ORGANIZATION OF THE BOARDING DEPARTMENT. The boarding department should be in charge of one person who is qualified, by thorough knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by administrative ability, to be responsible for its entire administration. Other regular helpers may be necessary, but in most schools it is desirable to have the duties so systematized that students can perform a large part of the work under competent supervision. The financial condition of most of the students makes this desirable, as it is necessary for many students to support themselves while in school. The experience gained by performing responsible work here as elsewhere is in itself a valuable education. Employment of student labor will not reduce the cost of labor to the school, but the good resulting to the students justifies it when the work performed can be properly supervised. The atmosphere that can be developed and maintained throughout the school where all the labor is carried on by students is a distinct advantage. If all of those responsible for carrying on the work of the school are interested in its ideals and standards, the entire tone of the school can be kept on a high plane. The pernicious practice of permitting the person in charge of the boarding department to feed students at a minimum cost, and thereby to make a profit, should be altogether discountenanced. Unfortunately this system persists in a few schools. School authorities should not shift their responsibilities in this way, nor should the health of the students be sacrificed to the possible greed of a commercial manager, however well meaning some of these managers may be. RELATION TO FOODS COURSES. It may be possible to have the boarding department under the direct supervision of the home-economics department. If this is not possible, a close relationship between the two departments should be established. The principles of nutrition taught in the foods classes should determine the practice of the boarding department. Better nutritional standards for the school should be set up because of the courses in food study carried on in the home-economics department. Preparation of food in the cooking classes for the boarding department suggests itself as an excellent means of adding to the interest. and value of the cooking lessons. However, there are certain considerations that serve to limit the usefulness of this method of disposing of the cooked product. In the first place the price of board is so low that a very limited variety of dishes is possible on the boarding table. The tastes of the students further limit that variety, for many of them are not accustomed to "made" dishes and prefer the plain boiled and fried foods. The time involved in the preparation of food for a large group is frequently more than the class period allows. Furthermore, unless the class has a cooking lesson every day, complications in planning the work in the boarding department may result. In no foods course are daily cooking lessons possible if adequate time is to be given to discussion and review. In some schools these difficulties are not insurmountable and the product of the cooking classes proves a very welcome contribution to the table of either the students or the teachers. Large recipes that have been carefully tried out should be secured for this work, and careful record should be kept of the time involved in the preparation of the articles and the cooking of the dish, of the number served, and of the cost of each service and of the entire dish. Such practical class work will give the students greater command in handling food products, a more intelligent interest in questions of nutrition, and an appreciation of the problems of time, quantity, and cost. COOPERATION WITH THE SCHOOL FARM. Probably no factor in connection with the development of the boarding departments is more in need of consideration than the working out of a system of cooperation between the matron of the boarding department and the superintendent of the school farm. Certain difficulties may be experienced in the development of such a relationship, but successful cooperation is absolutely necessary if the school farm is going to demonstrate its value and if the students are to be properly fed at a minimum cost. If a well-managed farm is maintained at the school, it ought to be possible to supply the boarding table with milk, eggs, and fresh vegetables in season and with all winter vegetables. In many schools the meat supply also can be provided by the farm. Special provision should be made for care of refuse and for disposal of the waste that accumulates from the boarding department. A portion of this may be looked after by the authorities of the school farm. Accumulation of trash piles and of uncovered refuse anywhere about the buildings should never be allowed. Danger from flies is too great, and the unsightliness of a pile of old cans, as well as the odor that comes from the decomposition of food, are too unpleasant to be permitted if standards are to be maintained. Some expense may be necessary in providing for the sanitary disposal of waste, and this provision should be estimated and planned for in the budget for the boarding department. DIET OF STUDENTS. A considerable range of variation may be noted in the character of meals provided at the different institutions, dependent in large measure on the skill and intelligence of those in charge of boarding departments. Board is provided usually at a minimum cost that in the absence of careful control makes necessary a very restricted diet. Not only are daily menus lacking in variety, but there is in most of the schools little variation throughout the week. Starchy foods and fat meats are served in abundance. Milk and fresh vegetables and fruits are lacking. The diet may prove satisfying in bulk and flavor, but it leaves much to be desired from the standpoint of nutrition. The price which students can afford to pay should not be allowed to be the single factor controlling the type of board. The minimum price for which board is provided should not be placed so low as to preclude the provision of an adequate diet for growing girls and boys. The person in charge of the boarding department should make a study of nutrition, so that the kind and quality of food needed can be provided. Fortunately, wholesome foods at inexpensive prices can be secured, if one knows how to choose wisely. Cereal products must commonly form the basis of a diet provided under the given limitations of cost; they can be cooked in so great a variety of ways in the various forms of bread, breakfast dishes, and simple puddings that with wise planning an inexpensive diet need not be a monotonous one. However, they should, so far as possible, be supplemented by vegetables, fruits, dairy products, eggs, meat, and fish. Milk and the leafy vegetables should be used as freely as possible on the table throughout the year. Arrangements of meal hours should be such as to secure the best health conditions for students. Intervals between servings of meals should not be too great, nor, on the other hand, should the meal hours be too close together. Usually the principal meal of the day is served at noon because of work conditions in the school kitchen. It is not well to have this meal so heavy that the evening meal becomes merely a light lunch. The evening meal should be both attractive and nourishing after the hard day's work. RELATION OF DIET TO THE HEALTH OF STUDENTS. Few schools have recognized the responsibilities involved in looking after the diet of students. The character of the food provided is a matter of serious import in relation to the health of students. Improved nutritional conditions for the race as a whole may be effected, if those in charge of the young people give proper consideration to questions of diet. The ultimate test of the board at any institution must be found in the health condition of the students, and a study of this condition should be made from time to time by competent persons, so that the one in charge of the boarding de partment may be assured of the success with which the board is being planned. Habits of eating, as well as character of food served, are factors to be taken into account as affecting health conditions, and instruction in health habits should be given to all students in the school. Matrons in charge of students should feel a responsibility for the training which students receive in proper health habits. Students can be checked on their health habits if living arrangements are such as to make possible enforcement of proper regulations. Health rules simply stated should be formulated, and their observance required. EQUIPMENT OF BOARDING DEPARTMENT. Equipment of the boarding department should be such as to reduce the amount of work to a minimum while insuring the best sanitary conditions. If the student body is large, institutional equipment of a labor-saving type will be practicable. Such equipment has an educational value, as it sets standards for efficiency at the same time that it reduces the amount of labor necessary. Moreover, its proper use and regulation demand thoughtful care with close attention to details of construction. If institutional equipment is not feasible or possible, arrangements for work should be made as good as possible and every convenience that the facilities of the school can supply should be installed. LAUNDRY DEPARTMENT. One of the fundamental activities of the home is laundry work. In the boarding school laundry work is of equal importance and provisions for carrying it on satisfactorily are difficult to secure. Arrangements for laundry work are very inadequate in many of the schools. Individual laundry work done at odd hours as the girls have a free period is the custom most generally practiced. In most cases this work is practically unsupervised, and crowded conditions and brevity of time allowed too frequently mean that the work is badly done. Worse still is the practice of requiring the girls to rise at 4 o'clock two mornings in the week to do their laundry work before the regular activities of the day begin. The hours of sleep for growing girls are too limited to make this sacrifice a wise one, if the remainder of the day is to be devoted to study and recitation. In one school 4 periods per week out of 10 periods devoted to classroom work in home economics were allowed for the girls to do their laundry work. Such a sacrifice of class time can scarcely be justified, since the laundry equipment of the school is meager and the supervision and instruction given in laundry processes very limited. |