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Page TWO
THE PILOT—Southern Pines, North Carolina
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1963
Southern Pines
ILOT
North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We will try to keep this a good
paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Wherever there seems to be
an occasion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we will
treat everybody alike.” — James Boyd, May 23, 1941.
School Decisions Loom
Big things are going on in this nation
today in the field of education. It is a mat
ter of special pride to find North Carolina
in the vanguard of the movement for
better schools, following the trail blazed
years ago by Aycock and Page and re
cently reopened by Dr. James Conant in
bis brilliant study of the high school sit
uation.
Here in Moore County the Conant thesis
is being followed in the plan to consoli
date nine small high schools into three
units. Advantages stressed are the econo
mic angle and the greater opportunities
to secure a high grade of teacher and more
diversified curricula. The county plan
became of special interest to this section
when it was proposed that Southern Pines
and Pinehurst, the two city units, con
solidate with West End and Aberdeen in
a school in this general vicinity.
It looks, now, as if the time had come
when this important decision—to join or
not to join—must be taken. The local
school has made definite plans for ex
pansion and the county’s plans for the
new consolidated school are firming up.
There’s little time to lose.
With the news that a large consolidated
high school will be located in this vicinity
and Aberdeen one of the schools included,
speculation has arisen as to the role of
the local school. Should it remain a city
unit? Is it wise to keep a rapidly growing
school in the center of a residential dis
trict which holds no opportunity for
further expansion, once the present plan
is completed? Or should Southern Pines
accept the county’s invitation to join in
forming the new school?
And what about consolidation? Though
the Southern Pines Board of Education
reports having made considerable study
of the subject, little information to the
people has been forthcoming as to their
stand. The casual thinker must agree that
“bigness” in itself holds no criterion of
excellence, but then neither does “little
ness” in itself. Both have their good and
bad points. “Bigness” poses a possible
threat to local control that may be un
fortunate; “littleness,” on the other hand,
may foster a climate of snobbishness and
indifference to the needs of the non-col
lege group which forms, on an average,
almost a third of each year’s graduates.
At a Monday meeting of the Board of
Education and the Citizens Committee on
School Planning. The Board was request
ed to arrange for a siurvey of the local
school, especially in the light of possible
consolidation.
Southern Pines people care deeply
about their schools. They want them to be
as fine as they possibly can. The people
should have access to all aspects of the
question before irrevocable action is
taken, either way. Certainly a survey by
experts in the field must be the first step.
Poor Way To Conduct School Business
group whose activity, purpose and plans
have been reported in recent Pilot news
Since the foregoing editorial was writ
ten, there has been a development that
must have been puzzling, alarming and
confusing to himdreds of local parents.
Students in the East Southern Pines
schools on Tuesday brought home a com
munication from the Board of Education,
with verbal instructions that the two
questions in the letter were to be answer
ed and that the mimeographed sheet was
to be returned to school the next mornng,
without fail.
Here is the text of that communication;
“A group of 18 interested citizens has re
quested an independent survey of our school
district for the broad' purpose of making re
commendations in terms of general school
planning.
“The School Board is willing to spend up
to $2,000 for the purpose of making this survey
provided the majority of parents favor the
survey by George Peabody College and the
necessary expenditures to accomplish it.
“1, Would you favor this survey?—Yes—
No—.
• “2. According to your present knowledge,
do you favor doing away with the
Southern Pines Administrative Unit
as an independent unit and' having
it absorbed into the county school
system?—Yes— No—.
“Please return one form per family.”
items.
3. What the Citizens Committee formal
ly requested was much more than “an
independent survey of our school district
for the broad purpose of making recom
mendations in terms of general school
planning.” Purpose of the survey asked
by the committee was definite and speci
fic: “To determine whether East South
ern Pines High School can best serve the
community by remaining an independent
school or by consolidating with other
high schools in the area.” Further, the
Committee specified that any survey or
consultation should include: “Recommen
dations which . . . would improve the
educational opportimities of all the high
school students of Southern Pines; a
comparison of teacher assignments, cur
riculum, cost and any other data to sub
stantiate the recommendation; (and) re
commendations as to administrative con
trol.” If parents were to be asked if they
favored a survey, shouldn’t they have
been told what the survey would cover
and for what specific purposes it was
proposed?
