Evening star., 1939-01-01
School Work
Described as
Adventure
Study Should Not
Be Considered
A Grind
BY PHILIP H. LOVE,

AAdPPy NC" 1Cdl, UOyS dIlu SlTlS.
The holidays are just about over,
and you'll soon be back in school
back to the old grind" we've heard
some children say.
But school work isn't grind"
really, and shouldn't be regarded as
such. 1t is, rather, an adventure
and one that is ended all too
quickly.
All mankind is born in ignorance,
and much of 1t dies in the same
state. Despite our fine educational
system, we still have in this country
more than 100000 men and women
who can neither read nor write.
In Washington alone there are some
5000 such persons
4 X
Can you imagine yourself being
unable to read and write?
The words printed on this page
would be meaningless to you, unless
you could induce some friend to
read them to you The radio and
the conversation of your acquaint-
ances would be your only source Of
news and other information. If
you were away from home and
wanted to send letter to your mo-
ther and father, you'd have to call
on one of your friends-or perhaps
even stranger-to do your writing
Tor you. In fact, you wouldn't even
have been able to send your parents
a card this Christmas without per-
C1loH1no n1c 10 ~ir
name and address the envelope!'
You think of Christopher Colum-
bus as daring adventurer, a sailor
willing to risk his life and the lives
of his followers to explore the vast
reaches of the uncharted seas. But
did you ever stop to think that every
school child is an explorer, too?
OF course, the Sea of knowledge
is rather thoroughly charted now,
and your life is in no way in dan
ger as you cruise through it's smooth
waters, but you are embarked on an
adventure, just the same. Learning
to read and write was an adventure
at first, and since then your school
work has been just one exploring
expedition after another-expedi-
tions into arithmetic, history, geo.
graphy, science and other subjects,
all as mystifying to you at the out
set as the unknown reaches of the
seas were to Columbus in 1892.
Junior jottings: Jeanette Con-
life, 9, of 544 Hobart street NV,
writes in to report that the most
exciting adventure of her life oc-
Cured when she was only 3
Mother and I were downtown
shopping, and I wandered away"
she says. Thinking mother had
got on an elevator, I got on, too
The doors closed, and I began to
cry. Just then, mother came te
me and she bought me an ice cream
sandwich and a glass OF rootbeer tc
make me feel better" Jean
Watkins, II, of Monrovia, Md, is
collecting chewing gum wrappers as
a hobby. Thus far, she has ac-
cumulated about 20 different
kinds she says. Barbara
Mitchell of Silver Spring, Md, who
neglected to state her age, wants
us to know she had "a narrow
escape" when she bumped into the
window of store while roller
skating AS it was, she cut hel
neck Sheila Young. II, OF
SOB Maple Ridge road, Silver Spring
claims that girls can now NOV
lawns as we'll as boys" And she
ought to know, because she anc
her twin sister Shirley made a gooc
deal of money by moving lawn.
last summer. And speaking
of moving lawns, Doris Benson. 13
reports that she and her sister
caused considerable excitement
when they undertook to burn tbs
tall dried grass" near their home or
Huntley avenue, Berwyn. Md. The
grass caught on fire in a great
hurry" she writes, land we coulo
not handle it, We called the rest
of the family, and some of us took
buckets of water, while others took
brooms with which we beat the fire
out" A trip to Charlottes-
vile, Va, is described in a letter
from Mary Elizabeth Reeder, II, OF
Newburg, Md. The most exciting
moment of the trip, she says, oc-
CURED at Orange. "A man came
out of side road without seeing us
and he hit us broadside," she re.
lates This caused us to turn COM
pletely around. When the car set.
tied down, we discovered it was
about two feet from a deep ditch
and a telephone pole. I am very
thankful that every one got out all
right" Elinor PALMER, 13, of 6615
Harlan place NV, writes: my
hobby is cooking. and 1 have beer
cooking things since was years
old. I like TO cook cakes anc
pastries particularly" Yum-yum!