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Educational For the Help, Encouragement a Trustees, Children and All Wi Dent and the Educational Adva ? Conducted and Edited by Miss Sadi Newben Baby Health Conferences. Wintfrrop Weekly News. Itoree years and a half ago the first T)? tVlQ oeuci juauv ncaiuu in iu<. United States was held. It centered attention up;>n the child and was the means of disseminating knowledge concerning r:s proper care. All over the land other contests (have been held. Bulletins have been published in order ;hat scientific information might be put into the hands of parents who want * enlightenment. 'Many of the leading :nagazines are devoting space to t'ie discussion of questions relating to the health and well being of children. The mother of a very delicate elevenyear-old boy said recently: "There is so much more knowledge concerning children abroad in the land today than when my boy was born." This is true. -And it is wonderful to see how "Baby Health Contests" have evolved into "Baby Health" con ferences; how little of emulation mars the examination of children; how ear nest is the spirit of inquiry wftich pervades the coming together of parents and children, of physicians, trained nurses, and social workers. South Carolina has held many "baby health contests" within tfse last two years. In some instances, as one re suit, groups of mothers have banded themselves together for serious study of problems of child life. Miss Locke, director of the kindergarten in Columbia, is leader orsuch a group. The tendency is for tfre contest to derelop into a conference and fjr the physical examination to be followed by study. This is a hopeful sign of tfce times. This spring -will see active measures taken to promote the well-being of children under school-going age. The medical inspection for children o! scfiiool-going age is a splendid law. The babies must be reached, also, flroomrill? fmeriAri t"n#* soriner "cam paign for better babies." The Civic Improvement league of that city devoted its first birthday to them and is claiming a "baby conference." The Charleston club women had a March child's welfare meeting, and will also Slave a "baby conference." Latta examined twenty-four children on Saturday April iO. Kingstree had a "baby conference" Thursday, April 10. Club women, school authorities, the Home economics extension department of "Winthrop college, and an interested public all help the good work go on. SCHOOL ACHTITEES. School Entertainments. At the State teachers' meeting in Florence in March a round table discussion in the School Improvement association section brought forth such good suggestions that reports have been collected in the hoDe of giving tihe readers of this page an echo of the suggestions given in the State meeting. Shtdow Character Plays. A Tery pretty and still a very enjoyable entertainment furnished by sctiool children is a shadow character play. To arrange for this have a large screen set upon the stage, arrange tfre Tight so that any object passing be hind the screen will show a natural sized shadow upon the screen. A good reader reads the appropriate words or verses about each character and the person representing tfoe character masses slowly and pauses momentarily behind the screen, so that the shadow may be easily recognized. The cosfumes for such a play may be very :nexpensive and crude, as you only wis ft to ?ret trie eirect on cne screen. The ^ot'^er Ooose characters are simple and easily worked up. The fol'owing time-honored personages may be represented: "Mother Goose," ".Tack ind Jill," "Tom.Tom the Piper's Son," "Little Jack Horner," "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater," "Little Tom Tucker," "Little Miss Muffet," "The Crooked Man/' and a number of others. "Motner nuooar<i ana -tier wonuerful Dog," is one of the most amusing of these shadow plays. A small boy is dressed to represent a dog and another to represent a cat, a larger boy is dressed as near as possible to rep resent a goat. A large girl plays tJhe Dart of Mother Hubbard. The eleven scenes of this little play are full of fun. The verses are read for each scene. The illustrated verses are found in the little book "Six Nursery Classics/' published by D. C. Heath & Co., of Atlanta, Gte. Prof. fitf. K Tate sent tffe following J mtmBmmmBmmammmmmmmmmmBmaamBsmammmmmammmmmammammm Department nd Assistance of the Teachers, 10 Are Interested in the