Madera Union High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Madera, CA)

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Our parents couldn't help rejoicing when they first re- ceived our report cards, for “ones” appeared quite often. During the second term of our Freshmen year. we hid reason to congratulate ours elves upon our ability in social affairs, for on the fourteenth of February we gave a Valea- tine party to the rest of the school, a party which all ou: guests united in praising. One of the numbers on the pro- gram consisted of a farce, and another number, whien especially interested the Freshmen, was a play in which an old time country school was represented. All pupils of that schooi were dressed in oid-fashioned country clothes. Girls had long braids hanging down their backs, and some boys had overalls and knee pants. Representation met with great applause from the audience. Refreshments brought the evening to a close. The remainder of the term passed quietly and quickly for we were too much absorbed in lessons for anything else, Proud of our numbers and ability, we left school for two months vacation which we claimed was much needed after our strenuous labor. The next year found us Sophomores and it was our turn to assist the Freshmen to find their places; it was our turn to look down upon a class of less experience than our own. Lessons assailed us on every side. English, in- stead of being our easiest subject, as it had been the year before, now proved our iardest and one which caused even more students to continue their studying into the late hours. The more we heard “There will be a test in English tomorrow” the more frightened we Hix’s” j became. mM Geometry came but we pulled through with no one hurt. It was this vear that we learned what the “jug” was, but as most of us were reasonably cautious, we managed to stay away from it most of the time. Several of our classmates bed dropped out during our Freshmen year and this vear others had also left us. much Saddest of all. our beloved class- to our disappointment. mate, Regina Desmond, passed away. Our principal excus- ed the whole school to attend her funeral. The flowers sent by our class could express only faintly our love and esteem in which we held our dear classmate. As Juniors, our class became smaller still, for two or three more of our members dropped out. We barely escaped a dreadful fate in the chemistry laboratory this year, for trying unusual mixtures was our hobby. Makmyg gunpow- der was great fun, all the more so because it was a forbidden pleasure, but, even though it was forbidden, it never sent us to the “Jug.” I regret to say, however, that we became better acquainted with that institution than we had ever been before. The Freshmen and Sophomore were alarmed one day by a dreadful odor all over the building and upon imquiry learned that it was H2S. Chemistry language was beyond their comprehension so it behooved us to explain further. Towards the close of this ear, we entertained the seniors so that they could leave the school feeling that they had been appreciated. We, ourselves, have been taking notice of the seniors, for we were to succeed them the following year and we wanted to be ready to act the part. In fact we were so busy getting ready to be seniors that we began to think that we were before the class of 1912 had eradu- ated. September, 1912! Seniors at last! How long we have desired to attain that proud height! Really seniors! Tt was hard to believe. For three long years, or so they had seemed to us, we had worked to become seniors and at last our hopes were realized. Now that we were there we no longer spent sleepless hours at night until long after mid- night. We had learned how to get our lessons without this. Some new members entered our class so that we ean now boast of twenty-one. Everyone who entered the Physies class exclaimed at first, “Oh, this is where Tam going to flunk’.” But it is a

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CLASS HISTORY In the summer of 1940, Dorothy Browning visited her grandmother, who lived in an old town which was no longer prosperous. As there was not much to amuse Dorothy's lively nature she fell into the habit of spending many hours in her grandmother’s large library exploring the book- cases which were the floor-walk of the room. She spent afternoon upon afternoon, looking over the book shelves and looking over everything that interest- ed her. The book cases all had drawers, in which her grandmother had stored away old pamphlets and papers. She looked these over anid read many There was one drawer which she had tried and tried to open but all in vain. But one day she lost her temper and gave an unusually vicious jerk. To her surprise it yielded and she beheld many old books and pamphlets, some even yellow with age. Lying on the very bottom of the drawer was a yellow book which aroused her interest. As she picked it up she read, “The Purple and White 1913.” Tt was indeed the Purple and White of the class of °13 for there after turning a few pages she saw her mother’s picture when she was a young girl and attending Madera Union High School. She turned a few more pages and finally came to the “History of the Class of 15. It ran os follows: “On the first day of September, 1909, about thirty-five little Freshmen had reached their ambition’s height—to enter High School. We felt our importance indeed, as, on our way to the school that memorable day, we passed other children going to the grammar school—the school we 23 had left behind. Once inside the doors of the High School, our head s drooped from their proud height, and we stood in the hall almost trembling with fear. Such a predica- ment as we were in! We did not know where to go. Where was the room they called the “Assembly Hall?” Finally with the assistance of older members of the school we man- aged to find it and there we seated ourselves. We thought we would be the same bright and shining lights we had been in grammar school, but the seniors called us “oreen.” [t did not take us long to find out what they meant. Finding the class rooms were our next trouble. Some students going one way, others another—how could we be expected to find our way that first day? And the seniors were all so tall and we just couldn’t keep from getting lost. Our first day ended, we were next to encounter hard lessons. But we attacked them all with a vim that sur- passed that of other students. Algebra and Latin were both hard and why we had to study what we called a “waste of time,” it was more than we could see. Neverthe- less we proved our ability. The faculty had good reason to believe that we often burned the midnight oil. With some (TIL not say with all) the studying hours extended past midnight, mto morn- ing and the next day heads were seen lying on desks dur- ing recitation. We made ourselves famous, that first vear, in debates. We had many interclass debates (for our class was thea large and divided into two sections). We also debated with the Sophomores which we lost and once with the grammar school in which the victory was ours.

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testimony of our ability and perseverance that no one had failed in it. When it came time to choose class pins there was, of course, a “rumpus.” Some wanted one, some another, and the boys intended to get different pins and graduate by themselves. However, we finally compromised on a pin that was accepted by all. We are now proud to assert what even our principal has asserted, that we are the most harmonious class that ever graduated. Our greatest pride lies in two things, that we are the largest class that ever graduated from Madera Hi and that we have the largest percentage of students that have earned the right to be recommended to a higher school, We have a right to be proud of these achievements. The long patience and kindness of our faculty have aided us in this and they have taught us many lessons we will not soon forget. Though we are soon to say farewell to high school life here, we will ever hold our teachers in fond remembrance. May the seniors who follow after us have a successful year and may they not forget their indebtedness to their teachers. “Oh, isn’t that an interesting history,” said Dorothy when she had finished. “I do hope our class will be able to have such a nice one when we enter high school and be- come seniors.” With this she turned back to the beginning and read the book entirely through before she put it back to its dusty place. Che Wischiel Waking Kodak ESTELLA MOORK, 713. “All aboard for Glacier Point!” shouted Jack, as he came out of his tent just as the sun peeped over the moun- tains. Immediately some one shouted, “We'll be on hand by the time breakfast is ready.” “Let’s take our provisions along and cook our break- fast at Mirror Lake. It will be right on our way and the walk in this pure air will give us a fine appetite for break- fast, besides a novel experience,” said Jack, trying to show his oratorical ability. “Bright idea,” cried the chorus of girls laughingly came running out of their tent. they as Mrs. Shaver, with her son and daughter, and a comi- pany of four other girls, were spending their summer at Yosemite Valley. They had planned to spend this par- ticular day at Glacier Point. Approving of Jack's sug- gestion they breakfasted at Mirror Lake. Jack’s propheey was correct in this one instance, for to say that they had ravenous appetites is putting it mildly. After his appetite was satisfied Jack walked down to the edge of the water that he might “admire his beau- tiful face” in ‘the mirror of the lake. He was gazing in- tently at his image when he suddenly saw his sister Gladys’ face peering over his shoulder. Tt so startled him that he lost his balance und fell right into the silvery