The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1923-08-09
RANKIN COUNTY
MAKES ADVANCES
EXCEPTIONALLY
Great Strides Made Along This
Line i'm Last Few Years. 3,O4O
White Children in School During
Past Session.

Although Rankin County is said
to be backward in many lines, we
feel encouraged so far as educa-
ton is concerned, encouraged more
because of the great strides the
county has made in the last few
years. We want to set before the
people of the county the education
al advantages the county is provid-
ing for its children, together with
the present needs.
In Rankin County there were
3,040 white students in school dur
ing the 1929 session for whom
there were 121 teachers This is
good record when we compare
our 3,04O white school children
with the 620,192 children (of both
races) who attended schools in
Mississippi during the same session.
Out of the 66S consolidated
schools in the State, Rankin County
has IA. Besides these, we have
81 non consolidated schools.
OF the 40 counties in the State
having Agricultural High Schools.
Rankin is one, and ours is one of
the best agricultural schools in the
State
With her 1 Agricultural, IA con-
schools, Rankin County is doing
The value of property belonging
to our consolidated schools is
$144, 900. In the past five years
there have been erected in the
county II new school buildings, at
Brandon, Cato, Pickett, Dry Creek,
Holly Bush. Johns, Liberty, Lang
ford, Pisgah. Shiloh, Steens Creek,
and Star. Two other schools have
enlarged their buildings in the past
year, and have been, or are now
making repairs on their buildings.
Ten schools in the county are put
ting in new school furniture-desks
and other equipment.
OF the 121 teachers in Rankin
County, "a are college graduates, 10
have had three years college work.
10 two years college work, and 6
one year of college work. Ten
others have had no college work
but have attended various summer
normals. Most of the teachers who
have had college work have also at
tended summer nOrmals.
There are 10 school libraries in
the county, with prospects of a
number of others. Three schools
box,a ,a1ou ornrnd onuinnonf
Rankin County's educational
needs are many. We need more
and better equipped buildings and
teachers; we need more literary and
other school societies for educa-
tional advancement; we need a
gymnasium department in every
school; we need better and more
school libraries; we need teachers
homes; we need the "hOnor system"
in every high school in the county.
All these needs naturally call for
more money, but there can be no
better and more lasting way of
spending it. We need not only
literary improvements, but this calls
for filter bodies. The schools of the
county should be provided with
physical education departments.
Every child should be examined for
physical defects and these defects
should be corrected by proper ex-
ercises given under the instruction
of well trained physical director.
No child can do his best work in
school handicapped by physical de-
fects. At present no school in the
county has physical education de-
partment.
A Rankin County student won
the prize for the best essay in the
state on sThe Honor System. If
we can do that, why cannot we
have the honor system in every
high school in the county? The
Honor system is more uplifting than
anything that can be put into the
schools. 1t makes the children in
dependent, truthful, responsible, and
trains them in every way for citi-
zenship, by adhering to the educa-
tional principle that the school
must be community in itself for
the things taught in 1t to carry
over into life.
We have improvements In our
educational work, but Rankin Coun-
ty must not be satisfied until her
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