p. 21 | Bethel (Wis.) Academy by A. W. HALLOCK

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jan 11, 1906

Bethel (Wis.) Academy

By A. W. HALLOCK

WHILE so many reports of school openings are being published in our papers, we thought it well to write a few words about a school which closes its consecutive school work at this time.

At Bethel Academy three terms of the school year are in the past, and while we have reached no place for stopping or relaxing our energies, we are able to report to the readers of the REVIEW a year of progress.

When the school opened last April, all seemed welcomed by the multitudes of our opening wild flowers and the waiting gardens, as well as by the well-lighted class rooms. The literary work offered in the Calendar was to be done thoroughly; fifty-five acres of land, quite well dotted with hardwood stumps, were to be worked; improvements and repairs were to be made in the buildings; the apiary was to be looked after, and made as much a part of the school as possible; and a store with a three-thousand-dollar stock of goods was to be managed.

All the students were willing, of course, to enter into the first task, while the others—the industrial problems—fell to the teachers and the home students chiefly. But the zeal and kind spirit manifested on the part of the students, and the unity among the teachers, made all tasks pleasant, and now, as we look back over the months with their results, we are led to say, “God has done all he promised to do.”

Good class work has been maintained every day, and the industries, except the store work, have all been managed by teachers and students, no others being employed. The farm brought forth its abundance, and will supply the Home with most of its fruit and vegetables for a year, and the stock with all the hay and root crops, and part of the grain, necessary for the winter. A fair crop of honey was produced; stumps were removed from more than three acres of land; the buildings and premises were made more attractive. And most of the students became so interested in making the school what the spirit of prophecy has said the Lord desires our schools to be, that they worked much over time every day without extra pay, and almost made us forget the common remarks, “Got in my two hours' work to-day,” and, “How much shall I get an hour?”

These were the visible results, but the lessons learned and the characters formed give us the greatest cause for gratitude. Students have learned to enjoy real problems of life and bear responsibility, and teachers have learned that the industries furnish the best opportunities for developing in students the one thing needed to make education a blessing—character.

The highest enrolment for any term was one hundred and twenty-six, and the daily attendance at the close of school one hundred and sixteen. In their studies and work we have endeavored to keep before all the aim of giving the message in this generation, instead of “getting an education so as not to have to work so hard,” or “to be able to earn more money,” or “to be thought to be somebody.” These selfish aims represented by ease, wealth, and honor, are hard to get rid of in school work, but some gratifying results have been seen, and the “noblest” aim has demonstrated its superiority.

Now we wish to suggest to our fellow teachers that the summer season is an excellent school period; that the industries in a school can help to make teachers happy, and that it might be very well to have a few schools at least where all students who attend would be living in the school homes and associating with their teachers in all the duties of the day.

A. W. HALLOCK.