Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / Feb. 27, 1947, edition 1 / Page 4
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?lt t ^xnxtkii tt I. h Zht Highlands jftntxutmn Published every Thursday by th? Franklin Praai At Franklin, North Carolina ' VOL. LXII Number eight WEIMAR JONES Editor-Publisher Entered at the Post Office, Franklin, N. C., as second class matter Telephone No. 24 ? I fci-i.. i ? - yr Honh C arolina *fv /WyS A5SOCIAPC**) Obituary notices, cards of thanks, tributes of respect, by In dividuals, lodges, churches, organizations or societies, will be re garded as advertising and inserted at regular classified advertis ing rates. Such notices will be marked "adv." in compliance with the postal regulations. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One Year $2.00 Six Months ; a $1.00 Three Months 60 Single Copy .. . " 05 Forgotten? li^OST of us would take angry exception, should *"* someone suggest that we no longer revere our dead of World War 2 . . . that we have forgotten them. But what .of the visible symbol of our Macon County "lads who died, so .short a time ago, for home and country? What of the spot, on the Frank lin I'ublic S(|itare. where their crosses stand, row' on row? Between those crosses there are no poppies. No! Instead, there grows an ugly crop of discarded paper, cigarette stubs, and trash. And dearily hang ing upon the crosses are holly wreaths. They were pretty wreaths ? last Christmas. But today they are withered, brown, dust-covered forgotten. . . . 1 Opinions Of Others On more thnn one occasion the editor of The Press has been vigorously taken to task for views set forth in the "Others Opinions" column that ap pears regularly on this page. The critics, on these occasions, have explained that thev disagree with the views expressed in these editorials borrowed from other publications; have undertaken to prove that t'he views in ques tions are completely untenable; and haye demand ed to know why The Press publishes such material. The explanation lies in the caption, "Others' Opinions". As the "others" suggests, the opinions in that column are those of others, and do not neces sarilv reflect the viewpoint of the editor of The Press; in many cases, in fact, they are t'he very opposite. ' The one purpose of that column is to present as wide a variety of viewpoints as possible on any subjects of general interest. To do that is one of the functions of a newspaper, and the editor of The Press is one of those who is confident that the American public, and the Macon County public, is quite capable of determining - which opinions make sense and which do not. The War Is Over, But ? The war against Germany and JajKin is over, lint World War II, the greatest in history, left ns a legacy of vast and complicated human problems. And, war or no war. always there will he peace time emergencies. Hurricane, flood, and epidemic will continue to strike at Americans, leaving their toll of human suffering and need. Hospitals throughout the land are crowded with the sick and wounded of the war. We cannot forget them; there are a thousand and one big and little human needs of theirs that someone must meet. We still have our GI's overseas ? boys from New York and Chicago and San Francisco, and Frank lin and Highlands and Covvee and Nantahala. They want, desperately, some link with home. And we still have accidents ? 100,000 are killed and 10,000,000 are injured by accidents every year in this country. Not even in war was the need for first aid. water safety, and accident prevention programs greater than it is today. The American Red Cross is organized to deal with all of these problems, and more. But it can do its job only if it receives financial backing ? that is, contributions from you and mc. The Rev. Charles E. Parker, 1947 fund chairman for this countv, and his associates are ready to launch the campaign to raise $2,410 in Macon County ? a quota, incidentally, only about two thirds as lar^o as that for 1946. Since long before the war, Macon County has met everv such call, promptly and generously. Per sons who know Macon County people best say they will meet this one. Truth cruihed to earth shall raise again,? The eternal years of Ood are hers; But error, wounded, writhes with pain, And dies among his worshipper!. ? Bryant. System, Methods In Schools, Not Teachers, Real Problem By MARGARETTE SMETHl'RST in Newt h Observer The fact that 100,000 white students are receiving sub-stan dard instruction in elementary and secondary public schools, as established in a survey by Dr. James E. Hillman of the State Department of Public Instruction, makes it easier to un derstand why North Carolina high school graduates are found to be less ready for college freshman work than are high school graduates from other states. ? It makes it easier to understand, but it does not make it easier to accept. Over a period of approximately 15 years I have been told by college professors in this and other states that boys and girls go to college from North Carolina high schools armed with the required credits, the usual spattering of extra credits, and standard diplomas. They get in college and then flounder helplessly" for the first semester ? or longer ? while they try u> learn to READ. They know the words on the paper all right, but the words just don't mean anything to them, I m ..old. They have not mastered the trick or the habit of the funda mentals,' if you. will, of correlating the written word with the matter at hand. They do not assimilate what they read. Many cannot spell, punctuate, or write. I do not believe that a condition so general can be laid to the percentage of teachers holding sub-standard certificates. Though the unqualified teacher adds one more hazard in the twelve year maze of preparation for college, or i worse still, to -the handicap of making a living without benefit of higher ed ucation, it seems to me that the chief failure oi our schools lies in the methods of teaching in our elementary schools. No high school teacher and no teen-age boy or girl