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Show BEAVER SCHOOL COMMITTEE FINDS SAD CONDITION AT BELNAP, BEAVER HIGH Quite a few people in Beaver know that all is not well with the Belnap Elementary and the Beaver High school. These people peo-ple pioneered an investigation of the schools in Beaver and have made a very complete report. re-port. For many years people have been deceived by the spacious, spa-cious, nice appearing hallways in the Beaver High school. They were not aware of what was behind be-hind those hallways. The survey sur-vey was made by an alert, interested in-terested group of people primarily pri-marily interested in Better Schools for Beaver County. Here is their run-down on the Beaver High school: Needs paint badly with more thought to color harmony. Generally Gen-erally very run down and requires re-quires immediate attention. In respect to desks, the Beaver Survey Committee has this -to report: One new set of desks this year; two sets that are 16 and 17 years old. However, these desks have been very well cared for. All others in deplorable de-plorable condition; many of these being old ones that came from the Murdock Academy. Teachers' desks and chairs in poor condition. The roof on the entire eastern side of the building build-ing leaks badly. Water many times runs out into the hall from off the roof in the Home Ec room. Blinds in most cases are very old, torn and dirty. Window Win-dow panes are in bad condition with many that are cracked or broken. Window sills leak dust and are very drafty. In the Ag department, sink and drain board used for experiments exper-iments in testing milk, etc, are in terrible shape. It was pointed point-ed out that many are better that have been discarded and "found at the trash pile. In the Home Ec department there are two stoves that will not bake at all and electricians say. they cannot be repaired. They have a course of cooking for only four to six weeks because be-cause of lack of funds to buy cooking supplies. The sewing department needs an iron. There are two tredle machines; the others are fairly good in this department. An old three-way mirror that came from Murdock Academy is now a one-way deal. The Beaver Survey Committee Commit-tee gave a picturesque description descrip-tion of the dressing and locker rooms in a well-known American Amer-ican term: IT STINKS! Again old lockers came from the Murdock Academy. (The committee com-mittee observed that perhaps, from the looks of the lockers, they had originally been dis-discarded dis-discarded by the Academy. Hingis were off, the doors hanging, some opening out into the wall. Some of the lockers that are usable at all have hangers hang-ers broken. There were two showers which serve the boys' dressing rooms. Two showers and two little mirrors are the equipment in the girls' locker room. They, too, have Murdock Academy lockers. This condi-toin condi-toin has to be seen to be believed. be-lieved. The principal in the Beaver High school has no office that is, no place to interview a pupil pu-pil or teacher privately. The teachers' room, or faculty room, has no furnishings. A few straight-backed chairs that belong be-long in other rooms are the only furnishings. The people in Milford have always been impressed by the nice auditorium in the Beaver High school, but the committee reports that the stage has no sub-flooring; tin has been cut and put over the holes in many places where the floor has fallen fall-en through. The floor is also very squeaky because of the single sin-gle floor thickness. The group felt that the dressing rooms needed to be re-designed so they can have an entrance back stage. The committee was' also aisturoeo. over tne tact max tne school has no fire escapes. The Science department was listed as having practically no supplies. In the lunch room, it was reported that water runs from outside into the room around pipes in the sink. A steam tables was included in the many things the department needed. In investigating the heating plant it was observed that on cold days, when pressure is built up, steam goes outside instead in-stead of staying where it can be used for heat. Besides the loss of fuel, new water must be added, add-ed, and new sediment is being built up by this process, and a whole new heating plant will be needed if this condition is not soon corrected. In the shop building, which is 17 years old, no painting has been done since it was built. Also, the original equipment is being used with the exception of two pieces. The committee observed ob-served that in industry equip- 1 (Continued on Back Page) Here's More About SCHOOLS Continued from Page One ment should be replaced every 10 years. The state course of study for shop includes units in about seven different fields. Woodworking Wood-working is the only complete course being given because of lack of facilities. The floor in the building is warped. Also, the forge flue needs replacing and the shop needs an exhaust tan for welding. weld-ing. The committee observed that the room was very dirty. Also in the shop