Connellsville High School - Coker Yearbook (Connellsville, PA)

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5-su. rn ULTU Editor Assistont 5 Sue Swcney Corinne Bryson

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MRfW.G.DAVTS To the Class of 1949: The most important objective in the educational program of the public schools is the improvement of the quality of American Citizenship. Good Citizenship and Democracy are interdepend- ent. The ideal citizen will, of course, have mastered the abilities which are a requisite for a basic education. Not all the highly trained inhabitants of a state or nation make a contribution to the further development of our country. On the contrary, some are caught up in the whirlpool of idealogies to such a degree that they cannot differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. They soon drift into a state of indifference which in- hibits them in the performance of their political responsibilities. Selfishness, envy, exploitation, and dishonesty are not com- ponent parts of the good citizen. Neither can Democracy thrive where these negative qualities persist. For young people must be alerted to the urgency of the understanding of our country's present plight. Education should help you in making proper de cisions and in carrying them through. General Omar Bradley recently wrote Until the American people shake themselves out of this appalling lethargy and make their schools-together with the selection, the welfare, and rewards of their teachers-a mat- ter of their personal and intimate concern, we shall go forth to do battle psychologically with the aggressive legions of stateism woefully trained and poorly equipped, handicapped from the outset. MB.WfE.DOLDE As graduates you want the opportunity to enioy a measure of economic security-the opportunity to work and the oppor- tunity to own and use property. As a part of our American tra- dition, you have a right to a iob-not a right to any and every job but one suited to your abilities. lt is a right which exists, however, only when it is matched by your efforts to be econom- ically independent. If you do less than your talents make pos- sible, you will be neither fair to yourself nor to your community. lf you do nothing or perform your tasks inadequately because you cannot get a job beyond your abilities, you will be fooling yourself and be unfair to others. As graduates you ask to what extent does the opportunity to work and to own property exist today? lt is harder to get a start now than it used to be? Can there be future opportunities -opportunities not for all to be leaders, but for each to do the best iob for which he is fitted? The answer can only be that it was never easy to get a start or to succeed. The appeal of economic opportunity in America was not to the soft and to the lazy. It was not gifts or charity or a dole that induced men and women to come from the Old World to America. lt was a chance that they sought-an oppor- tunity to exercise their talents and to reap the just rewards of their efforts. Yes, the difficulty of getting started existed then and has continued to exist, varying only in degree. Some suc- ceeded and some failed. You go into a world which still pro- vides the opportunity for both success and failure. You will need to have confidence in your ability and find that individual self- reliance upofr which success depends. The challenge of success often comes because of the possibility of failure. 6