PEEPLES-DVEK] DO WE NEED SCHOOL MUSEUMS 121 



what seems to be impossible there lies a mighty charm. An old 

 bookcase, shelves donated by an interested parent, or best of all 

 a case of open shelves built in the carpenter-shop by the boys have 

 each been used by the writers to house the nature collections of 

 various schools. 



One has but to outline to the children a plan of action. They do 

 the rest. While studying trees they bring wood sections, pieces of 

 bark, dry fruits, pressed leaves, and pictures. Intent upon birds, 

 they specialize upon feathers, deserted nests and food charts. The 

 underlying rocks of the region, cocoons, bagworms tell the story 

 of garden interest. 



Organization lies beneath the success of all great enterprises so 

 the Museum_ Com.mittee must be form.ed as well as the Committee 

 on 'Dusting. Two pupils from each grade are sufficient to keep the 

 museum in order and equally important, in the foreground of class 

 consciousness. In one building the success of the museum has been 

 almost wholly due to the enthusiasm of the chairman, a cripple, a 

 victim of infantile paralysis, a rare spirit with the ability to m^ake 

 those around him. forget his handicap. He selected the m.ost 

 prominent place in the building for the location of the museum, 

 just opposite the main entrance in the first floor hall. As the 

 nature-study teacher entered the building one m_orning, she found 

 him on the floor struggling to replace the lowest shelf. "The 

 museum has had a nervous breakdown, but it will recover soon." 

 And it did, a little better arranged than before. Three times for 

 various causes that sam.e cripple had occasion to rearrange the 

 collection and each time he has set himself the task of making it 

 more satisfactory. "This is all very well for you, Ricnard,' said 

 the teacher one day, ' ' but what about the other children ? Do they 

 get anything out of it?" 



The reply was most reassuring. "This is their favorite parking 

 place. Everybody is crazy to belong. They worry me to death 

 to increase the membership." 



The visiting nature-study teacher, who travels literally with her 

 hands and arms full, welcomes the help of a school museum for the 

 interest that keeps alive her work between visits. Under more 

 favorable conditions where there is a teacher in charge for all 

 grades of a building the possibilities are unlimited. In one such 

 place known to the writers, the first donation was a fine collection 

 of models of fjrehistoric animals made by a scientist in the com- 



