North Andover High School - Knight Yearbook (North Andover, MA)

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THE GOBBLER 1942 learn a useful trade in these war times. However, no matter what the trade may be, it should be studied along with enough liberal education to make a well-rounded course for the student. Back in the oiden days when the practical education was already popular, the liberal education was not neglected. According to the Guild System a boy served a seven- year apprenticeship at a trade, but during this time his master was obliged to supply him with a reasonably good liberal education. Education is not the mere possession of knowledge, but the ability to reflect upon it and grow 1 in wisdom. Another important thing to re¬ member is that education does not end when one leaves school, but con¬ tinues all through life. There isn’t one day when one doesn’t learn or discover something- new—as minute as it may be — a fact, a trait of human nature, or a new idea or reflection on some well-known subject. Many students leave high school with the idea that their education is com¬ plete and that their days of studying are over.This is decidedly the wrong- attitude to assume. Even if one is not so fortunate as to be able to further his education at a higher institution of learning, he should continue to broaden his intellect and to keep informed of current events by reading good books, magazines, and newspapers, by attending profitable lectures or concerts, by listening to worthwhile radio programs, or even by patron¬ izing carefully chosen motion pictures. There are no better examples of success in life through a liberal education and especially through the reading of good literature than Abraham Lincoln and Booker T. Washington. A large part of Lincoln’s sessed a keen wit and a marvelous understanding of human nature, both success was due to his extensive consumption of books. Lincoln pos- of which he no doubt acquired in part from his copious reading. He also was master of an excellent rhetoric, as can be easily seen in his immor¬ tal “Gettysburg Address”. Booker T. Washington was a poor Negro boy who managed to acquire a good liberal education through much diligent work. With this behind him, he went on to become a great Negro educator and to write several fine books. He is still regarded as one of the greatest Negro figures of all time and has been an immeas- ureable benefactor to his race. An excellent example of the importance of culture to a nation can be seen in the case of Sparta and Athens. Sparta, at the southern tip of Greece, was, like present day Germany, the height of military per¬ fection. She possessed the most marvelous military machine of her day and had progressed far in physical achievement. Farther to the north lay Athens, the center of all European culture, where lived the great writers and philosophers of that time. The belligerent Spartans only scoffed at their peace-loving, long-haired brothers of Athens. However, when the Persian hordes started to roll against Greece, it was not the warlike Spartans, but the Athenians with their strong cultural spirit, who engag¬ ed the enemy, defeated them, and saved their country. In closing, let me set forth the thought that a liberal education or culture is the basis of all civilization. When culture ceases tO ' exist, the world will slump back into a wretched state, unparalleled since the Dark Ages. Thus in order to survive as a nation and a people in this material¬ istic and warring world of today, we must not only be supreme in our practical achievement but we must also continue to nourish the spark of liberal culture. Let us see that it is not extinguished so that we mav live to again see the dawn of another era of culture, like that created by man¬ kind in the golden eras of the past. ROBERT H. WENZEL 24

