Kansas City National Training School - Shield Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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Church School ? asked Dick. What's that? Well, it's a school where we learn from the Bible. Pshaw! is that all? Couldn't you miss that? You'd have heaps more fun with us. Why, you don't know what good times we have at Church School. I've never heard nothin' about it. It must be some school if you'd rather go there than go with us. What kind of good times do you have anyhow? Tell me 'bout it. , Well, we are dismissed from school at 3:00-I mean our grade and the fifth grade is. We play ball or somethin' for ten minutes, then the bell rings and we form in line and march by three's over to, that church that is about a half ta block from Horace Mann. My, the first day there was a bunch of us-180! We lined up outside the church and had our pictures taken. You see it's the first Week-Day Church School they've ever had in Kansas City and I guess we're an impor- tant crowd. Mr. Settle made a speech to us that day. Say, but he's great! It'd be lots of fun to go camping with him sometime. Who's he ? Well, he's Secretary of the Kansas City Sunday- School Association, my father saidi and he's back of the whole thing. If it wasn't for h1m we wouldn't be having Church School. You haven't told me yet what you do after you get there. First thing, we march into the church, continued John, one of us boys always goes over early to keep time on the triangle. I get to do it tomorrow. Then we have our worship service. And say, it's fine! They've taught us a lot of new songs-or hymns, the Page 74 ,.,-sand.,-each week we-have the same lesson we had in teacher calls them. They're not so fast and jerky like some of the songs we sing at Sunday-School, and we like to sing them lots better-especially when the teacher explains to us what they mean. We've learned the Ten Commandments and after we say each one we sing a response-I like to say 'em that way. We have two big flags--the American flag and the Christian flag. I never saw the Christian flag before. It stands for Christ and His Kingdom and we salute it too. Oh yes! and we've learned a Bible salute. An' most al- ways they tell us a story, they know what kind of stories we like too. 'That doesn't sound much like a school. Don't you have to study anything? Study! I should 'say we do! We study the Bibleg Sunday School the- Sunday before-the Graded Lessons. But we learn a lot of new things about the story. We'd never have time to do in Sunday-School all the things we do in Week-Day School. And say! I never thought the Bible was such a good book to study. At first it was a little hard, but the teacher helped us to under- stand all the new words and the hard verses 5 and now I'd rather read it than any book in our school library. They're most awful particular about us bringin' our Bibles. I always just leave mine there because I'm liable to forget it and you miss out terrible on the lesson if you don't have one, and excuses are something else they're particular about. If we miss we have to bring one, just like we do in Public School. Then, the best part is that .we make maps, do paper cutting, draw and all kinds of things. Course, it's always something about the lesson. And we al- ways have prayer before we go. It's a school and yet somehow the teachers make it seem like -church.

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inane.-sm--swf-M-lM.,.,,,iy Rf W' ki ..,4,L.. wk-Eng iirliginun I hnmiinn Aw, come on an' go with us. We're goin' to start at 4:00-right after school. You can get over to Bancroft in time if you'll hurry. ' No, if I did that I'd have to miss Church School -that doesn't close until 4:15 and .besides that I am to beat the triangle tomorrow. Miss Garretson, the lady that wears a black dress with a little white on it-I 'bout forgot what they call her-Oh, yes! a dea- coness-well, she Said I Could, and I must be there. This was Joh31'S emphatic refusal to a pressing invitation from Dick, a sixth grade boy of Bancroft School, to join the members of Dicks gang on a hike the next afternoon. John was from the same grade in Horace Mann School and was most fortunate in being one of the pupils in Kansas City's first Week- Day School of Religious Education. lxZ7l

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Who do you mean by teachers? Same ones as you have at Horace Mann ? No, there are some ladies from a school over at 15th and Denver, called the Kansas City National Training School, they come over and teach us. Oh yes, those folks that are goin' to be mission- aries some day, but they don't know how to give a fellow any fun. Oh! why, you don't know all about them! Last month, Valentine Day was the same day as Church School. When we marched in, the chairs and tables were all pushed back against the wall. After we had our worship service, instead of telling us 'to go to our classes, the teacher had us get in a big circle and the next thing we knew, we were playin' the finest game. They hadn't told us anything about it. We made Val- entines too, and we had the greatest fun. Yes, those teachers know something beside Bible stories, why, they knew the most new games that afternoon, and they played with us too. Say! it must be fine to go to that.sChO0l, Said Dick, who was becoming more and more interested. Yes, and one afternoon we played a Bible story. My class and two others have the same lessons, so we all went together and did it. Whew! it was great. l'll always remember that story. It was about the time when King Rehoboam lost most of his kingdom because heuwas unkind. We boys figured out how to do it fthe girls and Miss Gar- retson helped just a littleb 5 but we did most of it our- selves. It was fine to go to the platform then and act it all out. W And here's our Church attendance book, ex- plained John, as he took a small blue-covered note book from his pocket, I take that to church every Sunday. See, here's a place to write the name of the hymns that we sang, and here's a place for the preacher's text, and for one thing he said. Say! you know Since I've been keepin' this book I've found out our preach- er's sermons aren't so dry after all. The teachers grade these books too. Can anybody go to that school? No, not just anybody. No one can come unless their father or mother .signs a card, asking that they be dismissed from Public School. Those who don't go stay at school and study. There's only about twenty- five though in both the fifth and sixth grades that don't go to Church School. Do you have to pay ? No, you see they have a Board of Religious Edu- cation. .There are people on it from five different churches. My father belongs to itg and he helped get this school started, and he knows all about it. I heard him say the other day that these five churches were payin' the money for it. Do the teachers at Iflorace Mann care if you go ? No, 'cause the Public School Board said we could be dismissed at 3:00 o'clock, two afternoons a week, if our parents would sign the card. Couldn't I come then if my daddy would sign for me ? Not this year. H Aw, I don't see why? Well, this year the Board my father's on, de- cided that only folks who go to Horace Mann School could be dismissed. It's only in our part of town that they'y-e tryin' it now. Father said, the other night, that Mr, Settle had told him, that a lot of other churches were wanting to form Boards of Religious Education so that boys and girls from the schools near Page 75