Washington High School - Sunburst Yearbook (Washington Court House, OH)

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24 THE SUNBURST Lct us now consider the value of this training to the young man or woman who is about to take up varied duties. If his or her mind contains the .best that can be obtained in literature and history, he will be at ease with the most learned people, he will be able to discuss with them the world's treasured pieces of fact and imag- ination. If he has a good mathematical and scientlfic foundation he may solve, if ca1led.upon, the p-oblems that face the buslness world today. if his body is phys- ically fit there is no foal' that .13 if il not be able to stand the stxain and tension of the fast moving world. If his spiritual training has not been neglected there is no fear that he will not stand for the good, the true, the pare. Careful and thorough education of mind, soul and body joined to energy, pesseverance and enthusiasm are the only sure foundations for meeting the demands of present day life. It is not the mere facts of knowledge that are needed but the discipline and training of study, the inculcation of correct habits of thought, and the ability to seize upon the vital points of a subject, tha twin for their possessor place and power in the modern world of men and affairs. I have said that the graduate will be successful in Whatever he attempts to do if he has this sort of foundation, but what is success? Success is the attainment, or the state of attainment of high place and rich rewards. The only way such a posi- tion may be attained is by hard labor. Labor may be mental or it may be phys- ical, whatever it may be, it is hard, dili- gent and constant driving at the one end, that finally brings us to our desired goal- that of success. A few weeks ago the members of this class gave as their class play When the Clock Strikes Twelve. To me comes the thought along with th's, that some time in our lives the Clock of Time is going to Strike Twelve. Just where we may be, just what we may be, when the clock strikes, depends upon how we have taken this instructon we have just completed. If the mind is educated to the best that can be obtained, if the soul is in time with the eternal being, and if the body is in the best condition when the clock strikes, the person with these qualities will be ready to meet the call, whatever it may be. We may now sum up the points that have been considered a part of a hf gh school education. First it gives training in the fundamentals of P the varfoas branches of learning. Second it influ- ences the students spiritually. Third-it gives instruction on how to keep physically fit. All of this training helps us to be bet- ter prepraed to meet the call of the Clock, either to do work here or in the beyond,

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'CHE SUNBURS T A High School Education With the mentioning of this subject, the question is brought to our minds just what a high school education consists of, what is its true worth to the graduate or of what use is it to him? The true purpose in establishing schools was to enable the young people of our land to obtain instruction in the various branches of learning, namely: science, mathematics, languages, literature, and history. The founders of our school sys- tem realized that our study of these branches would enable us to pursue our chosen line of life work, regardless of what it might be. Most high schools give in- struction in all of these various branches, so it is possible for a student to obtain any course he desires. While he is studying these branches he is not only learning the contents of the text books but he is being influenced in a number of other ways. It is left to the student to determine by what methods he is to learn his assignments. He can do the work himself or he can depend upon his companions to do the work, and then use their work for his grade. It can be seen that there are two distinct types of students, one who does his own work and the one who depends upon his companions for help. Each is forming character, but each is froming a distinctly different char- acter. The association of the students en- ables them to develop their character, because honesty - co-operation - hard work are the only methods by which we may be successful in whatever we attempt to do. It would be impossible for me to say that all of us have not done something which we regret in our four years of school. We all have our faults, but if we are big enough to see those faults, our characters are strengthened thereby. There is a certain world-known institu- tion that has for its motto Spirit, mind and body. We may use that as a motto for our school, only in a different arrange- ment: Mind, spirit and body. The school must first look after the mindg it must educate it, it must train it so as to enable it to function in the solving of the problems we must face after levaing high school. The public schools of today embrace all creeds and races, and it is the purpose of the schools not to infringe upon the rights of any of them, so we find that the schools have their chapel exercises where the Scriptures are read and songs in praise of the Creator are sung. This is the way the school develops the spiritual side of the students. Last, the school encourages the development of the body through its athletics. Unfortunately, all of the stu- dent body can not participate, and to rem- edy this, compulsory physical training has been introduced, to enable those not engaged in the athletic contest to keep physically fit. We can say, then, that the high school education of today consists of the train- ing of the mind, influencing and encour- aging the spiritual development, and third, the keeping of the body physically fit. After we leave these sacred halls of learn- ing we shall be called upon to do some of the things that have been done before, but we shall be expected to do them better than they have ever been done before, be- cause of this training that we have just receivde.

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THE SUNBURS T The Biology Club HE purpose of a course in Biology in the High School is to first acquaint the student with the abundance of life which exists all about them and its characteristics and second to further their interest already aroused by the study of General Science and prepare them for the study of the more advanced sciences. There is an abundance of material existing outside of the school books with which the students should be acquainted, if for no other purpose than to foster a keen appreciation of out-door life. Biology deals almost entirely with nature. At the beginning of the school year the class spent a few days in making bug nets to be used in field trips. Field trips were conducted for the purpose of securing different biological specimens to be used later on for class work. Toward the latter part of the second semester a field trip was planned for the purpose of gathering and studying wild flowers. From time to time members of the class brought in rare specimens of wild flowers: The gathering of cocoons for the purpose of preserving some of the moths together with a detailed study of destructive insects, human anatomy has been the basis around which the course was constructed. - ' Keen interest was manifested in the work throughout the year and ter- minated in the organization of a Biology Club, whose membership consists of thirty-seven students. This organization is proud of its achievement and sets a high standard of class attendance and accomplishment for the class of next year. The Senior Chapel On Wednesday, May the seventh, the chapel hour was given into the charge of the Senior Class. It was the last chapel in Washington High School that the Seniors might attend as members of the student body. The Seniors marched down the stairs and into the auditorium, singing their stirring processional hymn, Lead On, O King Eternal. Each Senior wore shreds of the class colors, turquiose and honey, torn frc?m the class flag, which had been so triumphantly raised in secret the night be ore. The chapel program began with the reading of the scripture by Alberta Roby. The portion selected was job 28: I2-28, the chapter of wisdom. Three songs were then sung by the members of the Senior Class. The songs chosen were familiar numbers from the old book, which had been used for chapel until this year. Verna Williams then sang 'il'Il Forget You. The applause given her was proof of the appreciation of her audience, and she responded with Linger Awhileu as an encore. Reverend Alexander, the spez ker of the afternoon, then gave an excellent short talk upon friendship. He said in part, that friendships were the most important influence upon one's life, and that one should not slight any oppor- tunity to make a friendship. The quality and the quantity of a persons friendships determine to a large extent the character of the individual. After Mr. Alexanders talk, the Seniors sang another group of songs, Sailing, Out On the Deep, and Help lt On. The entire student body then joined in singing the High School song, We'll Honor Washington, and thus closed the impressive chapel service.