Improvencement of All Our People.:::::: e Goggans, Supervising Teacher for ry County. i ] copy of a series of tableaux scenes which were presented by t^e South 1 ? _ J A T3<-\ r? \\r\ A "* 1 I Carolina aeieginiun <11 am rcauuu.t summer school last year. A large; frame was set up with screens for j wings. As the poetry was read a gir. representing each epoch passed slowly j from one screen to the other, pausing 1 in the picture frame as t)he appropri- ! ate line was read. This would be very! pretty for school improvement associations to present some time during the summer. j ?o? . "The Seven Ages of South Carolina II*^ 99 I TT UII1CIW "Our State's a stage, And. on its boards have trod some goodly players, They've had their exits and their entrances, And so they've played?these women? many parts, Their acts being seven stages. First the settler's wife Spinning and carding in her rough built home; And then the dame of the Revolution with her patches, Painted, powdered, reigning in Qier T1 AUi OVttVVlJ ' Then thrifty housewife pushing back the wilderness, To ^Mft her war made burden; Then the Lady of tfoe South, Full of pretty whims and 'pareled like a peacock, | Served by slaves, lavish, and great in fortune, 1 Cherishing the buble, social statipn, Even till the cannon roared; and then the woman In plain nurse garb, with gentle, ready lo&nds To bind the wound or close the eye of Yank or Rebel, And so she played her part. The six age shifts Into the home-made dress and garden hat, ! With dear old faithful mammy by foer side, j i.The tender hand well saved by erstslave's care, , Her. simple mind on former days inj tent And dwelling in their joy. Last scene of all, That brings this story down to present day, Is noble woman, pressing forward still, Cum athletics, cum education, cum religion, cum everything.'' Costumes. 1. Settler's Wife?Puritanical costume of dark dress with white fisc&u, cuffs -and cap. Carries yam or spinning wheel. 2. Dame of Revolution?Panniere, j powdered pompadour, curls, ostrich ! plumes, fan, etc! 3. Housewife ? Dark dress with white house-apron. 4. Lady of the South?Hoop skirt, ! frills, cameo; hair arranged low on neck. 5. Nurse?Red Cross costume, car-j ! frtwAl Atr> 6. Young Girl?Flowered mtfslin j j dress, garden hat trimmed witfr flow- j ! ers, tied at chin with large bow; car; ries basket of flowers. Mammy?Orj dinary negro costume. ' 7. (Middy Costume?Academic cap ' and gown thrown over arm, tennis i ! ! racket in right hand, Bible in left. i Kate Simpson, Supervising Teacher Kersbaw Co. j A School Center Entertainment. j When Thanksgiving day was ap proaching, one school was selected as, the center, and eight surrounding schools were- invited to bt, present for' ? the Tianksgiviag ceier? ration. All of tnes? *2?:o.'s were instructed to practice singing the Thanksgiving hymn and also to 'ob ready to recite the One Hundredth Psalm. I Th? central school was to furnish tir e entertainment. This was selected | with the greatest care for its educa- j j tional v.i ae. At sone otber time we i i ; are going to divide up a program be! tween the several school.-. The next step was to furnish the , setting. All the farmers in the neigh; horhood contributed to tJbis part of the affair. A part of one of the two connecting | rnmriR was arranged to reDresent a i j field of hay, bordered on the one side j by large cotton stalks well-laden with I the fleecy staple, flanked by tall, heavj ily freighted stalks of corn. On the edge and in the corners of tJhe field were piled pumpkins and melons, turnips and potatos, while small scrubby oaks in flaming colors formed a wooded background. In front, where a Dartition connects tbe two rooms, i ( -groups of sugar caco, corn, oats, rege- ] tables, etc., formed an attractive fore- " ground, while festoons of red peppers i and autumn leaves furnished a drop- < curtain effect. The entertainment took place at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. All the! < schools joined in the Thanksgiving | j psalm and the opening hymn, after , which the regular program proceeded, j This consisted chiefly of two dialogues. The first was made up of selections j whicih told of the c^ebrations of the harvest festival by the Greeks, the Romans and the Jews. The harves: , home of the English and the corn fes tival of tfce Indians. The other gave the history of our national festival in "The Story of Thanksgiving." The last number on the program