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Show ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PAPER FEATURES GOOD CITIZENSHIP By Cum C. Harvey 5 One of the chief events in the observance of Good Citizenship Citizen-ship Month at the Mil ford Klo-nu'iitary Klo-nu'iitary School was the publication publi-cation this week of a special edition of The Siren on the theme "Pathways lo Good Citizenship." Cit-izenship." This number to stress good citizenship was planned after the January issue on Safety proved valuable and received wide recognition. The original design 'for the cover page gives the key to one of the pathways to good citizenship, citi-zenship, namely: Knowing, American ideals. At the bottom j of the page is "America's Creed" by William Tyler i'.ie. I which hits long been recognized as one of the best statements of the political ideals of our government. gov-ernment. Above the Creed are two symbols of America the Liberty Hell and the Anicr.can Eagle. Above these two synv l.iols are the pictures of Wash-I Wash-I ington and Lincoln, bwth of whom were born in February. Linmln's Gettysburg Addre.-s land Wasbingotn's Farewell Ad-I Ad-I dress ate two of the best statements state-ments of American ideals in all the documents of American 1 history. The centerspread of the page is a Valentine around the Statue of Liberty. The theme of the Valentine is "Cit-' "Cit-' i.enship. Courtesy, Kindness." Of special interest in connec-(tion connec-(tion with knowing American , ideals as a pathway to good cit-' cit-' izenship are two of the many I letters from outstanding lead-I lead-I crs of our country, written for this issue of The Siren. In a j letter to Freddie Sleinfcls, the assistant to the President, Slier-man Slier-man Adams, sends a message from President Eisenhower in which he urges boys and girls to "find in the Bible and in the lives of the great men ot our nation, such as Washington and Lincoln, ideas and ideals which will serve as guides in helping the young people become be-come fine American citizens." Sam Kayburn. the Speaker of the House of Repre.-cnta-tives. in a letter to Beth De-Leuw, De-Leuw, stated "I consider the most helpful tiling a boy or girl can do to become a good citizen, ami the thing I did, is to read over again and again good H:stories of the United States and study the biographies of the men who have been the great leaders of our nation." The first and perhaps the i most influential pathway to good citizenship is the home. This pathway was given as the thing that "counted most when they were young in making them good citizens" by a number num-ber of prominent persons whose letters were published. Among those were Gov. Charles II. Russell of Nevada, Gov. Walter J. Kohler of Wisconsin. Botli Gov. J. Bracken Lee of Utah and Gov. Edwin C. Johnson of Colorado state that 'the cumulative cumu-lative influence of home and school counted most in making them good citizens. Discussing the question, "Are you a good citizen in your family?" fam-ily?" The Siren states: "The family is a unit of government. By giving members of your j fantily a'ffection, loyalty, and tolerance, and taking your fair share of family responsibility, you are learning to be a good citizen . . . You get your first lesson in democracy from the family. Boys and girls who i come from iamilies in which ( there is love, cooperation, re-spect, re-spect, and courtesy, are ready to be democratic citizens. In j school, the qualities they have developed in family living; make them good school citi- j zens. The family is the "grass root" of good citizenship in school, in the community, and , in national life. Some of the suggestions given for being a good member of the family are equally as important , in getting along with people j anywhere: "Be courteous; share ! responsibilities; don't try to re- j form the family; don't blame , the other fellow; don't wear a chip on your shoulder; don't ( insist on having your own way; don't pry into others' affairs; lake criticism gracefully; don't fly off the handle." The second pathway to good citizenship is the school. The . primary purpose of hie American Amer-ican public school system is to train boys and girls for competent com-petent and responsible citizenship. citizen-ship. The Siren stresses that citizenship citi-zenship is not just for adults 21 yt;ars of age or over, but that boys and girls are citizens right now and always have been if they were born in this country. To help the boys and girls check their standards of good school citizenship and determine deter-mine if they are a good school i citizen, the sixth grade has written "A Code for the Good Citizen of Mil ford Elementary School." The points covered in this code arc equally as important im-portant outside o'f school as in school life. Importance of the school as a pathway to good citizenship was emphasized in many of the letters. Among letters which stressed the influence in-fluence of the school in making them good citizens were those from Gov. Joe Fuss of South Dakota and Gov. Arthur I!. Lauglie of Washington. Another pathway to good citizenship cit-izenship which is emphasized in this number of The Siren is that of community participation. participa-tion. Among the suggestions for be;ng a good citizen of the community are: (1) Play lair with others, fie a good listener. listen-er. Free discussion makes intelligent in-telligent citizens. (2) Obey the law. He considerate of rights and property of others at all Pines, Study how your lo cal, state, and national governments govern-ments work. Be informed on government. (4) Know the problems of your community. Take part in discussion, listen lo the radio, read newspapers, (a) Become an active member of the church of your choice. Learn to serve others and do your duty, (fi) Help other boys and girls in community building. build-ing. (7) Learn about political parties and how to vote. (8) Join adults in drives, civil defense, de-fense, etc Special features were written j on the Boy Scouts and how this j organization, through its program pro-gram of work and play, is one of the pathways to good citizenship citizen-ship for millions of boys. The names of all boys in the school who are members of both the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts were published. A similar feature on the 4-H I Club -named boys and girls in the school who are members I and showed how its program serves as a pathway to good i citizenship for millions of youth throughout the nation. There are many other pathways path-ways to good citizenship mentioned men-tioned in the special number which could not be given as much emphasis as they de-served. de-served. Among these were: How learning to solve prob-J prob-J It ins helps us to grow into com-'petcnt com-'petcnt and responsible citizens, t I Learning about citizenship from the newspaper, radio and tele-j tele-j vision, etc. The importance of ' work in making us good citi- zens. The example set for us by friends. Fairness in discus-jsion. discus-jsion. The habit of putting! 'yourself in the other fellow's place. Thinking before acting 1 when th.e results of our actions I 'may have disastrous results. These are all pathways to good citizenship which were mentioned men-tioned but which did not receive re-ceive the explanation they merited. One of the high points of this special number was a list of 40 boys and girls in the Mil-ford Mil-ford Elementary school lour i were selected from each room ' in the school who in the opinion opin-ion of their teachers and their fellow classmates best exempli- fy the qualities of a good school I citizen. They were chosen after the classes had discussed the qualities which the boys and girls thought desirable in a good school citizen. Their name and some of the qualities for which they were selected appear in the special good citizenship citi-zenship number. It is hoped that this will develop into a regular feature of the paper, and that pupils will make an effort to live up to the good opinions their classmates have of them after they have been chosen on this "Good Citizenship Citizen-ship Honor Roll." The paper emphasizes that to be a good citizen of America, we must at some time follow most of these pathways. A few of these pathways never end, but lead onward and upward toward the ideals and goal of American citizenship. A quotation quo-tation from Carl Schurz selected select-ed for this issue of The Siren is: "Ideals are like stars. You will not succeed in touching them with your hands; but, like the seafaring man, you choose them as your guides, and following them, you will reach your destiny." It is by following follow-ing all these pathways that we become good American citizens. citi-zens. Perhaps a fitting conclusion for this article is an item which appears in one of the columns of this issue of The Siren. This item is: "The Greeks had a word for it. This word meant the same in the language of the ancient Greeks as "idiot" does in English. Its meaning: One who chose to be a bad citizen cit-izen when he could enjoy so nany privileges and advantages merely by doing his duty and being a good citizen. |