USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > History of Macoupin County, Illinois : biographical and pictorial, Volume I > Part 29
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The first teachers' institute held in the county was organized in Carlinville, September 16, 1857, by appointing Rev. J. C. Downer, president, pro tem, and D. H. Chase, secretary, pro tem. A constitution was adopted to govern its delib- erations and permanent officers were elected, as follows: L. S. Williams, Presi- dent ; Leonard Ledbrook and George Mack, Vice-Presidents; Lewis Judd, Treas- urer ; James Lee, Secretary ; and J. M. Cyrus, O. Blood, and W. V. Eldridge, Board of Directors to serve one year. The secretary and the directors were to constitute an executive committee. Among the attendants at its first session were J. W. Langley, afterward County Judge of Champaign County, and H. M. Kimball. Interesting and inspiring addresses were delivered at the first session Vol. 1-16
242
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
by Rev. J. H. Moore and J. M. Palmer, LL. D. It continued to hold regular semi-annual sessions with increasing interest up to December, 1870. After this time the sessions were annual and each of one week's duration for two years when it gave place to the Macoupin County Normal, an organization among the teachers of the county for self improvement. About this time a law was enacted by the legislature raising the standard of qualifications of the teachers through- out the state. It required teachers to pass a satisfactory examination in orthog- raphy, reading, penmanship, arithmetic, English grammar, modern geography, history of the United States, the elements of the natural sciences, physiology, and the laws of health. To get ready to meet the requirements of this law, the teachers of this county organized the County Normal, which held annual sessions of from four to six weeks each year during the months of June and July up to about 1880. Since that time the County Normal has been subject to the call of the county superintendent and has been held at intervals of from two to four years up to the present, but attendance at the State Normal schools is now taking the place of the County Normals. In these early County Normals the work was pretty thoroughly systematized and made to embrace all the branches required in the examination for county and state certificates. The attendance has always been good. A desire for self-improvement has always been a char- acteristic of Macoupin County teachers, and they have been faithful in their at- tendance at Normals and Institutes. The County Normal Schools have always been paid for by the teachers attending and the Institutes were up to 1883, when the legislature passed an act requiring each applicant for a certificate or a renewal of a certificate to pay a fee of one dollar. These several fees were to be called the institute fund and were to be used to defray the expenses of the annual institutes.
It is now generally recognized that the success and efficiency of the schools depend largely upon the work of the County Superintendent. The success and organization of any enterprise depends largely on the zeal and energy of those under whose supervision it is placed. This county has been fortunate in hav- ing some very capable school men at the head of its system. The office of County Commissioner was first filled in 1833 by appointment of the court. In 1865 the title of the office was changed to that of County Superintendent of Schools, and the term of office was extended from two to four years. Below is given a list of the names of men who have served as commissioner or superintendent with the time of their service :
William Miller, 1833-1839; Daniel Anderson, 1839-1846; Enoch Wall, 1846- 1847; Geo. W. Wallace, 1847-1849; William Weer, 1849-1851; Geo. B. Hicks, 1851-1855; Lewis Judd, 1855-1859; Horace Gwin, 1859-1861 ; Charles E. Foote, 1861-1869; F. H. Chapman, 1869-1873; John S. Kenyon, 1873-1877; F. W. Crouch, 1877-1881 ; Geo. W. Grubb, 1881-1883 (died in office) ; Geo. W. Bower- sox, 1883-1886; George Harrington, 1886-1890; Thos. E. Moore, 1890-1894; James E. McClure, 1894-1898; M. M. Kessinger, 1898-1906; Robert C. Moore, 1906, the present incumbent.
In the early days, the office of school commissioner or superintendent was considered of little importance. His chief duty was to have charge of the school lands, to sell them, and to pay the proceeds over to the proper officer. A striking
243
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
evidence of the lack of consideration given to the county superintendent and his work is the fact that as late as 1877 that officer was limited to 80 days work at $4.00 per day. Previous to that time, the county superintendent was usually a teacher who gave his Saturdays and a few days in summer to his official duties. Another evidence is the fact that no records of the official acts of the county superintendent previous to 1885 can now be found in the office. The educational history of the county could be made much more complete if all the records had been preserved.
