Norwich bulletin., 1921-11-10
NORWICH TOWN

In view of the fact that the Connecti- i cut Humane society is introducing sug- l gestions as to how the new law may be i compiled with in regard to humane edu- ] cation Tn the schools, General Manager 1 H. Clay Preston has sent the following 10 l the local agent, pr. Charles H. Lamb:
 For many years the Connecticut Hu- mane society has employed a school vls- itor in the Hartford district in furthering l humane sentiment among the younger children by story telling and forming bands of mercy. During the year the society hopes to reach the teachers in the larger eenters through an illustrated talk on Suggestions for Teaching Humaneness, which IS lecture Mrs. H. Clay Preston of Hartford, who has long been identified with humane education
 matters, has given many times in this and other states. Mrs. Preston is secre-
 tary of the New York state humane edu- cation committee and was instrumental in securing the passage of law in New
 York state after which the law seems to have been copied in Connecticut.
 A program concerning some practical features of humane education as mapped out by Mrs. Preston has been put into operation in New York in 55 of the schools on the lower East Side. with the object in view of clearing the streets of sick and homeless smalI. animals.
 In each of the schools Q letter was read daily in all of the rooms for a period of two weeks, reaching about S0,000 chill dren, explaining what was meant by the campaign. Instructions were given di- recting the children 10 temporary re- ceiying stations located in convenient places wJ,irh had been opened by the American Society for the Prevention or Cruelty to Animals. It cautioned chil- dren against picking up healthy animals, l advised against taking mother cats without kittens and= made it very plain that their work was not to be judged by 1 the numbers they picked up so much as l to the intelligence displayed in their ef- ! forts to rid the streets of these unhappy creatures. Thousands and thousands of animals we've rescued in this manner. ] During November the children are to 1 write essSys en How I Helped the Ani-
 mals on tf1e East Side This Summer. For 1 the best composition turned in in each
 school there is q 5 prize, including a 1 gold membership pin from the New York 1 society," Hundreds of bronze medals are to be awarded to other competitors and the league for animals is to give 2 prize l to each school in the district bringing in i the largest number of compositions.
 l Speaking of the work in New York I Mrs. Preston said
 The cooperation received from the
 board of education and from the teach
 CTS was simply wonderful. Not only in the district comprising the lower East 1 Side, whene tAe special campaign was l conducted but throughout the entire city
 in all of the five boroughs, there is de- sire on the part of the teachers to make humane instruction both practical and 3 real benefit"
 l A pamphlet witn suggestions for teach ing humaneness, arranged by Mrs. Pres
 tou, shas been adcptcd by the board of education in NlH York city as the sylia- bus on humaneneSs. A few years ago, when the subject of humane education ] was broached, Immediately there was op- position on the grounds thot it meant added burdens to the school people,. Since l it has been recognized that humaneness may be taught in correlation with other subjects, eliminating all thought of such l burdens on the part of the teachers, | whatever opposition existed has been wiped out. As one teacher expresses it {: It -eally offers a rather pleasant way of
 teaching some of the subjects that were i heretofore 8 bit ir1some..'
 The University of the State of New
 York at Albany has caused three or four i sillabi to be revised. correiating with l them very definite instructions regarding l animals and the valuable part they play l In nature. In one of the state normal
 schools there has been a humane club 1 formed and more recently incorporated with . membership among the faculty and student body of considerable num- 1 bers which not alone confines itself to 1 educational matters but goes into the
 details of regulating cruelty on the out side by putting up water stations and really doing something tangible to help lessen the burdens of the work hors scn. Wherever Mrs Preston has gone in 1 Connecticut there is 8 real interest shown 1 by school people in the subject Of humane l instruction. Ii would be difficult to enu- l nlerateL all of the many things that may