Evening star., 1916-09-17
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT Is DOING

Schools throughout tho country are
opening. and ono Of the questions that
come up for consideration
0pen-Air by officials Of the bureau
| c- OF education is that of the
| 9"1"' open-air school. open-air
schools represent one Of tho latest de-
| velopments in public school organiza-
tion. They came as the result OF a de-
sire for better conservation of the
health of those children who were un-
able to profit physically and mentally
by tho life and work Of regular indoor
schools.
According to officials of the bureau Of
| education who have made special
study Of these schools, the original ones
! were located in forests. This fact had an
important influence in the selection OF
sites upon which open-air school build
ings were to be built. The forest plan
has not been followed generally in the
United States, however. In a few nota-
BILE cases parks and large grounds have
been utilized for this purpose. but many
American open-air schools are on the
roofs of city buildings, in old school
houses, or on vacant lots and beaches.
In Europe, on the other hand, the ar
rangements of buildings and the choice
of sites for open-air schools have fol-
lowed in general the lines laid down in
the original open-air school at Char
lottenburg, Germany, situated in a
beautiful pine forest.
Indoor schools. according to the gov
ernment experts. have for the most
part grown and developed under the
idea that teachers had to do with the
minds and not with the bodies of chill
dren, while open-air schools are based
on the conception that the first essen
tial to a worthy education is sound
an error of assuming that mind is not
closely associated with the physical
body, and that early mental training
was paramount to the demands of
health: that the latter have grown out
of a new emphasis on the value Of
health and physical soundness and re-
Gently discovered facts bearing on the
nature of certain diseases and the best
methods Of protecting human life from
the possible effects of these diseases.
Officials of the bureau of education,
who have had recent occasion to look
carefully into the question of openair
schools, are forecastfng the time when
these schools will be extended to the
whole school population. This seems
reasonable to these experts after hav-
ing seen some Of the wonderful results
already obtained by the schools
Some heat is desirable in classrooms
In open-air schools, especially In the
northern latitudes of this country ac-
cording to the experts. The dining
room, kitchen. showers and toilets
should always be properly heated. they
point out. Many open-air schools have
absolutely no heat In the classroom. but
this makes it necessary in cold weather
to use soapstones. extra foot covering,
electric warmers or other devices. Even
these expedients, the bureau men say.
though they incur Inconvenience and
expense, are preferable to a schoolroom
kept alright in order to conserve the
heat. 1t Is said that the ideal equip
ment for an open-air school is still in
process of evolution. The United States
has been able to learn little from Eu-
rope in this regard, because European
open-air schools are. for the most part,
in session only from May until October.
and the weather, save in the extreme
cast, seldom attains the severity which
II does in the northern states of this
country. American cities that carry on
fresh-air schools for public school chill
dren in very cold weather are still re-
sorting to all kinds of experimental de-
vices to protect the children from storm
and cold.
One Of the problems of the open-air
schools, officials say. is the proper
clothing of the children. The personal
equipment needed varies with the loca
ton of the class. Pupils in a classroom
on roof. or in an unheated recitation
room, exposed to strong winds, will re-
quire heavier and more elaborate cloth
ing than children in an window
room receiving some heat. Oper-air
school pupils soon come to take a queer
pride in their ability to withstand cold
it has been found. Zero weather chal-
lenges their reputation, and rather than
surrender to a mere thermometer they
will assert, even while their teeth are
chattering and their noses blue and
pinched, that they are perfectly COM
Portable"