North Central High School - Tamarack Yearbook (Spokane, WA)

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28 NORTHERN LIGHT organization is made up of those who excell in English. And thus every whim of the new student desiring to receive recognition is satisfied. If athletics is not his choice he may resort to literary work. But whatever his choice he should strive to receive honor in some form or other, for after all it is the honor students of high school who make the honor men and women of the world. ....,.o.. VVI NNI NG HONORS TUDENTS who do exceptional Work in scholarship, athletics, mu- - sic, debate and other activities are doubly repaid for their Work by the experience they receive. But, as they have been of great service to North Central, by winning hon- ors in these activities and thereby making North Central what it now is, it is altogether fitting that they should be given something in recognition of their endeavors. Letters, med- als and honor awards a1'e the result. Such awards cannot be judged by their in- trinsic value but by the service that they rep- resent. They show that the possessor is a person of exceptional ability, a worker, one who has worked not only for himself but for the school. They serve as an incentive to others to strive for honors of equal degree and as an everlasting reminder to the winner, of the appreciation of two thousands students for valuable service rendered. They should be worn and treasured as such. The gold medal offered by the Delta club to the athelete who proves himself to be the best sportsman in North Central is an honor that an athlete can win. The man who wins this medal is without a doubt the best athlete in the school. Ability, aggresiveness, observance of training rules, the inspiration that he gives his teammates-all the qualities that build up the players-are considered by the committee which consists of the grand master of the Del- tas and members of the faculty and athletic board. Because of the strict judging, the medal is highly valued and should be the goal toward which all athletes aim. Other medals and letters offered for athletic supremacy are of proportionate value. A sec- ond team letter is given as a reward for a sea- son's hard work in helping develop the first team. The presentation of this letter often marks the start of a star, especially when it is won by a lower classman. First team letters mark the finish of a season's work in which the winners have shown exceptional ability. Awards offered for scholastic work are too often considered to be less desirable than ath- letic awards. They represent as much and Q I possibly more work than is done on the athlet- ic field for a letter. A school with a wonder- ful athletic history may be known all over the country, yet if its standard of scholarship is not high the school itself cannot be considered to be of high caliber. It is both the athletic and scholastic records which North Central has made that makes it the school that it is to- day. Letters won in music, prizes presented for mathematical proficiency, rewards won in debate, in fact all honor emblems should be valued and cherished for the service that they represent. The desire of some few students to wear letters not won by them lessens the value and desirability of such awards. .-...olei- FAREWELL T IS with indefinable emotions that we, the graduating class of January 1922, pass from the por- tals of our alma mater, North Central. We know not whether it is the joy of graduation, one more step toward the goal of success, or the sorrow of losing a great and magnani- mous friend that flushes our cheeks as we look from the past to the future. Be it a feeling of hope or regret, there is one element that pre- dominates and that is pride, not in ourselves but in our foster mother. Behind us are conquered fields, before us the mute future. Bright as our fortune may may be, there is one star of a dazzling bril- liance whose rays will never be dimmed by future conquests and that star is North Cen- tral. As a charming memory of youth it shall continue to linger in our minds to the last pas- sing on. May the future be as bright and as glorious as the past. We are the victors of the day. As we step to the mound with a blare of victorious trum- pets to proclaim to the world our conquest there forms behind us the ranks of our relief. To them we leave the new day and the new honor. F' ' , 1 F- A 4 Lf - ra-,lm-31. get '-595, uf-2 .......o.-o NORTHERN LIGHT At last the much heralded Northern Light has been placed in your hands and lies before you, subject to your inspection and criticism. If the work is worthy, commend it, if it is a failure-but we hope it is not. We believe that it represents North Central in a manner that is fitting and proper. Keep it as a treasured remembrance of your school for it stands for everything that is for the better- ment of North Central and is a bitter enemy of all degrading influences.