But within the last few years, the legislature has recognized the importance of the office and the necessity of having it filled by a man who could devote all his time and energies to his official duties. Therefore, the General Assembly passed an act in 1905 repealing the per diem salary law and providing that the counties pay an annual salary to the county superintendent. These salaries varied according to the three different classes of counties. Macoupin being in the sec- ond class paid her superintendent $1,650 per year for the four years beginning with the term of R. C. Moore in 1906. Then in 1909 an act was passed which provided certain salaries according to the population of the counties as given in the census reports of 1900. This law makes the present salary in Macoupin County $2,250.00 per year. But almost every General Assembly has added also to the powers and duties of the county superintendent and placed upon him new burdens of responsibility. These added duties, the rapid increase in the population of the county, and the new demands made upon the office by a people becoming more and more interested in education, have greatly increased the work in the office within the last few years. The county board of supervisors, recognizing this fact, unanimously passed a resolution in 1908 allowing $600.00 per year from the county treasury to pay for assistance in the office. Miss M. Bessie Moore has been the regular assistant since that time, but at the times of holding the pupils' final examination and some of the teachers' examinations, it is necessary to employ several more assistants for a few days at a time.
Previous to 1894, the county superintendent's office was frequently moved from room to room wherever it would be least in the way. But about this time, and in the term of James E. McClure, the board of supervisors provided a com- modious double room on the west side of the main hall of the court house as the permanent office and properly furnished it according to the needs of the work. The supervisors for several years back have shown great interest in school affairs and have responded to all reasonable suggestions by the super- intendent.
Below is given a little history by statistics. These figures are taken from the county superintendents' reports to the state superintendent for the years 1890, 1900, and 1910, and will give an idea of the magnitude and growth of the school business in this county.
1890.
1900. 17,690
1910.
No. of children under 21 yrs. of age ..
19,042
21,45I
No. of graded schools.
18
24
28
No. of ungraded schools.
I52
153
156
Total number of schools
170
177
184
No. of pupils in graded schools
4,003
4.382
6,657
.
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HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
1 890.
1900.
1910.
No. of pupils in ungraded schools ....
5,638
4,972
5,145
Total No. of pupils enrolled in schools
9,64I
9,354
11,802
Total No. days Attend. in graded Sch.
427,829
486,289
864,798
Total No. days Attend. in Ungrad. Sch. Total No. days Attend. in all schools.
885,524
927,879
1,285,270
Total No. of months taught.
1,627
1,819
2,367
No. of male teachers employed.
II9
87
65
No. of female teachers employed.
I 54
185
249
Total No. of teachers employed.
273
272
314
Highest monthly wage paid male teacher.
$125.00
$133.00
$150.00
Highest monthly teacher
wage paid female
$60.00
$60.00
$90.00
Lowest monthly teacher
wage paid male
$23.00
$20.00
$38.00
Lowest monthly teacher
wage paid female
$20.00
$18.00
$24.00
Average monthly wage paid women teachers.
$38.72
$34.59
Whole amount paid to teachers
$70177.00
$71400.00
$42.99 $114030.00
Number of high schools.
I
2
IO
No. of boys enrolled in high schools ...
3I
49
200
No. of girls enrolled in high schools .. ..
47
86
249
Total No. of pupils in high schools
78
I35
449
Amount paid high school teachers.
$1050.00
$2940.00
$15013.00 $174280.00
Amount received from State.
$11590.00
$10256.00
$8200.00
Amount received from fines.
$265.00
$98.00
$143.00
Income from township funds
$3064.00
$2794.00
$2001.00
Paid for new school houses.
$814.00
$1341.00
$22503.00
Paid for repairs and improvements. .
$4997.00
$4249.00
$9727.00
Paid for furniture and apparatus.
$1916.00
$2111.00
$4699.00
Total school expenses during year.
$100700.00
$100378.00
$204295.00
Total value of township funds.
$46473.00
$45572.00
$45586.00
Total value of school property.
$209320.00
$197170.00
$446125.00
Total value of school apparatus.
$5956.00
$10149.00
$13820.00
No. of volumes in district libraries.
