agencies as the school, the grange, and the church, and
the application of the principles already learned in a study of social
relations.

135. =Improvement in Economy and Efficiency.=--While the curriculum of
the schools is being fitted to the needs of the community, it is
desirable that there should be improvement of economy and efficiency
in the whole system of education. This is being accomplished partly by
better supervision and teaching, but also by a consolidation of
schools which makes possible better grading, an enlarged curriculum,
improved teaching, and a deeper interest among the pupils. But one of
the best results that come from school consolidation is to the
community itself. A consolidated school means a larger and
better-equipped building. It often has a large assembly hall, a
library, and an agricultural laboratory. The new school has within it
tremendous potencies. It may become under proper direction an
educational centre for people of all ages and degrees of attainment.
Continuation schools for adults, especially the young and middle-aged
people, who were born too soon to enjoy the advantages of the new
education, are possible in the late autumn and winter. Popular
lectures and demonstrations on subjects of common concern and
entertainments based on rural interests find place at this centre.
Mixed occasionally with a rural programme belongs instruction in wider
social relations and world affairs.

136. =The Teacher a Community Leader.=--With the consolidated school
comes the well-trained teacher, and such a teacher deserves new
recognition as a community leader. In Europe and in some parts of
rural America the teacher has a permanent home near the schoolhouse,
as a minister has a parsonage near the meeting-house. Such a teacher
has an interest in community welfare, and a willingness to aid in
community betterment. Whether man or woman, he becomes naturally a
community leader, and with the backing of public sentiment and
adequate support a distinct community asset. Such a teacher is more
than a school instructor. He becomes a social educator of the people
by interpreting to them their community life; he becomes a social
inspirer to hope, ambition, and courage as he unfolds possible social
ideals; he becomes a guide to a new prosperity as he defines the
methods and principles on which other communities have worked out
their own local successes. Through the medium of the teacher the
neighborhood may