1418 Rural School Leaflet 



The letters from boys and girls are not read critically; they are read 

 sympathetically. Ideas have m.ore weight than the method of expression, 

 although quality in the latter is recognized and appreciated. No judg- 

 ment is passed on the teacher because of the nature of the letters from the 

 children. Interest is the keynote, with educational progress as a back- 

 ground. 



It is impossible, of course, to answer personally ever}'-, letter that is 

 received at the College. The general answers are contained in the letters 

 in the leaflets. Each year, however, several thousand personal letters are 

 written, whenever the children have asked intelligent questions that 

 warrant an answer, whenever some praiseworthy piece of work is described, 

 and whenever the general interest is marked. Naturally the oftener a 

 child writes, the more likely he is to receive a direct reply. In all cases, 

 however, when a boy or a girl has received credit for three letters between 

 September i of one year and September i of the following year, a small 

 gift picture is sent as a reward of merit. To receive credit a letter must 

 contain at the top, the school district number, the name of the township, 

 and the name of the county. (See specimen letters that follow.) 



During the year a dozen or so selected letters are published in the 

 leaflet, with editorial comment. Effort is made to select letters that 

 contain suggestions of interest and value to all boys and girls. Teachers 

 can do much to maintain the children's interest in the letter writing, and 

 to help them to feel the personal friendship that the editors of the leaflet 

 extend to them. Several typical letters follow: 



District 6, Town of Otsego, Otsego County 



Cooperstown, New York, April 30, 19 15 

 Dear Mr. Tuttle: 



I am eleven years old. As I have read several of the other letters that 

 have been written to you, I thought I would write and tell you about our 

 school float that we had at the county fair last fall. 



There were five floats that entered and we took the first premium. 

 The trustees supplied us with a large wagon, and a team of pretty black 

 horses. In front of the wagon we had a tree loaded with beautiful red 

 apples, and at the back of the wagon another tree with a few small worm- 

 eaten apples on it and a tent caterpillar's nest in the top. The largest 

 boy in school stood under the front tree spraying it. In the center of 

 the wagon was a large umbrella covered with flowers and ribbon. All 

 the school children, dressed in white and carrying bouquets of flowers 

 that they had raised, sat under the umbrella. The wagon was draped 

 in white and green. We have a large picture of it framed and hanging 

 in the schoolhouse. 



We intend to try something again this year. 



Yours sincerely, 



BERNICE E. WRIGHT 



