INTRODUCTION.
Department of Public Instruction,
Lansing, Mich., Feb. 1, 1898.
To the Teachers and Friends of Education:
In preparing and sending out these suggestive programs for Special Day exercises, it is our desire to bring the Department of Education closer to the people, to bring the patrons and teachers closer together in the work of the schools.
Just as, in the palmy days of Rome, broad highways connected the Forum with the capital of every province, so we believe there should be a highway leading directly from this Department to every school house in Michigan.
If we as a people could more often come together for the discussion of the common problems of life, if there could be more opportunity for an interchange of sympathy and good-will, our schools and homes would be the better. The struggle to reach the position of independence we now enjoy is not fully appreciated by this generation, and there still remains the problem of our country’s future destiny which must be worked out in the homes and schools of the nation.
In times past the home and school have been too widely separated, instead of working together as mutually dependent parts of an educational family. It is hoped that the celebration of these special days may result in a better appreciation of the teacher’s work on the part of the patrons, and also afford an opportunity for broader culture. What a splendid chance for the teaching of patriotism is found in the observance of Independence Day and Memorial Day; what beautiful examples of character Lincoln and Washington afford; what a field for literary study is found in the works of Longfellow and Lowell; what an appreciation of the bountiful land in; which we dwell may be inculcated through the Thanksgiving exercises; and last, comes the crowning festival of the year, commemorating the greatest gift of the world, the coming of “ peace on earth, good-will to men.” How the glad Christmas time appeals to us all to remember that only through self-sacrifice has life been made what it is today.
These special days should be made beacon lights in the homes and schools of the State.
Yours with good wishes for the New Year,