4. Why did the Board of Education
pick a figure of $2,000 and why did it
specify George Peabody College to make
the survey? What parent knows how
This letter was apparently the result
of a Monday night gathering in which the
recently formed Citizens Committee for
Long-Range School Planning met amic
ably with the Board of Education, ex
plained its concern about the future of
East Southern Pines High School and ask
ed that surveys be made to help chart
the course of school operations here.
A basic flaw of the letter is that parents
were asked to state opinions without be
ing given the only information from
which they could be expected to form
opinions. It would be impossible to give
a considered answer to question number
two, for instance, unless information pro
vided by a survey had not only been
published but had been public knowledge
long enough to permit the thought, dis
cussion and debate that must precede in
telligent decisions by parents and other
taxpayers of the school district.
Of what worth are answers obtained
overnight, in hectic haste, from puzzled
parents who can hardly deduce what the
letter is about and are misled and alarm
ed by the wording of the letter itself?
Results of such a questionnaire would
seem to us to be worthless, whatever they
turn out to be.
much a survey should cost, or whether
$2,000 is extravagant or stingy for the
purpose?
5. The Citizens Committee’s request to
the Board of Education asked for sur
veys or consultations by the State Board
of Education, the Department of Curric
ulum Study and Research and the State
Department of Public Instruction, as well
as by “an independent agency such as the
Division of Field Service of George Pea
body College, Nashville, Tenn.” This
agency had been suggested by a State-
level educator to the Committee as com
petent for the purpose.
6. It seems pointless to ask parents to
partially base their opinion on whether
that particular college should conduct the
survey, since that college, though rank
ing high in the field of professional edu
cation, is not widely known and might be
viewed suspiciously by some persons not
aware of its status or competence in this
field. We have no objection to the choice
of this agency, but we feel that reasons
for the choice should have been given.
We base our condemnation of this let
ter on these points, taking the letter,
phrase by phrase, from the beginning:
1. “A group of 18 interested citizens . .
. .” This implies that no more than 18
are interested, whereas the committee has
more than 250 signatures on petitions
favoring a survey of the local schools by
impartial experts—and committee mem
bers say they could have obtained many
more names.
2. The “18 interested citizens” were ap
parently a head count of persons attend
ing Monday night’s meeting, most of
whom were members of the Citizens Com
mittee for Long-Range School Planning—
yet nowhere in the letter is reference
made to the Committee, a well organized
7. We have previously noted the point
lessness of question number two, modified
though it is by the words, “according to
your present knowledge.” Nine out of 10
persons, asked this question, it has been
our experience, say they would have
to be told advantages and disadvantages
and study this information, before they
could answer. The whole point of the
Ctizens Committee is to collect and make
public the information that will increase
the “present knowledge” of persons in
the school district. And the Committee
had plans to do just this, before the
Board of Education jumped the gun.
The Board of Education can’t hope to
serve the people of this school district
well by sending around loaded questions
on central policy matters for hasty over
night voting by school patrons who have
not been granted an opportunity to be
come properly informed.
‘Get Your Foot Out Of The Door!... ’
’ *
TIME TO GIVE IS RUNNING OUT
Aged, Lonely, Helpless Need Cheer
Cold weather brings thoughts of
the needy, of the poor and the
forgotten as Christmas draws
near. At the VF'W post home,
things are busy as more and more
items of food, toys and warm
clothing are brought in. But still
there are baskets waiting to be
filled.
The Christmas program, carried
on by the John Boyd Post, under
the leadership of'Hubert Camer
on, depends on comm'unity gen
erosity and this is one time when
that ominous phrase, “It is later
than you think,” is especially fit
ting. Only four shopping days
left!
Again the request has gone
out for donations of money in
stead of, or even accompanying,
a gift. Because of the many du
plications in food items and the
corresponding lack of others,
it is better to have the buying
done by the committee. So far this
has worked well, but there is still
need and, as it takes time to do
the buying, that need must be met
soon, or Santa will be late, or
even absent, in some homes.
