The Elk Mountain pilot., 1923-11-15
JUNIOR RED CROSS
BROADENs SCOPE
OF SCHOOL WORK
School Children Of America Establish
Correspondence With Schools in
Other Countries.

An opportunity to greatly broaden
and enlarge the scope of work of the
school children of America which was
opened by the action of the last annual
convention of the National Educational
Association in San Francisco, is being
developed by the Junior Red Cross Of
America. A resolution endorsing in
very positive terms the international
school correspondence of the Junior
American Red Cross and urging
schools in this country to develop this
correspondence as far as and as thor
oughly as possible, was passed by the
Association, and educators of America
now are cooperating In the work.
A number of schools in America on
their own initiative already have or
ganized chapters of the Junior Red
Cross and established correspondence
with schools In Albania, Austria, Bel
gium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
France. Holland, Hungary, Italy,
Jugo-Slavia, Poland, Rumania, Scot
land, Switzerland, South Africa and
New Zealand. In some cases, they are
getting most interesting replies. In a
few instances such as Alaska, Hawaii,
the Philippines, Porto Rico and the
Virgin Islands, all Of which are Ameri-
can dependencies, there is an exchange
OF correspondence material which is
very helpful in working up the letters
going to the foreign children.
This work, so far, has been carried
on chiefly in the primary and interme-
diate grades of the public, parochial
I
and private schools where Junior Red
Cross chapters have been organized,
but all grades may participate in the
preparation of the material according
to the instructions sent out by the
Junior Red Cross Service in Washing
ton, and they include class letters, IL
lustrated or not, snapshots and post
cards; maps, drawings, photographs,
descriptions of interiors of homes and
schools, types of dress, games, Indus
tries and industrial processes, cutouts,
hand work-in fact. almost anything
that one set of children Is interested
in, because 1t is regarded as a certainty
that if children Of one nation find
something interesting, children of an
other nation, because they are chill
dren, will be interested in that same
| thing.
Portfolios are a good part of the
correspondence and such portfolios
| give motive for study and description
OF America and American life on the
part of the senders while they stimu-
late the recipients to like interest
in the affairs and happenings in their
own country. The benefit thereof is
manifold. Children who hate geog-
raphy find their interest in this dry
study awakened by wanting to know
just where their letters are going. His
tory, also distasteful to many, is made
pleasant pastime for the same rea-
son, and languages become absorbingly
interesting because the American chill
dren want to know something about
the difference in the words which they
use and those which their correspond
ents across the sea use to mean the
same thing.
EducatiOnally, all this is of high
value, in the opinion of American edu-
Gators. internationally, 1t is of still
greater value, in the opinion of those
who are promoting the undertaking,
because 1t definitely promotes interpa-
tonal understanding and friendship
and leads, therefore, into international
peace. To the school, the teacher and
the community, 1t presents new line
Of endeavor and a new opportunity for
broadening the viewpoint Ol the
Whole, educators al over the country
believe that 1t is the longest step for
ward for international understanding
which has been taken in many years.