Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 303 



In the solution of the rural school problem it is necessary first 

 to get people to understand the real conditions of these schools 

 and then to create an ideal toward which all should strive. This 

 work should begin with the child. Children should know what a 

 well-constructed school building is, how the desks, stove, boards 

 and maps should be arranged ; they should understand the necessity 

 of ventilation and how it should be done, also the necessity of pure 

 drinking water; they should know what are the conditions of a 

 modern rural school and should have some idea about school sanita- 

 tion and decoration; they should be able to see how their own 

 schoolhouse and grounds could be improved and they should 

 understand the disadvantage under which they are placed. When 

 children are once interested in this matter it will be easy to reach 

 the homes, and when the homes once become interested changes 

 for the better will soon be made. 



Had good school conditions and higher ideals been taught 

 the children of this State twenty years ago, the problem would not 

 be so difficult at the present time. 



A recent number of one of the St. Louis dailies contained an 

 editorial on the city's progress during 1912. The first thing men- 

 tioned was the large number of homes; second was the splendid 

 school system; third, the fine school buildings; fourth, the good 

 condition of the banks. 



This is the way the school system is regarded in a large city. 

 The homes were placed first, which is right and proper, but the 

 schools were considered second in importance. One would hardly 

 know where to look for a sentiment of this kind in a country com- 

 munity. The building is usually the poorest in the district, the 

 grounds are unattractive and the school as an institution receives 

 so little attention that one would scarcely know that it is in 

 existence. 



In conclusion I wish to say that the rural school problem is not 

 alone one for the educator. It must be studied by men and women 

 in the midst of life's struggles. It is the duty and the privilege 

 of every citizen to try to understand the nature of this problem and 

 to assist in its solution. 



