Bristol High School - Green and White Yearbook (Bristol, RI)

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18 THE GREEN AND WHITE THE DEBATING CLUB OF THE COLT MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL The Debating Club of the Colt Memorial High School met on November 7, 1923, and the following officers were elected: Sidney Makowsky, chairman; Norman Benard, vice chairman and treasurer; Miss Catherine Fay, secretary. The business committee was Charles Serbst, Miss Barbara Tucker, and Norman Benard. The club adviser elected was Mr. Strong, and the assistant club adviser, Mrs. Clark. The purpose of this society is threefold: “to develop the habit of independent and organized thought upon all important questions; to develop the ability to speak easily and convincingly upon such questions; and to convince others of the correctness and sincerity of the speaker’s views.” We then joined the Brown Interscholastic Debating League. The Brown Club offers to the high schools of Rhode Island a cup to be held for a year by the debating team winning the most debates determined by an elimination process. In the first debates of the series we were chosen by lot to debate with the Pawtucket High School at Pawtucket. We then planned to hold a debate in the auditorium before the pupils and faculty on the question to be debated in Pawtucket. Those who took part on the affirmative side were Miss Gertrude Grice, Miss Dilys Wall, Leon Kenney and Charles Serbst. The negative team was Norman Benard, Leo Nussenfeld, Sidney Makowsky and Miss Catherine Fay. The judges, Mr. Hobbs, Dr. Williams and Mrs. John Condon, decided in favor of the affirmative. Mrs. Clark and Mr. Strong, after much deliberation, chose the following team from those who debated in the auditorium, to take part in the debate at Pawtucket: Charles Serbst, Leon Kenney, Leo Nussenfeld, and Miss Catherine Fay as alternate. Mr. Robert K. Bennett, Superintendent of Schools in Central Falls, accepted our invitation to act as judge in this debate. The other two judges were chosen by Pawtucket. There was a great deal of hard work put in in preparation for the debate and we are greatly indebted to Mrs. Clark for her advice and assistance. On the night of the debate the members of the team and other members of the debating club, and of the school traveled by train to Providence. Here they were met by Mr. Kirschbaum, coach of the Pawtucket debating team. When we arrived at Pawtucket, Mr. Kirschbaum started us on the way to the school. After we had walked and walked till we thought we’d never stop, our guide discovered that he had lost his way. We turned around and tramped back and arrived rather late, but safely, at the Grove Street Grammar School, where the debate was to be held. The high school orchestra cheered us considerably with some very enjoyable music and finally everything became quiet and we started our first real debate. I can’t describe the funny feeling we all experienced when our first speaker stood up. We fought hard to win that debate but were defeated by the Pawtucket team. However,, we gained much more confidence in ourselves and useful experience in debating. As a result of this debate, we were eliminated from the Brown Interscholastic League. Hope High School in Providence was also eliminated from the league; so we challenged the club to hold a debate here in the auditorium in Bristol on the same Question. All plans were completed, and on December 18th, we held a debate in the auditorium. Judge Leahy acted as our judge; the second judge was chosen by Hope High, and the third by the Brown Club. We charged an admission fee of twenty-five cents and a large number of the townspeople attended. Our team again went down to defeat, but like the Freshman Fullback in the story, we “don't know when we are licked.” CATHERINE FAY, ’25, Secretary of Debating Club. -----o------ THE SCIENCE CLUB The first Science Club at our high school was formed under the direction of Mr. Condon, and chose for its officers: President, Leo Nussenfeld; Secretary, Madeline Koch; Treasurer, Thomas McGrath. Meetings are held every two weeks and the program committee, Keating. Nussenfeld. and Miss Horton, has arranged talks on Physical Testing, Chemistry, Fire and Explosions, Radio and Home Inventions and Problems. An open meeting was held in the audi-torum to which all were invited. Mr. I. F. Richardson, automotive engineer with the Vacuum Oil Company of Boston, gave a very instructive illustrated lecture on “Lubrication.” Another such meeting is being planned for the latter part of the year which will be open to everyone. -----o------ Our school sent one of the eleven teams that entered the First Interscholastic Chemistry Contest at R. I. State College on the morning of the Track Meet, May 10th. The silver trophy went to Rogers of Newport. Only the winning team was an-

