Page 40 - 1916 February - To Dragma

TO PRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 119

o f house that pleased h i m . T h i s he pasted on theme paper under the
m title "The House that Jack B u i l t " (or, i n the case of the girls, " T h e
me House that J i l l B u i l t " ) . T h e n each day we wrote one paragraph,
d dealing with the steps i n building that house f r o m the choice of a
u- lot in our city and its purchase from a local real-estate dealer, until
w the b u i l d i n g was a finished project.

I early learned the value of special days i n stirring the interest

ve so vital to good w r i t i n g . Edison Day, the birthdays o f L i n c o l n
r- a n d Lee (accorded equal prominence in Tennessee schools) of

Washington and Longfellow, offered the happiest chance f o r the

er necessary biographical work, Hallowe'en, Christmas, Easter, Valen-
r tine's Day and good St. Patrick's Day were rich in possibilities and

afforded w o n d e r f u l scope f o r illustration. Just here I would like to

mention the value the Dennison seals have been to me. T h e tiny

witches, cupids, hearts, etc., give a gala appearance to the papers of

those incapable of drawing their own illustrations—and how the

children love to stick them on!

The historical element I introduced through Columbus Day,

Flag Day, and T h a n k s g i v i n g Day. N e a r l y every state has its pecu-

liar celebration or anniversary—it is Pioneer Day in Tennessee.

Arbor Day brought a flood of "Stories of Famous Trees" (like that

of the Cambridge E l m and the Charter Oak) and that naturally

. suggested "Stories of Famous Songs" f o r the next week.
f N e x t I ordered some of the Perry pictures, i n the half-penny
n size, and we studied two or three really worth-while pictures. A f t e r -
k wards we wrote about the artist, the circumstances under which he
, painted the picture, and our impressions of it, proudly pasting our
y individual copies at the top of the page.

When the subject of friendly letters was taken up, came our

l booster letter. Every man, woman and child i n Chattanooga is a
d "booster" and this letter, w r i t t e n to some distant f r i e n d and setting
k f o r t h the advantages, commercial, social and scenic, of "Dixie's
s Dynamo," called out some of the most c a r e f u l and enthusiastic work.
d B u t the triumph of the year was our Tennessee Book, and a won-
s d e r f u l success i t was, correlating history, geography, d r a w i n g and
t civics with composition. First we painted covers i n our state flower,

the daisy. Inside came the state seal, the state flag i n colors, the

r words and music o f the Tennessee Song; maps illustrating the loca-
t tion, surface, and products of the state, and the thirteen Civil War
e battles fought on Tennessee soil; articles on "The Making of Our

State," "Indians in Tennessee," "Tennessee's War Record," "Fam-

s ous Tennesseans," etc.; and statistics giving latitude and longitude,
height above sea-level, population, per cent of illiteration, and our