Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-23
HOLIDAY EXERCISES
PROGRAM CARRIED OUT IN THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Pupils Take Part in the Ante Christmas
Services-A Notable
Example.

| The children of Washington get their
| Christmas in such liberal doses that IL
! would appear they of all youngsters should
| be satisfied with what the kind fates deal
| out to them. Within the past few years
| the beginning Of their holiday has been sig
| nalized with festival In their schools then
came the home Christmas and afterward
| the church celebration. Beginning modest
| ly, the teachers have gradually extended
| their Christmas celebrations until now the
| entertainments given the day before the
| holiday closing of the schools is one Of the
| most extensive exercises of the year.
! In the olden time, it is related. before the
present generation Of school children en-
| tered upon the work of acquiring an edu-
cation, it was the custom for the scholars
| to bring small gifts to the teacher on the
day school closed for the Christmas hoL-
| days. Now the conditions are reversed, the
modern child is not permitted to make
! gifts to his teacher. On the other hand,
! the teacher is the Santa Claus. In some
schools the custom OF having entertain
ments on closing day was inaugurated sew
! eral years ago and the children have
almost the same amount Of expectation
| they await the coming Of Santa Claus to
| their homes.
Regarded as a New Idea.
Their expectations are based on sound
and solid reason, too. The development OF
| the social side Of the scholar is a new idea
Friday afternoons were in the old days
| sometimes reserved for Exhibition" pur-
poses, when the children were permitted to
declaim and "elocute' to their hearts con-
| tent, but the programs OF the old days
were as nothing to what is done in modern
| times. The burden Of all the modern cele-
| bra ia teachers although Inc
| program is generally made up OF exercises
| in which the children participate. The
| scope of the celebrations Is left entirely to
the Individual teacher. When these cele-
| brations first came into vogue the enter
| tainments were held by individual classes
| or grades. In some schools this system
prevails at present, but in the vast ma
| jority Of public institutions of learning the
| Christmas, Washington's birthday and Flag
| day celebrations are held by all the pupils
| of all the grades in one building Jointly.
| This gives the managers better opportu-
nifty to prepare a program and larger
| field from which to select the talent.
Exercises Yesterday Afternoon.
In almost every one of the public schools
of the District yesterday afternoon the
coming of the holiday season was hailed
| with music and recitation. The children
| were, as a rule, gathered from all the
grades in the largest hall or room in the
1
| given over to celebration. At some of the
| schools the supervising principal or a mem
| Der of the board Of educa ton presided over
the exercises, and in some instances the
| program was frightened by addresses from
prominent men.
| An excellent sample Of the manner in
| which the exercises were carried out was
| furnished by the pupils of the Jefferson
| School building, Mr.. c. H. Thompson, prin-
| cipal, yesterday afternoon.
| The Jefferson is probably the largest
graded school building in the city, and al
| most thousand pupils are taught in the
| different grades there This building is also
| fortunate in possessing an assembly hall
| on the top floor, where such exercises as
| those of yesterday can be easily held. The
] pupils in attendance at the Jefferson yes
| terday were marched into the assembly hall
| at 1:30 o'clock, and many delighted young
| sters made audible expression of their sur
| there.
| Seated about the rear Of the hall were
| many of the parents and friends of the pu-
pills, while on the large stage was an enor-
| nous Christmas tree, ablaze with tiny cam
| dies, the lights of which flashed and danced
| In reflection on yards and yards Of tinsel
| and hundreds of pretty tree ornaments
The room was darkened when the chill
| dren entered, and the tree and it's brilliant
| decorations stood out boldly in the gloom.
AS soon as all were seated the candles on
| the tree were extingushed and the curtains
! raised to admit the light. The decoration
! of the tree and the hall was the work of
| Prof Thompson and his excellent corps of
| teachers.
| The Special Guests.
AS special guests for the afternoon the
| children entertained Mr.. ]. Holdsworth Cor
don of the board of education; Mr. Isaac
Fairbrother, supervising principal of the
division in which the Jefferson building is
located; Mrs. Fairbrother and representa-
| tive of The Evening Star The program
was furnished entirely by the pupils who
! were heartily congratulated a the close by
Mr.. Gordon and Mr.. Fairbrother. The schol-
ars were dismissed to their rooms by Prof
| Thompson in short address, in which he
| wished them a happy Christmas.
| The program was made up of Rotations
and music, each number being we'll rendered
| and heartily applauded Those who took
part in the entertainment were John Car
| penter, Allene McQuay, Esther Dakin, Mar
| ion Miller, Lael Rose, Ruby Carpenter.
Clinton Ford. Alleene Tiller, Florence Step
James Shumate, Julia Gross, Barbara VIE
gand, Gladys Miller, Hazel Tune and
| Amanda Collins
In addition to the individual numbers on
| the program there were a number of cho-
ruses by the assembled schools, all of which
| were well rendered. The Accompaniment
were played by Miss Winter
| The Webster School.
The eighth grade Webster School held it's
| annual Christmas entertainment yesterday
afternoon. 1t was full of excitement, from
the contemplation of Santa Claus down to
Mrs. Wigs CT the Cabbage Patch. The
1 first thing on the program was a recitation
by Miss Newton on the ''Origin of Cos
| tunes" A procession consisting of such
| curious ones as Mother Hubbard Mrs
| Wigs of the Cabbage Patch, Santa Claus
| and others strolled about the building beat
| Ing drums and blowing horns until the par
Elephants reached the different rooms, where
| they sang Christmas hymns. AS soon as
| the pupils reached their own rooms Santa
| Claus gave out presents. Those who par
| t1c1pated We're Misses Hubbard, Fishel
| Swing, Pritchard, Goldsmith, Newton. Arm
strong and Messrs. Main. Isemann, Rosen-
| blot, Hahn and Costello.