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About The Rimrock Echo (Billings, Mont.) 1930-1943 | View This Issue
The Rimrock Echo (Billings, Mont.), 29 May 1936, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/TheRimrockEcho/1936-05-29/ed-1/seq-2/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
Page Two THE RIMROCK ECHO THE RIMROCK ECHO Published by EASTERN MONTANA NORMAL SCHOOL AT BILLINGS, MONTANA Staff—Hazel Lovell, chairman, Philip Foss, Ella Gilbert, Helen Harmond, Reino Hill, George Hovland, Dorothy Kottas, Ann Patterson, Myrtle Stockfisch. Faculty Adviser Mary J. Meek EDITORIALS RURAL SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION The students of E. M. S. N. S. should be very much interested in a movement of rural school consolidation which seems to be growing throughout the country. As future teachers of many rural schools we shall come in direct contact with the movement, as Montana with its large number of rural schools will no doubt be affected. A recent report of the federal office of education shows that the little red school house is far from being a thing of the past. Reports show that we have 3,000 rural schools with an attendance of five pupils, 2,250 with four pupils, 1,500 with three pupils, and about 750 with only two pupils. Many rural high schools are as small as the elementary schools. It has been estimated that there are about 250 high schools in the United States with an attendance of only eight, 700 with fewer than 13, 1,250 with fewer than 18. About one-third of all American high schools have an attendance of less than 100 pupils each. The cost of education in school units of this inefficient type is found to be greatly out of proportion to its value. Investigations have pointed out that many rural school children are deprived of adequate training in com- parison to city school children. The Federal Office of Education also points out that invariably the cost per pupil is extremely high in the smallest schools and falls rapidly as the size of the school increases. The. development of modern transportation facilities, good roads, cars, and busses has made the enrollments larger and has brought about an interest in consolidation. In some rural sections a few large schools have been made out of many small ones, but apparently the movement is just starting. The Montana Education Association, in its long time program, is stress- ing the community units rather than the scattered small districts; whether members or not, we as future teachers shall be expected to express our opinions and use our influence on one side or the other. We need to study the movement carefully, weighing its advantages and its disadvan- tages in order to make an intelligent decision. SCHOOL PATROLS School patrols, one of the finest activities of youth, will soon be brought more prominently into the national spotlight. Eight thousand boys and girls, representatives of the school patrols throughout the country, will meet in Washington, D. C. sometime in July. These youths will discuss problems of highway safety and traffic regulations in an intelligent and effective manner. It was in 1921 that school safety patrols were first started. With the aid of the American Automobile Association the idea has spread, and today the membership includes thousands of boys and girls in 2,500 communi- ties, towns and cities. These youngsters are willing to sacrifice part of their hours of play to join in the effort to drive death from the streets and highways. As a result the fatality records have been consistently reduced, and safety habits are being fixed in the minds of school children by the young patrol- men. With this effective demonstration of education as a force in reducing the rate of accidents, the organizing of more safety patrols falls on the shoulders of young men and women who are engaged in the teaching profession. With their aid there can be more school patrols in the com- munities which they will contact. It is their duty to stress safety with the thousands of boys and girls under their supervision for nine months or so every year. It is by education of the youth in safety that death may be driven from the highways. GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO MANKIND You can do it in the rain without an umbrella—in a hovel, a palace, or under a weeping willow. It is the supreme luxury that can be enjoyed by the poor, as well as the rich. It requires no expensive equipment. You can do it without social position, wealth or political pull. It gives you pleasure that the Rockefellers couldn't improve on by pur- chase. It starts revolutions, wars, tyrannies, banks, business, explorations —and stops them! As long as you have it, you are the captain of your soul; you are the master of your fate. It is the beginning and the end of civilization. It is a city of refuge; an open door of escape. It is the beginning and end of Art and Literature. It can take you to Utopia. They can abolish the movies, the stage, dinner parties, art galleries, musical instruments, and you'd still have it. You can wave your arms, bellow, explode or be cultured with it. It is God's greatest gift to mankind—TALK! —Quoted from Daniel V. Strong. KATHRYN CORWIN Kathryn Corwin, 21-year-old stu- dent of E. M. S. N. S., died on Sun- day, May 3, a week after having received fatal injuries in an auto accident. