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Look Back: Schools in need of resources

(Editor’s note: This is a reproduction of historical newspaper excerpts, and includes language that is understood to be outdated and would not appear in print today.)

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Volcano

Volcano has an excellent public school, over 100 scholars attending. It is a graded school. Miss Mary Tavenner is principal, assisted by Miss Maggie Anderson and Miss Alice Tavenner. The school is in a prosperous condition.

The Parkersburg

State Journal

April 7, 1881

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School is Now in Session

School commenced Monday with a good attendance. Our young friends generally seemed delighted on that day and could be seen on the streets early in the morning, with their books in their arms, and smiles on their faces, waiting for the familiar “to books.”

The new school house on Avery Street for colored children will be completed and ready for occupancy on Monday. The building has four large school rooms — two on the upper and two on the lower floors. The building is certainly a very credible looking one and presents a better appearance than the Washington school house. Mr. William McKindley is the contractor. Jack Phelps and Son are doing the plastering, while the Sharnock Bros have the painting in charge.

Excerpt from The Parkersburg Weekly Sentinel

Sept. 10, 1881

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Tools to Work With — Harris Ferry, Sept., 22nd, 1881

Editors State Journal: Hon. J. P. Slade, State Superintendent of the Illinois Public Schools, very truly says “that at least four things are necessary in every school: Good blackboards, an unabridged dictionary, outline maps and a good globe.”

These appliances enable a teacher to impart instruction by means of the eye as well as the ear. They are the means of saving much valuable time, as pupils receive by a single glance at an object better and more accurate impressions than could possibly be given by a mere word representation. These tools are to the teacher what the sledge hammer is to the blacksmith, the saw to the carpenter, the trowel to the mason, the axe to the woodman, the brush to the painter, or the plow to the farmer. They should be found in every school room; it is not economy to do without them. Will the Superintendent of Wood County aid the Boards of Education in said county in furnishing the schools with all necessary tools, and will every teacher honestly and most assuredly make the best use of these tools?

The common schools of this State are sadly neglected. Not enough attention is paid to our schools. Parents send their children to school day after day, without knowing what they do, because they never visit the schools to know what is being done. Teachers need the help of parents, and teachers also need tools to work with. Children are taught to listen, without the aid of any object to look at. How clearly can we impress upon the minds of pupils new ideas or thoughts by means of objects. It is not what we hear, but what we see that shapes itself upon our minds. We must have attention, and what better way can we get it than to present an object before the pupils? Attention is the stuff that memory is made of. The memory may be termed the muscle of the mind, it is developed by exercise; the more fitting the exercise the better the result, and, be assured, if teachers are furnished with tools necessary to work with, the exercise of the school room will be both interesting and profitable. Mary A. Camp.

The Parkersburg Weekly State Journal

Sept. 29, 1881

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Bob Enoch is president of the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society. If you have comments or questions about Look Back items, please contact him at: roberteenoch@gmail.com, or by mail at WCHPS, PO Box 565, Parkersburg, WV 26102.

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