130 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



This is all right and proper, but it is not enough. 

 There must be a closer relation than this. The 

 teacher must know more about the home life of 

 her pupils, and the parents must know far more 

 about the whole purpose and spirit, as well as 

 the method, of the school. A great deal of good 

 has been done by the joint meeting of teachers 

 and school officers. It is a very wise device, 

 and should be kept up. But altogether the 

 most promising development along this line is 

 the so-called "Hesperia movement, " described 

 in another chapter. These meetings of school 

 patrons and teachers take up the work of the 

 school in a way that will interest both teachers 

 and farmers. They bring the teachers and 

 farmers into closer touch socially and intellectu- 

 ally. They disperse fogs of misunderstanding. 

 They inspire to closer co-operation. They 

 create mutual sympathy. They are sure to re- 

 sult in bringing the teacher into closer touch 

 with community life and with the social prob- 

 lems of the farm. And they are almost equally 

 sure to arouse the interest of the entire commu- 

 nity, not only in the school as an institution and 

 in the possibilities of the work it may do, but 

 also in the work of that teacher who is for the 

 time being serving a particular rural school. 



