Santa Rosa High School - Echo Yearbook (Santa Rosa, CA)

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18 THE PORCUPINE say that matters righted themselves in some measure and quite reasonable were the strides which some of the ambitious ones took that term. Occasionally the threat- ened monotony of the day was broken in some unex- pected fashion—this being especially true when the foui- year-old, the voungest of the flock and of an investigat ing turn of mind—tested the entire contents of an ink bottle. The whole sehool adjoirned with litth- cere mony to the neighboring spring where mueh eold water was applied, both externally and internally, with gouc result. Recess periods were looked forward to with joyful in- terest, scarcely less keen to pupils than to teacher. The neighboring hillside furnished an excellent sliding plae2 and with the girls to drag the sleds up and steer ther down hill, the fun was unadulterated for me occupying the seat of honor behind. The boys, always more ven turesome, lying prone on their long home-made coast- ors, came down with terrific speed, risking life and limb in every “coast.” Snowballing sometimes amused tthem for ai (timad, but these Yankee boys as invariably returned to their coasters for the leading sport as do their western broth ers to the inevitable baseball. The hills surrounding the school house were low and densely wooded with maple, spruce and birch; high in the distance Mt. Washington loomed, with neighboring Lafayette close by. A familiar sight to all the country round was the rocky profile of the old Man of the Moun- tain, familiar to most boys and girls in Hawthorne’s story of the Great Stone Face. Like all natural wonders, HOOPER FARMER Drugs PHYSICIANS’ PRESCRIPTIONS A SPECIALTY Phone Red 43 Successors to J. N. Hooper 611 Fourth St. et

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THE PORCUPINE 17 Remember, I was a High School graduate; as such I felt secure of any place of honor. The matter did prove no ordeal, yet no credit redounded to the intelligence on my part. Let me explain that the rather formal searching examinations to which a prospective teacher must sub- mit himself in our state are not a part of the program in selecting teachers in New Hampshire. The low salar- ies offered in most country districts attract few appli- cants, and the result is a comparatively low standard of qualifications. So it was that after rather apologeti- cally quizzing me as to a few rules in arithemetic and testing my ability to read an item in the newspaper, this very affable schoolman declared me in every sense quali- fied. The composure which I had felt during this preceding interview was slightly shaken when I faced the dozen or fifteen bright-eved and modern boys and girls, sitting in judgement over me as the “new teacher.” Not being a veteran in the service, I had no well formulated plan of attack, and the first day saw little organization. An in- terminable series of classes loomed up in dim perspective and I found myself spending sleepless nights over a prob- lem in which six hours should be divided into such frac- tional parts that each individual might pursue his course in a separate class in every subject in the curriculum. It was in vain that I advocated the merits of competition gained by a general class in geography or in history. No such plan had been followed by the “last teacher,” and ais for geography, it was in most cases declared to be “fin- ished” and consequently laid on the shelf. Suffice it to V . 2325335 oe N

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se ene THE PORCUPINE 19 this fave expresses to each observer a different meaning. If the stern guardian of the hillside seemed sometimes to regard me with a frown, was it merely an excited fancy of my own, or did he, perhaps. resent the untrained ef- forts of an invading westerner, who was withal only a high school graduate? Perhaps some of my readers may some day study his phinx-like expression for themselves and find the real truth of its meaning. —— — a Our Work-a-day World Our work-a-day world is school. The one we are now interested in is High School. We hate it. It confines, restrains. It compels, enforces. It encloses within wall- ed and sunless space even at a time when all nature grows, jumps and laughs. It suppresses to silence when the fibres tingle with activity. It forces to colorless ef- fort when the outside world glows with practical action. It bears down with small rulings when the air seems la- den with freedom. No reason is given nor seen for this enthraldom, It is ali that is unnatural and thoroughiv disagreeable. We leave it in disgust, or are held to it in dispai % i Ta Time passes. We yisit in the country and enter the rchool house. The clock in silence looks down upon emp- ty seats. The stove is cold. A pall of dust covers the room. Here is a sign, a mark on a desk, a note on the floor, a muffler on the wall. At the window we look down upon the playground, and then to the white fields and vray hills beyond. At the organ, we sit down and play Piws. DAVIS Prescription. Druigceist F hone Main 3 The Place to Buy Drugs Drugs and Prescriptions Delivered to You Without Fxtra Charge