The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-12-22
CHAPTER XIX
School District Held Up,

9made his way through the crowd
kout the door.
MI. Irwin is here, ladies and gen
I%tiemfen," said he. "and l move that we
hear from him as to what we can do
to e the offer of our friends in Pot
tawatomie county; but before l yield
the floor, l want to say that this
meeting has been worth while just
to have been the occasion of our all
becoming better acquainted with III
friend and n%eighbor. Mr.. Slmms. What
ever may have been the lack of under
standing, on our part, of his qualities,
they were all cleared up by that speech
of his-the best / have eve heard in
this neighborhood.
More applause, in the midst of
which Old Man Simms SUNK away
down in his seat to escape observa-
ton. Then the chairman said that If
there was no objection they would
hear from their ~well-known citizen,
whose growing fame was more re.
markable for the fact that it had been
gained as a country schoolmaster-he
need not add that he referred to Mr..
James e. Irwin. (More and louder ap-
plause.)
"Friends and neighbors," said jim,
you ask me to say to you what | want
you to do. / want you to do what you
want TO do-nothing more or less.
Last year l was glad to be tolerated
here; and the only change in the stu
alton lies in the fact that | have an
other place offered me-unless there
has been a change in your feelings to-
ward me and my work. / hope there
has been for l know my work is good
now, whereas I only believed it then"
Sure it is" shouted Con Bonner
from a front seat. thus signalling
that astute ~wirepuller's definite choice
of a place in the bandwagon. Tell us
what you want, JIM"
What do l want?' asked Jim.
More than anything else, l want such
meetings as this-often-and a place
to hold them. If l stay in the Wood
ruff District, | want this meeting to
effect a permanent organization to
work with me-. l can't teach this dis
trict anything. Nobody can teach any
one anything. All any teacher can do
Is to direct peoples activities in teach
Ing themselves. You are gathered here
to decide what you'll do about the
small matter of keeping me at work as
your hired mar.
IF I'm to be your hired man, l want
a boss in the shape of a civic ~organiza-
tion which will take in every man and
woman in the district. Here's the
place and now'ss the time to make that
organiZation-an organization the oh
ject of which shall be to put the whole
district at school, and to boss me in
my work for the whole district"
Dat sounds good" cried Haakon
Peterson. we'll do datl"
'"Then I want you to work out a
building scheme for the school," jim
went on. I'VE want a place where
girls, CHI Teafa to cook. keep house
take care Of babies, sew, and learn
to be wives and mothers. There's
somebody right in this n~eighborhood
able to teach anything the young peo-
pie want to learn.
All L want q Phy1lNidh bttC OnLc
in a while to examine the children as
to their health, and a dentist to look
after their teeth and teach them how
to care for them. Also an eculist to
examine their eyes. And when Bettina
Hansen comes home from the hospital
a trained nurse, / want her to have Il
job as visiting nurse right here in the
Woodruff District.
81 want a counting-roOm for the
keeping of the farm accounts and the
record of our observation in farming.
| want cooperation in letting us have
these accounts.
Il want some manual training equip
ment for woodworking and metal
working, and q blacksmith and wagon
shop, in which the boys may learn TO
shoe horses, repair tools, design build
ings, and practice the best agricultural
engineering. / want to do work in
poultry according ~ the most modern
breeding discoveries, and 1 want your
cooperation In that, and a poultry
plant somewhere in the district.
II want a laboratory in which We
can work OF seeds, pests. soils, feeds
and the like. For the education of
your children must come out of these
things.
II want these things because they
are necessary il we are to get the cul-
ture out Of life we should get-and
nobody gets culture out Of any sort of
school-they get it put of life, or they
don't get 1t at all.
$50 I wan you to build as freely
for your school as for your cattle and
horses and hogs.
'"rhe school will make for you--this
new kind Of rural school, social life
which will be the social center, be-
cause 1t will be the educational center,
and the business center of the coun-
tryside.
II want all these things, and more.
But l don't expect them all at once.
l know that this district is too small
to do all of them, and therefore, l
want a bigger d~istrict-one that will
give us the financial strength to carry
out the program l have sketched. This
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