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Show QUR MTICKS BIQOL3T r f COPY lyfAKING good American cit-y cit-y izens of the vast number of immigrants who've come to the A United States, and of their chil- dren, is a big problem, especially in our cities. This article tells ,, f how Chicago where there is a 'I V foreign population of nearly a million is using a great public - school in solving the problem, t 1 k a p fplrWrcV ScMxoferWiixslcrw V, HAT is the United States going T to do witl1 lts great immigrant s VV population? How are we going to make loyal, useful American citi- zens of the horde of foreigners that J have come to us in the last few f years? Are we going to shut the gates against the entry of more of them until un-til we can "digest" Into our national body those now here? These questions are very important. They are making many intelligent Americans do some hard thinking 4 these days. The problem didn't amount to much as long as the bulk of immigration immigra-tion came from western Europe from Germany, -England, Ireland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark. Den-mark. In fact, America Borely needed these sturdy folk, who came here to be one with ua under the Stars and Stripes. But of late years most of the immigration has fceen from Russia, Italy, eastern Austria, European and Asiatic Turkey and the Lord only knows where else. In this country they generally herd In city settlements, for the most part a dirty, ignorant ig-norant burden to city communities. They don't "mix" with us. They don't become a part of our citizenship. Their traditions and ideals and conceptions con-ceptions of the American social order are not ours. They're a sort of indigestible lump in our gizzard. Cities Tackle Job. Almost with the bravery of despair the larger cities New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh. Rochester, where low-class Immigrants are especially espe-cially heavy in numbers have set out to perform the task of making citizens of this unpromising material. The public schools are the most useful Instruments for the purpose at hand. Our city schools are becoming great "melting pots" for all races and creeds. Our small cities, --- our towns and our rural stretches do not have to face this great problem's solution directly, but the General welfare of the nation depends on how well the cities meet the task. We are, and we should be, Interested, encouraging onlookers. This is really a story about the work being done ia one big high school in Chicago, a city with a very large foreign population. In one grade school room there are children of seventeen distinct dis-tinct nationalities. Just consider the task of making mak-ing good, patriotic Americans "of all of them Japanese, Chinese, Turks and the rest. It's being be-ing done, though. And there's a hint in this story of what we can do to make our local schools more useful to us than they are. . Real Melting Pot. The real melting pot of Chicago Is situated less than a mile from the clty'B business center. It is a melting pot that takes boys and girls, old men and graying women representing twenty nationalities national-ities and turns them from lonesome, bewildered strangers into useful, ambitious citizens. It teaches them everything from trades to dancing, from wood-turning to wireless telegraphy. The melting pot Is Lane Technical school, the moBt remarkable of all Chicago's public schools and one of the most wonderful schools in the world. It has a teaching staff of more than a hundred and fifty, more than eighty classrooms and about eight thousand thou-sand pupils, with the largest nightschool In the world. Lane teaches almost every subject imaginable, from the sixth grade of grammar BChool to the second year of college. It teaches steam and electrical engineering, carpentry and agriculture. lt-' teaches salesmanship and advertising. It " teaches stenography, bookkeeping and designing. It teaches hundreds of other useful subjects. And, of course, every subject at Lane Is free. Lane teaches, too, the love of work, how to make friends and how to find a place in the world. Instead of opening at nine and closing at four, as the majority of schools do, Lane is open all day and all evening. It opens at eight in the morning. At 3:30 it starts special training for trades apprentices. appren-tices. Night Student Classes. From 5:30 until 9:30, the night students take jossession. Nearly all of the night students are icmployed at hundreds of different occupations dur-ling dur-ling the day, but, though they are tired after their -day's work, they seize the opportunities at Lane to learn new languages, new trades or to fit themselves them-selves for higher wages in the trades at which they work during the day. There is a claBS in metallurgy for foundry foremen, fore-men, courses in automobile engineering and reinforced re-inforced concrete. There is a valuable class, too, to which young men may go if they are in doubt as to which trade or profession they would be "best suited. The vocational class prevents square pegs in round holes. Expert psychologists question ques-tion the members of the class and advise them as to their future. "If you don't see what you want, ask for it," is Lane's advice to seekers for knowledge. If several men or women want to study some subject that is not included in the regular courses they sign a petition and a new class, under expert instruction, 1s started. Some of the new classes are Journalism, Journal-ism, copper work and automobile construction. Last year, advertising and Spanish were new subjects, sub-jects, but this year they take their places as regular reg-ular claBses. Opportunities for Girls. For the girl who works during the day. Lane proves especially inviting and valuable. It is hard to get acquainted in a city. A young man can go out alone at night. A girl, busy all day, has little time to make friends. It 13 pretty lonesome to spend evening after evening alone in a little room. It isn't necessary In Chicago, for Lano is ready to take caro of lonesome girls, to give them a pleasant pleas-ant time and valuable instruction. Three evenings each week the big gymnasium la ' "- 1 L v Viif , AJ SYfT ; Avr Ann VM T Mahogany and mission furniture, UJW rf J.AYct5CnOOJ- PMq lamp stands and shades, desks, FffiQ -tt iTFT-- JU& bookcases and library tables. Car- ( A I I 1 l 'iOkj' pentry students make portable TMd ' II ? I ' $ J cottages and garages. In the . M I n ! ISA -f-LJ" T" "j TV electric shop are toasters, flatl- AlllW I 1$ 'W rons- fans and wlreIess lD8trU' 11 UA XU V J - Y menta, all the work of boys. m x V f 8Z?. fW? v?" -t -T Although