And time flies. A check, made
out to the 'VF'W Christmas Cheer
Fund and mailed to P. O. Box
228 or taken to the post home on
N. 'W. Broad St. will be put to
good use.
Here are a few of the families,
all certified as needy by the
County Welfare Department,
who look to this 'VFW project for
what little happiness Christmas
may bring:
cheer.
IN PRISON
Another mother is hoping for
toys and clothes for her little
child. The father is in prison;
things look mighty bleak.
THEY'RE HOPEFUL
Two boys in a foster home,
without relatives who can help,
nevertheless look hopefully for
the coming of Santa. Let’s not let
them be disappointed.
loneliest and' saddest, more often
than not, whiling away their last
days just marking time, with
nothing to look forward to.
Christmas time can be an especi
ally sad time for them unless
Santa is prodded to send his
reindeer flying in their direction.
IN NURSING HOMES
Others on the Welfare lists are
the inhabitants of the eight
nursing homes in the county.
Each one should be remembered,
with those having no relatives to
bring gifts receiving something
special.
These old people are among the
CHILDREN. TOO
This goes for the children in
homes, too. Baskets are sent to
the training schools, to Samar-
cand Manor, to the mental insti
tutions. A bit of prettiness, a box
of candy, something good to eat:
life will look brighter.
And isn’t that what happens to
all of us at Christmas Time?
Warmth steals in, the sun shines
brighter because of kind thoughts
and the Christmas cheer they
bring.
COMMUNITY ATTITUDE IMPORTANT
Conant Study Points Out
Importance of School Size
Much of the impetus for activity by the recently formed Citi
zens Committee to Study Long-range School Planning, in Sou
thern Pines, has been provided by Dr. James B. Conant’s famed
nation-wide study, “The American High School Today,” published
in 1959. Following are some of the key thoughts from Dr.
Conant’s book, reprinted here to stimulate interest in the new
committee’s work.
FATHER DISABLED
In a family of six, the father,
53, is disabled; the mother is
mentally deficient. There are four
little girls: the oldest in the fifth
grade, then a third grader, the
next in the second and a little tot
not yet in school. .They live a
mile or more from a main road
and they’ve been in a sad way
for some time. Their first home
was a shack built by the father
using tin cans for the roof. Later
he acquired a house, tore it down
and rebuilt it on his own land.
And then his health broke down.
This is a pathetic little group,
seemingly hopeless, yet perhaps
hope will spring up if help in the
form of Christmas cheer can be
given. And, later, perhaps some
thing more can be done for the
children.
I have already defined the comprehensive high school as
a high school whose programs correspond to the educational
needs of all the youth of the community ... I early became
convinced that a high school must have a graduating class
of at least 100 to function adequately as a comprehensive
school ...
Can a school at one and the some time provide a good
general education for ALL the pupils as future citizens of
a democracy, provide elective programs for the majority
to develop useful skills, and educate adequately those with
a talent for handling advanced academic subjects—^parti
cularly foreign languages and advanced mathematics? The
answer to this question would seem to be of considerable
importance for the future of American education . . .
NO SUPPORT
Here’s a mother with five little
ones, with ages ranging from one
to ten. The father deserted his
family several months ago, leav
ing them with no means of sup
port. Much is needed but even a
small Christmas basket will help,
especially with a word of good
NOT LIMITED
I should like to record at this point my conviction that
in many states the niunber one problem is the elimination
of the small high school by district reorganization . . .
Citizens who wi^ to improve public education might well
devote their energies to mobilizing opinion in behalf of
district reorganization directed toward the reduction of
the number of small high schools.
Between the laughing and the
weeping philosopher there is no
opposition; the same facts that
make one laugh make one weep.
No wholehearted man, no sane
art, can be limited to either mood.
—GEORGE SANTAYANA
Crains of Sand
Gift Wrappings. . . gnrrr
■What’s happened to the stuff
you need to wryj up your pres
ents?
Gone is the fine glossy paper
covered with green holly leaves
and red berries, gone the rolls of
floating angels or chimney-climb
ing Santas and galloping reindeer.
Gone is the bright red paper with
stars or snowflakes. Instead we
are offered pink paper. PINK. Of
all hateful colors for Christmas.
