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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
NOVEMBER 15,1945
'Little Hollywood' Brings a Fourth 'R' to Education Invading Kansas Classrooms With Reels of Film
In 15,000 Reels, Four Million Fans See Everything From Hens to Hitler
There's a "little Hollywood" at the University and more than 4 million persons will see its films next year.
The "film capital" of the campus is the bureau of visual instruction, one of the largest distributing centers for classroom movies in the United States. More than 15,000 reels of educational film sent out last year by the bureau were seen by more than 3,600,000 persons.
This new "R" for reels has broadened the meaning of the original three "R's" that dad and mother learned. Pig-tailed girls and freewheel faced boys are still getting the elements out of the books, but filmy
Shown here are some of the thousands of reels of film distributed by the visual instruction bureau. Each reel is checked carefully before being released.
FRED S. MONTGOMERY
are showing them how the system actually works.
"Screen-lining education" is what Fred S. Montgomery, bureau director, calls this phase of visual instruction—a field of still pictures, moving pictures, maps and models—eye-objects which show the student what the textbooks describe.
"We have everything here from mounds to molecules, and from hens to Hitler," explains Montgomery. "And students learn from these motion pictures because they remember action shots more easily than paragraphs in a book."
Teachers like the "screen-lined" method. Dodge City, Wichita, Hutchinson, Topeka, Chanute, Salina and Atchison are a few of the Kansas schools now using films to educate their pupils. The number of towns renting sound film from the university center has taken a 97 per cent upswing in the last eleven years.
Some children who think that "movie" means either a detective thriller or a cowboy serial may at first misunderstand the classroom films, which teach rather than entertain.
"In Chanute, last year, I showed the second grade a film on pet care called "Three Little Kittens," Mrs Margaret Wulikuhle, the bureau's
--audio-visual supervisor, recalls,
"When I was through a small boy
raised his hand and asked, "But
when do we see the movies?"
Some Children Surprised
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What kind of films do customers rent from the bureau? That's easy; every kind. Biographical sketches, excerpts from classical Hollywood productions, safety films, travelogues—anything which teaches.
A special series of Walt Disney's animated cartoons are some of the most popular films in the screen library, but you'll never see them outside of a schoolroom. That's because they're produced for just one purpose, to educate their audience. It's effective. In one Disney feature, caricatures of Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito turn out to be three mosquitoes which teach the importance of disease prevention.
Hollywood films are condensed for use in literature and drama classes. "Romeo and Juliet," "Mutiny on the Bounty," "Tale of Two Cities" and "The Good Earth" have been cut from fourteen reels to three. After seeing such top-notch actors as Charles Laughton, Ronald Colman and Paul Muni, in roles right out of the book, the students don't forget what they read.
In fact, such motion pictures stimulate as high as a 40 per cent increase in voluntary reading. Experimental tests have revealed an additional 55 per cent improvement in learning and remembering material when presented with screen aid.
Boys and girls today are learning safety methods from the screen. "Like adults," remarks Mrs. Wulf-kuhle, "they don't always like to follow directions. But show them someone they respect following those directions, and it will make them want to do it. That's why our film called "Street Safety—Primary Grades" is so popular.
big, friendly police dog is the star. He takes children to school, observes all the stop signs and never runs while crossing the street. The youngsters love it, and want to do just as the dog does."
The Hudson river is no longer that blue body of water on page 32 of the geography book. In one film, called "Boat Trip," pupils travel from Albany to New York by boat and climaxing an exciting trip by watching a glistening ocean liner begin its journey to Europe. It's fun, and it's learning. Onlookers see boats of every description and learn to recognize them.
Often the films excite the pupil's imagination. In Wichita, Mrs. Wulfkuble was demonstrating the film, "Three Little Kittens," to a fourth grade audience. To stimulate discussion on the picture, she asked the boys and girls what pets they had. A small boy proudly answered, "I have a dog, and he can climb any tree in the whole world."
On The Spot
"An answer like that always puts you on the spot. I just couldn't persuade him that he was wrong."
laughed the supervisor, "and I still wonder about it."
Top screen biographies of the famous include the life stories of Dr. George Washington Carver, Negro inventor; David and Mary Bruce, discoverors of the tsetse fly, cause of sleeping sickness; Charles Goodyear, inventor of rubber, and Alfred Nobel, who used his millions from the invention of dynamite to provide recognition of men and women contributing to peace.
These are the kinds of films which will be used in more Kansas classrooms next year than ever before. Projectors are now off the priority list, which means that small schools can get equipment immediately. Electricity is all that is needed to run film machines, and the Rural Electrification association is paving the way in rural areas by providing the current for $2 a month.
The initial equipment cost may be the prohibitive factor for some schools. Good sound equipment begins at $300 and silent projectors start at $100. In such districts, Mrs. Wulfkhule suggests that the county superintendent purchase one unit and distribute it to several schools at regular intervals on a co-operative ownership plan, which will cut the initial cost. Once the primary
expense is out of the way, the film rental charge is quite reasonably, as low as 50 cents a day for 1 or 2-reel films on all phases of our life. It's a cheap price for education, and 4 million persons agree it's worth while.
Busy 'Liz' Baker Wrote This Article
(Reprinted from The Kansas City Star.)
The accompanying article was written by Elizabeth Baker, a '45 graduate in journalism.
"Liz" as she was more popularly known around the campus, spent a busy four years at KU. She was a member of Mortar Board, All-Student Council, Kansan board, state-wide activities executive board, a capella choir, Theta Sigma Phi, Dramatic workshop, and the Dean's honor roll.
She was editor-in-chief, news editor, and campus editor of the Daily Kansan; editor of the '44-'45 student directory; Press club club president, Jay James publicity chairman, quill club secretary, I.S.A. secretary, Jayhawker staff member and Chi Omega sorority member.
Miss Baker is now in New York City, working for NEA.
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