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Corwin of Martinsdale, and was born on May 12, 1915, in Hardin. Her father was formerly a prominent stockgrower of Big Horn County. She was graduated from Hardin High School in 1932, and entered E. M. S. N. S. the same year, re- maining for four quarters. Following this she taught for one year in a rural school and last year in Mar- tinsdale. Last fall she reentered Normal School and would have com- pleted her course in June. The funeral services, held in Har- din on Tuesday, April 28, were at- tended by most of the faculty, the members of the Student Council, close friends, and the staff of the Rimrock Annual, of which she was editor-in-chief. GEORGE E. BAUMGARTNER On Monday, April 11, death claimed George E. Baumgartner, 70, cus- todian of the E. M. S. N. S. since the institution opened in 1927. Death was caused by a heart ailment. He had been in ill health since last fall. Mr. Baumgartner was born in Zurich, Switzerland on August 16, 1865, and came to America when he was 18 years old. He first came to Montana in 1898 and found employ- ment in Red Lodge. He came to Billings in 1905, where he was owner of a picture framing shop. He be- came custodian of E. M. S. N. S. in the fall of 1927, when the school opened and continued in the posi- tion until his death. Mr. Baumgartner, \Uncle George,\ was loved and admired by students and faculty members. Besides performing his duties as custodian with meticulous care, Mr. Baumgartner was a loyal friend and adviser to the many young men who acted as student janitors; he spared no effort during his term of service to help make a success of luncheons and other school activities. His serv- ice to the institution and to the student body cannot be estimated in terms and dollars and cents. His job was his supreme interest and to it he brought an enthusiasm and devo- tion which may well serve as an ex- ample to us all. MINNIE JONES Minnie Jones, 20, of Livingston, a candidate for a diploma in June, died on Thursday, May 14 at the St. Vincent's Hospital of acute pneu- monia, after four days of illness. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Jones of Livingston. She was born in Livingston on February 12, 1916. She graduated from Park County High School in 1934. She came to E. M. S. N. S. in September, 1934 and would have been graduated in June. Besides her parents she is survived by two sisters and six brothers. She was a member of the student local M. E. A. PRESIDENT'S CORNER Underneath all of our construc- tion activities my mind is constantly concerned with the five million or more young people in the United States, who at the present time are doing nothing. I wish I might reach them to tell them that they should continue to go to school. Education will enable them to live a fuller life, and it is something which hard times can not take from them. As William Jennings Bryan once said: \If I knew my son were to dig ditches all his life I should want him to have an education so that he would have something to think about while digging ditches.\ I can not reach all of the five mil- lion unemployed, but students of our institution can carry this message to their friends. I do not know of any better general-purpose course than we offer here. It is good for prospective teachers, home-makers, journalists, and those who are able to go on in liberal arts. During these times the young people of southeastern Montana could well use this institution as a junior col- lege, even though they do not plan to teach. AN APPRECIATION So vivid was the personality of Kathryn Corwin, that it is difficult for faculty members and students to realize that she is no more. Not many young people are so richly endowed as she. She was buoyantly healthy and attractive in appear- ance, an excellent student, a loyal friend, an efficient organizer and worker. All these qualities shone forth in her activities in the school. Even though in mourning her tragic death, we are the richer for her presence in the student group. MONTANA STANDARDS RATED HIGH IN COUNTRY \The educational standards and physical equipment of high schools in Montana are steadily improving after the depression years,\ J. A. Woodard of Helena, state high school inspector, states. Mr. Woodard inspected about 155 schools. Throughout the state he found school conditions definitely better. Teaching staffs are being restored to normal size, and in some instances salaries are being in- creased. This improvement in con- ditions was \especially notable in eastern Montana.\ Mr. Woodard at- tended education meetings in Chi- cago and Spokane and found that \Montana high schools compare very well with those of other states and meet standard requirements in more instances than do those of many eastern states.\ CARD OF THANKS It is with a deep feeling of grati- tude that we wish to convey to the Faculty and Students of E. M. S. N. S. our thanks for the helpfulness and sympathy shown us in our loss of Kathryn. Through her student days with you she had so much happiness and helpfulness. Her improvement has been exceedingly great this year due to the ideals, culture and aspiration of the faculty for their students. Our hearts are filled with grati- tude to you:---Mr. and Mrs. G. F. Corwin, Armstrong and Alice Esther.
