14
Little Red Schoolhouse
By ELIZABETH DO TSO N
The winter of 1945-46 marked the KOAC staff members. The playsg
13 th year of broadcasting for the which Mr. Morris adapts from well|
KO A C School of the Air. Thousands known children’s stories, are also used
of rural school children in Oregon dis by radio station WBEZ operated for the
pelled any jinks connected with the Chicago public schools. With 2 2 ,000
number 13 by providing an estimated youthful listeners just within the city,
audience of 110,000 listeners for these "Land of Make Believe” is Chicago’s
programs. KO AC is Oregon’s public - most popular school program. These
owned radio station located on the Ore plays will also be used next winter by
gon State College campus in Corvallis. the Seattle city school station.
The General Extension Division of the
Second on the popularity list is "L et’s
State System of Higher Education di Sing, America” — claiming 19,400 par
rects the program service.
ticipants. We say participants, not lis
The School of the Air provides a teners, because in their own schools the
series of programs throughout the week student groups sing with the studio
for the use of one and two room rural broadcasters. Miss Maude Garnett, head
schools. "This program feature grew of the Department of Public School
out of KO A C’s vision of what radio Music at the University of Oregon,
could do for rural schools especially,” plans and presents these programs, as
says James M. Morris, director of the sisted by her own classes in Public
series during the last two years. Because School Music at the University. Basic
of inadequate library service in many theme of the series is "singing for en
rural areas and the limited experiences joyment.” Each broadcast has a speci
of rural children, these programs pro fic theme— songs of the people of other
vide valuable supplementary assistance nations, Negro spirituals, cowboy and
for teachers. Rural schools are, of mountain songs, sea songs and others.
course, an easier audience to reach than Grand finale for the year comes at the
are the larger city schools where de- time of the last broadcast in May when
parmentalization of subjects makes it the children of various schools assemble
difficult to adjust the school schedule in McArthur Court on the University
to radio broadcasts. Some of the larger campus for a community sing.
"The Beginnings of Things” are five
cities in the United States are now oper
ating their own radio stations, such as minute answers to children’s inevitable
KBPS in Portland, from which pro questions of "whys and wherefores” of
grams are broadcast to fit their schools’ everything around them. This series was
special schedules. KOAC and similar given to the station by Mrs. Florence
stations have led the way in this edu Hornaday Summers, teacher, librarian
cational broadcasting.
and newspaper woman, who last year
Topping the popularity list in num resided in Nyssa. Although Mrs. Sum
ber. of listeners is the "Land of Make mers has left the state, her scripts will
Believe.” For 15 minutes every Mon be used again next year. The series an
day last winter, 24 ,0 0 0 children jour swered the questions of 10,840 chil
neyed with the Court Players into the dren about the first ice cream cone,
land o f make believe where their favor the first rubber overshoes, the first ap
ite story book characters come to life. ples in the west, and many other
These Court Players are Corvallis jun "firsts.” (Following figures in paren-
ior and senior high school students and
(Continued on page 15)