NORMAL SCHOOL, ORANGE PARK, FLA.
BY REV. T. S. PERRY.
At Orange Park Normal School the year just closed has been a prosperous one. Owing to straitened means and hard times, the enrollment has been a little less than last year; but in the grade of scholarship there has been a distinct advance.
Many pleasant incidents have occurred, notably the Christmas festival. A United States flag, nine feet by fifteen, presented to the school at Christmas, was hoisted over the building February 22d, with great enthusiasm. Appropriate exercises, including such patriotic songs as "The Star Spangled Banner," "The Red, White and Blue," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," gave added spirit to the occasion.
Of a hundred pupils not one has died or been seriously sick during the year—a fact that speaks much for the sanitary condition of the school.
The concluding exercises, beginning with our annual picnic, May 19th, have all been interesting. The literary societies have done themselves much credit. The closing day, May 30th, brought together from near and far an assembly of all sorts and conditions, of every hue from fairest blonde to ebony, which completely filled the spacious chapel. The oral reviews or examinations, the music, both vocal and instrumental, were highly appreciated; while the calisthenics showed admirable drill. In the evening came more music, essays, recitations and the like, to the great enjoyment of a crowded audience.
The exhibit made by the industrial department was extremely gratifying. Many specimens of plain sewing, neatly and strongly done, showed that the girls have been making progress in the practical arts of the house-keeper and home-maker; while abundant samples of fancy needlework displayed not only rare deftness of hand, but an artistic taste as well. Pretty quilts, elegant bed-spreads, handkerchiefs of drawn work, tasty tray-cloths, embroidered table-covers, doilies, aprons, neckties, etc., were displayed in profusion.
The boys' exhibit of wood-work was no less gratifying. Their numerous picture-frames and book-shelves, of tasteful designs and handsome workmanship, would in many cases have done no discredit to expert craftsmen; while many articles by the smaller boys gave proof that hand, eye and judgment were being trained in an admirable way. The workshop is also an excellent school of applied arithmetic, as well as of practical handicraft. Free-hand, and some surprisingly good mechanical drawings were exhibited; also plain, colored and relief maps, illustrating the geography of our own and other lands.
The botanical work exhibited was worthy of all praise. Fifty varieties of flowers, comprising nearly all the most important orders, have been examined and classified, and half as many handsomely mounted.
This young school is doing a work of inestimable value. On the very spot, where less than a generation ago gangs of slaves toiled under the overseer's lash, and within rifle-shot of the plantation whipping-post, their children are now developing into worthy citizenship; and youth, both white and colored, are growing up into enlightened Christian manhood and womanhood.
Many of our students are poor—very poor—and are working out their salvation by efforts none the less pathetic because so bravely and cheerfully made. The truest heroism is unconscious. Touching stories could be easily told. Those who struggle so courageously and perseveringly for an education do not need to be pitied, but they need to be aided and encouraged. May the Lord inspire those who can to hold out a helping hand and so fulfill their own prayer, "Thy Kingdom come."