New Britain herald., 1926-05-27
PHASIZES VALUE :: CHURCH SCHOOLS
!. Warren N. BIOdgett Speaks
 at Banquet of Workers


 peraIion marked the first annual .
 lquet of church school workers in 1
 four churches that are cooper .
 lg in the United Week Day
 lrch schools when 127 teachers .
 officers Of church schools gath 1
 q in the dining hall of the First
 irch at 6:30 o'clock last night to
 r the high school orchestra, talks
 the Vacation Church school and
 Week Day Church schools, songs .
 ! stunts. and an address by Rev. 1
 .rren M Blodgett, minister of re- lous education in the First church. Principal Louis !. Slade welcomed } guests to the First church. He
 n introduced Rev. Raymond x.
 man, pastor of the Stanley Me prial church. who served as toast
 aster. The young people of Trinity
 .thodist church put on two clever
 nts. Delegations from the First
 urch and the Methodist church
 lg songs which were especially
 imposed for the occasion. The high hool orchestra under the direction
 c. B. Matthews. played several III chosen numbers.
 Oscar A. Marsh spoke in behalf of
 D Vacation Church school. He an .unced that Mrs. Charles r. Hale is
 ing to head the school again this Is year. She has done exceptional )rk in the last few years, he said. le school has grown so that two
 urches instead of one are to be ,ened this summer. Children from 1 denominations and Creeds enroll. ley receive instruction five days a eek for four weeks.
 A. Tyson Hancock spoke of the
 ar's work in the United Week Day hurch schools. He said that the pertinent has been a success. There As been a net increase of 5l in en- bllment. The success has been lrgely due to the splendid cooper lion between the four churches and . the fine body of men and women .ho have given unstintedly of their me and energy, he said.
 Rev. Mir. Blodgett gave report of le quadrennial convention of the h. irrational Council of Religious Ed cation recently held in Birming- am, Alabama. He spoke in part as blows:
 There are enough of us here to et up a standard training school h New Britain. The denominations Ind the international has certain tandards for such community ichools. They are within our reach. The course must run ten hours. Eatisfactory instructors and text books have to be used. Four courses must be offered. When these re- tuirements are met credit is issued 10 the students. Twelve units of credit are required for a diploma. Zach one of us will want to possess ,ne of these diplomas or it's equiva- ent as a credential of fitness to each the Christian religion to our ooys and girls. Let us set this as our goal. Every teacher a trained .eacher.
 There is one more and very im- portant avenue of training open to most of us if we plan early enough to avail ourselves of 1t. ] refer to the summer schools and confer ences on religious education. Sev- eral will be held nearby. Storrs college, Wesleyan university and NorthheId will open the.r doors for students of religious education this summer. Many make this a vaca- tion, combining study and recrea- tion. All of the schools are stand ard. Some are arranged by your denomination and some are inter- denominational. If you possibly can go. let me urge you to do so. You will profit by the experience and you will increase your usefulness to the church many fold.
 The new curriculum based upon experience Is going to unable the average teacher with proper training and experience 10 do what the ex- ceptional teacher did formerly. The new idea in curriculum building is simply this:
 Start with the child and his eX- perience. Discover his personal problems, his relations at home, ir school, on the playground and ir church. Lead him to interpret these with the mind and spirit of Christ For example, most children are tempted to bluff their parents and their teachers and their playmates In a class they can he led to see that this is q cheap way to live, Ther they can be referred to the life oi Jesus. They will view him with new interest when they discover that he had many opportunities to save him. self by bluffing but he never did il He played the game of life out 1T the open. He was always fore square with the world. Even thougl 1t cost him his life upon the cross For htis kind of teaching we neec OlllPrPlJ hluuS Ol IHGlSI ldIS II Oli those usually furnished. We need ( looseleaf source book full of storie! and examples, carefully wordec questions, pictures and a general out line to follow with suggestions or how to discover the basic interests of boys and girls. and how to selec material from the source supply tC fit the particular problems discov cred.
 Bible facts will be taught lnfor nation from a book will be impartet but this is the difference. They vii be brought in for consumption b! the pupils only when the pupils neet them to solve particular problem which they feel as real and vital Information learned in this way vii be used. And when it is used it vii transform the lives of the boys anc girls.
 "Furthermore we shall thrust th' children into new experience. Thii can be done through stories, letters from missionaries and others doint