| OCR Text |
Show BEPOB'T OX' SCHOOL AT hTEO LEWIS, COLORADO. BREENC. OLO.A, ugust 8, 1905. The average enrollment for the year was 183, an increase of 39 over that of last year. Very few more boys than have been in attendance can be aceommo-dated with the present room, but about 20 more girls could be received. This increase in attendance was secured with hut little canvassing for pupils, only one extended trip having been made during the year. Of the pupils in at-tendance, ail but 10 were full bloods. Health.-Except for three cases of pneumonia following each other about January 1, there has been no serious sickness among tbe pupils, and even slight illnesses have been comparatively few. This is remarkable, considering the fact that the great depth of snow during the late winter and early spring pre-vented the pupils from getting as much outdoor exercise as they are accus-tomed to have A number of children were sent to their homes when it was seen that they were not remaining as strong as they should be, especial care being taken to watch those who showed a tendency toward tuberculosis. Two cases that seemed to be weakening responded very readily to outdoor life, and now appear to have a chance to escape the disease for a time at least. Litwarti.-The work in the schoolrooms through the year was most satis-factory. Excellent progress was made by the great majority of the pupils, and all took an unusual interest in the work. Most of the children are in the lower grades, the sixth being the most advanced, but as the pupils progress the grade is raised to meet the need, and they will graduate from the eighth grade. Very good work was done with the more advanced pupils in the way of Practical con-nection of the problems of the farm and the shops with those of the schoolroom, an earnest effort having been made to ha,e what was learned in one place put to some use in the other. Excellent work was done in the line of vocal music and in hand instruction. ImdustrdaL-With the bays an endeavor has been made and fairly good re wlts have been achieved in the line of giving them enough training in the more important trades to enable them to do what will be needed in the work of those trades when they go home. A boy is sent to the shoe and harness shop until he has acquired a suffici?ut amount of skill to enable him to mend a set of har-r ies~o r a pair of shoes neatly and quickly. He then goes to the blacksmith shop until he has acquired a similar skill in the lines of work there, when he goes to the carpenter shop. If a boy shows a special liking for a trade, he is encouraged to take it up thoroughly after he has done the required work in all, but since nearly ail will make their living from the soil in some way the greatest stress is laid upon the work of the farm. All boys work there part of the time during the year, even if some of them are expecting to take up trades exclusively. Much work has been done on the farm up to the present date. The abundant fall of snow gave assurance of plenty of water for irrigation, and all the avail-able land was put in. The present condition of the crops indicates a very fair yield from ail that was planted and sown, although the great amount of snow made seeding so late that frost may strike the crops before they mature. The greatest improvement to the farm has been in the fences. Nearly 5 miles of entirely new fence have been built, making an excellent pasture for the cows, and the old pasture was made safe by the addition of a fourth wire to the 10 miles of fence. thus making- available a grazing area for all the stock the school will ever need. In%p~ovements.-The greatest need is that of a new school building, with an assembly room large enough to accommodate ail members of the school. The present schoolhouse is an old frame barracks, wlthout foundation, and in such bad repair throughout that children actually suffer if kept there on cold days in the winter. The building is not worth repair, and if it were its unfitness for school purposes by reason of the plan upon which it is huilt would make the construction of a new one most desirable. W, M. PETEBBOBNu, nerintendent. BEWRT OF SCHOOL AT GRIND JUNCTION, OOU). &AND JUNCTION, COLO., A?/gUS# 8, 1905. Grand Junction Indian School is located about 1b miles uortheast of the city of Grand Junction It has a farm of 178 acres of good land, but it is very |
