Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • Page 5

I SUNDAY: M0RN7NG MAYTI8T1913r -OAKLAND TRIBUNE- To TT TT ar mm Ibl I i I 'Tp I ft if 1 -v v. ii jfj I f-w-. 5 rBk Hi '5 i 1 i REE education has been one of America's most notable contributions to the slogan of civilization, and it has remained for Oakland to be the first that has added to this memorable phrase in a manner that promises not only to be lasting, but to become recognized wherever education ranks first as a national essential to 8 IT A ii mm 111 the welfare of its people. The Oakland version of free education owes its conception to the bracing qualities of the California climate, but strange to say it was not the invention of a real estate man, who is blamed for nearly everything in which climate figures as a factor, but was the conception of an educator who recognized the value of fresh air in conjunction with mental development. It was he who added the three words to the original, and thus brought a modest, open-air school room in Fruitvale in world-wide prominence as the place where free education and importance.

fresh air are considered of equa "Freq education Landfresh air has interested educators as far away as Parte, France, who have made several Inquiries about the results sf hieved in the open air school that Is conducted in connection with Fruitvale No. 2. And these results have been so notable, so marke'd, that that fori'll practical purposes the" been planted under the direction ot children are' seated quite out of the teacher, Mrs. Beeler. They have a roof over them, of REGULAR SCHOOL WORK, coursel On very eold days there Is The school work in this room is pre-a fire In a large stove which stands cisely the same as that done by the other scholars in other classes, and Jfl "girPrin-jtTml-Bimucer iflww-thg same asked 'for by the little ones.

Some supervision, to the open air school which he gives to the rooms In' the, 'the strong opposition which existed right at. home against the innovation! as it was then called, has quite disappeared, and the open air school of Fruitvale Ur not only pronounced a success, but is looked upon as a model 'fijjf others to follow. PROGRESSIVE. Principal W. D.

Spencer's progres-' sive methods have been responsible for much of the school's success. Long a student of h'e "was among the first to recognize that to imprison the pxipil in four walls was to imprison the Thind. "Show me a (i 3 A fVf 1 1 '1' -V 'yA fi w.r-. vk -iKfe i fA timeB, however, they. wear, their wraps at their desks.

MANY The outdoor school was established in 1910, and began In a small way. Its purposes were then misunderstood, but time has taught the parents of that that more fresh air for their children meant more mental vigor, and meant red cheeks in place of the pale ones, and now the uppli-cutions' are numerous enough. No child. is admitted, however, without the examination of Dr. N.

K7 and his recommendation. It has marvelous, say the teacher and to note the changes which have taken place in so short a time The flushed face und langour. the pale main building of Fruitvale No. 2. At times the pupils from the open atr room go to other rooms for class work, especially In manual training and domestic science, but they are always eager to get back to their own opener quarters, where the confining walls which have been a bugbear of thousands during school days are as nearly removed as Is possible.

In spile of the airy nature of the room In the open air school the children do not dress differently who attend here than do others in the enclosed rooms. Parents have found -that children attending this school improve their appetites, a healthful color comes into their cheeks, their lungs expand fully child of the great, outdoor and I will show -you a -child who assimilates knowledge at twice the speed de veloped by a brain locked in by four walls and a ceiling." says Spencer. He made the statement years ago, when an outdoor school was a mere thought. Now he points to Fruitvale cheek and dull have entirely dis place have and freely, and colds among them dis school No. 2 as proof of his assertion.

appeared, and in their "There are no laggards here," he come alertness, keenness In, mind and says; "pupils do not straggle in 'after the They are eager and willing appear eniireiy. ou buccbmiui, has this experiment been that the Oakland school department is planning to establish others of the same kind, and it "is freely predicted by those who have closely observed the results In Fruitvale that in time all body, the (spring and natural grace which are' normal in healthful childhood, nnd the same mental advance has been accomplished in: one term which often required two terms' under former conditions. to learn. -Fresh air is responsible. Spencer has in Mrs.

L. G. Beeler an assistant who understands children, and. mpe than that, realizes the value of fresh air. Mrs.

Beeler has made ed-ucation a life-long study. She has dis school houses will be constructed This open air school has an eastern and southern exposure, and is so along the lines of the open air icnooi covered that theory and fact And dy lodgment in a mind that is rlBu urished by fresh air and sunshine. "ThMi la tia rtArftnn Tniifh An. placed it can be flooded witn sun- Fruitvale, as me lact.is oeins light. Th'e lower portions of the side and.more tlearly recognized that fresh walls are windows and screens, whije air goes hand in hand with free edu- the upper is made in such a way that cation, pr for that matter, any kind of tha.Xcfiab, air frt.e circulation at education where the physical perfec- all times.

Desks were specially de- tlori of thechlldr is'as much a factor sighed for the school by Superintend- as the mental perfection. es-the-gnwing- ent J. W. McClymonds, The cnu- eaj Mrs. tseeier.

ma neaun snouia be' the first consideration study comes And if there isn't health in fresh air and exercise where will we find It?" dren sit at their desks in this open ait-room and- work with a. will at any jjf 1 jTy A IS "HEALTH SCHOOL." tasks The singing of birds I in the trees which may be seen readily from the open sides of the room have become such customary details The Fruitvale open air school is de- fidly a health school; purpose PARCEL EXPLODES. May n. A serious explosion recently in the, house of M. Liicler.

Sullyi a singing master. A parcel which had been delivered at the house by the post Was being opened by' Sully, when It exploded, gerlouslr wounding him and his wife and (' considerably broader than that of 1 I I I of the daily routine' that -theyi do not i inteffere with the attentiveness. of the the ordinary city school, where the health and mental vigor o( the pupils is'lnokd -upon as of equal air Is quite as free as the learning, and naturally, absorbed' in far greater dudIIs Flowers kept the year first place because of their senetnic condition. -With the fresh air, and the learning, are provided some of as flowers," the songs of birds, and even the-idle hum of bees and insects. The windows are alwaS's open, and the school room Is so constructed im is to give education, frequently Nat th'sgnpense of the-health of the V'ipil In the open air school education is but one ot the aims.

The, quantities by the redcheekd chil- and even the happiness of the cbil- round in great profusion right within the room, window gardens having Freshi dren. who were sent there in, the J. the simplest Joys of childhood, such dren IS frankly considered. 1.