The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 332 The Educational Screen Central American exhibit at Whittier School in Boulder. or governing body based on a per pupil per year basis. The amount per pupil depends upon local conditions and your powers of persuasion. Some visual instruc- tion directors estimate that 25c per pupil per year will give them a fair jirogram; others insist upon at least 50c. In a few places the program is based upon $1.00 per pupil per year. Part of this difference lies in the fact that, with the highest rate, the budget includes the salary of the director and any helpers that are needed. I suggest that you take what you can get. and use that so well that you are justified in asking more as the program progresses. If you are doing a first class job with the aids that cost nothing except time and work, you have a much l^etter chance to get the more expensive equipment and the aids that do cost a con- siderable sum. Planning the Program Above all, do plan your program before you start. Make an inventory of what you now have, and then lay out a five or ten year ])lan—just what should you plan to buy the first year? What the next year? What should the school system expect to have at the end of five years? How much of the total sum should go into equipment and how much for upkeep and ren- tal materials ? How much should be allocated for post- age and express on exhibits that are offered free ex- cept for transportation ? How much for supplies such as movmts for pictures, materials for handmade slides or other pupil-made aids ? (Exam]:)]es are not rare of schools that have paid $300.00 for a sound film pro- jector and then have no funds with whicli to rent pictures). If you have a detailed plan with everything budg- eted, you can expect a much greater degree of sym- pathy from those whose business it is to see that the taxpayers' money is not wasted, than if you merely "think it would be nice if you had a motion picture projector." Get the backing of the school authorities if possible. If that cannot be secured, try all other sources—P.T.A., candy sales, special programs, or what have you. But start—start with free, pupil-made, or teacher-made aids, and gradually expand as you are able. Obviously visual aids and equipment made expressly for educational purposes is more valuable and effec- tive than hetrogeneous "'free" material not so designed. But many a school, now fully equipjDed for visual Melting Pot Dance on World Friendship Program. teaching, made its start with these humble "free" ma- terials. Better such a start than no start at all. And you will arrive far sooner at the desired end of a com- plete visual installation. A few specific suggestions may be in order here. Does your school have a school nuiseum? If not, why not? Are you familiar with Miller's little book, "Free and Inexpensive Teaching Aids?" Just take a look at it—booklets, exhibits, charts, pictures, all practically for the asking. There is a wealth of material available through the Pan- American Union on all the countries of the Western Hemisphere, and at a very low cost. Check the ads in the better magazines and write for illustrated material. Railroad companies, Chambers of Commerce, large commercial firms, government agencies, all are fruit- ful sources if the request is made in the name of the school. Have you canvassed your community? Many homes have historical objects, curios, old costimies, exhibits and collections which sometimes will be given outright, sometimes loaned, when the school starts a museum. How about making collections in your com- munity of local products and exchange them with schools in other states for collections made there. Think of the excellent project which might be done in Boulder, for example, in elementary geolog)' and the collection of rocks which might be exchanged for a cotton exhibit made by a school in Texas. The field is unlimited. Let the children exchange letters with children of other states in the same grade and arrange for this exchange of exhibits. That provides a good chance for correlation of letter writing in the langu- age classes and those classes for which the exhibits will be used. Finally there are the many pictures which may be had for the asking—pictures from the better type of magazines. Many homes in your com- munity, taking many magazines, will gladly give back numbers, particularly if it is known that they will be well used. At the start most projected aids, such as films and slides, will seem expensive if bought out- right. Except in large cities, most schools do not expect to buy motion picture films because of the large initial cost and a certain amount of depreciation. In- stead they make use of commercial libraries on a rental basis. You shoiild investigate also your nearest state service, for transportation becomes an item of no mean cost. If you find a film that exactly fits your course of study, and hence will be used by several teachers