OCR Text |
Show COMMISSIONER LEWIS. 1 I A Synopsis of an Excellent Lecture e-1 livered by Him in This City Last Sat ltA day. In the report of the proceedings of the U. C. T. i published Sarurd&y, The Dispatch was compelled to omit the lecture deliyered by Commissioijer Lewis. The following is a synopsif of what he said : y "I am highly gratified to meet vkth this assembly consisting asitda-fof teachers, trustees, students and the friends of education. I recently Halted Ha-lted the town of Deaeret, and fond tt;at the best building id. the town i the school house; that is as I have U ways thought it should be in ev j town. This one is a model of arc ! -tecture, heating, lighting, and vent -tion. There are but three rooms, Iii the Beating capacity is 125, and the registered pupils only 100. When told that the truetees had assumed all financial finan-cial responsibilities, I said they were patriots. "But, "said a trustee," the people peo-ple staid at our backs." "Well then," I replied, "the people are patriots," A little of that kind of patroitismia worth tons of Fourth of July speeches. The object of the common schools is to prepare children for citizenship Man is not in a natural state when his condition is savagery, but rather when he is highly cultivated, morally, spiritually, spiritu-ally, mentally and physically. Help him along this road and show him how to remove the obstacles that present themselves. 1'ou are not doing your whole duty when you cram pupils with facts, but you must develop in them the power to collect and assert facts for themselves. A very broad knowledge know-ledge of human nature is necessary to that teacher who aspires to do his whole duty by his pupils. With all my soul I believe with Prof. Addler, that each individual ie, in the economy of nature, perfect in his place. A place they could fill with honor to themselves them-selves and prjfit to the world. It is fov us to assist them in beginning the woild right, and if we judge by the failures, in professional life, which is nearly 95 per cent., man haye begun be-gun life wrong. One ot my pupils with whom I viS3 thoroughly discouraged discour-aged at one time, now bids fair to make himself famous as an electrician; his bent of mind was happily discovered discov-ered before he was spoiled. While we are Btriving for order and system, and to economize time, money and energy, we must not lose sight ot the all potent individuality. We are in some danger of puttitg our students in at one end of the educational machine, and bringing bring-ing them out at the other, machine-made machine-made citizens. Any system that crushes out individuality would be disastrous dis-astrous to humanity. Teachers should live blameless lives, but eyen that is not enough. Bob Ingersol lives a blameless life, but we all believe he I will be held in some measure responsl- ble for the destructive influence "he has j sent abroad. We must not teach re-1 ligion in the public schools, and that is right. In my class there are Jews, Catholics, Methodists and Mormons, as well as others, and it would cot be right for me to teach them doctrine, ceremony or creed; but I can teach them all to love God and truth. If I could not teach my boys and girls this, i I would not be a teacher or a commis-! sioner in Utah, but go where 1 could. It is a mistake for trustees to require teachers to stand the entire day. I would not give a cent for a teacher who could not control her class Bitting down. Give the best energies tff body and mind iv your work, but sit down when you are weary. NOTES. A vote of thanks was offered the lecturers. Superintendent Christensen said the most expressive vot9 of thanks was, perhaps the numbers in attendance, and the distance many had traveled to be present, being from ten to as high as forty miles. Prof. Giles rendered a beautiful musical mus-ical eelection, and an adjournment was taken. An informal session was held to g've trustees an opportunity to present questions to the commissioner. A suggestive plan for the establishment of county high schools was presented, and all present cordially invited to examine ex-amine the plan and co-operate in perfecting per-fecting it. These high schools are intended to fill a gap that now exists detween t':e eighth grade work of the public schools, and real university work. The discussion of this and other matters was interesting, but space will not permit per-mit its publication. |