306 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



we can to dispel ignorance. The most important factors in a successful 

 school are, first, the teacher; second, the patrons; third, school build- 

 ing and surroundings ; and fourth, the pupils. After hiring the best 

 teacher that one can get for the money, she or he, can be improved and 

 encouraged by the Home Makers taking an interest in the school. Visit 

 the school. Call on the teacher at her home or boarding place. Let the 

 teachers know that you expect them to be^ of some account and they 

 will try harder. All of us need encouragement occasionally. You may 

 say, ''I have so much to do I can't go," or "I can't leave the children," 

 or "I can't get a horse and buggy." Take the children with you; 

 they will enjoy visiting big brother's or sister's school, too. Get the 

 good father to take the horse and buggy and go along too. You might 

 have it arranged with the neighbors to take turns going. You might 

 agree to take your darning with you. One could listen and observe and 

 darn too. Perhaps you will find the building cannot be properly venti- 

 lated. Get someone to fix the windows so that thej^ can be lowered from 

 the top, or else have a board made to fit in the window when it is raised 

 so that the air can enter the room without striking the children's heads. 



Encourage the children to sing for you. I actually know of country 

 schools where they never sing. Just think of it ! You may find the 

 floor is so cold the children cannot keep their feet warm. Get the 

 patrons to bank around the house with dirt. I hope the time may soon 

 come when all schoolhouses will be heated with a furnace. Are the 

 decorations such that you could not add to them? Maybe you have a 

 good book that you could give to their library. If the school yard is 

 large enough to admit of a flower or shrub garden, haven't you some- 

 thing that you could give them? 



If Johnny or Mary are not doing well in some subject, find out 

 why. If they are troublesome in school, see to it that they do right. I 

 have found that where the parents co-operated with the teacher, there 

 was usually no trouble with the pupils. If you have visited the school, 

 you will know better how to talk with the children when they come home 

 with their complaints. If you have a Farmers' Club that meets at the 

 schoolhouse, why not take up a subscription and offer prizes to the boys 

 and girls for the best potatoes and cow raised, and best apron made, or 

 best bread baked, etc. On Thanksgiving Day have a neighborhood din- 

 ner and have a program, and award these prizes. 



I have said nothing about the directors, as they are usually in- 

 cluded among the patrons. Don't expect them to take too much inter- 

 est, as they get no pay for their work. 



In the success of the school I put the pupils last. They, as a rule, 

 are what their parents, teachers and surroundings make them. I used 



