Show THECHDRGSSGHOOLS The Second Annual Convention Held Yesterday THE ADVANCEMENT MADE SO FAR Speeches by President Woodrutt Prof Mae ser and Apostle Anton Lund Other Exercises At the second annual convention of the church school boards and faculties held in the Social hall yesterday President Woodruff Wood-ruff presided After the usual opening preliminaries President Woodruff stated the object of the fleeting which was the advancement of the church school system He spoke of the many many difficulties in the way of this advancement and the assistance which will accompany the laborers in this branch of the work of Zion He blessed the labors being performed and expressed his gratification gratifi-cation at what had been accomplished in the past General Superintendent K G Mzeser followed expressing his realization of the importance of this gathering The speaker proceeded with the relation of his observations observa-tions in the schools of Zion and the sense he felt of the responsibility and blessings of those who have taken an interest in this movement What has been done in the past is the work of God who by His Spirit has enabled the labor to be performed per-formed acceptably The circulars issued to tho various boards by the general board and especially Circular Circu-lar No 5 point out the path that is to be pursued1 and the requirements of that circular cir-cular will not be complied with for some years to come But God has accepted our simple means and efforts and has multiplied multi-plied them in the minds of our students tom to-m astonishing degree This is the result of the influence ol Gods spirit and to Him must thanks and glory be given This is said for our mutual understanding and this expresses the whole sense of the church school work The speaker laid several points before the convention It has been decided that for the first year each of the teachers labor under an annual license and after that time he may pass an examination and obtain ob-tain a regular certificate This matter was explained at some length the necessity being referred to of becoming better acquainted ac-quainted with one another In regard to the spirit of the gospel it is not fully sufficient that the teacher should have the certificate of standing in the church and a knowledge of theology but he must have a living spirit and testimony testi-mony which he can impart others Principals Princi-pals in some instances have not been Sully appreciated and understood as to the extent of their labors Their work should extend ex-tend beyond the classroom and their mission mis-sion is to that stake in which they are called to labor their work being to impress upon the minds of the inhabitants thereof the necessity of fostering our church school education Their influence should be felt in the Sunday schools Y M M L etc so as to extend the power of this education edu-cation that others may be induced to be identified with it All teachers should be exemplary in the performance of all duties and labors in the church carrying an influence in-fluence in the community in which they live and should be above all gossip Another important point is in connection with text books discipline etc which have in some cases been established somewhat some-what arbitrarily The general board at the last convention appointed committees on those various subjects and their labors will resumed to day Text books should not changed without the consent of the general board but suggestions as to the advisability ad-visability of such changes will be in order Special examinations for church schoolteachers school-teachers will be held at Logan Salt Lake city Provo Gunnison and Cedar City either of which places can be chosen by any of the teachers If teachers are wanted for any institution institu-tion requests should be sent to the general superintendent by July 15 and the suitability suit-ability of teachers to the various schools will be considered Some of the committees were requested to remain after the meeting and those who intended building should furnish plans of the building to be erected m Primary schools have been thought necessary to some places where academies aca-demies seminaries etc cannot very well be organized Principals of churchschools are requested to furnish notes concerning the institutions institu-tions to the editors of local papers where the latter exist In some instances teachers are not very careful keeping records of work as required re-quired in circular No 4 and care should be exercised in this regard Twentynine schools are now in existence and ten more will open very soon Those who have not completed their course in certain branches may be permitted per-mitted to attend school at some institution and this will cause a scarcity of teachers Dr Maeser closed by asking the blessings bless-ings of God on the work President Woodruff asked that those who are called upon to teach the youth would make the effort to keep up in the various branches and at the same time bear testi mony ooiore tne congregations to tile work being accomplished in these schools He stated that in only one Stake the president did not desire the principal of his school to speak in public and use his influence in the interest of his school This position is entirely en-tirely wrong Our young teachers should use an influence influ-ence to bless tile youth in all things This is a broad field of labor and those who work in it should have full encouragement Apostle A H Lund of the general board looked upon this movement as of great importance It is a mission field which has been somewhat neglected and the duty rests upon the workers in this cause to see that the children are taught in these schools as well as in Sunday schools and elsewhere Our children need a religious re-ligious education and the movement toward to-ward establishing primary schools is commendable com-mendable Wo are only debarred from a general establishment of such schools by alack a-lack of means The future before our young people is glorious and it depends upon their proper education for its success Roll call followed attendance being shown from a large majority of the stakes Secretary Reynolds read the names of the members of the various committees appointed ap-pointed at the last convention Ho also spoke of the census of the church schools required by the census commissioner and the blank sent for the purpose of collecting this information was read so far as it relates re-lates to our church school institutions R which is there classed as a parochial system sys-tem The blanks were then distributed to the authorities of those schools which were represented and they were requested to nil and return them to Secretary Reynolds Rey-nolds The committees were reconstructed by the appointment of members to take the places of these appointed last year who were not in attendance in this convention Instructor Richard Haag read an original poem composed for the occasion and presented pre-sented to the general board of education The committee were requested to remain after the close of the convention and appoint ap-point a time for meeting The convention adjourned and the benediction bene-diction was pronounced by Dr J M Tanner Tan-ner |