1,198
998
9,046
County superintendent's salary
$1547.00
$1569.00
$1650.00
Cost of teachers' institutes.
$581.00
$234.00
$333.00
Average monthly wage, male teachers.
$49.13
$48.76
$69.76
Taxes levied by districts.
$82428.00
$82489.00
457,695
441,589
420,472
HELPS IN ORGANIZATION AND SUPERVISION.
In a large and populous county such as Macoupin it is very difficult for the county superintendent to closely supervise all the schools. The schools are so numerous and are scattered over such a wide territory that his visits are few to each school. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt all possible means to organize
245
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
the work according to some definite system and then to enlist all the teachers and school officers in an effort to make the system effective in results.
Probably nothing has been more helpful to the superintendent nor more productive of good results in the rural schools than the State Course of Study. The closer supervision of the schools which led to the development of the pres- ent Course of Study had its beginning in Macon County about 1879 or 1880, with John Trainer, County Superintendent of Schools in that county. His work soon spread into Piatt and Champaign counties and grew into what served for a time as a course of study for those counties. As time passed and the idea de- veloped, new courses embodying special features appeared in various counties in the State. At a meeting of the Central Illinois Teachers' Association at Jacksonville in March, 1889, the friends of the plan discussed the advantages of a State Course, and at their solicitation, Hon. Richard Edwards, Superintendent of Public Instruction, issued a call to county superintendents and other leading educators of the state to meet in Springfield, April 10, 1889, to discuss the subject. As a result of the meeting a committee consisting of five county super- intendents was appointed to compile a course of study for the State, consisting of eight years' work, eight months to each year. This course was completed and published in time for the opening of the schools in September of that year. One edition was issued by the State Department of Education. It was used in most of the counties of Illinois, and also in some counties in every state west of New Jersey to the Pacific coast. It continued in use in the original form until 1894, when it was revised by a committee appointed by the State Teach- ers' Association. Since that time it has been revised and added to every four years until it has now become a full and complete outline of all the work to be done during the first eight years of the pupil's life. It contains complete out- lines for the elementary study of the following subjects: reading, spelling, language, grammar, numbers and construction work, arithmetic, writing, geog- raphy, history of the United States and of Illinois, civics, physiology and hygiene, music, drawing, morals and manners, agriculture, household arts, and wood- working.
It contains also many helpful suggestions to teachers, a model country school program, outlines of high school courses, etc. Its general purpose is to outline the work in each branch for each month in the school year in a logical, orderly way and thus set up a standard for the guidance of the teachers and pupils. It serves also to unify the work in the different schools.
This course was introduced into Macoupin county in 1888 by County Super- intendent George Harrington. It met with considerable opposition by many teachers and school officers, but the superintendent was persistent in promoting its adoption. By the time his term expired, it was in use in nearly all the rural schools and in some of the village schools in the county. Since that time all the superintendents have taken advantage of this effective help in organization, and the State Course of Study is now followed by all the rural and village schools and is made the basis of the plans of work in all the city schools.
Another thing that has helped to systematize and unify the work in the county is the adoption of a uniform series of text books. Superintendent Kessinger first tried this plan by recommending a list of text books for uniform use in the
246
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
county. His list was adopted in nearly all the schools and was used until 1908. Then county superintendent R. C. Moore recommended a list which varied some from the former list but which was adopted in about 95 per cent of the schools and is still in use in 1911. The benefits arising from this plan are many and criticism of it has ceased.
In order to keep in touch with the work in the schools and to give the teach- ers and pupils ideas of what he expects of them, the superintendent uses a sys- tem of examinations and reports. Every two months during the school year he sends a complete set of examination questions to every teacher in the county and sets a day for the examination or written review. On that day the teachers give the pupils the work sent by the superintendent and requires of them written answers. These papers filed by the pupils are carefully graded, the grades are recorded, and reports of them are sent to the parents. Near the end of the school year, or about April first, a final examination is held at Carlinville for the pupils who have finished the eight grades of elementary work according to the State Course of Study. This is participated in by two hundred to three hundred pupils from all parts of the county each year and the rivalry for high honors is keen. In 1911, two hundred sixty pupils took this examination and one hundred sixty-five made passing grades. On Thursday evening of institute week each year, the County Eighth Grade Graduating Exercises are held at the court house, and the pupils who passed the examination are given diplomas which admit them to any of the high schools in the county. Those who make the highest grade in their respective townships are given Normal Scholarships pro- vided for by an act of the Legislature, approved May 12, 1905. These scholar- ships entitle the holders to gratuitous instruction in any of the State Normal Schools for a period of four years and exempts them from the payment of any tuition, term, and matriculation fees. This plan of holding bimonthly and final examinations was adopted about the time of adopting the State Course of Study, has been improved upon from time to time, and has grown constantly in usefulness and results.
