THE COUBIER
OBSERVATIONS
BY SARAH B. HARRIS
Nebraska Schools
"School Buildings and Grounds" in
Nebraska Is the title of a book of 278
pages recently edited by the state su
perintendent of education, Mr. W. K.
Fcwler. Besides information concern
ing schools it contains several hun
dred Illustrations of the school houses
of Nebraska. When it is considered
that these buildings have been erected
In a new state within thirty years the
great and substantial growth of the
state Is put in concrete form. In 1869
there were in Nebraska 377 school dis
tricts and li school houses. In 1901
there were 6674 school districts and
which makes consolidation of schools
necessary, the' fact remains that it Is
the only rational solution of the ques
tion that has been offered."
According to these tables 169,195 Ne
braska children are attending schools
in which the average attendance is
less than twenty. The teachers are
paid small salaries and they are de
ficient In knowledge and general cul
ture. The district receives the advant
age of more culture and ability than
it pay a for; but at less expense to each
district, school buildings may be erect
ed at a common centre, competent
teachers employed and good schools
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PLAN OF GROUNDS FOIt A COUNTRY SCHOOL.
773 schools. Of these 320 are brick, 25
are stone, 132 are log and 464 are made
-of sod. There remain 5826 wooden
structures, four Iron buildings and one
made of baled straw.
According to Superintendent Fow
ler's tables compiled from the reports
of county superintendents for the
' school year of 1900 and 1901, there are
489 schools in the state with an aver
age attendance of five or less; 1,841
with ten or less; 3,528 with 15 or less;
4,771 with twenty or less. There are
about ,300 strictly rural school dis
tricts. The superintendent concludes
that: "This attendance In three
fourths of our rural schools is too
small for vigorous. Interesting and
profitable work, educationally, socially
or financially. No school can claim
conditions for good work if it have
less than twenty-five pupils; yet there
are 4,771 rural schools in Nebraska
with an average dally attendance
ranging from one to twenty pupils.
The pupils in these small rural schools
must be collected into larger and bet
ter schools with better teachers who
are better paid. It does not matter
how much we deplore the condition
conducted, with a saving of the pu
pils' time and energy. The experiment
has been tried, notably in Ohio, with
great success.
With such a system the pupils must
be transported to the centralized
school. Country prices for transporta
tion prevail in the centralized region
and the cost of transportation is more
than overbalanced by the saving in
teachers' hire, heating, et cetera. An
Illinois teacher who visited Ohio es
pecially to investigate the system says
that the man who collects all the chil
dren in one district and carries them
to and from the school receives for hi?
work about $1.20 a day. His passen
gers are about twenty in number. His
route Is five miles long, that Is, start
ing from the first home the distance to
the school is five miles. The actual
distance traveled every day is greater
because of the necessary detours to
the homes of the children.
The establishment of such a system
in Nebraska means a better education
for the 165,195 children who are now
attending the poorly equipped. Inade
quately taught small country schools.
The numerous Illustrations of the sod
school houses and of one room build
ings show the present Inadequate sys
tem. The great men who never went to
any other school than the district of
their childhood afforded were great in
spite of the school, though the small
school has one great advantage; if It
chance to have a teacher of imagina
tion and appreciation for greatness
in embryo, the stray children of genius
who may attend his school have a
larger chance of being identified and
properly encouraged and stimulated.
The city public school teacher with a
school of fifty or more has little time
to make Individual studies of her pu
pils, and the exceptional child suffers
for exceptional treatment. But with
modern conditions the city schools em
ploy the best teachers that can be
employed for the small salaries paid.
If a district school teacher discovers
unusual talent she Is quickly transfer
red to a larger school.
Mr. Fowler discusses tree-planting
on the school grounds. The nursery
plan of setting trees here and there
without regard to the composition or
pictorial effect of the whole has been
generally adopted. He suggests that
setting the trees thickly together at
the rear and side of the school
grounds will give the building and the
grounds a picturesquehess that will
appeal to the beauty-loving eyes of
children. In the Illustrations pub
lished In connection with "this review
the plan is presented.
In regard to the heating and lighting
of school rooms in general and the
systems In use In Nebraska the book
gives valuable information. What we
were, is illustrated by the sod school
house. What we are is Illustrated by
the magnificent new high school build
ing at Omaha. If education itself and
the methods of drawing out the best In
children had developed as rapidly as
the buildings which house teachers
and pupils, the future would Indeed be
bright -This publication which takes
account of progress by pictures and
statistics is valuable testimony of the
present condition of the schools of the
state.
Tie Poor Boy's College
Superintendent Cooley of the Chica
go public schools believes that the
high schools should be regarded as the
academy of the poor rather than as a
preparatory school for colleges. On ac
count of lack of funds It is proposed to
discontinue the eighty-nine public
kindergartens after June first until
such time as the school revenue Is ade
quate to open them again. Superin
tendent Cooley regards the kindergar
ten as of inestimable value to a city
like Chicago where It is necessary to
begin the English education of the
children of foreigners at a very early
age.
Speaking of changes in educational
ideas and the relation of education to'
the masses of the people it is likely
liss Lippincott
IStadlo, RoomsC
( urowBou umck
Lbmobs In DrawlBf, Palattag,
pyrograpBT, wooa larring, m
aroTed China Kua. Calaa deoo-
1 rated or fired.
Btadlo oomi Moadur. Tuesday.
J to 6 o'clock. SttardajmornlagsStoU.
THE
First National Bank
OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
Capital, ...'.. 100,000.00
Surplus and Profits, . 54,965.08
Deposits, 2,480,952.18
S. H. BUBNBAM, A. J. Siwra,
President Vice-President
H. S. FscxMAif, Cashier.
H. B. Evahs, FaAirr Pxsxs,
Ass't Cashier. Aa't Cashier.
United States Depository
-I
Hft arTi I1 't-ill
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THE SCHOOLS OF TABLE ROCK, NEBRASKA.
THE PAST.
THE PRESENT.