was the old harvest game, Oats, Peas, Beans 1 and Barley Grows. Tne wnoie scnooi ; joined in t3':is, much to the amusement: of the audience. j At the close of the exercises all the schools engaged in games together out of doors, and one of the visiting schools gave a fine exhibition of drilling and marching. When tf:e time for departure ar-j rived there was a general feeling of j regret expressed and a hope of such | meeting again. Caroline L. Dickinson, Supervising Teacher Dorchester Co. j j A School Entertainment Without Special Preparation Any teacher who 'has given children training for an entertainment knows | just how much work it takes, how j muc& time from the regular school work and just how worn out children, \ teaclber and parents are afterward. Perhaps the most enjoyable of en-| i tertainments is one which requires no l | special preparation, no elaborate cos; tumes, nothing that interferes with, | the regular work. { Any teacher who has done iher work | well each day may 'have one of these entertainments. Let us see! Today I she decides to let the children write, for an English lesson, invitations to i their parents. First oblong pieces of | paper 6 by 4 inches are cut and folded. On the second page the program i3 | written, on the third an informal note asking rne cniid's parents to come 10, j the school house at a certain time, either tfae next afternoon or night. The program may consist of songs : , which the pupils ha?e learned during | the year, poems appropriate to the j ! season (surely each teacher has frer ! minils memorize such Doems) a SDell I ? ing match, a reading lesson, in fact | any of the school work may be used : in this way. The pressed flowers, I rocks collected by the children, espe-, cially good exercises in compositions, i maps, etc., may be on exhibition. How does such an entertainment1 help? | First. Just the "getting together" j means so much. School becomes a reality, rather ttban a vague place i wtoere children may he sent to get = [ them out of the way. Parents and j teachers become acquainted, and i whenever a teacher knows Johnnie's i mother, she has very little trouble i with Jofcnnie. Second. Such a program will show. I the parents just where their children stand and will aid materially In a {* better grading of pupils. If Johnnie make another failure in fourth grade reading, Ibis mother will be willing for him to use the third reader. Third. It will be much easier to secure the co-operation of patrons in V>atfn? offcn^QTl/io on/1 ni?np. u IV UtWLCI ?H(^uuwuvg uuu w**v tuality. Then, too, when people see j the needs of tfte school, better equip- , ment will be fbe result. | j Relen L. Prince, i; n m -i - oupervismg i earner, i Spartanburg, S. C. i In Newberry county some ladies:. have furnished good articles showing ] the way in which patrons of their j schools Ibave worked. } A Tam rp^o J A'ACCCptlVU XVA I -] The School Improvement associa-l tion decided to give a reception the { second Friday after the opening of i school. None of 'the teachers were strangers. Nevertheless we felt the , meeting together would be profitable | and pleasant to botl'i teachers and ' < patrons. I \ Where the teachers have just come ' ] into a community, I believe it would be of even greater helpfulness. ' The reception was very little trou-, ble to any one. The invitations, pro-; gram and reception committees knew exactly what was expected of them. To avoid the expense of buying so large a number of invitation cards, we used thin white cardboard, cutting it into tl-e size desired. The invitation was written on one side, the address on the other. We did not limit our list of guests to patrons of the school. The cards may be sent by the school children, or delivered by n few who are willing to undertake | the extra work. Our committee arranged the en- c trance frail of Cbe school honse as a t . 