Show SCHOOL SPIRIT by ralph jenson it is the hunt and not tile the brain that to the highest doth attain longfellow it dont make any difference how apt the brain is it will not asselt until the possessor lias has found that work lor which he has a love robert fulton was pronounced a dunce at school little did his teacher think that ile he would completely revolutionize the traffic of the world ills his wonderful powers lie dormant until he found something that lie he was interested in we have a great many in our community that will go to school uninterested and unnoticed until they naturally drop out at about the sixth sextil grade some never to find their lifes work some lead a life of crime while only a iery ery few live a profitable life we can only attend to those things tor for which we have an interest work done without intense interest is wasteful ot time and energy and devoid of profit if this be true I 1 think everyone will agree with me lue that we must interest every student in school in order to make it most profitable to him we naturally ask ourselves then what hat chialdi children ell are interested in things that are moving alive awake things with nith ginger and vim A school that has no spirit or life is as repulsive to a student as a dead body Is to us school organizations are a great help to teachers relieving them of much of the government of tile the school and a i greater help to students because it teaches stiem how to do many of the things that they must know and to be good citizens of this great country coune of ours it will also give th the e school a great amount of this much coveted interest or spirit ip irit which is so essential to good work let these organizations take charge or of the dec orations and tidiness of the goolo room besides making the room cheerful and homelike it will create deference and respect for it that nothing else will each student will feel that he has an in thy room ond that duty to respect it let them also take charge of the amusements correspondence and other business that could be properly handled by them each class will choose colors out of which they will construct a banner which will be to them as the united states flag is to us we have such a class organization at the whittier building where the s seventh 0 v anth and eighth grades of this city hold forth about three weeks ago the eighth grade called a meeting and decided b being eing as they were the senior class that their banner should be unfurled front from the tower next morning a banner of green and white was aas triumphantly waving the result of combined effort of the eighth grade from three to half past eleven that night soon students began to gather in two groups grouns on the school grounds the one group planning how they would protect their banner theother the other how they would get theirs in its place there was some talk ol of not going to school while that flag was flying but the teachers soon settled that by giving ing them the privilege of taking it down after school the eighth grade did their work so well that the seventh were all friday night and until four p ni ill saturday completing the exchange I 1 noticed ill all the students that were active in these operations were those that had little or no interest in it school since that time they have not missed a day or been unprepared with their work nork one of wear them made the remark to me that it was more like school in organizations of previous years some onie of our finest students have been elected officers and in nine cases out of ten they have been 40 per cent better students debates ire are excellent to work ork ill up a school spirit the two divisions of the seventh grade organization held it a debate at one of their parties last la t year which broke all records for life producers we first had si a series of trial debates in each room for tile the purpose pin pose of becoming familiar with aith the subject and picking out tile the champion debaters while this was going on every student in school was trying to make the team but when the hie deba debaters tors were finally chosen by the students every one 0 of those grini grim warriors congratulated the victors and offered them the arguments they had worked out during dining tile the debate c excitement was at fever heat even the teachers had blood in fit their eyes and when rt a point was berred on either side the applause was deafening I 1 never have been in a gathering where the judges decision was watched for with such a breathless silence or where there was such a noise after the decision was given after the debate the students of both schools joined in having a m most excellent sociable the good effects of the debate did not wear off for at le beasts ast a months month instead of planning mischief when nilen they had an idle moment they were ere arranging a team that 90 could td whip the eighth grade and even ft eni c nt sj so 1 tar a as toimi airetta c k ba air 1 the high school besides this debate which was on oil a historical subject I 1 held several in my own room on such subjects Is as resolved that a student is a nuisance that contributes nothing to the welfare of the school the rias passive sive student was aas proven to be a nuisance and caell student took particular pains to be active for a good long while often it will be well veil to turn your school into a legislature and in a short message to your congress lay a certain situation before them and find some way I 1 of preventing or mending the situation it is much easier to enforce our gur jaws aws than my laws I 1 remember distinctly of having eight one morning the school and I 1 were so impressed by it that when the last one came in we were really amused I 1 took look the opportunity to tell them what an objectionable thing it was to have so many and got a few expressions from aiom the students which were all to the effect that it was a bad practice and injured the school we e then took a vote that we ave should do something to remedy it I 1 then their told effiew chein that it was up to them to find a 1 way for lessening or completely doing away with it you would be surprised at the mai many bar barlous things they proposed doll doing but in each case some other student objected and at the e end d of an n hour they came to the unanimous conclusion that the honor of the school was at ai stake and that each student should consider that it injured the school is as well is as lie he to come late each student then pledged that lie he would come on time if lie he were obligated to get up ill one hour earlier tardiness was inas completely done away with for that winter and if a student was seen by the other students dragging into school nearly lato late lie he got a jacking up from them athletics usually interests a class of students that do not care much for the I 1 daily mental gymnastics of the school they are also a class clash that when aroused show more individuality than the common person they drag into I 1 1 0 school in the fall too late to get tile the thread of the work and leave before it is completed in the spring by making certain scholastic requirements nees necessary to participate in these events event S we could make strong students out of them and I 1 propose that the teachers of this county organize a basket ball league for both boys and girls and consider the advisability off of forming ng a league for base ball and track events event in the spring |