Evening star., 1951-10-28
Education
If You Won't to Learn,
This Is the Place
By Frank Sortwell, Jr.

Washingtonians can learn almost
anything they have mind to IN their
spare time.
Evening classes are available IN q
fantastic diversity Of subjects-from
Gaelic and Hebrew through more
common educational subjects down
to contract bridge. dancing and rug
making. And all of it's free, or at
low cost.
The District public schools, for
example, maintain a night program
that offers basic high school courses
English, mathematics, history.
chemistry, physics and the secretarial
skills-in addition to more specialized
subjects such as Russian, advertising
art, millinery, barbering and steam
fitting.
The schools publish q catalogue,
available from c. c. Knight at Roose-
welt High School, Thirteenth ana
Upshur streets NV. And If the book
doesn't offer the subject OF your
choice, the schools stand ready to add
any other high school course for
which there is great enough demand.
The Federal Government gets into
the adult education picture through
the Department OF Agriculture Grad
uate School, founded in 1921 to give
fundamental. education OF high
quality and to increase effective
ness in the Federal service" 1t Is
also open to persons not working Tor
the Government.
5000 Enrolled
More than 5000 students are en-
rolled In some 800 courses there.
Public administration and Federal
procedures, Of course, are taught, but
a broad program OF college WORK Is
also given-English, foreign IAN
puages. social studies, mathematics,
the sciences and even home eco
nomics, painting and photography.
The Graduate School has tle-n
with the University OF Maryland.
Work taken under the departments
auspices may be applied toward de-
grees at the university.
"Pentagon u" is in fuH SWING
across the river. The mushroomlng
of an informal French class, "Old
P. u" is now teaching almost 5000
semester hours of college credit
classes in conjunction with Catholic,
Maryland and George Washington
Universities. This includes courses
at the Pentagon itself, and at Fort
Belvoir and Vint Hill Farms Sta
ton, near Warrenton, va.
Most students at Old P. q. are. OF
course, service personnel, but where
ever there is room, civilians are ad-
mitted to the classes. The program
is sponsored by the Troop Informa-
ton and Education Section Of Mill
tary District of Washington.
Play Courses
Courses in several play" activities,
including bridge, rugmaking. accor-
dion playing, golf and archery. are
taught by the District Recreation
Department. It also teaches some
more academic subjects, including
Spanish, Hebrew and Gin co-opera-
ton with the Douglas Hyde Society
Gaelic.
George Washington University.
through its college Of general studies.
offers wide variety Of non-academic
courses, including Shakespeare, art
enjoyment, knowing Washington and
homemaking. The most popular
course there SO far has been one on
bird watching, taught by Roger Tory
Peterson, one of the country's fore
most ornithologists.
Like the high schools, CIV viii
organize a course in any reasonable
subject if demand exists.
Catholic University also conducts
adult classes and lectures. including
lay theology and child care.
Most organizations engaged in this
sort Of education comment on the
natural setup here for finding high
quality teaching personnel. Drawn
by Government. art galleries, mu.
seums, libraries and universities, ex'
perts on almost any subject art
readily at hand. And-with q rela.
lively highly educated populace al
ways selEing more knowledge-thei
teaching @alents are put to good use