1 reception room. This was made very j j attractive bj the use of autumn flow- f ers. Tea and small cakes were served 11 by high school girls. After the guests were served and had chatted a few minutes, they were taken into the auditorium. i wnen an ua,a a.rrivea u-t piugiam aas given. This was made up of sev-1 sral talks interspersed with vocal and ! intrumental music. All was home tal- j ?nt, with the exception of Miss Goggans, our rural supervisor. Each one ! present seemed much interested. We are glad those present seemed ' not only to enjoy the afternoon, but to become more interested in the School Improvement association. Tne fact that we were giving this school reception made them realize that we i were working to bring the scnool for-1 ward and put the teacher in closer touch with her patrons, I' ernfore with her scholars. A number of members were added to our association. The cost in cents?there need be 110 dollars?is very small. The cost in energy can be far less than that for any other reception. However, the good accomplis' ed is more. -W'e hope to have another next fall, but you need not wait that long. Try one now. , Prosperitv School Imp. Assn. -0- i How 3Iade $100 in a Day. Through the kindness of tiie campaign committee we secured the 4i"b of July, 1915 (campaign day) for a barbecue for t':e benefit of the Pomaria Graded school. Everybody went to work with willing hands and hearts. The men bought the meat and prepared the dinner, the children from the fifth grade up waited on the tables, the ladies took charge of the refreshments. All the boiled custard, pickles, .eggs and butter were given by the ladies. After all expenses were1 paid we found that we 'had $103.75 Aii* /Joit'ci Torvnlr a ATT\GOt ffk Tlflfo ivi uui uaj o ?i VAO.. t? v v?|/wv vw ? v another barbecue on tfre 3rd of July, 1915. Pomaria School Imp. Assn. How St. Luke's Rural Graded School Seeured $300 From the State We levied a special school tax of four mills and employed three teachers for seven months. We now "have an enrollment of 110 pupils, an average attendance of 85, a comfortable and! sanitary building, provided with such equipment as prescribed by tfte State, board of education, and use the course! of study and classification approved J by the State board of education. Section 1835d. Requirements for $300 1 "nrno^ tillliol OAVIAAI Apyivpi lauuii-1 TT^JCll CLILJ I uiai ovuwi district in South Carolina shall levy and collect a special school tax of not less than four (4) mills, and when such school employs three or more certified teachers for a school term of not less than seven months, and when such school has an annual enrollment of not fewer than seventy-five pupils and an average daily attendance for the session of not fewer than iorty pupils, and when such school is taught in a comfortable and sanitary building provided with the minimum equipment prescribed by the State board of education, and wfa-en it uses a course of study and classification approved by the Stateb oard of education, it shall be entitled to receive State aid under this act to the amount of $300 per year. Mrs. Joe W. Hunter, President of St. Luke's Rural Graded ^ scnooi improvtraicm Asawiabivxi. ; How We Are BuiMing ! Our School Hons*: At the first meeting two committees were appointed?one to solicit mem-j bers and the other to visit tfae patrons or tne scnooi 10 set uuw iuu^u umuo > and lumber could be secured; this information was to be given to the trustees and also reported to the association. The result of this canvass was tJbat several thousand feet of lumber and timber \rere promised. But the' lumber promised lacked much of be- I ing enough to complete the building, | and the timber was so widely scattered that it would (have been difficult to have got it sawed. At this juncture Messrs. Jof:n Half-, icre and D. Walter Wicker came for-' l cvard and generously offered to give ill the timber necessary. Their offer ; svas accepted and the contract to do :he sawing was given to Kinard Bros. They have nearly finished sawing and he actual work of construction Is to aegin at an early date. The patrons have freely given of heir time to t:e cutting and hauling )f the stock and lumber, so only a very rew dollars actual cas'h have thus far )een expended and we can confidently ixpect the remainder of the material ' :o be put on the ground free of cost. n thp arhool. The new house now being in sig^t, ne association will likely turn its atention to the aid of the school In se:uring equipment. Mrs. Join J. Kibler, St. Phillip's School Imp. Assn. Compulsory Education, On April 9 the county superintendent >f education came to fWlheeland school o a patrons' meeting to explain Yotng an additional two mills special: at\A t>?A oomtralsorr educa ion Mil. When tte patrons *n<J er-} stood that the bill would not affect < negro children, but would force all j w'hite children betwen the ages of 8 j and 14 years in this district to attend , school regularly, every voter present ] gladly signed the