Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts - Mohawk Yearbook (North Adams, MA)

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FACULTY

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5' K ..-ir ,aa -- THE COUNTRY SCHOOL Still sits the school house by the road, A ragged beggar sunning, Around it still the sumachs grow And blackberry vines are running. Within, the master's desk is seen, Deepfscarred by raps official, The warping floor, the battered seats, The jackfknife's carved initial. A pretty picture-but have you room for this beggar in the field of education? Is this what we have been striving for? This beggar may be immortalized in pleasing poetry but we doubt if Massachusetts will want to be remembered in educational fields by this picture-or at any rate, we think its memory should stand only as a beginning in a long line of progress. Does this imply that we are ashamed of our rural life and people? Far from it, it means we are demanding the best for them. Rural life is not an unfortunate const dition. Indeed, it presents many problems as does every other kind of life, but of this we are certain: one cannot satisfactorily solve the problem of adjustment by moving to the city. There is a challenge in the country and he is fortunate who is in a situation to accept it. The world at large is slowly waking up to an appreciation of two facts: first, that within the bounds of the rural area there lie all elements fundamental to the material wealth of the world, and second, that this same area also contains the essential factors of intellectual and spiritual wealth. The rural school offers the best place on earth for the education of children-because of the openness and comparative freedom of its surroundings. It is the one place in the world where Mother Nature opens up her text- book. The country school is especially effective as a place of instruction because of its happy relation to work and industry. The lessons are accepted in a working spirit as having something definite to do with training for the future. The most effective rural school, however, is a glorified one, it may possess the features of the consolidated school in which these natural advantages are combined with the progressive and carefully worked out advantages offered by city education, This is a happy combination and increases the efficiency of both factors-bringing together the best from each. This glorified school demands the best of teachers to carry out its usefulness. To her the country offers real life interests-a position rich in the returns of satisfaction. This is not missionary work, it is a job of leadership and training-as one citizen to another. We have here the unique task of teacherftraining for rural schools. We hope we may go out with the right equipment, material, and attitude to give much, and to fill a place in the lives of others-to give and gain much through a happy working relation' ship in our chosen field. Give to the world the best you have, And the best will come back to you. VIRGINI.-X FISH, Editor. 10

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