The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1913-10-16
Club Formed Among Girls
of the Continuation School
Proves Most Attractive.
HIGHER IDEALS FOR WORKERS
Young Women i'll the Club Find Meet
ings Most Attractive Furnishing
Them with Many of the Charms of
Home--Mary New Members.

Visitors to Kenosha just now are
quite shocked by the lack of recrea-
tional facilities for the city's young
people No adequate Y. M. G. A. work
no +. w. G. A. or other central gath
ering place for young women; no pub
liz Fairgrounds or athletic fields, so
that all over the city games are going
on in vacant lots filled with broken
glass and tin cans and brick and stone,
increasing the hazards of any game
ten fold; 10 social center work being
done in the schools except in few
isolated instances; the great mass of
boys and girls and young men and
women thrown upon the streets for
most of their amusement, 1t is the
hope of the recreation association, re-
Gently launched, as well as of the
school board, the Y. M c. A., directors,
and many others, and all this may soon
be changed.
Meanwhile, it is not generally known
that very substantial beginnings have
been made of work with the girls Of
the city who are most needing friend
ship and guidance.
1t all started this way A public
sIj ~ed N%a WAS sisag ~ con-
t.nuatioa class II cooking one night
last spring. These continuation classes,
you remember, are foe those children
over fourteen who have a permit to
work in factories, with the condition
that they must attend this continuation
school certain number Of hours a
week. On thla night the places at the
tables were full, and in addition there
were ten or dozen girls standing
around the wall looking on.
What a pity" said the visitor,
"that you havenat enough places to ac-
commodate all the pupils, so that all
these have to miss the value of the
work.
Oh, we have enough for our regular
pupils, was the reply. These girls
around the wall have graduated from
this school; they are sixteen years or
overs they have just come back for
fun, to watch the Others; they come
week after week, because, though they
can t take part, they like it better here
than at home or walking the streets.
The visitor was stirred at the thought
of such wasted opportunity. FSee
here" she said, . this just shows that
you have gotten strong hold on these
former pupils of yours; it is too bad
to have to let them so when they are
so anxious to continue. Isn't there
something that can be done?'
Her friend looked at her minute.
"Let S start a club, " she said.
-And so a club was started. 1t had
fifteen OF those girls as charter mem
bers, many of them from the poorest
homes in the city. All summer and
fall they have been meeting weekly in
room of one of the school buildings.
But now there are fifty members, and
many more asking to come in. Girls
have had to be refused, because of lack
of accommodations.
Perhaps you are wondering what the
club does. Well, in the first place it
meets with these two women of friend
Illness and understanding; and Just that
weekly companionship means lot to
girls whose social relationships in home
and shop are SO pitifully inadequate
Then they elect two officers, secre.
tary and a treasurer, having new
election each month"; that all may have
chance to serve in these important
positions There is small member
shin see on joining, yet large enough to
give the club dignity-ten cents, in
fact, Then there is penny tax on all
the members the first of each month.
The club plans to use this fund to sub
scribe to one or two good magazines
which viii tier be ed around from
membe to member, ana incidentally
viii bring 4 new type Of literature IN
20 many house
But what 10 they do at the meetingsq
First there is singing; and what good
singing i is, and hos the girls love it,.