EMPIRES CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN 

 rade: Same for Federal 



-FOSTER 



243 



"overn- 



Fourth 



ment. 

 Fifth, sixth grades: The constitution, what 



it means and what it guarantees to the 



individual. 

 4:00-4:30 — Caligraphy, drawing. 



In all history classes a "civic calendar" is 

 kept which lists and notes all important his- 

 torical dates, battles, births of heroes, and na- 

 tional holidays. 



All afternoons from 4:30 to 5:.30 or 6:00 

 are dedicated to manual training. This includes 

 modeling in clay, making of lacquer trays and 

 boxes (open to both sexes, but attended mostly 

 by boys), sewing, carpentry, cooking, and agri- 

 culture. Agriculture consists of sowing small 

 plots in the school yard under the direction of 

 the school caretaker. Actually very little agri- 

 culture is learned that boys do not learn in the 

 course of helping their fathers. 



Special activities are numerous. Each Mon- 

 day before classes begin the entire school as- 

 sembles in the auditorium to sing the national 

 anthem, and to salute the flag, which is carried 

 around the room. It is a great honor to be flag 

 carrier and to march, and is permitted only to 

 those who have not been absent the preceding 

 week, and whose conduct has been model. It is 

 a good device to help keep up attendance and 

 deportment. On Thursday from 5 to 6 all stu- 

 dents take part in "physical culture" which con- 

 sists of marching around the school. Older boys 

 play basketball. The "Society of Students" has 

 a president, secretary and treasurer, elected by 

 the student body at large. It functions through 



commissions, of which there are five, consisting 

 of a member from each grade. These are: 



"Order and discipline." To maintain same in 



school and town. 

 "Civic action." To organize school fiestas. 

 "Decoration." To decorate school rooms, keep 



potted plants and flower beds watered, and 



the school yard clean. 



"Promptness." To get students to school on 

 time, and to visit homes where habitual tardi- 

 ness is the rule to find out why. 



"Hygiene and health." To instill habits of clean- 

 liness, tell dirty students to wash their faces, 

 and to remind parents to have habitual of- 

 fenders do the same. 



The basic idea of the commissions is to instill 

 the idea of civic responsibility in the students, 

 so that they will carry the habit into later life. 



School examinations are marked following 

 the Mexican custom of 1 to 5 flunking, and 6 

 to 10 passing, the latter mark being the highest. 

 These examinations are sent home with the stu- 

 dents, but there are no formal report cards. 

 Since many of the parents cannot read, the 

 effectiveness of this system is doubtful. Unlike 

 the larger Mexican cities, coeducation is the 

 custom, and boys and girls study in the same 

 classrooms, with equal rights to hold class 

 offices. 



The initial 1945 enrollment, which later grew 

 to 175, is indicated in table 41. Children are 

 recorded by age and sex for five grades. This 

 year there was no sixth grade, due to the fact 

 that 2 years earlier the fourth grade was so 

 small it was combined with the third, so that 



Table 41. — Enrollment of students in the T zintzunlzan Federal 



school, 1945 