should be ex pected to fritter away time over the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Good high school teachers of twelfth grade English will tell you that many students reach their classes with a dismal lack of preparation and a shocking dis-l regard for punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Many students who receive high grades throughout elementary school and' junior high school find themselves less than ready for the final year's work before college. T f Ctn ta r\o no rt m ont nf DnVilln Tnofrimflnn ?nJ nfUnnn ii uut uut w ui * uuuv iiwuutuuu aiiu uiilClo were as quick to realize the significance of the charge against the system as they are to deny the allegation, the gap in purposeful instruction would have been bridged long ago, and elementary school children would have been freed from the touch-and-go exposure to learning offered to them in our so called system of "progressive education," in which individual excellence of scholarship, instinctive appreciation for good citizenship, inherent studiousness, a right regard for sports manship which young children honestly believe should apply equally to both teachers and pupils, are weeded ruthlessly out in the determination to keep the whole scheme of thVigs on the "grade level," within the "age group," and geared to 'the low, low average mental age. Even a good teacher, with the best certificate in the world and with years of teaching experience can't fight that. Neither can the child of more than average ability. It is crippling to the teacher, the child, the State. It withers incentive, blights satisfaction, and drowns in boredom the enquiring mind. The system brings every year an unready group to a higher grade. The career of the teacher is unavoidably based on her power to bring the unprepared up to "grade level," and often she finds that the greater number of her pupils are in the unprepared group, which, perforce, must take most of her time. The children who have digested, by hook or by crook, the menu of the grade below find themselves on the same monotonous treadmill each year and must ?lt It out, often unnoticed for lack of time by the busy teacher, while they hear day-by-day the repetition of the unlearned lessons of vhe of the year before being drilled into the hopefuls who must, willy-nilly, be kept In their age group and helped in the fighi to make the grade level sooner or later. The brighter the cnild happens to be, the more deadly the boredom, the more sure the setting up of defense mechanisms to protect his or her sanity by completely shutting out the teacher's voice, the re sponses of the pupils. He arrives at the eighth grade with a well -developed gift of inattention. He must start all over and learn anew to listen when he is spoken to Or when he needs to hear, and ten to one, he doesn't know what has hap pened or how or when it happened to him. Not even 1 would recommend going back to one-teacher schools, where each child was allowed to progress according to his own ability, application, and background, but if the lumbering, overgrown system is to be supported by the people of North Carolina it must prove itself by turning the children out with the real thing in measure to stand on equal footing with high (school graduates from any other section in the United States. Teacher-qualification, teacher-pay, teacher-load, and teacher shortage are ill fundamental and pertinent, but the amount of learning acquired in 12 years is the crux of the whole matter, the reason and the result. Now, while the battle for adequate teacher-pay is making the State school-conscious, it is a mighty good time to over haul the system. The success of any system must be judged by its finished product and no educational theory of supervision that ignores the mental growth of the child as he goes through the mill is worth its salt. The. fact that 100,000 North Carolina children are receiving instruction from teachers who hold sub-standard certificates is less surprising, less alarming than the figures would be, if we had them giving the number of North Carolina children who have been grossly cheated not by the teachers, but by the system, the methods in our elementarv schools. # Others' Opinions ? HOME INFLUENCE A new emphasis that promises to be revolutionary holds that our educational programs must frankly face the fact that the family is the greatest educational influence in the religious shaping of life. Church and Sunday school are means of sup plementing and also guiding the training which begins in the Christian home. They are not substitutes for home training. Interdenominational and denominational offices are recogniz ing this as never before ... If we can get the church Into the home, there will be no question about getting the home into the church. If the church builds up homes, homes will build up the church; and people will be happier, churches will be stronger. ? Federal Council Bulletin. If a man wants to read good books, he must make a point of avoiding bad ones; for life is short, and time and energy limited. ? Schopenhauer. We don't stop here Bad of the line? For cars, yss. But not for the Southern Railway 8yatem. ? We keep right on... serving the South In many waya beyond providing dependable, economical, all-weather tranipo rtation. Our tax dollara help to build and maintain your public Schools, police and Ore department* and other govern* mental servlcss and facilities . , , even airports, highwsys and waterways. Our millions of dollars in "bsttsr*than-av?rsgs" wage* . . . paid to our 30,000 employ*** , , , ring cash registers and aw*U bank accounts in *v*ry community we serve. And our policy of buying all the material* and supplies we can in the South is s boon to local business, Industry and agricultur*. Nor do we stop here ... we go on and on. For we ars your enthusiastic partner in the building of an svsn grester, mor* prosperous 8outh. Nmmi SOUTHERN RAILWAY SYSTEM r
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 27, 1947, edition 1
4
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