Evening star., 1925-01-18

was room for Improvement. In the
| first place, a condition existed that
would nave been unfavOrable TO any
age of either girls or boys-that Of
| lack of training time. This Spring
undertaking loomed up while the
Junior high schools were playing base
| ball and other activities that involved
| team work and frequent subordina-
! tion OF self for the benefit of the
group.
In the second place, the events of
| necessity were not suitable for girls
| in their early teens. and one or two
were not suitable for girls of any
age. The events listed were the So
| yard dash. the 60-yard low hurdles,
! the running high and the running
| broad jumps, the 440-yard relay, the
! basket ball throw for distance and
| the tug of war. Some of the events
were suitable under the existing con-
dtions, l. e., the basket ball throw
for distance. the 44o relay with eight
| for form. Others would have been
satisfactory in an atmosphere that
| was not so keenly ompetitive and
before q mixed audience.
Most of the track" athletics in
volve the efforts of contestants as
distinct individual, every one of the
! separate parts of each event depend
! ing solely on the efforts called forth
| by the one girl concerned. Now,
self-testing is all right in It's place.
| In track" athletics no girl can slide
| by on the work of her neighbor, nor
can her mistakes be covered up by
another She must be entirely indez
| pendent-on her own. But the place
| for self testing for the junior high
school age is in intra mural actiVi-
| ties and not on such an elaborate
scale as the typical Central stadium
features. Under such condition the
physical and mental strain is terrific
and the possible unfavorable social
results beyond reckoning.
1924 Event of Old Type.
| In effect the Junior High field and
track-meet for 1924 was of the old
order On the whole it was the same
kind of track meet that would have
been produced for girls in their early
teens 10 years ago, the kind that was
evolved for the college youth and
suitable for that Gloss. In the light
thrown on present day athletics by
| the collaboration of Psychologists,
psychologists and educators, that type
| of track meet is as out of date as a
program of physical education de-
voted to German and Swedish calls
themes and apparatus work.
However, the responsible parties
were aware of what was transpiring
and realized that 1t was means TO
an end that of actually getting to-
gether the junior high schools. In
the first year of existence for three
of the then four junior highs. there
was too much on the tables for the
personnel in question to evolve new
type of field meet. In the realm of
athletics as in every other depart
ment of the Junior highs, there is
much pioneer work to be done.
The Junior High teachers of
physical education are at work on
q new type of Spring athletic meet
to replace the model now in use. BY
the middle of March they hope to
submit a set of very definite plans
for the approval of DR.. Rebecca
Stoneroad, supervisor of girls physi-
cal education for the public and for
the approval of their respective prin-
cipals. At their meeting last Thurs
day at the Columbia Junior High
these teachers decided to resolve the
Spring event into a field meet. Old
landmarks probably will be present
in the form of relays and throwing
events, basket ball for distance and
base ball for accuracy. Innovations
. viii make their appearance In field