Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-06-21
SCHOOL ENDS TODAY
Thousands of Children Happy
as Doors Are Closed.
ALL WEAR BROAD SMILES
Clean Clothes and Clean Faces Also
Apparent at Every School.
REGULATIONS AND
SONGS
Pupils in the Grades Hold Closing
Exercises in Which All Take
Prominent Part.

When the sun came up on this, the long
est day of the year, 1t could have peeped
into thousands OF bedroom windows,
where thousands of school children were
sleeping with smiles upon their faces
heaps of experience, ii could have said to
itself:
'I'll bet my halo that this is the last
day Of school,"
Imagine the sun making bet and los
ing It. More nearly nfallible than even
the weather bureau, the June sun has
come up on so many last days of school
that it knows just what kind Of sweet
little smile plays on the faces Of little
children in the early morning. just at
the time when the dim subconsciousness
awakes to whisper in the active little
minds:
Hurry, Your clean clothes are all laid
out by your bed. This is the last day of
school"
This festival of clean clothes and clean
faces and wet hair on little boys was
going on wherever there is a schoolhouse
in the District of Columbia today.
Somehow or other school children
and the sight of them clean and fresh
and pretty and starched never grows
stale. They are the performers who
don't have to change their acts. They
did the same thing last year and the
year before and the year before, and 50
on away back into the little red
schoolhouse days when every boy tried
TO Initiate "Danl" Webster and every
girl had heard of Florence Nightin-
gale and Grace Darling. They did it
this morning, too. making their en-
frances under the June sky with the
same pretty freshness that always
comes to sunny last day Of school
Last-Day-of-Scho Smile.
OF course. the mills were working
and the Office forces were busy at their
ledgers. but the business of the day
was to be found in the fifty thousand
little children who frightened it with
their smiles-and that last-day-of-
school smile is certainly a great smile
1T was a smile that would make peo-
pie stop and say:
Why. look at those children, Oh. /
know. of course. this is the last day Of
school,
Being girl, especially a very little
girl, on the last day of school is to rival
the prettiest things that the old sun who
bet his halo ever saw. There are several
thousand of them in this town, and all of
them had on skirts today which stuck
right out straight. Little skirts they are.
rfal, bob.
and from which protrude little legs of
varying chubbiness. and the chubbiness
ends down near the ground somewhere,
in cute little combination of socks and
slippers.
The high school graduate has her in
nings in her simple graduation gown,
and the clever normal school girl gains
plaudits through her wonderful class
days and amateur plays-but is she in II
with the little graduate of the kinder
garten or the first grade with her chubby
legs ending In pink socks?
Boys Do Honors, Also.
The boys who did honor to this last day
Of school did it by bucketfuls of water
slicked on the errant hair, which or
dinarily goes unslicked. 1t would have
been task to count up the slicked hair
on the young fellows from the graded
schools today. And oh, what stiff col
lars and such bright neckties and shined-
~ shoes, which reflected the suns June
rays They were not quite SO dainty
and simpering the little girls. for
most of the boys played ball on the
school lot between S:4o and clock this
morning, as usual but they were fairly
well shined up, all right. They were
tribe potter than usual, because they
felt the CALLING influence of stiff col
lar
Certain schools are not included In the
last day" All the practice schools
were closed for good yesterday. These
are the schools in connection with the
normal schools, which were closed yes
terday There are but few of them.
And why? Hist. There is a good rea-
son The normal school girls at the
Franklin couldn't teach any schools to-
day; they were all engaged in making
an enormous daisy chain which they will
carry upon the stage as they begin their
Exercises In Eighth Grade.
Graduation exercises for every eighth
grade were held in the various divisions
OF the schools today The grades com
bined, SO that all the eighth grades in
each division held their exercises jointly
al a central building. All of the high
school buildings were utilized for the pur
pose. The pupils VINO nave pisSeu through
the eighth grades of the school were
given certificates to that effect. These
certificates have been In use In the
schools for q year and q half. and ac-
oording to Supt. Stuart have resulted in
keeping many children in school until the
last day.
The classes Of the second division held
their exercises at the Fl. d. Cooke School
the principal address being made by Rep
resentative julius Kahn Of California.
Capt. James F. Oyster. president OF the
hoard of education, presided. Rev. Earle
Wiley also spoke. Diplomas were pre-
sented by B. w. Murch, supervising prin-
cipaI of the division. Musical numbers
completed the program
Representative l.. c. Dyer OF Missouri
spoke at the exercises OF the fourth d.
vision. He dwelt especially on the fact
that 40 many children OF foreign parent
age were ing sent to the schools. Di-
nIomas were presented by Harry O. Hine.
secretary Of the board OF education w
r. Patterson. supervising principal Of the
division presided.
Myron j. Jones delivered the principal
address to the classes of the fifth divi-
sion. at their exercise at Mckinley Man
nal Training School. Selden NJ. Ely, su-
! p.rvising principal OF the fifth division,
presided, and made n brief address. Mrs
! Elizabeth Hoeke. member of the board
! 90 education presented the diplomas In