petition, whid^ read. : as follows: j J STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA j i School District NO....I of County. j i The undersigned qualified electors : of the above named school district hereby petition the county board of ; education for the adoption and en-; forcement of "an act to require school : attendance," approved the 20tn day of ] February, 1915. (If a majority of t':e qualified elect- : ors residing in the district sign this petition, compulsory school attendance will be secured without an election.) i (If one-fourth of the qualified electors residing in the district sign tKis : petition, compulsory attendance can 1 be secured only after an election.) W.ien the paper was sent from house to ouse every qualified elector in the : district except one signed without fur- : ther inquiry. 1. Thp adontinn nf comnnlsnrv at_ tendance in any district depends absolutely upon the co-operation of the people. This law simply means that * all children between the ages of 6 and 21 years have t'ne right to attend t-e local school of their district. But in districts adopting the provisions of this act, children between the ages of 8 and 14 years will be re- ' quired to attend four months in the country and the full term in town. iPnnils nri(ipr 8 and above 14 will not be affected. (Section 1.) 2. T:ree methods of adopting t/be law are authorized: a. Upon petition of a majority of, the qualified electors residing in the district b. Upon election after petition by one-fourth of the qualified electors re-1 .'siding in any district. ! c. Upon election after petition by a majority of the board of trustees of any district containing an incorporated 'town of fifteen hundred inhabitants. : \(Section 9.) j Selected from article by the State : superintendent. Mrs. Ed Sease, "Wbeeland School Imp. Assn. i Onr Supplementary Headers. j Realizing the need of better reading,' we want to work to raise money for M toe purpose of getting supplementary ^ readers. We raised five dollars, was tripled by county and State, so ' we purchased fifteen dollars' worth of readers. We need thirty dollars worth' of supplementary readers and books ^' for the library, which we conld Jhave gotten if we had raised ten dollars, j The amount raised by tT:e school is j tripled by county and State. We had a Washington birthday exercise in which each child took a part, 1 so each child feels that lie ?bas a share in the readers. The patrons and friends | of the school helped in various ways to make the occasion a success. The clear perception of the fact t^at the j'1 amount raised by the school would be j tripled by county and State, aroused j the community to a great interest in j1 the event. Tiie supplementary readers 'have added greatly* to the children's en- ' joyment and to improve their oral reading. The "Brownie Primer," by Banta, is very interesting for beginners. The : children are continually asking, "May! I read in the little Brownies?" They i are delighted wita the colored illus- 1 trations. The parts that Red Cap, Blue } Cap, Yellow Cap and Green Cap play ? in "Our Homes," and the parts that Red Coat. Blue Coat, Yellow Coat and 1 Green Coat play in "Our Homes Taken | Away" are amusing and full of inter- j est to small children. '! When they are tired of studying, they 1 will be interested for some time looking at ?:e different costumes of the | Brownies. ! 1 "Nature Studies," by Gardner, is full '< * of beautiful stories of nature, just the vind tn insnire love for nature. The;] children "have shown a great appreci- i ^ ation for the stories of "The Turkey", and "The Rabbit." "Children's Classics in Dramatic j Form," by Stevenson, serves the pur-' ^ pose to arouse a greater interest in j ^ oral reading, to develop more expres-; sion, and to give more freedow and I ( grace to the attitudes and movements.! i a It is the nature of children to like the 1 dramatic iorm. The contents of "The Golden Pat'h/'j ^ by Sneath, Hodges and Stevens, have j been selected from the best literary' ^ sources, and also have many original . stories in them. The morals of eack ' lesson should be carefully studied in a toe class. ^ The supplementary readers used in a school serve to break the monotony of the regular readers. The child that has read a story several times i?clo.c in+AT*A?t-_ and it is a difficult mat- T, iVHVW w ter to get them to study their lessons. ^ Wken the supplementary readers are used every ckild is