With the school diyided into two rooms, 

 pupils get benefit oi more individual atten- 



tion. More classmates provide necessary 

 competitive stimulus. 



Piqtt County Consolidation 

 Is Moderate. Successful 



By J. C. THOMSON 



AFTER 46 years in office — the longest 

 period of any superintendent of 

 schools in Illinois — you wouldn't be sur- 

 prised if Piatt County Supt. Charles Mc- 

 ~^Intosh viewed the increasing trend toward 

 rural school consolidation with some mis- 

 givings. 



His long association with the one-room 

 schoolhouse system of education could be 

 expected to influence him very much in 

 its favor. But such is not the case. 



And although the soft spoken educator 

 indicated his neutrality in any such issue 

 as for or against consolidation, which 

 must ultimately be decided by the rural 

 school boards, he appeared pleased with 

 the success so far of the consolidation 

 program in Piatt county. 



Supt. Mcintosh said the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association and its school com- 

 mittee shared in the success of the under- 

 taking because of work done in making 

 the case for reorganization attractive. 



"The farmers themselves," he said, 

 "started the ball rolling for consolidation 

 when they began sending an only pupil 

 in one school to a neighboring school, 

 and when a number of farmers took the 

 attitude that consolidation was inevi- 

 table." 



An important factor in the success of 

 the undertaking, Mcintosh explained, 

 was in gaining the confidence of the 

 people directly concerned. Directors met 

 at a fact-finding meeting. "There was 

 no compulsion on our part. They were 

 invited to ask questions," he said. 



After being given time enough to think 

 it over, another meeting was called and 

 directors were asked what they thought 

 should be done to bring their schools up 

 to date. What they decided is made plain 



Recess periods are so much iun at the 

 consolidated school because you con al- 

 ways find someone to play games. 



by the fact that partial consolidation has 

 taken place in every township in the 

 county. 



No one. Feast of all Supt. Mclrrtosh, 

 claims that the task is complete, but there 

 is a great deal of pride and promise of 

 things to come in what has already been 

 accomplished. 



■» "Piatt county was fortunate," S. L. 

 Simer, affable assistant to Supt. Mcintosh 

 said, "in having a number of buildings 

 available to take care of the consolidation 

 when it occurred." 



A typical case of Consolidation in Piatt 

 county is illustrated by the White Heath 

 school, situated on the edge of the small 

 village of White Heath a half dozen 

 miles northeast of Monticello, the county 

 seat. 



Because White Heath already had a 

 large, attractive, two-room, brick build- 

 ing, there was no need to build a new 

 structure and the pupils of three sur- 

 rounding districts were absorbed by the 

 White Heath school. 



Teachers, Mrs. Anna Warren and Mrs. 

 Mabel Wheeler say the children like the 

 new arrangement, especially those who 

 formerly had only one or two classmates. 

 One pupil at the Camp Creek school, one 

 of the absorbed districts, had no class- 

 mates. The boys are especially pleased 

 because enough of them now are gener- 

 ally available to play team games, such as 

 Softball. The smaller children enjoy the 

 playground equipment their former 

 schools didn't possess. 



Although 41 pupils are enrolled, the 

 teachers are able to give the children as 

 much individual attention as they re- 

 ceived in their former schools, if not 

 more so, since their present teachers 

 handle four grades instead of the eight 

 in the one-room schoolhouse. 



One of the high spots in the school day 

 at White- Heath is the lunch hour when 

 the pupils are served a hot, balanced 

 meal in the basement dining room. Cost 

 of the meals, prepared by a cook, is 50 

 cents weekly to each pupil with the rest 

 of the expense being made up with fed- 

 eral funds. 



The teachers eat with the students and 

 supervise their manners and behavior at 

 the table. Committees of the children 

 vie with each other in planning the most 

 attractive decorations each week for the 

 dining room with motifs generally in 

 keeping with the season. Each of the 

 pupils also takes turn saying grace be- 



• * 



Lunch hour is one of the high spots oi the 

 school day when the children are served 



a hot, balanced meal. Teachers super- 

 vise pupils' table manners. 



12 



L A. A. RECORD 



