Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1913-08-03
SCHOOL BOARD IN :. b..ARTIC REGION United States Government Asked to Extend it's
 Educational System FEW ATTEND SCHOOL Territorial Legislature Memoralizes Coneres to Remedy Conditions
 There.
FEW ATTEND SCHOOL
BY JONATHAN WINFIELD

 tend their educational system in spite of any obstacle which may arise, is evidenced ia the action of the Legis- lature of the Territory of Alaska In memoraliZins Congress for the esv tablishment of school board in that | sub-Arctie region.
 The petition rccitcs that of the !, forty thousand mixed inhabitants of Alaska, three thousand attend school but that no supervisory board to oversee this education movement has been established. There are forty two white public schools in Alaska but many of them are carried on iln- der difficulties and their existence is due largely to the enterprise and progrcssiveness of the citizens rather than to any governmental aid. In view of the fact the United States government apprOpriates annually millions of dollars for education of the Indians, the people of Alaska believe that more aid should be giv- en them for the education of white children. Experts are provided by the government for the supervision of the education of the Indians, but, so far. little has been done in Alaska for the establishment of solid school system.
 The Territorial Legislature, in its memorial to Congress, asks that the board of education for Alaska be made up of the Governor of the Ter ritory, the Secretary and Treasurer and of two superintendents of schools to be appointed. The board is to have the right, the memorial prays, 1 to grant certificates to teachers and | diplomas to students. It is provided, however, that normal schools and state certificates from any of the | United State will be given full faith and credit in Alaska and will be ac- cepted as satisfactory evidence of the fitness of the holder of such to instruct in Alaska educational insti- tutions.
 A peculiar feature of the exami- nation prescribed for would-be teach CTS in Alaskan schools deals with hygiene. Applicants for positions will be examined with special ref erence to the nature and effects of alcoholic drinks and other narcotics and stimulants upon the human sys- tenn" Algerba, geography, history, literature and similar major subjects will be contained in the examination.
 The stress laid upon the hygienic side of education by the memorial of the Alaska Territorial Legislature is typical of the modern trend of thought in the schools of today. Hy- gienic education is coming to the front rapidly.
 "NO educational movement in mod ern times has had more vital rela- tions to the children, to the homes they represent, and to the nation, than medical supervision of school children and the general hygienic movement it typifies," says Philander P. Claxton, United States Commis- sioner of Education in a bulletin on medical inspection in schools recent l " hu hn 0e Education. In this work, Dr. Clax- ton points out that although the med ical inspection system in schools found root in this country but twen- l ty years ago, it has been establish ed so firmly as to have become one of the salient factors of any educa- tional institption. In nearly every school in the country the pupils are subject to medical inspection, es- pecially as to eyes, nose, throat, teeth and similar organs. The quarantine system has been developed highly with respect to contagious diseases among children who are public school pupils.
 Much has been done toward the-im- provement of the health of school children by the organization, ire. quently the agency of the federal Bureau of Education; of boys and girls clubs. Instruction ia health which could not we'll be introduced in the regular curriculae of public schools without overburdening them can be extended readily in these boys and girls club to be of in. creased benefit. Many of these clubs take the form of agricultural organi- zations. The boys and girls corr clubs. which have been fostered by the Department of Agriculture a, we'll known throughout the country