In 1908, County Superintendent Moore introduced the plan of having speci- mens of school work sent to his office by each teacher. Paper of uniform quality and size is furnished the schools by the superintendent and is returned to him in . the spring covered with specimens of the work done by the pupils. This work is filed in the superintendent's office for the inspection of the public, and about twelve hundred sheets of it are hung up each year in the room where the county institute is held. This arouses much discussion on the part of teachers and enables them to exchange many helpful ideas.
About 1901, a plan for encouraging regular attendance and punctuality in the rural schools was adopted in this county. Certificates of Perfect Attendance signed by the county superintendent are furnished to the rural teachers. These are signed by the teachers and given to the pupils who are neither absent nor tardy for a full month. When any pupil has obtained six of these, he may send them to the county superintendent and receive for them a larger and more beau- tiful Certificate of Award, and when he has obtained three of the latter, he may exchange them for a large engraved Diploma of Honor, which signifies that he has been absolutely perfect in attendance for 18 months. During the term
247
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
from 1906 to 1910, the county superintendent issued over twenty thousand cer- tificates of perfect attendance, over two thousand certificates of award, and nearly three hundred diplomas of honor. The teachers assert that the plan is very helpful in securing regular attendance.
At intervals of two or three months, the county superintendent issues printed circulars to the teachers giving them his plans for the year and calling their at- tention to certain phases of the work. Once or twice a year he addresses a cir- cular to each board of directors, calling their attention to certain duties and sug- gesting certain lines of improvement. These circulars, many personal letters, the visits to the schools by the superintendent, and the addresses made by him at educational meetings keep up a close, working relation between him and the teachers and school officers of the county. The annual institute, the autumn meeting of the Teachers' Association, and the various local institute meetings also give the superintendent opportunities for discussing plans with the teachers and for promoting the adoption of new and helpful ideas.
BUILDINGS, GROUNDS, AND EQUIPMENT.
It is a long step from the first one-room log school-house with its fireplace, puncheon seats, and earth floor to one of the latest improved high school build- ings, such as the one at Staunton. This building is of stone and brick, with a slate roof, furnace heat, modern systems of lighting and ventilation, sanitary sewerage, etc. It has a large assembly room furnished with individual folding seats and desks, slate blackboards, piano, bookcases, laboratories, recitation rooms, electric lights and signal system, and other modern conveniences. But a general improvement in school buildings and equipment has resulted from the progressive spirit of our people, and, although this county still contains some poorly equipped and antiquated buildings, most of the districts have comfortable and well furnished buildings. The public intelligence is beginning to realize that the physical and the spiritual nature of the child are being developed at school as well as his mental powers, and that it is as necessary for him to have com- fortable, sanitary, and beautiful surroundings as it is for him to have good books to study and good teachers to give instruction. In response to this idea, many improvements are being made in buildings, grounds, and equipment. The grounds of some schools are being extended to larger size, trees and shrubs are being planted, and walks and better outhouses constructed. Many of the old buildings are being remodeled and several new buildings are being erected according to modern plans. As an example of what was done in one year, we will describe what was done in the building line in 1910. Palmyra vacated their old frame building and erected a beautiful and substantial four room building of brick and cement. Workman District, No. 31, built an excellent new building, as did Rural Mt. Olive District No. 60, Centerview District No. 33, Oakland District No. 74, Boston Chapel District No. 38, and Rural District No. 72. The last two named may be briefly described as types of what rural school buildings ought to be.
