Some effect of beautifying school grounds

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EDITORIAL 225 SOME EFFECTS OF BEAUTIFYING SCHOOL GROUNDS. A teacher can devote his spare time to no more profitable enter prise than that of cultivating the aesthetic tastes of his pupils by the creation of a proper atmosphere of beauty and cleanliness about the school building and grounds. Often, when a teacher has been assigned to a remote barrio and arrives at his station to find an uninviting prospect of grounds which appear to be a dumping place for the rubbish of the community, when the stones and weeds seem striving to conceal a house sadly in need of repair, it is little wonder if the teacher has a feeling of homesickness and discouragement, or if he pictures to himself the attractions of his home and longs to be there. Once a teacher finds himself in such a situation he can either sit down and drag out his year, making the time a burden to himself and his pupils, or he can go to work and make the place attractive. If he does the latter the effect upon his own mind and upon the minds of the children will likely prove a revelation to him. In the first place, the teacher and pupils working together to beautify the school grounds will find in their efforts a common interest that leads to a better understanding of each other and tends to make the school work seem easier. Moreover, when the school grounds are made really attractive by means of green lawns, cool shade trees, and perfect order, the children will begin to associate education and advancement with cleanliness and beauty. Then the next step will naturally follow. They will learn to apply these ideas to their homes. When a teacher suc ceeds in impressing upon children the idea that the school and grounds should be beautiful because it is their school, it should not be hard to bring them to feel that their homes should be neat and clean simply because the homes are theirs. General J. Franklin Bell in a talk to teachers at the 1913 Vacation Assembly said that he had made a lawn or a garden in every post where he had been stationed during his long years of service in the army. Although he knew that he would be stationed in a place for only a few months or a couple of years at the most, he tried to give as much attention to improving the surroundings of the post as he would if he were living in a permanent home. How many teachers will undertake to make their school build ings and grounds attractive? Those who do will be well recom pensed by the healthful influence upon their own minds, by the added attractiveness of their schools and their work, and by the effect upon the minds and homes of their pupils.

Date

1916

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

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