Northwestern State University - Potpourri Yearbook (Natchitoches, LA)

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State Normal School The Normal School was established by Act of the General Assembly of Louis- iana July 7, 1884. The State Board of Education located the school at Natchitoches, and the buildings and grounds of the Convent of the Sacred Heart were bought by the Parish of Natchitoches and given to the rchool. The Act of Establishment declares that the school shall be maintained for the benefit of such white persons of either sex as may desire and intend to teach in the public schools of Louisiana. The Normal School is maintained by the State to train teachers for the public schools. The necessary equipment of the successful teacher includes wholesome person- ality, sound scholarship and technical skill. The first of these cannot be furnished by any school, it comes by inheritance and early environment; but it is the function of the Normal School to enlarge and strengthen it, and to add to it the qualifications of liberal learning and teaching power. The course of training is planned with these ends in view. The first two and a half years of the course aim at thoroughness in mastery of the subjects of the public-school course, while the last year and a half are given chiefly to the study of teaching and to practice work in the Model School. The conditions maintained at the Normal School give an environment that tends steadily to develop character and capacity for work. The course of study, the professional training, the companionship of hundreds of young men and women engaged in a common life-work, the intimate contact with many strong teachers, and the lectures and addresses given by scholarly men from all parts of the country, help to establish high ideals of service. The stimulating influence of the literary societies, the opportunity ?o hear really good music and to see some good pictures and statuary, and the use of the library, with its thousands of books and fresh periodical literature, help to refine the taste, quicken the appreciation and strengthen the love of learning. The well-organized practice school, the new manual training rooms, the labora- tories and library, the ventilating system in the academic building, the baths and screens in the dormitories, the beautiful grounds, with forest, lake, and swimming pool, all for $3 a week, guarantee a delightful experience to those who come to take advantage of the excellent courses offered. THE BOARDING CLUB. Six buildings are used as dormitories for young women. Young men board in private families in town. The board club accommodates five hundred young women. The bedrooms are furnished with single beds, mattresses, chairs, tables, dressers, wardrobes, wash- stands, steam heat, and electric lights. 15

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ALUMNI. The Louisiana State Normal School Alumni Association was first organized on July 21, 1894, at Euston during the session of the Chau- tauqua of that year. The organization was discussed at the Commence- ment at the Normal just previous. A special committee appointed at the Commencement conference on May 30, 1894, presented a Constitu- tion for the Association, which was adopted. (It does not appear from any record who was on this Committee). Col. Thos. D. Boyd, then President of the Normal School, presided at the organization meeting on July 21, 1895, and Prof. E. L. Himes assisted in the organization. The officers elected were: Miss Bessie V. Eussell, President; J. E. Eeadhimer, Secretary; Miss Mollie Kearney, Treasurer. Eegular meetings have been held every Commencement since organization, except possibly 1896, for which no records are preserved. Perhaps the meeting was not held by reason of the late Commencement made nec- essary on account of suspension of the school for five weeks in the spring caused by small pox outbreak in Xatchitoches. In addition to the regular meetings, special reunions have been held annually at the time of the teacher ' s convention every year since 1890. These reun- ions have been the means of bringing together larger numbers of the graduates than have attended the annual meetings in Xatchitoches, and afford great pleasure to the Normalities present. No particular line of work was undertaken by the Association until 1897 when the Alumni Scholarship was established. The first student selected to fill the scholarship was Miss Annie G. Greene, of Tangipahoa. In 1900 the Association named the scholarship in honor and memory of Prof. Aloy L. Smith, for years the training teacher of the Normal School. Those who have held the scholarship since Miss Greene, are: Miss May Lee, East Baton Eouge: Miss Bertha Medlock, AYebster; Miss Olive Mather, St. Tammany; Miss Lena Smyth. Avoy- elles; Miss Marie Himel, Iberville; and Miss Ora Baldridge, Avoyelles. By means of the Aloy L. Smith Scholarship a real work is being accomplished at very small expense to the members of the Association. In 1901, a small surplus having accumulated in the Treasury, it was decided to loan this surplus to students of the Nor- mal in the upper classes to enable them to complete the course without the necessity of stopping to earn money to remain in school. While this fund is small at present, a great benefit has been derived from it, and it is doubtful if any work conld be undertaken that would do as much £ood with a small fund. The student loan fund is in operation in mauy of the leading colleges and universities of the country, and is often larsrelv supported by the Alumni .Association?. In the short time that the loan fund has been in use, loans have bepn made to 27 students, 20 of whom have graduated at the Normal, and 2 of them are now 17