Evening star., 1940-04-14
Maryland Youth Grows With Hobby Phoographng
just
| Between
Yourselves
by PHILIP n. LOVE.
yunioe star Hdiser.

Sun1oe 0Sat 30ltor.
During the last year The Junior
Star has received written material
in one form or another from thou
sands Of boys and girls. And up to
now every one Of these young cor
respondents has been q member Of
the student body Of some school,
either In the District or In nearby
Maryland or Virginia. Not only
that, but every piece Of writing re-
ceived thus far has shown at least
. passable amount of ability in the
art Of putting words together.
1t Is no wonder, then, that was
surprised the other day to read that
3 out Of every 100 boys who enroll
IN the Civilian Conservation Corps
can neither read nor write. Ac-
cording to an ofncial statement from
the G. G. c., "some new enrollees are
not able to sign their names to the
pay roll or count the money they re-
ceive":: others are "able to read, but
cannot write or do simple arithmetic.
These G. G. G. illiterates," the state
ment adds, "are largely white boys,
II to 23 years Of age"
Workbook Il Issued.
To remedy this unhappy situation,
. workbook-written especially for
the c. G. C.'s illiterates and tried
out satisfactorily during the last few
months-has been made available for
educational classes In all the organi-
zation's camps. The new book, 1t
Is believed on the basis of the try
outs, win enable the average G. c. G.
illiterate to learn to read q news
paper and write . letter in about
three months.
The ages of readers Of The Junior
Star range, for the most part, from
3 to 10, though there are . few who
are older and also . few who are
younger. wonder If these boys and
girls, regardless Of their ages, realize
how fortunate they are to be able
to read and write? Do you-just
for instance?
Until I came across this G. c. c.
statement, I had the impression that
illiteracy was very nearly a thing
Of the past In these enlightened
United States. And yet the c. c. c.,
according to the same statement,
has found 1t necessary, during its
comparatively few years of existence,
to. teach 10000 of its members to
read and write!
Blessed In Ability.
Yes, you boys and girls who read
this page every Sunday are blessed
in your ability to use and UNDER
stand written words. But there Is
immensely more to education than
the mere ability to read and write.
Reading and writing, as a matter
Of fact, are only the keys that en-
able us to open the doors to greater
and more valuable knowledge.
Sometimes, I know, schoolwork
becomes tiresome. At such times
you may feel an urged to shirk 1t
TO throw 1t out the window, as the
saying Is, in favor Of some more
exciting pastime. At such times,
too, you older boys and girls may
feel like quitting school to look for
q job. At such times-well, those
are the times when you should re-
member those 10000 c. c. c. mem
bers from II to 23 who had to be
taught to read and write, who had
to learn to sign their names to
the pay roll and to count their
money!
So Sorry!
In q story printed recently on
this page, 1t was stated that the
dummy school patrolmen used at
Ben w. Murch School were made
in the Alice Deal Junior High
School woodshop. To give credit
where it rightfully is due, the dunn
mics were made by Woodrow Will
son High School students under the
direction of william Baxter, wood
shop teacher, and Mrs. Marguerite
Mulford. head Of the w. w. art
department.
Junior Jottings.
Robert Stevens, Cottage City.
Nd, asks: Would you please let
me know If it would be possible
to have photographers as well as
news correspondents for The Junior
Starr" Yes, stree, Bob-but the pic
ture-takers' work will have to be
just as good as that of the reporters
Ruth Davis. II, Brightwood
School, writes: when came home
from my Easter vacation, I hurried
to get the mail before anyone else
could get hold Of it. was hoping
to find some mail for myself, and I
wasn't disappointed. It was . letter
from The Junior Star, and what
I had been hoping fora reporters
card. You can't imagine how glad
was to get It'll"