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Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL
Newspaper Page Text
wiK w u u t 11 u'uq 1 THE PUBLIC FORUM CHARITY OF TEACHERS. Speaking of the various ways in which teachers spend the munificent wages paid them, while this is not compulsory, of course. I doubt if there is a class of people who give more to charity according to their means than school teachers. There are few teachers indeed that give nothing. In the poorer dis tricts they simply must give largely. How can they help it when they know their children, some of them, are suffering for food and clothing? Let me retail some instances: One teacher, a Miss R , who died this last summer, one entire year provided a substantial lunch for a boy in her room. It was the only decent meal he had, and by its aid he managed to do his work and make his grade. This was only a drop in the bucket of the things this teacher did, and there are many like her. One of the teachers killed in the Iroquois fire left aged grandparents who were entirely dependent on her support They had sacrificed all they had to prepare her for teaching so she could make the living for them all, and that was. her first year of teaching. Her one extravagance was to be the cheapest seat she could get for the holiday performance. Well, the teachers of her school made no fuss about it, but every month each one paid a certain sum and it was given to the old people to pay their way. As the fire that took away their support was the fault of our city it would seem as if the city should have cared for them, but it did not After many months had gone by one of the teachers succeeded in interesting Sir Thomas Lipton in the old people (they were English) and he took them over to his own pen sion list and relieved the teachers. Again, in the panicky winter of 1907, I think it was, when there was endless suffering and unemployment. I was in touch with the school where the teachers were keeping tab on the pupils who were not properly nour ished. Before the holidays came there were so many whose parents were out of work that the job became too big for the teachers alone and here is what was done: There was a large flat building in it the neighborhood. The building was canvassed and all its tenants were i asked to save every scrap of edibler Jni food that came from their tables. All were willing to do it, and, of course, many gave more than the scraps. Every morning for that entire win ter a certain teacher carried a big bundle to school with her from this building. She managed to fill up her children that needed filling most, without hurting their feelings or making them ridiculous before the other children, and if there was to"o much for her room she either sent it home by the poorest children or shared it with other rooms. The "starving poor" grew to be the greatest interest of that winter, and as these families and their inter ested friends gave good warm clothes as well there was something done be sides feeding them. Any one knows that hungry and ill-nourished children cannot imbibe much book learning, and I know per sonally there are many, many teach ers who shoulder the burden of get ting, their pupils m a condition to mr bibe knowledge. They never make any ado about it, but simply go ahead in the most matter-of-fact way, even if it does make serious in roads in their salaries. Another thing teachers do in thejt poor districts is to get jobs for pupils " who need them. This takes at least time and carfare, and sometimes a picocuuuuie ami. i.ui uie uuy ur gut Deiore ne or sne can go to worK. Teachers in poor districts, or even,' m weii-to-ao districts, wnere tnerey1 just what homes among their pupils sf will not be visited by Santa CIaus,y3 ami, 10, aania comes, xois nam MmMmmMmuumk j4