The Chemawa American, November 01, 1922, Image 1

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The Chemawa
P r in te d a t C h e m a w a ,
Vol. XXV
O re g o n , a n d D e v o te d to th e In te r e s t s o f In d ia n E d u c a tio n
W ednesday, Novem ber 1, 1922
A LITTLE-KNOW N OREGON SCHOOL
U nder the above caption the follow ing article ap p ear­
ed in the Septem ber issue of th e O regon T each ers’
M agazine and was followed in th e O ctober num ber by
a larger and m ore detailed discussion of our school, its
aim s and accom plishm ents:
T he state of O regon has, n ear her capital citv, one
of th e few successful vocational schools for sub-college
stu d en ts in th e U nited S tates. N ot m any O regon
citizens know th a t th ere is such a school and some
resid en ts of Salem have not yet heard of it. It is
n eith er a public nor a ch u rch school and n eith er love
nor m oney is th e price of adm ission. It is in no way
eith er a penal or a corrective in stitu tio n , b u t is in
every way a m odern educational establishm ent.
P up ils en ter th e first grade and com plete th e ten th
grade in th is school. T hey m ay th en present their
credits at the Salem high school, en ter the eleventh
grade there and g rad u ate th e follow ing y ear.
T h e academ ic sta n d in g is not th e unusual th in g ,
how ever. In addition to th e cred its ad m ittin g to the
high school, these boys and g irls have acquired a
practical earn in g know ledge of some good trade.
A second u nusual th in g is the fact that these
children have spent but one-half of each day in the
schoolroom from the first year th ro u g h the ten th .
T h ey actu ally com plete th e ten years in one-half the
tim e required by th e public schools.
T hese children are not over-driven. T h ey have a
full share of ex tra -c u rricu lar activities. O rchestra,
band, choruses, literary contests, dram atics, m ilitary
drill, ath leticsan d parties are all th eirs in large m easure.
T h e accom plishm ent seems alm ost unbelieveable.
I t has been suggested th at this success m ay be due to
a system atic co n cen tratio n . T h is m a y b e a good g en ­
eral ex p lan atio n , but w hatever th e cause, the pupils at
th e Salem In d ian School have been doing ju st this
th in g for several yeais.
P erhap s the reason th a t these facts are know n to so
few is th a t, unlike other schools of the state, this one
does not advertise in. any way. It has no reason to
solicit atten tio n . P upils, teachers and supplies all
come th ro u g h appropriation by th e central governm ent
and the people feel th at it is rem ote.
No. 3
T h e in stitu tio n and its system of education is m o d e rn ,
up-to-date, even ahead-of-date, in its solution of the
problem s of vocational education. Its carefully d ev el­
oped course of study and daily plans is the result of
forty-tw o vears of experim ental w ork, for the Salem
Indian School at C hem aw a, O regon, is the oldest non-
reservation school in th e U nited States Indian Service.
SU P E R V ISO R COON IN CH APEL
Mr. Coon, supervisor of our d istrict, gave a brief but
most in teresting talk to the stu d e n t bod v at assem bly
on W ednesday m orning.
“ N ot all of my work is d e ­
voted to the education of th e pupils in th e In d ian
schools, said Mr. Coon.
Cast year the governm ent
paid tu itio n in th e th ree states. W ash in g to n , O regon
and C alifornia, for 1 ,0 0 0 In d ian pupils. So. you
see th a t m ore th at half the In d ian children in three
states are in public sc h o o ls.”
M r. Coon told also of how, in one instance, the
F ederation of W o m en ’s Clubs succeeded, th ro u g h a
W o m en ’s Club in an In d ian village of C alifornia, in
g ettin g a school for the ten or twelve children of the
little village.
As a final m essage the speaker gave his experience
in n oticing the letters, “ A ,B ,C ,” on th e cem ent side­
w alks in a sm all tow n in W ashington. As th e letters
occurred so often he supposed they m ust be the initials
of the cem ent contracto r. H e was told later th a t those
letters were placed th ere at th e request of the W om en’s
Club, th a t they m eant “ A lw ays Be C a re fu l,’’and were
intended to rem ind the boys and girls of their city to
be caieful in crossing streets.
S o ,’’said Mr. Coon, “ I w ant to leave w ith you
boys and girls this m essage w hich I found in th a t little
W ashington tow n: “ A, B, C ,” “ A lw ays Be C a re fu l.”
A nybody who has not been at Chem aw a for six
m onths or longer w ould be surprised w ere they to re ­
tu rn to our school now . T h e new pow er house and
equip lient are now ready for service, th ere are new
co n creteilaterals all over the place to carry steam pipes,
and in many places these are covered w ith concrete,
th u s form ing w alks of splendid ch aracter. In other
places w here th e laterals are not covered w ith concrete
for w alks they have been deftly covered up and grass
is now g row ing over them . G reat is th e work of man
and th e hand of tim e.
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