quiet and busy for a while reading the new stories. The p quietness in the school house the first lc iay we read in them was remarkable; M for some time, you could have heard a pin drop on the floor. We also have a "Webster's Collegiate- fl Dictionary" ti:at we bought on the same principle as the supplementary fl readers. A dictionary is indispensable n any school. By the help of Miss Goggans, wt^ have made a good selection of suppie-M mentary readers, which are a greajO *ielp to our school. We do not stfl how we could do without t'aem. ? We are now preparing an entertaiH ment to raise money for more sirpp* mentary readers and books for libra? Bessie D. Pug*'.i. Pres. of Rural School Improvement Association of i>i.t. Pilgrim. An Afternoon Spent With 1? rt ? >> hiAin A *> 4 ^ I til IH i/ciiiuustidUUIl AKflir The Rural School Improvement association of 0'-\eall school was called to order on April 9, 1915, by its vice d president, Mrs. G. L. Moore. After prayer, a chapter from the Bible was read by Mr. T. M. Mills, farm demonstration agent for this county. First on program were two recita tions. The one by Lindsey Boozer, entitled Uncle Tom Parker, it will be remembered won second faonor in the contest for elementary school on April 1 at Fair and Field day. T:e other, by Boyce Mills, entitled Little Jinnie's Steamchair, won third honor in . thecontest for high schools on March 31. To my mind, this meeting will fcave a more far-reaching effect than any "cr.ck P- cxxra hrxA ^nrinor fnn nocf caocinn " v> * v uu v m vuv yi*>j v In the first place, at our prevfou^ meetings we talked of making some changes in our school building, but !N failed to cause enough enthusiasm 1 to accomplish anything. When Mr. V Mills pictured the improvements being made by other schools and showed to * us the necessity of doing something for our school, we were so impressed that a committee was at once appoint- I ed to get permission from the trustees I to go ahead with the work, with the i result that nermission was given A gladly. A carpenter (has been engaged and work will be begun in a few days. M After this is finished we wish to bare fl a play and in order to be in time we V invite the public now. Mrs. L. W. Bedenbaugiiv Sec. O'Neall School Imp. (Ass*. Sc&ool Notes. In a letter to the presidents of 422" school improvement associations, Miss Eva Hite, State president, has urged. each school district to take advantage of the compulsory school attendance law by having a majority Qf the qualified electors sign a petition, asking tae 4 county board of education \to enforce M the law in their district. By an ice cream festival at Bef?w?y^ school Friday evening $10.50 waW If raised to paint the interior of building. Rutherford school has appropriate* from tbeir private funds $10 ^icom will be tripled by the county State to enlarge tbe library. Zion patrons are planning a clos-H ing picnic May 15. Col. E. H. Aull has been asked to 1 deliver C; e graduating address at Si2rerstreet Sunday, May 16. ? The Smyrna teachers are planning a beautiful school entertainment for Wednesday evening, May 5. fl Mr. W. R. Sauls, playgrounds direc- 9 ;or of Charleston, "will probably visit M N'ewberry county schools May 14th and 15th, at w^icb time ne win iauc j :he county teacfrers. ?O? On Saturday an additional two mill special school tax was voted at Waee[and. It looks now as if 48 seventh grades pupils will receive certificates on Maf 1 3 in the opera house at 11 o'clock. The public is invited to these graduat- ' ng exercises. PHEW! IT'S HOT AND WILL STAY SO FOR DATS Washington, April zt>.?a scorcmt?s leat wave is hovering over the eastern half of the United States from he Mississippi valley to the Atlantic ;oast causing suffering in toe cities .nd serious damage to wheat and other ;rops in the agricultural districts. Reports to the weather bureau tolight told of temperatures exceeding he highest ever recorder in ApriL Oficials said no important changes were ndicated for any region before Wed PRriav nieht and that temperatures ,bove tihe seasonal average would coninue generally east of the Rocky Qountalns. Tonight's reports show new temper>ture records established as follows: , Washington, D. C., and Richmond, j ra., 94 degrees; Toledo, Ohio, 56; J l-rand Rapids, Mich., Cincinnati, Ohio, ^ nd Elkins} W. Ya., 88; Port Huroa, fich. &6, and Green Bay, Wis., 84. devious recopds at Albany and Syr*use, N. Y., #4 iefrees, were equalie*.