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| | 8 A EN A WINNETKA WEEKLY TALK, SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1920 NOTED MEN TALK ON NEED OF RECREATION i Civic Organizations Well Represent- ed at Mass Meeting at Commun- ity House Last Sunday Evening WINNETKA'S REPUTATION James Rogers Says Winnetka Is Well Known For Its Community Activities A large number of representative citizens gathered at Community House Sunday evening to hear four 15-minute talks on educational pro- blems and the new school. The principal speakers of the evening were Professor Charles H. Judd, director of the School of Education of the University of Chicago, who spoke on "Forward Steps in Child Training," and Mr. James Edward Rogers of the Playground and Rec- reational association of America, whose topic was The Value of School Playgrounds." These speakers were followed by Superintendent C. W. Washburne who presented a ser- ies of slides showing first the crowd- ed conditions of the Winnetka schools, second the desirability of the new school site, and finally some plans and drawings of the new school itself. Mr. Laird Bell, president of the Board of Education, told why it was necessary to raise the money by popular subscription. With slides and figures he demonstrated the immpossibility of providing adequate facilities for Winnetka's growing school population in any other way than by a direct appeal to the pub- lic-spirited citizens of the village. The meeting was presided over by F. K. Copeland. On the platform were representatives of the Board of Education, the Village Council, the Parent-Teacher association, the Park Board, the Plan Commission and the Woman's club. Piayground Idea Developed Fast Mr. Rogers spoke first. "The play- ground movement has grown by leaps and bounds during the past decade," he said. "The conditions of the present day are not the condi- tions under which we grew up. The children's chores are gone. The auto- fnobile and moving picture, the elec- tric lights and furnaces, and the milkmen have taken the place of the hard work that gave us discipline as children. The consequence is that unless we substitute vigorous, organ- ized play, we find that children mis- use their leisure hours. A question- naire sent out to a large number of children as to what they did during their free time showed that most of them read or loafed, or as a naive youngster remarked: "Sometimes T get into mishchief." "Gary set the example of large school plavgrounds, and this has been followed by school systems every- where. Peoria has moved its high school from the center of the town out to the extreme edge, five miles from tthe farthest children, in order to get sufficient plav space. A mem- orial to Rcosevelt has been a large school playground. In twenty-three of our states lawes have either been passed or are pending making ade- quate play space for children a re- quirement of all schools. "But the play movement is not altocether new. The foundation of the Greek system of education was a sound hody. Their athletic games and stadia were the very core of the curriculum. Educational authors ever since through Rousseau and up to Montessiori have recognized that the most fundamental part of edu- cation is not in books. Railroads Provide Recreation "It has not been educators alone who have studied. the necessity ot play. The Sante Fe railroad in build- ing cities for its workers has pro- vided playgrounds. The U. S. Steel corporation has over 200 playgrounds. Factories everywhere are beginning to provide recreational facilities for their employes. / "Tt is through team play that the children learn co-ordination, co- operation with their fellows, square- ness, courage, preseverance. These things cannot be taught by books, but are brought out in supervised, team play in the highest degree. "Tt is rather interesting to know that 75 per cent of those who have gone wrong have gone wrong on ac- count of misuse of their recreation time, and that 85 per cent of juvenile crime comes out of mischief--the play spirit gore wrong. On the mental side the fact that 75 per cent of re- tarded children are retarded on ac- count of physical. defects 1s both startling and noteworthy. On the physical side, insurance statistics show that the great majority of pre- mature deaths are due to diseases which come from lack of proper ex- ercise. The United States Army rec- ognized the physical necessity of play and established playgrounds-- large and expensive ones--in all of America's army camps. "Wellington remarked that the Battle of Waterlo was won on the playfield of Eaton. That is, it was through the team play of the school boys that the qualities were develop- ed which made the victory of Water- loo possible. "Winetka is well known in recrea- tion and community circles as a place which has stood at the forefront of progress along the lines of commun- ity activity and provission for rec- reation. Your 80-acre municipal golf course ,your village green, your com- munity House, your bathing beach, are known outside, and every one ex- pects to continue its lead by provid- ing ample play space for its chil- dren." Unrest in Upper Grades Dr. Judd then spoke of the growing unrest in the upper grades of school everywhere. He pointed out that the present eight-grade organization had its rise in about 1840 when the total school life of children averaged only 208 days. The average American citizen in 1840 had only 208 days of schools which the average American child gets at present. "The fourth grade child in 1920 is a more fluent reader and a better writer than the average adult of the days before the Civil War," Dr. Judd continued. 