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» EQUALLY as important as the course of studies is the experience of cocperative living. The students contribute two hours a day to the rumiing cf the househeld, and have the opportunity cf sharing work and piay with other students and the staff. INSTITUTES AND EXTRA SESSIONS. In additicn to its regular resident terms, Highlander holds frequent weekend institutes throughout the year, for unicns, teachers, and sccial workers. For example, during 1940, institutes were held at the schocl for the American Federation of Hosiery Workers, for the International Iadies' Garment Workers Union, and for Labor's Nen-Partisan League. Informal weck-end gatherings were held fcr leaders of ccoperatives, ana fcr scuthern business and professional, and industrial Y. W. C. A. secretaries. Other special sessicns have included such varicd prejects as: a week's Sumacr Camp for the children cf unicn members; a writers! workshop at which prominent writers and ycung students from all parts of the country discussed together the problems of writing: and two work camps for ccllere students. 2. THE COMMUNITY PROGRAM. The problem cf earning a living in Grin dy County is srute Since the scil is nct switable for preductive uPrund A Ce Le eS Se a ew 9 ee ee farming, the natural resources of the land - coal mining and lumbering - have been exploited until the timber is gone and only a few mines are in operation. The Anerican Public Welfare Asscciaticn has made a study of the county: it is ene of the pcorest in the Scuth, with cver eishty percent of the residents certified for relief. An important part of Highlanders! all-year-around activites is the School's work with community organizations in joint efforts to solve community and country problems. JTeadership has been furnished for Cooperatives in gardening, canning, pottery and quilt-making, and in such organizations as a Community Council, local unions, and a Parent-Teacher Assocjation, In the community work, the School alsc assists in developing local leadership by providing for Young Peoples Clubs and Study Groups for Adults. The cultural and recreational life of the community has been stimulated by the School's free music lessons, and by the encourage- ment of the traditional songs and fine old square dances of the region. Perhaps the most outstanding recent example of the School's community projects is a progressive nursery school, taught by a member of the Highlander staff, who is a graduate of the Bank Street Cooperative School for Teachers, and who acts as director, janitor, parent-worker, ==