“It is an easy matter to picture an ideal country school—its clean-swept walk to the road, its ample playground, its windbreak of evergreens, its groups of hard- and soft-wood species, borders of shrubs and beds of bulbs for early spring and perennials for summer and fall. But to get it—to find some way to overcome the serious obstacles—is worthy the attention of statesmen and club women.
“Nearly every district has made an attempt. That is one of the hard things to forget—one of the reasons so many districts fear to try again. They had a spasm of civic righteousness—an Arbor Day revival—and every patron dug a hole in the hard, dry ground; every child brought a tree, some of which were carried for miles with the roots exposed to sun and wind—and then they were planted and, in some cases, watered for the summer; and the days grew warm and the weeds grew high; and by the next fall the two or three trees yet alive were not noticed when the director went over with his mower the Friday before school opened; and so ended that attempt at a schoolyard beautiful.
“It ought to be possible to convince the patrons of every district that a single acre of land is not sufficient ground upon which to grow big, bright, broad-minded boys and girls; that two, or three, or four acres of land, well planned as to baseball diamond, basketball court and a good free run for dare-base and pull-away—that such would give the state and the world better results than if the land were devoted to corn and alfalfa. This, I believe, is the first problem of great magnitude—to get the ground—and it must be considered. Children must play. The noon hour, when they eat for five minutes and play fifty-five minutes, is all-important in a child’s life.”
In order to carry out the suggestions given by Professor Dickens, why not organize a general rally, perhaps on the occasion of Arbor Day, and all hands join in preparing and planting the school grounds to suitable shade trees, shrubs, and the like? The playgrounds could also be laid out and equipped on this occasion. Then, after this excellent start has been made, have the school board appoint some reliable man as caretaker of the grounds with payment of reasonable wages for what he does. Thus the good beginning will not be lost.
A model rural school
The State Normal School at Kirksville, Missouri, has built and equipped a model rural school for use in practical demonstration work. President John R. Kirk gives a detailed description of this building in Successful Farming (April, 1911) as follows:—
“This schoolhouse has three principal floors. The basement and main floor are the same size, 28 × 36 feet, outside measurement. The basement measures 8 feet from floor to ceiling. Its floor is of concrete, underlaid with porous tile and cinders. The basement walls are of rock and concrete, protected by drain tile on outside. The basement has eight compartments.
Plate XII.
