Annie Wright School - Shield Yearbook (Tacoma, WA)

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© ZJne T Shi€l i © may be filled to capacity, and thus hasten the day when it will be freed from this heavy indebtedness. Since the school was Tirst occupied, we have completed the swimmmg pooi at an additional cost of about $17,500 and built two new tennis courts and an athletic field at a total cost of about $5,000 in our endeavor to keep the plant up to date for the bonef ' t of the studen+s. JAMES M. KEEN. Secretary. The Board of Trustees. RT. REV. S. ARTHUR HUSTON Bishop of Olympio 1931 THE FUTURE Others, better qualified than myself, by virtue of longer association with the Seminary, have written of its splendid history and traditions. I have been aslced to write something about its future. This I am glad to attempt, because an educa- tional institution which has to do with creating a sense of discrimination between true objectives and false, and with an appreciation of things that are true, beautiful and good, must also have a few proper objectives for itself as an institution. The Annie Wright Seminary, therefore, with almost fifty honorable years behind it. may well propose for itself something other than longevity which we venture to believe it has already attained, in a section of the country which still numbers its years by decades rather than by centuries. Page twenty-seven

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6) During our commencement address, Bishop Keator stated that a commencement address without mentioning Mrs. Raynor would be like Hamlet with Hamlet left out. That is true of an account of the Seminary as I knew it. The graciousness of Mrs. Raynor, always a perfect lady, her sense of humor, her honesty and integrity form a living part of the Seminary. Those of us who were privileged to oe in ihe beminary unaer Bishop Keator were given a friend whose inspiration and guiding influence will continue always. Grace McDonald Phillips. HOW THE NEW SEMINARY WAS FINANCED It has been suggested that the Alumnae would be interested in the proceedure of the Board of Trustees in financing the cost of the new Seminary and its site. There- fore I will endeavor to give as concise a history as possible of the methods followed. In 1921 Bishop Keator brought before the Board the absolute necessity of build- ing a new school, with additional capacity and more ample grounds, as the one then in use had become obsolete, and its grounds inadequate to properly conduct a school of its size and character. After a number of conferences, the Bishop was authorized to engage Mr. Albert Sutton, one of the leading architects in the Northwest, to prepare and submit plans and specifications and the estimated cost for a new building, to be erected on the present site upon which the Board had obtained an option at a very advantageous price. Shortly after, final plans were approved, the site purchased, and a Building Committee appointed, with instructions to proceed at once with construction. Then the problem of financing the. project arose. It was referred to a c ommittee chosen from members of the Board, who later reported that, after liquidating the then available assets, it would be necessary to borrow $350,000 to complete the project. This they felt could be accomplished through the sale of bonds for a like amount, to be secured by a mortgage on the new plant. With the help of the entire Board of Trustees, this was finally accomplished, but not without extraordinary effort on their part, and the giving of much valuable time. The members of the Alumnae, and those interested in the Seminary cannot be too grateful to these men. and to those who bought our bonds, who did so with the sole purpose of aiding in providing this beautiful and fully equipped school for the girls of the Pacific Northwest. Furthermore, the entire bond issue was placed with the citizens of Tacoma. and at par, while the best offer obtainable through bond houses was 92 ' 2; thus through their efforts, the Trustees saved the Seminary thousands of dollars in finance fees. These bonds were issued as of December I, 1924, and I am pleased to report that al! interest thereon has been met promptly when due: also that the Treasurer has been able to pay $55,000 of the principal, leav- ing present indebtedness of $295,000 against the plant. This is payable in yearly installments, out of school revenue, so we are taking this opportunity to urge all members of the Alumnae to use every means in their power to aid Miss Wilson in obtaining desirable students, to the end that the school Page twenty-six

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(9 JHe f- HI-eL l 6) One ' s ideas as to what are the essentials of an education are largely determined by one ' s conception of life ' s objectives. If that elusive and indefinable thing which we call culture is among our objectives, then it is well to observe that it can neither be created nor imparted. It must be imbibed, as it were, from an atmosphere in which one is immersed. That the Annie Wright Seminary furnishes such an atmos- phere is not here to be argued, but perhaps the writer will be pardoned if he ex- presses his gratification that this cultural atmosphere is what he found there when in 1925 he made his first contact with the school, and he believes it to be one of the most charming and valuable characteristics of the place. Without it. no private school would have any reason for being. Moreover, good government in a democracy and the quaii- :s citizenship rest upon the twin foundation stones of education and religion. As was said by the prophet of old. Where there is no vision, the people perish. Said another, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. The unthinking might remark that it is far more important that the young shall see visions than that the aged shall dream dreams. But it were wiser to observe that the youth of today will be the aged of tomorrow, and that there is an inevitable relationship between that which the young visualize in prospect and that which the aged shall dream in retrospect. Therefore, that one should learn to lift up his eyes unto the hills from whence cometh his help is quite necessary if, later on, going through the vale of misery he is to be able to use it for a well and to find the pools filled with water. It is only they who go from strength to strength. With this conviction the Annie Wright Seminary, founded by Bishop Paddock as a Church School for girls, has always taught religion, to which the chaplain, the chapel and the curriculum bear witness. In so saying, let me add that proselytizing is for- bidden and proper courtesy and respect are shown to every religious faith repre- sented in our students. The point is that good citizenship, which is another great objective of tf tution, is aimed at by an educational process which does not merely sharpen The wits but which also provides for the nurture of the soul. To these educational ideals the Annie Wright Seminary was dedicated in the beginning, and to them the school has ever remained true. With no departure from these Ideals the future may see. and some of us hope that it will see a widening of our educational scope. The day has come in which there is a great need for the Junior College. Will the Annie Wright Sem- inary ever Incorporate the Junior College into its mode of operation? The answer depends upon fiscal limitations rather than upon any limitation of ambition or slavish adherence to custom. To be quite frank, money is a factor, but generous alumnae, public-spirited citi- zens and loyal church people could make anything possible. At present, the school ' s primary need is scholarships. Thanks to the generosity of Bishop and Mrs. Robert Lewis Paddock — Bishop Paddock being the son of the founder. Bishop John Adams Paddock — a beginning has been made. Surely we are justified in venturing the hope that others will follow their example. To this future we look with com- Page twenty-eight