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1942 THE GOBBLER Salu.ta.touu To the members of our School Committee, to our Principal, Mr. Hayes, to the faculty of Johnson High School, to the parents and friends, may I extend to you. on behalf of the Class of 1942, a most cordial welcome on this eventful day of our lives. A LIBERAL EDUCATION IN A PRACTICAL WORLD In a world of mechanisms and practical living, the tendency has been, in recent years, to change from the outmoded liberal education to the streamlined practical education, which would fit more easily into these modern times. First let us consider the meaning of these two terms. The liberal education is the cultural one, which is the basis of all education: i. e. the study of Latin, Greek, and other languages, literature, history, art and music. The practical education, which is no newcomer, is the train¬ ing of young people to become skilled workers in one of the many trades. They may become typists, machinists, electricians, welders, fac¬ tory workers, etc. Especially since the outbreak of the first World War, the gradual inhibition of the liberal education has been more painfully noticeable. In all the European countries, practical education has been advocated and put into practice, while the now obscure liberal education has been forced to take a back seat. Even in America it is becoming evident that the liberal education no longer occupies the high position which it held many years ago. The whole world is becoming mechanical-minded. All the nations are trying to outdo one another in a frenzy of machine production and in the development of their natural resources. Culture has been laid on the shelf, noticed little or not at all. Chivalry is dead. Women are toiling alongside the men in defense factories, while many are occupied in Civilian Defense. Some modern Amazons in Russia even share the actual combat duties with the male warriors. You may ask the question: What good can a liberal education be in securing and maintaining a position? Certainly a knowledge of Greek or Latin does not help one in operating an induction motor or the like. However a liberal education helps us to culture and refine¬ ment and broadens our minds so that we may better carry on our rela¬ tions with our fellow employees and our friends. A liberal education also sharpens o-ur wits, and develops quick thinking, keen minds, and good judgment in us. The United States government shows its acknowledge¬ ment of the good points of a liberal education by stating its preference for college men to all others for positions in the Air Corps, where the before-mentioned traits are a necessity. Consider also the reasons for acquiring any kind of education. The purpose of an education is to enable a person to take his position in life and to maintain friendly relations with society. A person who has had only a practical education may be able to attain excellent employ¬ ment in his trade but the chances are that his personality will be most drab, he will lack wit, and social life will be a complete failure. On the other hand, the person who has had a good liberal education will prob¬ ably advance much farther in life, not necessarily to a better job, but through his culture at least to maintain a more favorable position in society. Looking on the other side of the question, a practical education also has its advantages. It is certainly both profitable and sensible to 23

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1942 THE GOBBLER G!a THE ROAD BEFORE US War is a great stultifier and now that America is at war, it will be hard to avoid the dishonesty, the prejudices, the lies, and the blind pas¬ sions that hide so naturally under the cloak of patriotism. The tendency will be toward a lowering of the moral and intellectual level in a move¬ ment downward that will be unanimous, a by-product of national unity. Restrictions are already in force and many more will follow. The ordinary citizen will have to g ' ive up many things, which, although not essential, have become symbolic of America’s better way of life ; however this will not cause real suffering. Hanson W. Baldwin wrote, “We can lose the war ; but we won’t if the nation works and sweats and bleeds for victory— and the elements making for a survival in a predatory world are concen¬ trated singlemindedness upon one aim, victory, a complete national will¬ ingness to subordinate all else to this end, and a vigor and energ-y of purpose that no pain or toil or trouble, no reserve or defeat can dampen.” American opinion may have to accept most difficult and profound changes if this war is not to end in some sort of unpredictable chaos. These changes affect certain fundamental problems of America as a na¬ tion and its relation to the rest of the world. For instance, should America renounce forever the policy of isolation? If this is answered in the affirm¬ ative, should America accept boldly the responsibility of asserting its leadership in the reconstruction of the world which will follow the war if it is won by the United Nations? The isolationist’s Utopia has broken down time and time again. America has taken part in all the major wars since the end of the eighteenth century. But after each war, there has been a return to the dream of aloofness and escapism. While the isola¬ tionists conclude that it is America’s duty to insulate itself, the reformers feel that it is America’s mission to set an example for the whole world and have the whole world benefit by it. It is President Roosevelt’s conviction that winning this war would be hardly worth while, if, after it is won, America withdrew from the peace, as it did in 1919. The fact that there is such wide interest particularly in America in the future peace and in the world of tomorrow springs from a variety of motives. The first one is the real and deep abhorrence for war which exists in this democracy. The thought of peace is an incentive to carry on the war. The second is the indestructible American faith in human pro¬ gress, according to which it is impossible to accept a war—even if it is one in which one’s very existence is at stake—without the ulterior inten¬ tion of making war serve to create a better world. The rehabilitation of Europe can hardly be achieved without the help of America. This help can manifest itself in two essential ways : as an inspiration and as a mod¬ erating factor. It can be expected that America will see the war through by a process of internal adaptation which will not involve a radical break with the past. This adaptation to war will have drastic results and each citizen will feel it, but there are no signs as yet that this will mean structual changes in the political system or a different orientation of American point of view on fundamental principles. For this reason America will serve as a sort of bridge between the past and the future which is now in the making. It will assure the continuity of civilization, a role which no 25