Anchorage Junior Academy’s principal/teacher Ruth Farnsworth is a philatelist (a postage stamp collector). For a number of years, Farnsworth has been introducing her students to the fun of collecting stamps and learning history in the process.

One of Farnsworth’s annual field trips has been a visit to the Anchorage Philatelic Exhibit (APEX) put on by the area club. The junior division of this club had been dwindling with very few junior exhibitors participating in the show. Farnsworth invited Bob and Gladys Spaugy, the Junior Stamp Club sponsors, to come work with her students.

When the Spaugys asked why the kids didn't participate in the exhibit, Farnsworth explained that the students could not participate in the show because it always took place on Saturday. They offered to ask the club for a special vote to move the event to Friday so that AJA’s students could participate in the 55th annual APEX show.

“This activity has been a genuine learning venture for our students,” said Farnsworth. “Considering this is our students’ first year to display, the judges were quite impressed with the quality of the exhibits.” Of the 14 exhibits shown, 11 were AJA students. AJA students won the “best of show” honors, and each student received a prize for participating.