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1, ,A, gg g ,A p at NORTHERN LIGHT 27 but however incapacitated you may be there is yet something that you can do. Opportun- ity to beneiit yourself and others does not leave you until you leave this world. It is fear, baseless, groundless, ignoble fear which makes life a bugbear to so many of us and leaves it so bare of success and happiness. Worry is brought on by fear, by ever looking on the dark side of life. It often shuts out all the joy of living while it greatly decreases man's efficiency. You must find the part that is assigned to you by the Poet, the part that is ,fitted to you, the part that you like. You must make the most of it by developing your mental and phy- sical powers to their greatest efiiciency, by knuckling down to your task with all your might, not doing merely what is required of you but everything within your power to bet- ter your work. By forming the habit of al- ways trying for perfection, never admitting defeat but turning it to some advantage, and ever remembering that good physical health is the greatest of all blessings. It is worth far more than money, fame or all things else com- bined. To be in balance, to be in tune, to feel no dragging lead upon the feet, no weight up- on the soul: that is life and nothing else is life. If you have done your best, you are a man of marked success even though that part of the world Whose opinion is worthless does not re- cognize you. logo- H.. A RACE FOR SUPREMACY-THE MAN AND THE MULE v ULES will be mules and therefore are in a class by themselves. But there is a certain division of man's section of the primates that is rap- idly leaving the long-eared quad- ruped behind in the race for title- ship in obstinacy and caprice. This distinct class contains none other than those who are all-fired goodl' when they want to be, but if they are not in the proper mood it is simply a case of muleitis. Their success is heavily punctuated by long, short and middle- sized relapses of vigor. These people are as balky as the proverbial Ford of the crude joke book. They travel along in a delightful manner, only, for some unknown and most freakish reason, to rear suddenly up on their hind heels and raise such a rumpus that they are left alone and al- lowed to punctuate their own careers with an excess of blanks, exclamation points and ques- tion marks. For a time their work is excellent, noon hours frequent and sun basking a plea- sure. At the first of the semester the grades of the afflicted person are a wonder but only the next X X0 O kxlx fs-C .X RQ - -. -sf. -xl Q sf . -W xfxf 55 ESP x ,Q XXX-,wc Ji.. l -.X Xt X i its ,Ps W -rw A Wt week they become a marvel on the other end of the ladder. Such uneven balance finally comes to rest on a questionable grade and re- mains there. . It is the person who can and knows he can that is to a great extent the vic- tim. But he must remember that in the game of life it is the man who does, not can, that wins. The tortoise outstripped the hare be- cause he stuck with the race and didn't bask in the sun. And, in the long run, the steady, plugging man will meet with the success of the tortoise and the hare will have to abdicate. Steady pressure brings results but to push one moment and rest the next is as profitable as resting all the time. If you are going to work, work this moment, the next moment, the next day, the next week, the next month and the next year for the door to success is swung only after continued pres- sure. lf you must have your frequent relapses, admit that you are a failure and act accord- ingly. It is more profitable. i..o..o,... HONOR LH, ONOR! What thoughts of mighty deeds does the mere mention of f-:fn that small word awaken in your mind! One sees the hero of the battlefield stand and fight against bewildering odds to his last breath. He is covered with gore, but his death is one of honor. There stands the scientist, aged through continued groping in the darkness of unexplored fields. Honor! The man daily tramping the common walks of a seemingly uneventful life risks his all in an effort to save the helpless. And thus in all walks of life honor is found and respected. Ten names have been added this semester to North Central's scholastic roll of honor. Ten have been recognized as winning a most glori- ous victory in the cause for which public schools were organized, the conquest of knowl- edge. To receive this very worthy and much desired recognition it was necessary for them to have an average of at least 90 per cent in their entire high school course. In recognition of exceptional service to the school, still another honor is conferred upon those who have toiled unceasingly in order that North Central may attain success in activities other than athletics. The merited honor emblem consists of the Old English N. C. The recipients have found other ways of expressing school spirit than the mere leather-lunged approval type. The spirit is of a self-sacrificing nature, the placing of school before self. Still another honorary organization is the Senior English club. The membership of this F5 . . .u 8 X .iijf,', 3:52:22 .-...,,.g.,.,5-,. . f, -' . l 1 1, l , . ,.

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at NORTHERN LIGHT 29 I g fl iff? lt- x 4 s . - - W. 1 G' 5 'L' 5,35 ,X X - W' V -I i lff. l i N l ,L g , , MZJMM NI' , , ml lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Illlllllllllllll llUllIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllIlllIlUlllll1Ul1lllllll1Il.l.lLUm ENTER YE THE KINGDGM OF BCDOKS First Prize, News Literary Contest. N BOOKS, Richard de Burg once said, I fmd the dead as if they were alive, in books I for- see things to come-all the glory of the world would be buried in oblivion, unless God had provi- ded mortals with the remedy of books. Surely there exists in the world today no greater blessing to man than books. Nor is there a greater tribute to the works of man than a great book -a book which grips the soul and makes us feel the better for the reading of it-a 'book which serves us in times of sorrow as well as in times of joy. A book nobly wrought shows the touch of the divine in man. No greater monument to a man's worth can be raised than a book-a book in which he has poured forth the noblest aspirations of his mind or the spir- itual revelations of his soul. Wliat is more wonderful than that the thoughts of a life time should be made visible unto all mankind, that black dots upon a white page should bring before our minds the most beautiful images or the most divine and uplifting thoughts. More remarkable than the telegraph or the telephone, a book not only annihilates space but time and brings the voice of David and Homer, the sages, the poets, heroes and philosophers across the seas of the ages. No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. Further, the great books that have stood the acid test contain the wisdom of all ages and they stand ready at all times for man to tap their wondrous stores of knowledge. In considering the worthwhile books, the question is often asked, What books are wor- thy, what books are worthwhile ? We must recognize the fact that there are many books of great value to others that have no message for us. The wisest man cannot select books that will suit others best. But keep this in mind: any book which persists, from one gen- eration even to the next, has some vital quality in it. If we examine its vitality, we shall find that it is based on truth. After all, the books which can make us see that we are but dwarfs of the men we might be, a mere burlesque of the men we intended to be, that we are but starved and stunted possibilities of what we might be-- the books which will open a rift in our lives and give us a real glimpse of our undiscovered forces, these are for us good books. This, too, remember: books of the hour are confectionery and partaken of too much are only a dissipation of mental power. On the other hand, great books rightly read become mental possessions. They make for mental and spiritual growth for they are the staple food of the mind. Again, books are a world in themselves. If the spirit moves us to know and associate with great and noble men, without formality or ceremony, we can do so through books where we shall always find them in their best moods. Plato is never sullenl' says Macaulay, Cer- vantes is never petulantg Demosthenes never comes unseasonablyg Dante never stops too long, no difference of opinion can alienate Cic- ero, no heresy can excite the horror of Bossuetf' Through our books, whenever we so desire, we can enter the House of Commons and listen to the thrilling oratory of O'Connell,of Ed- mund Burke, Disraeli, Gladstone or VVright. They will admit us to the flow of our Senate where we can hear the matchless oratory of Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Sumner or Wilson. They will pass us into the Roman forum where