Address by Les L. Warren,
Director of Recreation and
Community Use of Schools,
‘ Kansas City, Missouri,

March 31, 1939 — Sioux City, Iowa.

RECREATION HOBBIES OF KANSAS CITY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Recreation defined means relief from toil in activities pleas~
urable and wholesome, These selected activities may be either active
or passive in nature, but regardless of their type should serve def-
initely as a means of mental, physical and emotional relaxation for
the participant. The number of recreation hobbies in which one may
engage is almost without limit as any community provides opportunities
for its people to engage in some form of athletic games and sports,
music, arts and crafts, nature study, dramatics and other worthwhile
activities that should be used as a profitable hobby by those inter-—
ested.

It has been found true that the old adage "All work and no play
makes Jack a dull boy" applies to adults as well as children, and that
if given the opportunity, adults invariably take advantage and actively
participate in worthwhile programs of recreation,

The Recreation Department of the Kansas City, Missouri Public
Schools, in an effort to serve the teachers of the school system in a
definite way, recently sent out a questionnaire to all teachers in the
city. The reason for this research was two-fold: First: That the
Recreation Department be able to provide a program of varied recrea-—
tional activities,. passive and active in nature, for all teachers, this
program to be set up in accordance with capabilities and desires of
those interested in the promotion, Second: That the Kansas City,
Missouri Teachers College, desirous of offering in extension classes any
type of physical education or recreation courses, might have a more ‘def-—
inite knowledge of the real needs and set their program accordingly.

The questionnaire returns, I believe, supplied knowledge of what
actually was needed and desired by the teachers, The questionnaire
was entirely optional, the request being made that insomuch as a pro-
gram was being planned for the benefit of the teachers, those interested
could make as complete returns as possible. The signing of the ques—
tionnaire was also optional as we were interested only in receiving
frank and honest returns. This questionnaire was divided into five
main divisions, as follows: Home Recreation, Activities Away from
Home, Reasons Why I do not Engage in Recreation Activities, ‘Recreation
Activities a Teacher Desired to Have the Recreation Department Promote,
The Types and Kinds of Recreation Courses Desired at Teachers College.

More than fifty per cent of the teachers voluntarily filled out
and returned the questionnaire to the Recreation Office, The returns
proved to be quite interesting and served our purpose amazingly well.
It was found that fifty per cent of those making returns were living at
home, twelve. and one-half per cent living in private homes, twenty-five
per cent in apartments or hotels, while the remaining twelve and one—
half per ‘cent rented homes or lived in boarding houses,

It was also found that individual doctor bills of the teachers ran
from an average of $30.50 per year to the unusual $125.00 per year.