approaches in education is more than
wishful thinking or nostalgic dreaming.
Last year a Gallup Poll of Public Atti¬
tudes Toward Public Education shows
that people feel that the number one
problem in the schools today is lack
of discipline.
It is reported that state-level deci¬
sion-makers in North Carolina are
leaning toward a departure from the
New Math to drills and tables and a
stronger emphasis on reading and
learning in the basic subjects.
Bill Noblett in the Raleigh News and
Observer wrote: “Experiments with
‘open classroom’ systems are also re¬
ported on shaky ground, as teachers
and students complain they can’t hear
one another or concentrate on the sub¬
ject at hand when a hundred or so
people in one big room are doing their
various things.”
Most rural boys know that when a
rabbit is jumped from his warren he
will travel in a wide circle and. even¬
tually return to the warren. Some peo¬
ple are quite vocal that the schools
during the past 30 years have been
moving in a wide circle and that now
the winds of change indicate that the
educational process is slowly but surely
moving back to the traditional con¬
cept which served so many generations
well.
MANN ABOUT SNAKES
( Continued from page 11)
Mann has been bitten hundreds of
times by such non-poisonous snakes
as blacksnakes, coach whips, garter
snakes, green snakes, chicken snakes,
milk snakes, king snakes, and common
water snakes.
He catches water snakes with a fish
head on a line. The snake swallows
the head and is caught till it has time
to digest it. “Sometimes I set a lot of
lines and am kept busy walking up and
down taking the snakes off,” he said.
“This is done by merely cutting the
string and leaving the head inside the
snake.”
Although bitten by snakes many
times, and almost killed by a cotton-
mouth, Mann hates to see anybody
want only to kill a snake just because
it’s a snake. “Most snakes are harm¬
less,” he said, “and they do lots of
good. A pair of blacksnakes will keep
a barn free of rats and mice. They are
much better than cats because wher¬
ever a mouse can go they can follow.”
THE STATE, May 1975
TRIP TIP:
Oldest
Frame
Church
to Open
Historic St. John’s Church, Wil¬
liamsboro, will be open for visitors
each Sunday afternoon during the 1975
season which begins June 1 and con¬
tinues through October.
Vespers will also be held each fourth
Sunday at 5 p.m. according to the
schedule announced by the St. John’s
Committee which met recently at the
colonial church near Henderson.
St. John’s Church, Williamsboro, is
the oldest frame church in North Caro¬
lina and the third oldest church stand¬
ing today in the state.
Thomas T. Waterman, a well-known
authority on colonial architecture had
this to say following his examination
of the church prior to its restoration
in the 1950s: “This building dates
from the middle of the 1 8th century
and is a remarkable survival of a co¬
lonial church of its period. While sim¬
ple in form, the woodwork, both ex¬
terior and interior, is extensive and well
St. John's Church, Williamsboro, built in 1757,
and now restored to its original condition. Colonial
history buffs enroute over 1-85 to Kerr Lake
and other vacation objectives will find the short
side-trip to old Williamsboro (N.C. 39, near
Henderson) a fascinating exploration. Once a
center of some importance, a number of pre-
Revolutionary homes are in the area.
preserved. It constitutes the best exam-
plar of colonial church woodwork in
North Carolina, as other churches of
the period have lost their interiors
through alteration or fire. . . . Both
as an example of colonial church build¬
ing in North Carolina and as a historic
monument, the value of St. John’s can¬
not be overestimated.”
Visiting hours are from 1:30 to 5
( Continued on page 35 )
Points of interest inside St. John's include the box pews, wall tablets of creed, ten commandments
and Lord's Prayer, arched ceiling, mortise and peg construction and original blown glass windows.
The restored building was reconsecrated in 1956 and is maintained by voluntary gifts. Listed in
National Register of Historic Places.
On St. John's Day each year — the second Sunday in October — visitors attend a special service,
followed by an old fashioned picnic on the grounds. For information, write: The St. John's Com¬
mittee, P. O. Box 17025, Raleigh, N. C. 27609.
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