Willard Middle School - Target Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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34 THE TARGET most from the beginning departmen- tal work was started in the higher grades. This was a new thing in those days and open to much crit- icism. The school maintained its policy, however, and proved so suc- cessful that other schools were glad to follow. The teachers were always progressive and so interested in the study of school problems that they were all ready for the introduction of the Intermediate school idea when that was introduced in January, 1910. The McKinley School and another school in Berkeley were the first schools in the State which were or- ganized on this basis. The idea tooK immediately. Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco followed, and al- though the details have not yet been worked out, it is rapidly becoming the system of the State. It is my sincere wish, as you close this chapter of 3 r our existence and start again in a new building, that you will maintain the traditions and standards of the old school and that you will make the new Frances E. Willard school one which the com- munity and the educational world will recognize as a leader in all things good, a place where young people will be happily trained for the best kind of life. C. L. BIEDENBACH. The cover design for this issue of The Target drawn by Gerardus Wynkoop, is the choice made from plates submitted, in competition by Ninth Grade students, in the Free Hand Drawing Class. The plates were all of high standard and repre- sented the splendid response which the class made to the suggestion for a new cover design. Designs of great merit were submit- ted by Florence King, Harold Wool- sey and Kenichi Yamada. The one by Harold Woolsey appears as an in- side illustration. Others deserving great commendation are Laird Will- iams, William Beckett, Clarence Texdahl and Amybeth Payson. THE LAND THAT WAS WORTH SOMETHING Andrew McKenzie ' s piece of land was the most barren and uninviting in Willow County. It was a good piece, a valuable piece, but utter in- difference on Andrew ' s part had not improved its appearance. Andrew lived alone in a shack he had erected on the northern border of his prop- erty, lived alone with no interests in the outside world. People in the vil- lage thought him a most unpleasant character. He rarely came to town, and when he did it was only because he was out of supplies. One afternoon in June, Andy sat out in front of his shack, contentedly smoking a corn-cob pipe, when sud- denly around the bend of the road appeared a man on horseback. As old Andy speculated, he was a good rider, but kinder cityfied. He rode up to the shack, a thing rarely done by any- one who had met or heard of Andrew, and dismounted, walking slowly to- ward Andrew, who eyed him curi- ously. Good evening, my dear sir, he said as a greeting. I ' ve come to see about this property of yours. Wall, now, snarled Andrew, re- moving his pipe with gre»t delibera- tion, yew ken jist clear out o ' here ; this is my land, and I ' ll hev none o ' you snoopin ' around. The stranger assumed and air of ex- treme politeness. But, he protest-

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THE TARGET 33 Editorials The McKinley intermediate de- partment was organized in January, 1910. At the close of the preceding term forty-one pupils had received their eighth grade diplomas. Of this number thirty-eight came back and completed the ninth grade, and of these, thirty-six entered the hig ' i school. The records in the office will show that these proportions have been maintained. Carrying the investigation on through December, 1914, wc find that of the seven hundred and ninety-two pupils who have finished the eighth grade, seven hundred and fifty have returned and completed the ninth grade, and seven hundred an four- teen of these have gone on to the high school. This means that ninety-five per cent of the McKinley pupils remain in school after completing the eighth grade and ninety-five per cent of these enter high school. Probably this record can not be duplicated by any other school in this country. Two of the many contributing fac- tors that enable us to produce such a record are worthy of special emphasis. One is the painstaking, conscien- tious work of a corps of teachers who can always be relied upon to render a service that stands for the best interests of the school and its pupils. The other is the willingness of the pupils to assume responsibil- ities. One often hears this remark from teachers and visitors: It is wonderful what these young people can do, it matters not what the task may be, they always rise to the occasion. With many years ' experience ui school work, I have never been as- sociated with a body of people where the school atmosphere has been as ideal as the quality that abounds at McKinley. I am proud to have had a part dur- ing the last four years, in the Mc? Kinley life and spirit. In a few days the intermediate de- partment will leave these surround- ings and to us the name McKinlev school will be but a pleasant mem- ory. We congratulate the elementary de- partment upon its opportunity to de- velop unhampered by the presence of an overwhelming intermediate school. We charge its pupils to be true to the McKinley traditions; and we bid its principal and teachers God speed in their work for the welfare of the future citizens of Berkeley. W. B. CLARK. It gives me great pleasure to have this opportunity of saying a few words of God speed to the teachers and pupils of the McKinley School. I have been deeply interested in the school since its beginning eighteen years ago. First as the father of sev- eral children attending the school, then as principal for eleven years, and since as the principal of the high school which receives a large part of its students from this school. During all these years the school has maintained a very high standard. It began as a small ward school. Al-

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THE TARGET 35 ed, I have heard that this land of yours is worth considerable, and I am willing to buy it, although it isn ' t much to look at. Will you sell? And}- became interested, and after haggling over the price, he agreed to sell, still without any idea of what he was giving away to the stranger. Con- tented with his small profits, he built another shack, where he lived for the remainder of his life. But the stranger — he notified the company he represented, and forth- with they sent him an outfit and some men, and people soon were aware of the fact that Andrew McKenzie ' s piece of land had been sold to a stranger, and was now converted into a great oil-field, from which fine oil was extracted and sent all over the states. Old Andy soon discovered his great mistake, and when anyone asked him why on earth he sold his property for such a paltry sum, he sould reply sharply, I can ' t see as how it ' s any o ' your business, but bein ' as how you ' re so cur ' us, I ' 11 tell you it war becase I had a mind to do it. VIRGINIA BURROWS. A GOLD HUNT In the southwestern part of Alaska on the banks of a small creek were two rudely-built cabins. Their occu- pants were John Parker, his brother Sam and his son Dick. They had once been wealthy, but one misfortune after another led them to want, and unable to secure work in the United States, they went to Alaska to achieve wealth again. The first winter, suffering from ig- norance of life in the wilderness, con- tending with the snow and ice which they had not been accustomed to in the sunny south, they endured many hardships. With the returning of the prodigal sun from the south, bestowing to the earth most shining rays of sunlight, bringing the birds back from the south, awakening the sleeping squir- rel in his dead stump, and encourag- ing the weary gold hunters to go out and seek the shining substance, all summer the trio with man}- disheart- ening moments labored on unceas- ingly. It was on a quiet day; the still warm summer was speedily fading in- to autumn, which meant the departing of the birds and the gentle flakes of snow falling in a white mass from the heavens. Dick had found a nugget worth about five thousand dollars. He knew that he had struck a rich place in the creek; summoning his father and uncle, they worked in silence, their splashing pans dipping in the swift streamlet. By night they had found more nuggets and they saw tiny yellow specks in the water. Knowing that they were rich and had many more dollars in the creek, they hur- ried home. They moved back to their old home, which they had deserted a year before from lack of money. There a big ball was given to them in honor of their splendid luck. The next spring they returned to their old mining place with up-to-date implements and they became prosper- ous indeed. ROZEL McBURNEY. Weston H. and Henry Wood Agreed to have a battle, ' Cause Weston H. said Henry Wood Had spoiled his nice new rattle.