Page:The spirit of the leader (IA spiritofleader00heyl).pdf/234

 "What you want from me," he said, "is principally advice—right?"

"Right," said Praska.

"You've got two ways to reach people, word of mouth and the printed word. You must use the Breeze."

"We're going to. That's all been planned."

"Good. That reaches the parents of eight hundred students. You want to hammer away on two things, why the school should have an athletic field, and what it will cost. You can easily figure the cost. Go down to the Tax Assessor's office in the City Hall. Find out what figure the city puts on those lots in back of the high school for taxing purposes. Taxing value is always less than market value. In this town, add about forty per cent. to the taxing value and you'll have a fair market selling price. Then keep yelling about how little it will cost each taxpayer."

Praska had drawn pencil and paper from his pockets and was making notes.

"Now for your word of mouth campaign. Every Northfield student must do missionary work at home and with the next door neighbors. Each student must centralize on just that—his own family and the families next door. Don't spread your fire; center it on the people who know you. The athletic field is a side issue in this