there were no , toilet facilities. Four years ago the toilet became clogged, so it was removed. Some time later the basin became clogged, and was also removed. . The shop is also being used as a district storehouse, including, includ-ing, among other things, an old bus. The committee felt this space could be used to better advantage. BELNAP SCHOOL The first thing the committee deplored in the Belnap Elementary Ele-mentary was the lack of teacher teach-er supplies in all respects. They stated that the building needs renovation. The old section of the building (which was built in 1910) is badly in need of repair. re-pair. The newer section, built in 1930, needs paini. The ceilings ceil-ings and walls are still the original orig-inal plaster without benefit of paint. Woodwork was painted I at the time the building was I erected, but is now very scarred and in need of a paint job. Book shelves and cupboards were needed. In many instances in-stances the teachers had supplied sup-plied the much-needed book shelves. In the lunch room kitchen, the. counter top has been condemned by the health inspector. It is broken and presents pre-sents a very dilapidated appearance. appear-ance. The same paper has been on the walls of the principal's office for 20 years. Blinds need replacing in many instances. The north rooms are cold. When there is a cold wind, classes must be moved into the library or the children wear coats. There were blackboards in an almost unusable condition, and the desks were worn and scarred, scar-red, and cracked windows were again in evidence here. In one instance, the teacher had purchased pur-chased linoleum and cut it to fit the desks so they could be used. The very worst situation, in the opinion of the committee, was the rest rooms. Toilet facilities fa-cilities that are antiquated, with toilet seats that had deep cracks are only part of the picture. The floor coverings are worn and the walls are cracked. There is a dead wall space behind the toilets that holds water tanks. Bats have found their way into this place. What an odor! The entire committee was sickened at the thought of little children using such facilities. The committee was impressed however, with the fine care the custodian had given the building. build-ing. It was immaculate thru-out. thru-out. There was only one wash basin in each rest room. The heating system has no water return. The pounding and hammering when the steam starts coming through into the radiators is very distracting and the hammering goes on almost al-most constantly. In the teachers' teach-ers' room, one couch had been given by the P.-T. A. years ago, but it is now falling apart. Another An-other one was brought down 'from the Murdock Academy and is funny looking, uncomfortable and worthless, a candidate for the junk pile, long over-due. The other remaining furniture badly needs recovering. The Beaver Committee said, in conclusion, that the Murdock Academy was a good thing and what would Beaver have done without it. But. on the other hand, had the Murdock Acad emy not existed, how much might we have had that was i new? j If you do not believe that the i information presented in the past two months about the condition con-dition of the Milford High school and the Milford Elementary Element-ary school, the Belnap Elementary Element-ary and Beaver High school, is I correct, you had better go see for yourself. Don't anyone dare to say that our schools are adequate ade-quate and satisfactory until he has made as thorough a survey as the committees In Mil'ford and Beaver. The schools will never be successful in Beaver County until every person knows the kinds of schools in which their children are spending spend-ing the most impressive part of their lives. You should keep in mind that a child spends between be-tween five and six hours each day in the school room. YOU WOULD NOT TOLERATE IN YOUR OWN HOME SOME OF THE CONDITIONS WE HAVE FOUND IN THE MILFORD AND BEAVER SCHOOLS ! Our neighboring counties are correcting the poor conditions in their schools without a lot of fuss and conflict. Aren't we capable of doing the same? Is it possible that the people in this county are more interested in a new car, a new appliance or a new piece of farm machinery machin-ery than we are in newdesks and . supplies for our children? If we hold back on improving our educational facilities in Beaver County when the rest of the nation is going forward on such a plan, just where does that put us in the eyes of the people outside of Beaver Coun. ty and in the eyes of our own children? The committee believes be-lieves that the majority of the people in Braver County are interested in-terested in the progress of their children and realize that this can be accomplished o n 1 y through the schools. Give us better schools and we will give you better citizens, citi-zens, better church members, and a belter Beaver County! i We hope that Minersville will come forward with their survey so that it may be discussed in the next article. LEAH T. FOERSTER. President, Milford High School P.-T. A. |