Lyndon State College - Northern Lights Yearbook (Lyndonville, VT)

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20 THE VERLYN blouses, powdering our noses, and doing other little things that ladies “en route” do, we labored to extricate ourselves from the car. Crouching in half-back tackle position, we tried to raise our chilled, numbed feet high enough to avoid the baggage. A camel going through the needle's eye had nothing on 11s, hut finally we were firmly planted or. the ground. Yow for the rest room! But where in this weather beaten chalet was the entrance? Xot a soul in sight to ask! We divided and circled the building only to bump noses again at the starting point. In desperation we opened doors: R. R. Freight Depot, U. S. Post Office, Bell Telephone, Western Union. We ended up on the stairs to a private dwelling with no Room X in view. Here it dawned on us that the inn across the street was, after all, a public building whose keeper was, doubtless, behind the curtains giggling at our antics. In a body we charged it. Before we left the inn one of our party announced that she was going to run this mystery to earth. She'd never seen a railway station without a waiting room to say nothing of Room X's. She asked the innkeeper point blank and found out that we should have passed over Federal territory to our goal. Room X was incorporated with the Post Office. Well, well! On to the Big City where rooms is rooms and mysteries are bigger! E. S. RHODE ISLAND GLIMPSES Three hundred years ago Roger Williams led his band of non-conformists to these shores. Today the school children of Rhode Island are preparing for Tercentenary Pageants, learn- ing Indian chants, making posters and carefully stitching state flags of white, blue and gold. In observance of this event, Rhode Island Garden Clubs, at the annual Flower Show in the Rhode Island Auditorium, haye laid out an early village, complete from the water wheel to a tiny cemetery, hidden among the shrubs.

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THE VERLYN 19 and forth. What a relief it was to hoard the elevated on Second Avenue, and get away from the smell of fish, food, and people. They say variety is the spice of life. If it is so then we had plenty for we ate at automats and Beer Parlors at all hours; attended operas and Burlesque shows; Church on Easter morn and movies at night; Museum of Natural History and Zoolog- ical Gardens; Coney Island and Wall Street. As for the glamour and magnitude of Radio City coupled with the dizzy heights of the towering skyscrapers — I leave that to your imagination, too! H. K. NEW YORK The Ethical-Culture School The most absolutely progressive system used in any New York school is found in the Ethical-Culture Center. The chil- dren come from the better classes: mostly Jewish population who can afford a high tuition. Their 1. Os. range from one hundred ten to two hundred and over. The children may obtain a complete course through high school preparatory to college. Xo teacher has over fifteen pupils in a class. This allows for complete freedom, the key note of the school. The course of study is centered around pupil interest. Each child is allowed to choose what he wishes to do, guided by the teacher. Discussions are carried on by the students themselves with the ideal teacher wholly in the back- ground. The enthusiasts of this system sincerely feel that their graduates can compare creditably with those from other types of schools and that their pupils are better fitted to cope with present day and future problems of society. E. S. M. A. NEW HAMPSHIRE Mystery of Room X The railway station, built in Swiss chalet style, stood directly before us. Feeling the need of changing to heavier

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THE VERLYN 21 In the museum of the Rhode Island School of Design 1 found many lovely displays from different countries and periods. A French window of the twelfth century, in deep blue, red and white caught my eye. It was no less lovely than Italian glass in the same intense colors. The thing I shall longest remember from my trip was the Boston Symphony Concert. It was their last program of the season, and people considered it the best. Their masterly ren- ditions of Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy, Respighi and Brahms were received with vast applause. I shall be a better teacher be- cause 1 was privileged to listen. R. E. N. CHILD PLAY IN A MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL Of the many schools I visited in Massachusetts, one is out- standing in my mind; this is the Winthrop school in Melrose. Here they were very progressive and believed in activity units and child-directed work. In the ‘‘A” group of second grad- ers we saw something very worthwhile and something that prov- ed their primary aim in self-direction. A short play entitled “Nancy’s Dream” was written by the children and given to the other grades in Assembly the fol- lowing morning. This was based on the “Dutch Twins’ in con- nection with a Dutch Unit. One child announced the play and gave a brief description of it. The children not in the play had helped in making stage scenery, posters and had given assistance in many ways. Nancy had a dream about Holland. When she was asleep the following people came in: wooden shoes, cheese, butter churn, houses, canals, dikes and various others. It cer- tainly showed what small children can do if they have the proper atmosphere in which to work. Now “Lyndonettes” go thou and do likewise; it is much easier than it looks. Children enjoy the “work-play” idea and are much happier than when they are reciting geography para- graphs or diagramming sentences. M. Carroll