To motivate the language work and the drawing in the smaller schools and to
make an appropriate contribution to the celebration of the county centennial in
1931, the grammar grade pupils in these schools were asked to collect the data
and write a story of pioneer days in La Salle County and to design a series of
history posters that would depict the progress achieved in some line of human
endeavor during the first hundred years of our county's existence as an
administrative unit. The response to this request was gratifying beyond
expectations. The stories in general were from original sources and were most
interestingly told. Likewise, the "history runners" were surprisingly well
designed and artistically executed.
As a memento of the county-wide
celebration of its centennial and as examples of good choosing of material and
good telling, some sixty of these stories by the eighth graders and several
posters were published in a pamphlet to file in the school libraries for future
comparison and reference. It was regretted at the time that funds were not
available to include a larger number of the many excellent stories and designs
submitted, particularly some of those prepared by the seventh grade.
As
a part of their participation in the celebration of the Washington Bicentennial
this year the pupils in the rural and village schools were invited to design
posters commemorative of the Father of His Country, and the eighth graders were
privileged to try their hand again at telling a story of pioneer days. At the
time the invitation was extended, it was expected that at least two hundred of
the 1932 posters and stories could be reproduced in pamphlet form. But the
financial stringency still continues and it is impossible to realize our
expectations. Hence, many an interesting story and many an excellent poster had
to be omitted in this pamphlet, much to the chagrin of the county superintendent
and, no doubt, to the disappointment of many a worthy pupil.
In the
estimation of the county superintendent nothing that these smaller schools have
done in recent years so definitely marks their praiseworthy advancement as the
writing of these stories and the designing of these posters, for both are of the
creative type that evidence intellectual growth. Likewise, both are on a
markedly higher plane than was thought possible for grammar grade pupils only a
few years ago. It is ardently hoped, however, that they represent a new era in
school achievement, and that they but pave the way to even greater skill in the
fine art of storytelling.
The county superintendent desires to
acknowledge the very great kindness of the descendants of pioneers who gave so
freely of their time and information to their pupil interviewers; likewise, to
express his appreciation of those teachers who gave such wholesome encouragement
to their pupils and exercised such fine leadership in their schools as to render
this achievement possible. But even in a greater measure does his gratitude go
out to the class of 1932 who assisted so effectively in establishing new
standards of excellence in our village and rural schools.
W. R. FOSTER,
Ottawa, Illinois, August 10, 1932.
County Superintendent of Schools.
Extracted 08 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Stories of Pioneer Days in La Salle County, Illinois, by Grammar Grade Pupils, published in 1932.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
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Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