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THE GREEN AND WHITE 17 ship’s officers had told him that the Prince of Wales had had twenty suits, so he had thought it absolutely necessary to get one more. “On the fourth day out a great storm arose. We gathered in the recreation room. where Miss Kennedy and Miss Moore comforted us by playing and singing Do They Think of Me at Home?” “A Life on the Ocean Wave,” “Who’s Sorry Now?” “Where is My Wandering Boy Tonight?” “The Vacant Chair,” etc. The only thing that cheered us up was the thought that, if the ship sank and we weren’t in very deep water, we might be able to keep our heads above the surface by standing on Kenney or Serbst. Then the propeller broke; there was no hope. But a wonderful idea came to Miss Horton, “Give me a rowboat,” she cried, “and I will tow you o’er the ocean!” “In Paris we had to free Miss Wall from the clutches of the French police. It seems that she was discovered sketching the statues and paintings in the Louvre, which is against the law. At last, upon agreeing to make a drawing for each one of the judges, she was acquitted. “When the leader of the orchestra at the Ritz heard that Miss Nettleton and Miss Marino and Levy were violinists from Bristol, R. I., and especially that two of them had played in the famous C. M. H. S. orchestra, he begged them to stay and add their great abilities to the Ritz orchestra. But for their promise to stay by the French Club, they would probably have yielded to the Frenchman’s frenzied entreaties. “We had great difficulty in keeping track of Miss Grice, for she was always wandering into strange by-ways to find queer expressions to use as passwords when we returned. Another member who almost deserted was Miss Giorgio who was offered a responsible position as assistant chemist in Mme. Curie’s laboratory. “Leo Nussenfeld left us for a few days while he went to Genoa to discover some fresh information about Christopher ‘Columb.’ “Miss Callan had a hard time rescuing a quartet which had ventured into the East Side to learn the Apache dances. For the Apaches, who had probably never heard of any terpsichorean efforts named after themselves, took them for rich tourists and shut them up as a mild joke. But for Miss Callan's tactful diplomacy there is no telling how far the ‘joke’ might have been carried. “But all these escapades had tired us, and we took the next steamer home. When we disembarked at New York we were tremendously surprised to find a delegation consisting of President Coolidge, “Al” Smith, and the mayor of New York awaiting us at the pier. But our pride received a great fall when we found that they weren’t waiting for us but for Mrs. Coolidge, who had gone to Paris on a shopping tour. “We finished our journey in a much chastened frame of mind. The French Club is, as yet, in its infancy. But we hope that by next year it will have become a truly great institution. THERESA E. PETERS, ’24. ------o------- RHODE ISLAND HONOR SOCIETY An important event in the school year was the organization at Colt Memorial of a chapter of the Rhode Island Honor Society of High Schools. An idea of this society may be gained from the following quotation from its constitution: “The purpose of this organization shall be to encourage the development of high scholarship, strong spirit of service, helpful leadership and worthy character in the students of the Rhode Island High Schools. “All students who at the beginning of their senior year have an average scholarship rank of 85% or over for all previous work and who possess the other necessary qualifications of character, service, and helpful leadership shall be eligible for membership; also all students who at the beginning of the second half of their senior year meet these requirements.” On April 16, the day before the Easter vacation, special exercises were held in the auditorium at which Principal George H. Eckels of the Technical High School, Providence, was the guest of honor. He gave a very interesting and stimulating address, showing the importance of high scholarship, at the close of which he presented emblems and certificates to the following ten members of the class of 1924: Gladys Brelsford Katherine Bullock Mary Ezikorich Sadie Giorgio Elsa Greenwell Arleen Holm Sidney Makowsky Geraldine Marino Mary Matheson Theresa Peters RALPH R. STRONG, Principal, C. M. H. S.

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THE GREEN AND WHITE 19 nounced. Those chosen by Mr. Condon to Morris Levy and Fabio De Cristofaro. represent the school were Leon Kenney, Clifford Keating entered as an individual for Miss Frances Horton, Miss Sadie Giorgio, the special prize. So much has been said about athletics in the Colt Memorial High School that further praise is out of place. At the beginning of the season the spirit of foot ball was inflamed in the heart of every pupil in the Colt Memorial High School. With the assistance of Mr. Eastwood and Mr. Condon a team was soon rounded into shape and two games played. One of the hottest contests ever witnessed took place on Bristol common between a team composed of the “Freshies” and Juniors, and another of Seniors and “Sophs.” End runs and line plunging by Rinaldi, the varsity fullback, resulted in a victory for the “Freshies” and Juniors. From this game our coaches picked a varsity eleven to represent Colt Memorial High School on the gridiron. Football is again revived after a ten-year lapse. Our football schedule to date for next year is as follows: Sept. 10.........Colt at Durfee, Fall River Sept. 26.......... West Warwick at Bristol October 3 ........... Colt at Central Falls BASKET BALL After five seasons with no team to repre- sent our school in the “gyms” around Rhode Island, a basket ball team is now formed, of which every pupil of the Colt Memorial High School should be proud. Though it was organized rather late in the season it showed that Colt Memorial High School must be placed on the map in basket ball. With the assistance of our coach, Mr. Condon, a schedule of eight games was arranged, of which four were won by the team, while the other four were lost by only a few points. During the basket ball season school spirit seemed dead. Something had to be done to renew the spirit of athletics. It was Mr. Strong that helped the Athletic Association very much by frequently addressing the student body, on assembly mornings, concerning the results of games, the necessity of athletics in the school and school spirit. TRACK Our track team at this time deserves a great deal of praise, because of its hard work in preparing for the Kingston Track