The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-30

Exclusve Service The Survey Press Bureau)
 The problem of vacatioH is stumbling block in the path of educators. This pro- tracted period of relaxed and often und-
 rected living now over for another year,
 absolutely necessary to the welfare of the
 teaching forces is for the pupils a time of danger, Intellectually, morally and even physically. In New York city alone from Westches- ter to Coney Island, nearly a million chill dren, herded together in tenements, ,ln- der conditions during the summer neat which the inexperienced imagination can not picture. are without occupation from June to September and with no play ground except the street. The restraining influences which the public schools exert during ten months of the year are during vacation suspended, and because children, like other human beings, can not tolerate
 inaction, therefore juvenile crime and delinquency" are at their flood tide in summer.
 This peril, many will argue. it is ehe l function of the state to meet. This is un- ] deniable, and in recent years the state | has realized this fact But the state was | at least partly anticipated in this reaiza- l tion by the church. Ten years in New York, group of clergymen and teachers | from the Baptist City Mission society who believed that the church had duty | to the city's childhood-a duty for which | the already overworked public school sys- | tenn had not, even yet, made full provis- | ion, met and formulated a plan by which
 certain churches in the crowded districts | should open their doors each morning
 during July and August to children under | 14 irrespective of creed, nationality or l color. Here were to be conducted schools l suited in their curriculum to the exigen-
 cies of the hot days, which should aim | to keep the little ones off the streets, and l to surround them with wholesome, inspr- | ing influences. The teaching force was to | be enlisted. not from the already fatiSled
 men and women of the public schools, but | from young, enthusiastic college students, | who would it was believed, convey live- | ly spirit of intelligent optimism, more | cumulative of summer ennui than rigor-
 ous public school discipline.
 In 1901 five such schools were opened by
 the Baptist mission. Thousands of chill
 dren flocked to the schools. In 1905, the Federation of Churches and Christian Or l ganizaton in New York city took up the | movement. This was an advance, for now | all denominations were to join in this fIu- manitarian enterprise. No special fund | was provided for these schools. but the | board of directors of the federation oon- | tributed literally to their financial sup | port. In 1907 the federation joined forces l with the Baptist City Mission, bringing | the two groups of schools under the single dictatorship of Rev. Charles IT. Sears of the latter organization This arrange
 ment remains in force today, and the
 schools, though distinct in support and
 government, are identical in character and | supervision.
 | The daily programme consists of TWO
 hours, the first of which is given mp to
 concerted action Brief devotional exer-
 cises are held which are strictly undenon-
 national in character. A music lesson | follows, during which songs chiefly on
 nature subjects or patriotic themes, are
 taught with the hope of Exhibiting the | taste for rag time. Then comes the Bible
 story--a difficult feat for the leader, who | must in this be teacher and not a preacher if he is to hold his children. Simple hero tales are selected to stimulate
 the children's natural love of the wonder full. Once a week is given practical dem
 onstration of first aid to the injured, and
 health talks on right food, pure air and
 cleanliness prove of value.
 | The second hour sees the school divided | for the industrial work into various de-
 partments. Hammock making is provided | for the older boys, sewing for the older
 girls, and basketry and raffia work for the younger children. A few play schools
 have been introduced. but experience has
 proved in most cases that the children | prefer to work rather than to play.
 Public interest in the extension of this
 worl, is growing. It is impossible for the
 churches of New York, many of which
 are already struggling for self support
 entirely to finance an undertaking so ox- tensive. Tn the summer of 1907 John Bauer. now professor of economies in
 Cornell university, but then a student in
 the graduate department of Yale. solicited and received substantial assistance for his
 vacation school. all the way from a Sun ] day school in Benkelman, Neb., which lie
 had attended as boy on his arrival from