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27 3 School of Life As I was about to undertake the writing of this chapter, a letter came to us from one of our former students who is now enjoying a fellowship in a university in America where he is doing graduate work. In his letter he tells what the American School for Boys in Baghdad has meant to him. He says that the school had always been more than just a school; that it ought to be called “School of Life.” This at once suggested to me the underlying thought of the chapter. Quoting from his letter in part, it reads, “During this Christmas season, I would very much like to acknowledge some of the things for which I am thankful, and many of these thanks go to you and the American School for Boys. . . . To it I owe the most important thing which I possess and that is my attitude toward life, my way of thinking . . . The American School for Boys may be called School of Life.” The letter expresses precisely what we had always wished the school to be. We were desirous that the boys under our tutelage should lack nothing which the best in education could bring them; but we were equally desirous, if not more so, that every boy should grow in wisdom as well as in knowledge, should respond to goodness as well as to instruction, and should acquire the right attitude toward life: an attitude of love and a love of service. For a time we were unable to measure the academic standards and the general ability of our high school students, until we had the opportunity to judge them by their achievements as students abroad. Those who continued their education in colleges, universities, and technical schools in England, America, or the Near East really amazed us with their scholastic attainments. Many had become honor students and were already put on the dean’s list at the end of the freshman year. In a university of , 28 • Living in Romantic Baghdad students one of our alumni received the highest grades in the freshman class. Another in his first year showed such outstanding ability that he won for himself a place in every important campus organization. Still another was awarded an annual prize for being the top student in character and leadership after he had been in his college for only a year and a half. Teamwork was the key to much of our success. My husband and I worked cooperatively, and to a large extent complemented each other. One reason why our public functions were such a success and were so thoroughly enjoyed by everybody was in a measure due to this cooperation . But the credit did not belong to my husband and me alone. We always had teachers who entered into the spirit of the school, and who were efficient and devoted co-laborers. Possibly they had imbibed from us something of the joy and the zest for work. Not a few of our fine teachers were graduates of the American University of Beirut, mostly from Lebanon and Syria. We were never able to afford many Americans, though we usually had one or two. The school pioneered in having lady teachers in a boys’ school in this part of the world. And to the surprise of everybody they were a great success . It was indeed more or less an experiment to have women teachers in a school made up of adolescent boys; and this, too, at a time when it was generally taken for granted that women were mentally inferior to men. I have such a fund of happy memories associated with these lady teachers . Some were regular teachers in high schools and colleges in America who gave us their sabbatical year; others were teaching their way around the world; while others came to stay with us for a few years. These were not only universally accepted but also honored, loved, and respected. What enthusiasm they created for study! What an inspiration they were in the classroom! They put on fine plays, trained boys to recite and orate, helped with the music, taught table manners, and assisted in entertaining people of the city and visitors from abroad. That they came to be generally recognized as having brains on a par with men was a step forward in the emancipation of women in this part of the world. What really made this school to be more than just a school...

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