoming legislature. This program
calls for the establishment OF the
county unit" system, which is
designed to afford the same educa-
tional advantages to the children of
rural communities as those enjoyed
in the larger centers.
Resolutions were adopted extend
ing thanks to Superintendent Horce
n. Albright Of the Park, to the Of
ficers of the Yellowstone Park camps
company and others instrumental In
making the institute a success: ex-
Pressing the purpose Of the teachers
to bring the next convention Of the
State Teachers Association to the
Yellowstone, and containing this
declaration:
AS teachers in u schools we
shall endeavor to Undue the children
with the conviction that Yellowstone
Park is Gods gift to man. and that
1t must be kept as a playground for
posterity, untouched and unspoiled
by commercial greed"
This reference was to proposals by
commercial interests outside the
park to utilize Yellowstone Lake and
other water for irrigation
and power development projects.