Page 22 - 1914 February - To Dragma

TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 135

I f Doctor Gulick, for he signs the certificate, had touched me with
a sword saying; " I dub thee a Knight," I would not have felt more
knighted than when I received this; it thrilled me to noble thoughts
and deeds, jet I seemed most unworthy.

The girls wear rings, hold ceremonial meetings wearing their
ceremonial costumes, and work for hours in health, home craft,
nature lore, camp craft, business and patriotism—for each honor
there is given a special colored bead.

A guardian must necessarily give a great deal of thought and
preparation to the meetings and activities by "enlarging ideals and
inspiring efforts." As much as she gives to the girls just that
much and more will the girls do and make in their return.

To come back to the playground work, the hours are long; from
nine in the morning until six at night (when schools are having
vacations or holidays and on Saturdays) with a broken hour at noon
for lunch. Well, often I have felt like a worn out accordion,
from umpiring a baseball game to playing jacks—the next minute
carrying on a folk dance then bandaging an injured victim; hold-
ing a national celebration for the neighborhood or having social
evenings. A l l this makes up each day, each week, each month and
always the accordion, however worn out it may be, can manage to
play one more tune. These might sound like trials but they are not,
for one turns to each new thing with zest and joy. The qualifications
necessary? The spirit of play, a good constitution, an abundance
of humor and diplomacy and trained experience. I do not add
being a kindergartner, but such a training is of material benefit to
a playground worker.

When I was taking the ccurse at the "Chicago Training School
for Playground Workers," one of the directors, who was herself
a kindergartner, a notable settlement worker and one of Chicago's
first social playground workers, made a most interesting state-
ment. She said that a head resident in one of the settlements
told her that she would select, without hesitation, a trained kinder-
gartner for any position in the settlement from manual-training to
the social worker or friendly visitor, would select her in preference
to a college graduate. A kindergartner has the ability to adapt her-
self to conditions and the training and experience given her are
varied and along many lines.

Settlement work is f u l l of interest and charm. The position of
Social Worker seemed most interesting—and truth to tell, the social
worker was a kindergartner in the very settlement I am thinking of.

I am going to close on story telling, for I , being a kindergartner,