Page 34 - 1916 February - To Dragma

TO DRAG MA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 113

ng T h e age of the cranky, cross, dispirited school teacher is past.
x- This generation demands fair-minded, tolerant, wide-awake young
ust men and women to present life to its young, and it w i l l have no
he other. The proper environment must be created f o r the best devel-
o, opment of the child as surely as sunshine, good soil and moisture
et must be provided f o r the young plant, and the teacher alone is

responsible for the moral, mental and physical atmosphere of her
ul schoolroom.
i n Has Ruskin touched the keynote to the character we wish to
ts develop in the children whose lives we touch? " H u m i l i t y , faith,

charity and cheerfulness," he says. D o those qualities embody our

ideal of young manhood and womanhood? Some of us w i l l shrug

our shoulders at the mention of humility and our thoughts w i l l

instinctively fly to U r i a h Heep ; but the rest of us know that the

misconception created by that miserable caricature of manhood bears

not the slightest resemblance to true humility, which is the ground
ys rock on which a l l real nobility is founded. T h e n f a i t h i n God, our

fellowmen and ourselves is the only pledge of content, of hope of
y, the j o y of l i v i n g which everyone of us desires above a l l things else.
be A n d what shall I say of charity? Deep i n her heart every A l p h a

O longs to make her l i f e express the f u l l meaning of that symbolic
ne word, and cherishes every opportunity of emphasizing as her ideal
he the love that is so great and far-reaching that it responds to the
re tired cry of a l i t t l e child or a despairing fellow-creature as readily
ng as i t turns to the request of a dear, personal f r i e n d ; the love that

hears the appeal f r o m the heart of A f r i c a and sees the world's need,
ng as clearlv as it hears and sees the desires and needs of the home
gy circle. A n d as we regard the character of the men and women we
es admire most, and question what seeds sown early in l i f e have devel-
f e oped into the strong, splendid qualities now so prominent, we trace
h; them back through the years to those lessons, suggestions and in-
et fluences which emphasized a l l along the way " h u m i l i t y , f a i t h , charity
h and cheerfulness."
es And I believe these f o u r qualities, i f r i g h t l y interpreted, are
d broad enough to include a l l others; but, lest someone should f a i l
ds to comprehend f u l l y , let me mention another—the energizing, v i t a l i -
g. zing force which drives one to do things whether he feels just like
es -it or not, that something which makes him clear and definite in his
f ideas, and ensures his doing satisfactorily any task at hand, the
er initiative which makes f o r success, the i n d i v i d u a l i t y which distin-
d guishes him f r o m the mass.
e I f then these are the traits we admire i n men and women, they

are the ones we, as teachers, must instil i n the young people under