Grand Rapids High School - Tomahawk Yearbook (Grand Rapids, MN)

Page 17 text:

miie 2 T,A AD' mi 9 1110 09 9 - T ural sscliutils TQRING the present school year GO rural schoo.s have been in opera- tion while pupils have been transported from fourteen other schools, not a single log building being in operation this year. There still remain in use three portable buildings which have been practically made over, by insulating the walls with plasterboard. Several of these rural schools now employ two teachers. About forty per cent of the teachers in the rural schools are advanced normal graduates. All rural buildings that are now being erected within the district are built af:- cording to plans that mean sunerior aided schools. By superior aided, we mean it is employing advanced normal graduates, is maintaining a high average of attendance, and has inside toilets. All the rural buildings are uniformly equipped. Settlers more than two miles from school are paid transportation for either hauling their children or for boarding these isolated pupils. While this cuts down the number of rural schools, it enables them to have larger attendance, larger social contacts, and makes for better schools. These rural schoo.s are in session for nine months. Hot lunches are served during the colder months to pupils who carry their dinners. While industrial work is no longer required in rural schools, some form of it is maintained, monthly club meetings are held, and the build- ings throughout the district are used for community purposes the year around. The buildings are closed. however. against private parties and the Board of Education has been forced to limit the use of these build- ings to certain hours. l srirr. e. ti iuicnit ight Sclpaul LASSES for adults are held two nights per week for two hours each night covering a period of at least thirty- six hours at times during the year when adults can best attend for the purpose of being given instruction in English, Geography, Civics, Health, and Sanitation, together with Citizenship and such history as will best enable these peo- ple to acquire their citizenship papers. The demand in this district is not largcg although each year sees some community asking for an in atructor. The statc pays one-half oi' the teacher's salaiy tor this woit. This foim of activity on the part of School Distiict No. One receives the hearty co-operation of the naturalization officers and often times papers have been giantcd directly upon the recommendation of the officials from the school M ISS IJCSK ELA N district. .'l'lt'liI4l'l'AltY 'ii WH-fn -.-.y:,v2 ,.i Ja, V :1:x.'if.,s ge- 4:21591 Sufi: gimp tlli

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cs, 4 4 0 Arr , f' fp 29'P1n0 0.00610 Sta fisting HE number of teachers in School District No. One during the year 1927-28 consisted of twenty-one men and one hundred forty-one women, making a total of one hundred sixty-two. The number of child- ren instructed was kindergarten sixty-nine, first grade, four hundred ten, second grade, three hundred twenty-one, third' grade, two hundred sixty-seven, fourth grade, three hundred eighteen, fifth grade, two hundred ninety-three, sixth grade, two hundred ninety-seven, seventh grade, three hundred fourteen, eighth grade, three hundred eighteen, high school, four hundred sixty, opportunity class twelve, making a total of three thousand seventy-nine, seventy were graduated from the high school, two hundred thirty-five completed the eighth grade, and twenty-nine completed the Teacher Training Department. The average daily attendance for the year was one hundred fifty-five school days. ngn School HE Togo Consolidated School came twenty-seven years after the first settlers had landed in Carpenter and Bear River townships. A list of the names of the first settlers of these two townships is too long for the purposes of this article, suffice to say that there are a number of the settlers still making their homes here through all this period of time. The first school in this community was one established in 1906 known as the old Bearville School in section 14-61-22. Mr. A. C. McCutchorn was the first teacher. In 1910 the Carpenter School was built, later called Nass School, the Drybridge School was built about the same time and Mrs. F. C. Tinkey was the efficient teacher. The old Togo, Hayden, and Carpenter schools came later. As the roads grew better and the desire for some high school work grew, the citizens headed by Miles Nelson, Swan Nelson, and John Caesar worked out a plan of consolidation which the Board of Educa- tion adopted. Rudolph C. Anderson was the first principal of this school. The teachers that worked with him at that time were Marie Norton, Pearl Simonson, Marion Lee, Otto Talus, Lillian Hegdahl, and Ruth Sandvig. The teachers now are all at least advanced normal graduates and two years of high school are being given in connection with the regular grade work. There are five regular bus routes trans- porting the children to the school which has an enrollment of just about one hundred. The building was dedicated June 2, 1928 by a large and enthusi- astic audience. Mr. C. C. Cesander of the State Department of Educa- tion gave the dedicatory address, Mr. Arscott, Mr. Benzing, Mr. Zaiser and Supt. C. C. Baker all spoke. It is needless to say that the Togo community is highly pleased with the results of this consolidation. ,., , . .- 4'-zfsalggfw T qlislqli? Pi , ..---1, 4. '-S v, ffvgZf?.V ' N' 1:24 911. !.'T:1?' C105

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4 A A' v?fP't-ffiiff' 9 0 - ural guperrrisinn MISS MURPHY MR. GILSDORF MISS COONROD ural grlqnnls URAL supervision in School District No. One was made possible under an old law which provides for associated aid to schools maintaining certain standards, and in 1916 two supervisors were employed. At that time the district had about fifty schools. The work of the supervisors was to organize these scattered schools into a unified group. Due to increasing population in various centers new schools were opened and in 1922 a third supervisor was added to the staff. Since then some schools have been closed and a number have been brought together into consolidations with a resulting total of about seventy. It has been the work of the supervisors in building up the organization to see that these schools conform to certain standards laid down by the State Department of Education. This has increased the amount of state aid to the maximum allowed and has tended to increase the efficiency of the teaching process due to the higher pro- fessional standards required. Practically two-thirds of the teachers employed in the rural and semi-graded schools possess the qualifications entitling them to positions in the graded schools. It is the aim of the supervisors to visit all schools at least once a month in order to consult with and direct the teachers in problems of curriculum, teaching technique, the organization of the school and the social activities as carried out in club and night school work, in short, to give whatever inspirational and constructive assistance pos-- sible in furthering the aims of rural education, That new teachers may become acquainted with the type of organization and the methods used, the first week in the fall is given over to an institute addressed by the superintendent, supervisors and such outside help as the varied activities of the school may call for. ' peak-F nglish mark HERE has not been a demand for this type of work now that there was pre- viouslyg still in a number of the communities this phase of public school work is still being effectively carried on. The work consists largely in the school children carrying to their homes the English that they learn in schools and in the teaching' of their parents and older brothers and sisters. This work is dircted by the rural super- visors in connection with their visits to the rural schools. 'N wx, . ,, y, 45.155-.ii:l5:fQ ,g1ix2f,'g4- ,mx .s5:,,,:,1f ggi gm. -1:51. C123