Hallowell High School - Venture Yearbook (Hallowell, ME)

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The VENTURE 25 ternational revivals of these ancient contests. Every country today has its indi- vidual sports. England's polo and cricket are examples. And it has always seemed that the more devoted a country was to sport, the more sportsman-like became its attitude in other matters. America, likewise, has its dis- tinctive sports 5 in particular, foot- ball and baseball. These games are everywhere to be found, from the largest university to the smallest high or grammar school in the land. We, of course, are most interested in high school athletic contests. Of what value are they to the school and to the community? Do they pay in- terest on the investment of time and money? To answer this question, we must consider just what sports high schools, in general, sponsor, and what effect these games have upon the athletes who take part in them, and upon the student body. The three major sports in second- ary school athletic life are football, basketball, and baseball. These three cover the school year. The larger, better-equipped schools often add other events, such as track work and hockey, to their schedules. But, in general, when we speak of high school sports, we mean the three ball games first mentioned. High schools of approximately the same size play a series of games according to a defi- nite schedule arranged some time in advance by the business managers of the respective teams. One of 'the first effects of these inter-school competitions is that the competing schools come to know each other better than they could do in any other way. This knowledge usu- ally brings with it esteem for other institutions and an increased pride in the player's own Alma Mater. He comes to respect fair dealing on the part of opposing schools, as well as of opposing teams. The members of the various student bodies also de- velop pride in their sportsmanship and school spirit. Another way that athletics helps a school is by putting it on the map. Small high schools might never be heard of were it not for their athletic teams. This publicity in athletics sometimes helps a school in other matters, and very often gives an individual player who has distin- guished himself an opportunity to obtain further education in some higher institution of learning. Still another important thing that athletics does for a high school is to build up the bodies of the athletes, not only of those who make the first team and represent the school in the games played with other institutions, but of all those who are out for that particular sport. With stronger bodies, they also have clearer minds. Today, the physiology of bodily ex- ercise is better understood and more highly valued than ever before. The physical training obtained by the athlete results in healthful nutrition of the body, beneficial effects upon the respiratory organs, and stimulus to the brain. Of course, this train- ing can be obtained in other ways, but the ordinary high school student whose school does not have an excel- lent compulsory course in physical training is not likely to get it other- wise than through athletics. A fine example of what athletics can do for the body is shown in the early life of Theodore Roosevelt. As a boy, he was thin, pale, delicate, and near-sighted. He determined, how- ever, to become the physical equal of the lads who were his playmates. He joined in all their boyish sports, and, in this way, became a hardy youth. When he entered Harvard College, he was physically fit to go out for any sport that he desired. He never be- came prominent in any one, but they all helped to develop his body, and

