The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-02-16
NEWSPAPERS OPINION
PIT. A. FOUNDERS DAY

Americans observe innumerable anniversaries,
but the celebration of February II TIE 3zth
anniversary of the founding of the National Con-
gress of Parents and Teachers should mean as
much if not more, to the heads of families
throughout this country than any other. Coop
Grafton between parent and teacher has been a
vital factor in American schools since the pioneer
father shou,dered his gun to protect his children
and his neighbours children on their way to and
from school from providing beasts and redskins
in the days when the teacher, at the close of the
day. went to the pioneer home to take out in board
and keep pay for his services.
1t was not until 1897, however, that organized
cooperation manifested itself In that year Con-
gress of Mothers was called at Washington. That
assembly was the result of the combined efforts
of Mrs Theodore Brney, native of Georgia, and
Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst, wife OF the then
Senator from California. She was professionally
kindergarten teacher and keenly interested IN all
phases of education. Those women enlisted the
aid of Mrs. Grover Cleveland, then First Lady of
the Land, and through their combined efforts
lasting organization was set up. This organization
was renamed The National Congress of Parents
and Teachers, and the annual observance OF Foun-
ders' Day was established in 1910.
wide. 1t is organized in some form in approximate
" so nations The United States, Alaska and the
Hawaiian Islands boast approximately 1,240,00Oi
members. State organization is lacking in only
Nevada and Alaska, but even Nevada has 80 ind-
vidual members.
The underlying principal of the organization is
that all education received within the school and
without should develop the individuals instincts,
habits and powers, so that he may find
his rightful place among his fellow men and use
that place to shape his own destiny. There is upon
the shoulders of all parents the glorious RESPONSE
bility of making worthy citizens of their own chill
dren for whose very existence the parents are re-
Sponsible With children in the hands of teachers
almost as much as they are with their own parents
throughout the most formative years of their lives
it is readily seen that it is in the grade school and
the home that their lives moulded Could there
be more logical place then for cooperation than
between home and school?
Parents should spend their lives in the interest
of their children and there are few parents in
America who would not be interested in the par
ent-teacher idea if they realized the benefits they
might obtain for their children from better
of it's offerings and possibilities. Teach
ers who have the interest of their profession at
haert encourage parent cooperation.
The founders did not mean that parent-teache-
groups were to be places for petty
considerations, as sometimes is the case, unfor-
tunate though it be. They intended that these or
CARNATIONS should give to mothers and fathers and
teachers the help needed in days of new and ad
verse experience to make every child his best self
Tn emblem of the PIT A. is the oak tree. The
trunk represents the national organization the
large branches the state congresses the small
limbs the districts and councils the twigs the local
and the leaves the individual men,
bers-each part of the tree dependent upon the
other. If the leaves (the individual members) are
lacking the tree is dead or at best asleep and i'll
active. But with its present large membership this
organization is really great factor in working
out the destinies of the men and women of tomor-
row. What those men and women shall become
depends largely upon the type of people who out
line the plans for the associations of the land
The Pathfinder