The Yale expositor., 1922-02-23

WE RE-PUBLISH AN INTERESTING ARTICLE
ON THIS IMPORTANT MATTER WHICH
EVERYONE SHOULD READ

Board of Education bought $3.50
worth of trees and shrubbery.
The harmony of color and varied
shades seen at different seasons
is a constant delight to the eye.
The lawn is enclosed with a low
ornamental hedge. Flowers are
planted along the walks and "a
round the fagpole. These are
not placed lust any place"
but it is purposed as far as pos
sible to plant the right flower in
the right place. The grounds
have been pronounced by compe-
tent state authority to be "the
most beautiful rural school
grounds in Ohio"
There are now notable instan-
ces of Parent-Teacher associa-
tions helping in this work. In
Jefferson Township there stands
large modern consolidated
school building on a 10-acre plot,
The grounds are bare except for
the school house and barn for
vans. The Parent-teacher Asso-
citation Of the community saw the
need of terracing. planting and
plotting Fairgrounds. A campaign
of education was carried out. In
November, an extra mill tax was
voted to improve the school
grounds. This i'll tax has provid-
ed fund of about $4,000, and
work to make these grounds
model of beauty will be started
this spring
Another instance Of good COM
munity improvement work is in
Lanier township, where parents,
Board and teachers spent a day
in graveling a part of the school
grounds for parking automobiles.
Men with 40 teams hauled gravel
and 80 others shoveled. The wo-
men used the home economics de-
partment for preparing dinner.
There were 1877 persons present,
with a fine community spirit and
real pride in making their
school grounds beautiful and at
the same time serviceable.
Good Returns on the Investment
Though the population of this
rural county is practically sta
tionary, since 1914 the high
school attendance has increased
from 523 to S26, or nearly 80 per
cent. The bringing of secondary
education to 303 more youths In
Preble County alone has been
worth all the cost of the new
movement. After consolidation
the high school enrolment i'll
Lanier townhip doubled, in Jack
son township it doubled, in Mon
roe township it increased 137 per
cent. At present more than 20
per cent of our total enrolment
is in high school, a record uneX-
celled by any other county in the
state. To deprive bright farmer
boys and girls of a high school
education in these times is to linn
it their success and happiness
for life.
These schools are revolution
izing our rural community life.
In the auditoriums of these
buildings meet Parent-Teacher
Associations, Boys and Girls
Clubs and other organizations of
young people, Oranges, Farm Bu-
reaus, and other various-named
groups. The auditoriums, gym
nasiums, dining-room and kitchen
of the home economics depart
ment offer fine facilities for var
ious entertainments, socials, in
ter-school literary and music con-
tests, inter-school athletic con-
tests, class plays, commencement
exercises, lyceum courses, school
exhibits, moving picture shows,
and various other community
meetings. In Monroe township
the attendance at community
meetings in the consolidated
school in the open country from
Sept. 1st, 1919, to May Is, 1920,
was 1O,2S0, and S1,502 was re-
ceived from meetings chargihg &
admission. During the same per-
iod Jefferson township school
counted $500 persons in attend
ance. In the county for this per-
iod the attendance totaled 5000,
which is about twice the popula-
tion of the entire county. During
the war these buildings were in
valuable in furnishing places for
large gatherings of the people