Shrieking of beauty parlors,
stuck-up little floozies, that aw
ful jello, the color of a bad val
entine.
There’s that. - - - - PINK and
there’s BLUE. Not nearly
so bad yet, after all, totally in
appropriate. Who wants blue at
Christmas time? Blue is for little
girls or good little ponies; or the
late lamented Queen Mary’s hats.
Imagine Santa in a blue suit, for-
heaven’s-sake!
And now the tags. They have
suffered almost as severe a de
cline. Either there is no room to
write what needs to be written
or the string is so thread-like you
can’t see it—or ever find it again
if it falls off—which it always
does because it’s that silvery stuff
that won’t hold a knot and flies
into the air if you so much as
take hold of it.
Some of the tags are meant to
be stuck on. Well, you can do
about four of those and then the
stickum tastes so awful you have
to stop. Quite often you don’t
stop in time and, in a dizzy fog,
you stick them on the wrong pres
ents.
Then you quit for the day.
Grrrrrr.
For GRAINS’S feelings about
cellophane and all other untear-
able, unopenable, ungetriddable
wrappings we refer you to the
last 10 or 20 Christmas issues of
this newspaper.
Why Not?
Indusitry Seekters Committee;
couldn’t you get busy on this?
The current Christmas tree busi
ness is a pretty big thing: some 85
million is the present retail figure
for the U. S. it is reported.
Why buy trees from Cansuia and
the Yankees when we can grow
them here? 'Why not, also, horn
in on some of those millions?
Said a Mouthful
Said Alexander Woollcott tp
Harpo Marx:
“You are a much wiser man
than I am. I have nothing to say
either, but you have sense enough
to keep your mouth shut.”
Chicken Fatigue
Writes the Southeastern Poul
try Times: “Many consumers re
port that chicken, fried, baked,
barbecued, or boiled, still tastes
like chicken.”
And why not? It IS chicken,
isn’t it? What’s the matter with
chicken?
Doesn’t everybody like chick
en? But we won’t argue the point.
It comes direct from the horse’s
mouth—in this case the chicken’s
beak—and a remarkable revela
tion it is, coming from such a
source. The S. P. Times frankly
states that people are tired of
chicken and they are frantically
urging eviei(ybody .to think of
ways to take the chicken taste
out of chicken.
Nonsense! No soap. Poultry
Times! We’ll go right on eating
chicken, thank you, and, for
choice, broiled, all crispy at the
edges, tender and juicy in the
middle; throw in a few mush
rooms if you want to dress it up,
or a pile of rice with sour cream
gravy; serve it with com fritters:
it’s still the chicken that cotints.
Tread Softly
“One of the most charming of
the Mohammedan saints used al
ways to walk barefoot out Of re
spect for earth, the carpet of
God.”
Freya Stark
THE PILOT
I am convinced small high schools can be satisfactory only
at exorbitant expense ... If a school has a t-welfth grade of
only forty, and if indeed only a quarter of the group can
handle the advanced subjects effectively, instruction in
mathematics, science and foreign languages would have to be
provided for a maximum of ten students . . . Wide academic
programs are not likely to be offered when the academically
talented in a school are so few in number. The situation in
regard to the non-academic elective programs in a small
school is even’ worse. The capital outlay for equipment as
well as salaries of the special vocational instructors adds up
to such a large figure in terms of the few enrolled as to make
vocational programs almost prohibitively expensive in schools
with a graduating class of less than one hundred . . .
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT, Incorporaled
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOYD—1944
Katharine Boyd Editor
C. Benedict Associate Editor
Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr.
C. G. Council Advertising
Bessie C. Smith Advertising
Mary Scott Newton Business
Mary Evelyn de Nissoff Society
Composing Room
Dixie B. Ray, Michael 'Valen,
Thomas Mattocks, J. E. Pate, Sr.,
Charles Weatherspoon, Clyde
Phipps.
The academically talented student, as a rule, is not being
sufficiently challenged, does not work hard enough, and his
program of academic subjects is not of sufficient range . . .
A correction of this situation in many instances will depend
upon an altered attitude of the community quite as much as
upon action by a school board or the school adminstration . . .
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Southern Pines, N. C.
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and N. C. Press Assn.