El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-09-02

, social center was purely social or
ganization with general helpfulness for
it's object.
AS the people of this club did not
belong to the class who went away
during the summer, the activities Of
the social center did not end with the
closing Of the school term. During the
hot summer the big, cool building was
opened both in the day time and even
ing. Mothers and children, whose
homes were one close, hot room, en-
joyed the air in the high ceilinged
halls and school rooms, even though
the school yard was too small to afford
much recreation space. In the evening
electric fans cooled the mems reading
room and made IL an attractive rival
to the corner saloon.
Rochester's Gymnasium.
The board of education Of Rochester,
New York, lately has applied itself TO
the development of the school social
center. and has several striking exam
pies OF this class of work Certain Of
the school houses have been equipped
with gymnasium, shower baths, chairs
and tables. travelling library from Al
bany, and set of table crockery-
Mems civic clubs, women's civic clubs
and coming civic clubs for the young
people are being organized. During
the early part of the week, these cluos
rotate in the use of the large assembly
room and various other facilities On
Friday evening the men and women
meet to gether, hear a lecture. enjoy
an entertainment Or a concert and fire.
uuently end the evening with dance
Sometimes all the clubs get together
for feed" They keep the gymna-
stun, piano and reading room in use
most of the time. Last winter, when
amusing features grew slack for the
men, they put up a number of debating
bouts and had several rival politicians
demonstrating their powers Of cam
paign oratory by exploiting the princi-
pies of their respective parties
Small Towns Ideas.
The utilization of the public school
building for social purposes in the
small towns is being largely developed
through the village Improvement So
cieties The work frequently starts
by the installation of a collection Of
books provided by the state travelling
library service. Certain evenings in
the week a volunteer librarian is pres
emit to exchange books This frequent
~ leads TO the formation Of a literary
club and later on classes in dancing,
Delsarte, amateur theatricals, and
many other things may develop. The
advantage Of having furnished build-
ing always accessible is in itself a
great inducement in the development
of such work. When teachers are not
available for instruction in these small
towns courses of study from CORES
pondence schools frequently give ex-
cellent results, especially II the leader
In the movement can illustrate them
upon the blackboard.
The establishment of vacation schools
directly under the auspices of the
board of education IS a social effort
which is now past the experimental
point in most of the largest cities
These schools continue throughout July
and August, frequently opening on the
Monday following the closing OF the
regular schools. The hours differ in
various cities. In Cleveland Ohio, II
has been found advisable to open va
cation schools at $3.50 in the morning
and close them at 1870 Few of these
schools have regular sessions IN the
afternoon, although in most cases the