The Audubon Societies 105 



Let us go to our schools and join with teachers and pupils in getting at this 

 matter. 



Let us help to celebrate Bird and Arbor Day, in school and town, as a 

 national festival, a nature fete, rich in economic, esthetic and educational values. 



Agassiz' message: "Study nature, not books!" rings out with peculiar sig- 

 nificance in this age of indoor education. — A. H. W. 



A QUESTION 



Has any village, town or city, through any of its officials, improvement 

 societies or civic leagues, invited the school-children to contribute to the 

 community life by assisting in planting trees and shrubs in public places, in 

 clearing up and reclaiming waste or neglected places, or in sharing the respon- 

 sibilities of keeping home, common, park and roadsides attractive? 



Who can say what the value of such an incentive to civic beauty, pride and 

 confidence might not be in the development and education of our boys and 

 girls!— A. H. W. 



FOR TEACHERS 



Suggestions for Bird and Arbor Day 



1"^HE school calendar includes a variety of anniversary days, which call for 

 special exercises and extra effort on the part of both teachers and 

 pupils. In some states, it has become almost a burden to keep up to a 

 high standard in giving expression to patriotic, memorial and thanksgiving 

 tributes. While there is some truth in the objection that the regular work and 

 discipline of the school are more or less interfered with at these particular 

 periods, it should not be forgotten that a very important and reasonable reason 

 exists for the observance of all these occasions, namely, the opportunity to lift 

 school routine out of monotony into higher usefulness by bringing the pupils 

 into touch with some of the fundamental incentives to national and universal 

 welfare. Possibly, no day now set aside for celebration can be made to contrib- 

 ute more directly to the development of the individual pupil than Bird and 

 Arbor Day. Obviously, the problem of getting the most satisfactory results 

 from this day must be worked out differently in rural and city schools, in warm 

 and cold climates, and in progressive and unprogressi\'e localities. However, 

 there may be a general agreement on a few points: 



1. Make the day one of Joy, if nothing else. 



2. Celebrate the day Outdoors if possible. 



3. Emphasize Life, moving, growing, breathing, feeding, reproducing, — in 

 short, every form of life-activity. 



4. Do away with all the formality of ordinary- exercises possible, and let the 

 Pupils really contribute to the occasion by summing up their nature-study work 



