Black Hills State University - Eoicha Yearbook (Spearfish, SD)

Page 19 text:

Th.® SFnOTlfty P l I KK K are t wo very important factors in tho make-up of a school the students and the faculty. On these two bodies, alone, depend the standing and welfare of the school. As (In- students have been d iscussed elsewhere, we devote these lines to t he faculty. The Spearfish Normal faculty is in a class by itself. It would be hard to find another group of teachers so earnest, so efficient, so devoted to their chosen work. A great many of these have not only made teaching their lilV work, but have added to this the responsibility of building up the Spearfish Norma) School and the surrounding community, and have spent the best years of their lift ' , wholly in accomplishing this one glorious aim. Teachers of t his kind are the ones who can be thoroughly loyal to t he school , and deeply interested in the individual progress of every pupil, and leave a Lasting impression upon the students. Not only is their influence felt in the school room, but in outside act ivi t ies as w el I. Few people realize the importance ol teaching, hut what re- forms have been accomplished in this world except through the efforts of great teachers? Examples of the past have shown us that trained teachers are the only teachers who are worthy of the name, and these can be trained only in our up-to-date and ef- ficient Normal Schools. The fact that we have such an able faculty is due to the un- tiring efforts of our beloved president. As a token of our ap- preciation, we wish to say thai we would not exchange our faculty for that of anv other school.

Page 21 text:

Dl !Pff®Bfi fl iIEL3 T l». COOK ' S career as an educator has been lonp and varied, lie has i mi 1 his whole heart and sou I into tin- betterment of educational conditions and has certainly accomplished great results. The first work attempted by )r. Cook along educational lines was in Minnesota. He was graduated from the State Normal School at Winona in LS66. For three years lie taught in country and village schools, and later for one year in the Minneapolis Commercial School. Following this in 1872, he was made city superintendent of schools at Sauk Centre, and his work lay along a somewhat different line of education. 1 1 is last posit ion in Minnesota was that of county superintendent of schools in ( )1 rusted County. During this time his work was directly connected with rural schools. lie had a chance to become closely associated with the teachers and their work, and saw that the schools were in a I); id condition. This was due to the fact that teachers were a! lowed to teach who were totally unfit for their work. Dr. Cook tried to better these conditions in many ways. He was instructor in t hirty- eight teachers ' institutes in Minnesota, and he worked faithfully for the cause of better rural schools. When a call came in 1885 for Dr. Cook to take charge of the establishment of a Stale Normal School at Spearfish, be saw an opportunity for a great work to be done along educational lines. His experience as county superintendent in Minnesota showed him that the poor conditions of rural schools was due to inef- ficient teachers. So he labored to build up an Institution wherein teachers could be trained in their work. We all know tin struggle of those first years. From a small school in which he did most of the teaching, a school devoid of apparatus, library, ami other necessary material, has grown the present splendidly equipped State Normal School at Spearfish. Dr. Cook ' s labor to hudd up a normal school where teachers are trained to a high degree of efficiency, has greatly benefited educational conditions of the western pari of South Dakota and elsew here. Because of the great work thai Dr. Cook lias done for educat ion, the State University at Vermillion has conferred upon him the degree of Doctor oi Laws. We, the Senior ( ' lass of 1916, extend to Dr. Cook our heartfelt gratitude, in response to his endeavor to make our si years at the Normal years oi value and happiness, w huh we w ill never forget .