The Boston Chapel building is of brick and cement and has a slate roof and steel ceiling. It has a basement under the entire building, and this basement has a cement floor and contains a fuel room and a play room for the children. In
248
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
front of the school-room are an entry and cloak rooms, and a stairway leads from the entry to the basement. The large airy school-room is properly fur- nished, heated, lighted, and ventilated.
The Rural school building in district 72 is a frame building and consists of six rooms and a small front porch on the west. From this porch a doorway leads into a small hall which opens directly ahead into the main school-room, and on either side into the cloak rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls. These cloak rooms also open by doorways into the main school-room. In the school- room, the pupils sit with their right sides to the entrance doors on the west and facing the south wall, which is solid and has a slate blackboard extending its full length. The east wall contains five large windows, which admit an abundance of light to the left of the pupils. To the rear of the pupils and on the north side of the main room are two other small rooms. One of these is entered through an arched opening and is used as a library room. It contains some shelving and is lighted by two windows. The other room is a fuel room and is entered through a door opening directly from the school-room and near the heater. This heater is really a hot air furnace and-a ventilator combined. The steel stove is surrounded by a jacket with an air space of about eight inches between them. A fresh air inlet comes through the wall from outside and admits cold, pure air to the furnace inside the jacket. This air is heated and rises to the top of the room and circulates to all parts of the room driving out the foul air through the foul air extractor, which is a pipe about ten inches in dameter opening near the floor and passing out with the smoke-pipe. This system of heating and ven- tilating is found to be very beneficial to the health and vitality of the pupils and teacher and to increase their working efficiency quite materially. The school- room is furnished with fifty single seats and desks properly arranged to suit the convenience of pupils of different sizes. The building is surmounted by a belfry containing a clear-toned bell, is surrounded by a yard containing several trees, and has many other commendable features. Its cost as now furnished was about eighteen hundred dollars.
Many other schools have recently made very creditable improvements in their furniture and apparatus. About fifteen of the sanitary heating and ven- tilating systems described above have been installed, several rooms have been furnished with new single seats, and a large number of library books have been purchased. Almost every rural school now has at least a small library of books of reference and of general literature. Most of these are chosen from the list of books recommended by the State Pupils' Reading Circle Board. Much needed apparatus has been bought, such as maps, globes, primary helps, measures, dic- tionaries, clocks, organs, etc.
State Superintendent F. G. Blair has introduced a plan for encouraging improvement in the rural schools. In the summer of 1909 he issued a pamphlet entitled "The One-Room Country Schools of Illinois" in which he gave his ideas of what a country school ought to be and how it should be organized and equipped. This pamphlet was furnished in large numbers to the County Super- intendent and a copy was sent to each board of directors in the county. It con- tained chapters on the school building. heating, lighting, ventilation, seating, re- pairing old buildings, furnishings, sanitation, country school supervision, or-
4
Rural School. No. 72. Front View Rural School. No. 72. Interior View
Standard School in Robley District, No. 71
Rural School: No. 72, Rear View Standard School, Prairie Dale District, No. 3 An Excellent School Building in Ball District, No. 2
LIBRARY OF It UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
249
HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY
ganization and devices, the teacher and her work, and The Standard One-Room School. Under this last topic, he described fully what is necessary to make up a Standard School. During the following school term, he sent an assistant, Mr. U. G. Hoffman, to several counties to visit country schools with the county superintendent and to make inspection records of his visits to the several schools. This record covered a complete description of the grounds, buildings, furnish- ings and supplies, organization, and teacher. If the school graded perfect in all the details of these factors, the inspector so reported to the State Superintend- ent, who issued to the school a diploma stating that it was recognized as a Standard School. If the school was found to be deficient in some points, the inspector so reported to the county superintendent, the teacher, and the direc- tors and requested them to use their best efforts to make the necessary improve- ments. Mr. Hoffman visited two days with County Superintendent Moore in February, 1910, and inspected eight or nine schools. But this inspection resulted in issuing but one diploma that year. Prairie Dale School in District 3, with Miss Mary Bleauer as teacher, soon arranged everything just as it should be, and was given a diploma as a standard school. This diploma was renewed in March, 19II, and the progressive directors in that district will probably see that it is renewed each succeeding year.
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