University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

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Ellie Glnuntrg Glhurrh anh the I Rural Svrhnnl H. B. LONGEST PONTOTOC 'COUNTY HE country church and rural school are the important factors in the develop- ment of a good community. Then to have the best rural community there must not be a broad gulf between the church and school. They should work hand in hand. When convenience will admit they should be located close together. This will stimulate a mutual interest. For the greatest success in church and school work it is necessary for the pastor of the church and the teacher of the school to live in the community. This makes their work convenient for them and closely associates them with the people. The teacher and the pupils constitute a large per cent of the regular attend- ants at Sunday School and church services. The school can help the church by pre- paring to take care of the singing and music. This preparation can be made by de- voting only a few minutes to it during the opening exercises each morning. Also the opening exercises conducted in the right way give the pupils a knowledge of the scripture, which will serve as a basis for a more careful study of the Bible. It will prepare them to receive the greatest benefit from the church services. The teacher will very likely be expected to be superintendent of the Sunday School and to take an active part in the mid-week prayer meeting services. In doing this he becomes better acquainted with the needs of the people. Efficient service can not be rendered without the problems of the community are thoroughly understood. Interest is stimulated through service. The preacher will be better acquaint- ed and feel closer to the school if he has opportunity to conduct their opening exer- cises occasionally. The pastor who comes out from town, once each month, to preach does not do the community very much good. He should be personally acquainted with every person near the church. No wide awake man cares to be in a community where there is no church and school interest. The proper co-operation of the church and school will tend to make the country more attractive than the town or village. So long as the people of the country feel that they have to move to town for their children to have social and educational advantages the church and the school are not doing their duty. H. B. LONGEST.

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Uhr '-Eftirivnt Elearhrr nf 1112 'Rural Smnhag Svrhnnl i MARTHA E. JONES LINCOLN COUNTY C U I LD in the souls of your pupils a wholesome and abiding love for the Bible. We are face to face with the great fact that our day schools cannot give the religious training which the child needs and that this is the sacred and consecrated Work of the Sunday School. We must develop means of making the Sunday School worth while to the children, the future men and women of our communities, so that its influences over them may be retained until they reach maturity. The heart of this reform is the teacher. The vital need of the Sunday School today is not so much a change from the uniform to the graded lessons, but efficient teachers. Let us now consider briefly the necessary characteristics of an efficient teacher. First, he must be in sympathy with each child. Did not Christ sympathize with every condition of human life? He seemed to love them that needed it most, to help those who were most helpless. It is easy for us to be interested in the bright, well dressed child, but, if we are to follow the example of Christ as a teacher, we must not let our personal feelings carry us away from the obligation we owe to the more unfortunate little child, to Whom the kind word and sympathetic touch of the teacher is perhaps the only bright spot in his life. Second, when the child is putting forth his best effort, no matter how poor, we should patiently and kindly help him to do his best. Third, we must love our pupils for what we want them to become: if there is no love, there is no teaching. No matter what equipment we have, what wealth of material, we cannot touch the life of the child until we have united all that we have and all that we are with the love in our souls for Chirst, and for His little ones. The recitation period each Sunday is the teacher's opportunity to guide the child's thinking, to lead him out of doubt and instill in him principles that cannot be erased. This hour is the opportunity of our lives to do something, and to do it well. To do this we must make a thorough preparation of the lesson. We must not stop the study of it when we know it but consider it learned, only when We know it well enough to present it in a clear and concrete way to the child. We must make each lesson we teach become a distinct advance to some goal. 7511 Some one has said Upon the laws of the soul rest the laws of teaching. What is good teaching? Good teaching is generous giving. A good teacher must be willing to devote his best energies to the work. Christ stands out as the great teacher of the World who set aside every other purpose and devoted his efforts to the production of Christian character. Let us strive to teach as Christ taught. MARTHA E. JONES.

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Uhr Qlhaprl iixvrriaw BESSIE MCCANN HARRISON COUNTY M 1 VERY school morning from 10:45 to 11:15 we spend the most enjoyable half hour in the day. We meet at this time in the chapel for the chapel exer- clses. The meeting is presided over by the president, or in his absence, the 'vice- president. The devotional exercises, consisting of a song, a Bible lesson with com- ments, and prayer, are conducted by the gentlemen of the faculty, beginning with the President and Vice-President, then the head of each department. The remainder of the period is given over to business. First the faculty an- nouncements are called for, then the student announcements. In noother institution of the College is the College spirit made more manifest than in the chapel exer- cises. There is amutual understanding among the Normal College students, that every one has a right to his opinion and to the expression of such. Every student feels free to express his opinion, and is always sure of an appreciative hearing from the president. If any one feels in a humor for it, he tells a joke, if one loses a book or pencil, or any other valuable he announces it in chapelg if any one takes an inter- esting trip the students hear about it in chapelg if there is any general advice or re- proof to be given, the chapel is the place for itg if there is any business relating to student government, such as nominating for offices and vacancies, appointing election commissioners, reading and expounding the constitution, it is transacted in chapel. Occasionally, we have visiting ministers, politicians and educators in chapel. These visitors are made to feel at home. They are usually called on for a talk or lecture. These speeches are very interesting and instructive. On one day in the week a County Club is responsible for the program. These programs are rendered on Thursday morning of each week. They give the historical, geographical, and industrial features of the county they represent together with a discussion of the educational feature in which the county either leads or is lacking in. A map of the county is placed on the board upon which are located the principle towns, streams, and railroads. The remarkable thing about the ,fchapel exercises is that although no one is forced to attend, there is an average attendance of 9570 of the student body. We have excellent order, as a rule. These two facts are but manifestations of two of the College slogans, Co-operation, and Self-control. The student body has a strong regard for the Chapel period, and co-operate to make it both interesting and instructive. BESSIE McCANN