Leominster High School - Magnet Yearbook (Leominster, MA)

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A Message from the Principal... WASHED OUT Every young man who is accepted for pilottraining will either ‘wash out” or become a pilot. The pilot is rewarded by wings, a commission and the thrill of release from Earth. The washout is likely to think of himself as a failure. Thoughtless acquaintances look upon him as a bit sub-normal. Very few seem to remember that he had to be much above the ordinary run of men even to be admitted to pilot-training. A boy may be admitted to some kind of specialized training. He may camp on until nearly the end. Then he doesn't quite make the grade. Why brand him a failure? He tried to lift himself above the crowd. He deserves only commendation if he has done his best. He accepted the challenge. He dared to try. He stood above the mob the minute he risked failure. . A “washout” because he dared to try? Never! The real washouts are never heard from. They are the gifted but timid people who dare not stake their talents against the risk of failure. They are the earthbound who look up at the venture- some. They are the first to cry ‘Washout’ where the courageous fail. Those who dare are never washouts. They dare and fail, and try again. It is they who build a better world.

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DWIGHT S. DAVIS, A. B., Ed. M. Principal

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Victory Through Sacrifice You know what those words are — our class motto — but do you know what the thought is? We know the victory part, surely. The sacrifice, though; we all have a different conception of that word. To some it means merely giving a little of our excess, be it time or money, which would normally find its way into waste- ful chanels, anyway. To others it means giving a little of yourself. It isn't easy to explain that, but I think you understand. It means depriving yourself of something you think you want now, for something much greater, more lasting. It means putting yourself on the receiving end. There would be NO limit to your sacrifice, would there, if your gains from the sacrifice of others were propor- tionately the same as the small part of you which you so begrudgingly threw at the “beggars’ ’ feet. VICTORY THROUGH SACRIFICE is modern, by all means, and pertinent to our times, but it’s deeper than that — it’s not only considering the present, but the future. Take it then, for what it’s worth, and don't lose it — ever. E. C. 8S. 44