primarily a technical If t MtXCill, x 'l school, art is not neglected. From Iw 'n Hit'WpW 1 - J j free-hand drawing and drawing l-ltv f W l , .A-lkn from live models, the student may VS; : , " - , I take up architecture and deslgn- IftVi I $ k4H 7) rl Later, he may do metal V ? M lJ f Jt-'A I 4 work and construct buckles, fobs, V Kl!trhBe$ $ i dS? t rings and bracelets. XJ'TIX V l r Because, for years, high-school XVj-fT I 3W3Il students were In the habit of L I .T.O'-fnl bringing indigestible lunches to. f F-"WS?T p&r ' school, or. worse still, spending I " J V fe'Zr' ' their money on pickles and ice ' Km2Z?p&0Zlf cream, Lane has Installed a model $ tMs&ii"js'- tXj - y -ztjs.i cafeteria, where, at cost, the boys 9ATr'?y SVAKJYG can get hot, appetizing lunches. turned over to the girls. Clad in neat middy blouses and comfortable bloomers, several hundred hun-dred girls and older women, too, are taught graceful grace-ful folk danceB, games and drills. But that Isn't all the girls are taught modern dances as well. To the accompaniment of music and under the directions di-rections of a skilled teacher of dancing, the girls are taught the one-step, the fox-trot and other modern ballroom dances. The girls have a chance to practice the dances, for one night each week there la a big dance at Lane, which hundreds of students attend. The dances are under the supervision of principal and teachers, and these social evenings do much toward to-ward strengthening Lane's school Bpirit, Lane Is a real social center. They Learn to Sew. Dancing is not the only thing offered to girls at the nightschool. There are classes in hand and machine sewing, in the use of patterns and in fitting fit-ting and designing. Young women make dresses, suits and party frocks, both for themselves and others. They learn to make hats, too, designing the hat, making the frame, covering it and trimming trim-ming the hat. Tha Lane publications are things of which both students and faculty are proud, for the Lane Tech Daily is the only daily newspaper In the United StateB that is both published and printed by students stu-dents of a high school. Members of the journalism journal-ism class write the news for the daily, others edit it, still others set type, make up the paper and run the presses. The Daily keeps the pupils posted on all school news. The pupils of the evening school Issue an eight-page weekly paper, the Lane Tech News. Any pupil at Lane may write for the News or the Dally. For pupils with literary ambitions, there is the Lane Tech Prep, a monthly magazine, full of short stories, essays and even playlets. For the Backward Bcyi. Lane's pre-vocational department Is one of Its most successful features. In every city, there are boys of fifteen, sixteen or seventeen, who, because of sickness, financial conditions or change of residence, resi-dence, have been backward In their classes. Usually Usu-ally these boys drop out of school and go to work, poorly prepared to enter Into competition with other boyB. The pre-vocatlonal department la especially for the boys who are delinquent In the grade schools. It gives the "motor type" of boy an opportunity to make up his work. Instead of being be-ing in a grade school among the little follows, among whom ho feels ashamed, ho is part of a big high school with boys hlB own age. His Interest iB awakened by being allowed to do things he is taught technical shop work and usually leaves school capable of earning an honorable livelihood. The laboratories at Lane are well equlppod. There are three, tho biological, phyBlcal and chemical. chem-ical. Aquariums, with large collections of llsh, frogs, snails and turtles interest some students. There is a wireless telegraph outfit, electric light testing machines, an X-ray outllt, a modol dynamo and motors. BoyB who como to Lano without dctinlto ambitlonB, soon find Just the things to Interest In-terest and develop them. Interesting Shop Work. The shops at Lane liavo proved Interesting to educators all over the world. In the wood Bhops there are examples of tho work of the students: Although It is a most businesslike scnooi. there is time for play, too. A coach directs di-rects football, track and baseball teams. Each year, too, there are two amateur plays. Four performances per-formances of each are given and several thousand dollars added to the school fund. There are orchestras and bands, too, composed of the musical music-al students at Lane. On Sunday there are amateur ama-teur and professional band concerts, attended not only by students and people who live near by, but by people who come miles to listen to good music. Thirty Helpful Clubs. Over thirty clubs help the social side of the school. Nearly all of them are open to any student stu-dent who is interested, for Lane is absolutely democratic dem-ocratic in spirit Some of the cluba are the "Wireless "Wire-less club, the Mathematics club, the Debating club, the Camera club, the Dramatic club, the Sketch club, the German-club, the Economics club, the Skating club and the Civics Industrial club. Lane is not Just for poor people. Some of the students arrive in their automobiles. A famous Interior In-terior decorator is taking a course at Lane which will teach him about enameling woods, something he could not learn anywhere else in Chicago. A sculptor Is taking a course In forging, because it will help him in the molding and casting of statues. Artistic women are learning how to make hand-wrought silver. But, in spite of this, the most popular students are those who are working their way through school. The majority of Lane boys, In fact, are working their way. Students Who Work. Under the direction of William J. Bogan, principal prin-cipal of Liine and noted educator, a man who understands un-derstands youths, hundreds of positions are obtained ob-tained for boys who must work for their board and clothing. These positions range from ushers in movie shows to workers in electric shops. All of them teanh the boys to be self-reliant and Independent Inde-pendent and most of them are along the line of work that the boy wishes to take up when he has left school. 1 To young and old Lane high school offers hundreds hun-dreds of opportunities. Servians, Germans, Russians, Rus-sians, Chinese, Japanese and FilipInoB In Chicago are gaining there a real national spirit and a real education. Hundreds of Americans are obtaining knowledge that will lead them to better positions and higher earnings. The school motto Is "There Is no royal road to learning, but there Is an open Lane," and the thousands who attend prove that they are anxious to take advantage of the "open Lane." |