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24 The VENTURE a degree, perhaps, even instructive, but nevertheless, it leaves those of us who would like to speak French and can only speak English, precisely where we were at the start. There are a few who do not agree that for our sake, our French friends' sake and for the smooth collaboration of our two nations in the present and future, we should leave nothing un- done that is in our power of doing to solidify and broaden our friend- ship. Nor can there be any doubt that an essential basis for friendship between nations, as between individ- uals, is the bond of mutually under- stood language. French is useful in business posi- tions in towns that have a good- sized French population, as do many Maine cities. It is also useful to those who occupy secretarial posi- tions. In Augusta, Waterville, Lew- iston, or Biddeford, those who have charge of city affairs have to have at least one employee who can read and speak French. The well-educated person comes constantly upon French phrases in the books that he reads. If he knows the language, he is not embarrassed or perplexed when he faces the menu card in some hotel or restaurant. He may order with the certainty that he will not be served something that he does not want. Then, knowledge of French opens a whole literature to the person who possesses it. Modern French novels are witty and amusing. French po- etry is pleasing. Many developments of modern science can be best appre- ciated by reading of them in the lan- guage of the discoverer. For one or all of these reasons, we should learn French. In all but pronunciation, it should be a bit easier for us to learn French, which is as clear and logical as French thought, than for the French to learn our complex English. How can we best go about it with due regard to economy and effort? First of all, we should not aim too high nor get discouraged when the effort seems out of proportion to the result. We should keep in mind that learning to speak in a foreign lan- guage is very much like learning to sing. There is only one Caruso, one Melba, and no amount of endeavor would get the majority of us even into the chorus of the Metropolitan Opera. Nevertheless, we may sing a melody at home and delight our friends. So it is with language. There is but one Sarah Bernhardt, but we shall be doing quite well enough if we learn to speak French like the ordinary garden variety of native. During the past few years, since the Great War, in fact, it has been the tendency I of an ever increas- ing number of schools to drop the study of German, which had spread through the United States since 1848, and replace it with French, a change which seems very practical from all points of view. If, indeed, the learning of a new language means the acquisition of a new soul, as Napoleon said, our choice should be quick enough, for have we not long agreed with the poet that, Tout homme a deux pays, le sien et puis la France? Olive Cummings. THE VALUE OF HIGH-SCHOOL ATHLETICS Indulgence in athletic games and sports is nearly as old as the human race. Among the ancient Greeks, these athletic games were well de- veloped and were held at stated times under definite rules. The victors were always highly honored. The benefits derived from them by the Greeks were great and indisputable. The modern Olympic games are in-

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26 The VENTURE who can estimate their effect upon his mind and character? It was in his first boxing match that he learned never to acknowledge defeat or cry quarter. Fair play and team work are the foundation of inter-scholastic ath- letic contests. This sense of fair play is a distinguishing American trait and one that needs even more culti- vation, so that it may the better war against the intolerance, oppression, and class spirit that young people are sure to meet in later life. No- where can true sportsmanship be better cultivated than in these school athletic contests. The athlete and the school that he represents, if they do not wish the scorn of their world, must learn to be generous winners and good losers. Team play is another valuable les- son that athletic sports can teach. No school can have a successful team in which all the players are stars. Individuals must learn to bend their energies to the success of the team as a whole, and not work for their own credit or glory. This team play and spirit of loyalty to an organiza- tion are qualities necessary to success in business and in the duties of citi- zenship. Nowhere! can the growing boy learn them better than on the football field or the baseball diamond. There he must play up! play up! and play the game. But you taxpayers, and you fath- ers and mothers, in particular, while conceding much of what I have just said about the useful and valuable lessons that sports have to teach, are thinking, I fear, that in spite of all their undoubted advantages, football and baseball take too much time from studies. Perhaps they did in your day, but not now. Strict rules, agreed to by all secondary schools, and even printed and distributed for ready reference, govern high school sports today, and one of the strictest of these rules is that which says that the individual player must be up in all his studies or off the team he goes. Many a boy digs in at some hard or distasteful subject to keep on the team, who might otherwise fail, become discouraged, and leave school before real ambition can be aroused in him. Modern athletic contests are a help rather than a hindrance to the scholastic standing of the partici- pants. When we consider the complexities of modern life, and all the tempta- tions that modern youth must meet and conquer, we must admit that the physical development, the mental clarity that the athlete gains, the lessons of sportsmanship and loyalty that he learns are a valuable equip- ment with which to face the future, and that these are quite as likely to pay dividends in character and suc- cess in later life as Algebra and Latin, valuable as these are. A sound mind in a sound body is the aim of the modern high school. But we go beyond that in our definition of edu- cation today. Education must fit the youth for all of life, must develop character. Side by side with the academic training goes the athletic, both working towards the same end, and each contributing its share to the desired whole. Charles N oyes. ATHLETICS Those who earned sweaters this year for participation in athletic sports were: Doyle Vautour, Stanley Bullock, James Fish, James Oliver, Frank Rollins, Raymond Miner, Les- lie Braley, Lyndon Mayers, Arlene Smith, Edith Willis, Elaine Radcliffe, Barbara Hamilton, Doris Duplisse, and Barbara Graves.