'The consequence is that we have hardly known what to do with our upper grade children. They have mastered the tools of learning and new material has to be 'sought for them. From this has arisen the departmental type of organization. "The departmental school assumes that the teacher does not know everything. It assumes that if a teacher knows ones subject really well, and is master of the technique of that one subject, that teacher has done his part. The only way we can provide adequte education for the seventh and eighth grade children is through departmental work under specialized teachers with a widely variegated course of study." FOLLANSBEE FUNERAL HELD MONDAY FROM LATE HOME Funeral services for George A. Fol- lansbee, one of Winnetka's most prominent men, were held Monday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock from his late home at 765 Willow street. In- terment followed at Graceland ceme- tery. Mrs. Follansbee, one of the pioneers of Chicago and the north shore, was the son of Horatio N. Fol- lansbee and was born in Chicago, February 26, 1843, and 'was a resident of Cook county all his life. Since 1867 he had maintained a law office on La Salle street. In later years he was counsel in the law. firm of Adams. Follanshee, Hawley & Shorey, of which his son, Mitchell D. Follons- bee, is a member. Mr. Follansbee was graduated from Lawrence college in 1865 and Har- vard Law school two years later. He was once president of the Chicago Bar association and vice president of the American Bar association. Among the clubs he held memberships in were the Union League, the Law club, and the Chicago Historical society. Forty years ago he was president of the board of trustees of the village of Hyde Park and afterwards served as a trustee of the University of IIlli- nois. His surviving children Brown Cadwell of New York, Mrs. William G. Hibbard and Mrs. Wil- liam Browne Hale of Winnetka, and Mitchell D. and Alanson Follansbee of Chicago. itual, not mechenical.--Emerson. schooling in contrast to 1200 days of! are Mrs. Our Days. We ask-for long life, but it is deep ! life, or grand moments, that signify. | Let the measure of our days be spir- Communication Editor, Winnetka Weekly Talk. Dear Sir: -- I am very much interested in the difference of opinion in Winnetka as to the practicability of seventh and eighth grade children from all parts of the village being able to walk without strain to and from the West Elm street school site. Most of the arguments for and against the site seem to be based on a theory of the distance that has very little to do with experience. In order to demon- strate to my own satisfaction whether the new site was within reasonable walking distance of the north-east and south-east neighborhoods I started from my own doorstep this morning and walked to the center of the empty lot where it is proposed to place the new school: Let me explain that there are only two hous- es in Hubbard Woods farther than mine from the Skokie Playfield, and that two minutes or less would cover the distance from my door to theirs. I reached the West Elm street lot in '24 minutes. As I am a rapid walker and children are apt to find a great many distractions on the way to school I should expect a child to take at least 6 minutes more than I did. But even thirty minutes twice a day would be less time spent walk- ing than my fourth grade child now consumes in making four trips be- tween his house and the Skokie school. There has been no weather this winter when it has been difficult for him to cover this distance on his own feet. Most of the year he uses a bicycle. If the school administra- tion can arrange for a short noon period for the children who come the longest distance and an earlier dis- missal it will seem to me clear gain to have him attending school at a distance from home. The walk from the center of the West Elm street site to the east side of the Sheridan road at Winnetka avenue, which I assume to be the house site farthest from the propos- ed school site, took me 34 minutes. If we allow 10 minutes longer for a child, we must remember, will prob- ably never be younger than ten and usually several years older, even a 44 minutes walk twice a day is not going to be harmful in good weather for the child who does not own a bicycle; and in bad weather we are told that busses will be used to .convey the children west from the Elm street trolley station. My final experiment was to walk from the Greeley school to my own door, which took me 35 minutes. This was interesting as showing that the distance between the south-east vil- lage limits and the new school site is just about the same as the distance between the north-east limits and the Creeley school, if anything a little less. Yet we who live in Hub- hard Woods were obliged to send our children from the fifth grade to the 8th grade of Greeley school for sev- N. J. FELLOWS REGISTERED OPTICIAN Eyes Tested. Frames Fitted Lenses Duplicated Frames Repaired Room 3 Prouty Bldg. | Phone | Winnetka 85 stationery. We can supply you colors or white. very low. Let Us Show You Envelopes to Match Use envelopes to match the color of your with fine letterheads * printed on Hammermill Bond and furnish envelopes to match in any of the twelve Remember we are letterhead specialists. You will find the quality of our printing and the paper we give you very high and our prices What We Can Do LAKE SHORE PUBLISHING COMPANY Printers and Publishers 1222 Central Ave., Wilmette. Phones 1920-1921 eral years; and they did not suffer. The children rode bicycles in good weather four times a day instead of twice as it is proposed they shall do when the new school is built, and in bad weather they used the trolley, just as the children at Indian Hill will use the busses when the new school is built. I advise every parent living east of the tracks to walk from his own door to the new school site and find out by practical experience how much time it takes. Very truly yours, Ruth W. Porter. LLLLLLLLLLLL LL LLLL LLL TTT Edd dll lille. Just In A New Line of Spring Footwear OXFORDS PUMPS SLIPPERS Good Shoes are nec- essary to combat the Spring Rains Winnetka Shoe Store H. 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