Brockton High School - Brocktonia Yearbook (Brockton, MA)

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BROCKTONIA lnhe currlcula of years ago were domxnated by the needs and rdeals of the1r era lt IS only through soclal lnertla that some educators refuse to modlfy school courses to cast off these cry stalllzed oprnlons and tr dl tions of yore op1n1ons whlch make If lmposslble for socral progress to accompany economrc progress Our system of educatron cannot entrench 1tself 1n the dead past and expect to face the onrushlng horde of l1ve socral and economrc problems A group of noted educators express 1n a few words the attxtude prevalent among a great many educatronal 1nst1tut1ons today Lxke other soc1al mstmtu trons such as prrvate property mon archy and the church the school has frequently scorned as presumptuous a searchmg analysrs of nts functrons and 1ts functxonlng if An 1nst1tut1on of educatlon such as the school IS to day must wergh rts methods carefully wlth soclal and utrlltarlan obyectlses IS the bal1nces lf must keep nn mlnd n Br ECSTASY A pupll has hls many fears But none so grlm and deep As that of bemg found some day ln a classroom fast asleep Hrs tlred head begms to nod He g1V8S hrmself 1 shake He mustn t fall asleep rn class But try to keep au ake' the fact that the entrre student body IS not on 1ts way to college but rs about to clrmb onto the teemlng plateau of our eomplex economlc cxylllzatlon We 1re fortunate to have here IH Brockton 1 hrgh school yyhlch progresslye A course IH the Problems of Democracy IS requxred of almost 1ll puplls the content of other courses has been ad1pted to prev11l1ng condr tlons The seed has been sown and 1f the old bug a boo of ultra con servatlye oplnton does not crush rt we sh1ll have an opportunlty for free descusslon on current problems rn our classrooms The jud1c1ous analysrs of subjects such as evolutlon com munrsm and caprtalxstlc government IS not partlsanshxp and wlll definltely broaden the outlook of the student He wlll learn to thlnk constructrvely and not stagnate IH a pass1ve accept ance of the status quo Such a socxal ll?d drrected educ1t1on wlll deyelop the power of crrtrcal evaluat1on abso lutely essentlal for successful c1t11en shlp nn 1 democr1cy and help usher m the pernod of c1lm enllghteneel reason and consclenee set as a go1l by Hor1ce 'Vlmn mn the e1ghteenth eentury OF Sl REP And then hls eyellds start to droop Hls head drops down more lou He s ln the 1rms of Morpheus 111 syylftly doyxn the roxy The teaeller strldes ln purpose bent 'l o wake the sleepmg boy fSome people find lf so much fun A n1pper to 1nnoy J He uakens then from su eetest dreams Of flo1t1ng off rn space looks up expectmtly and then He sees his te1eher s f1ce Phyllrs J1eobson F A S K l 1 . I I Y ' I ' v 3 I . ' 1 1 . . 1 X, ' , . 1 1 I 3 I 1 Y ' 1 - . 1 1 1 1 1 1 . . . A . L 1 Y u - . A . .4 . , . . 1 ' 15 , . . i 1 11 1 1 1 1 5 ' h I 1 . 1 1. 1 I ' 5 5 A 5 x' 1 I V L . 11 1 1 - , 1. e 1 1 1 1 1 . 1 ' I X I . . Y . . . . . Y - , 1 1 1 1 1 1 v1 'A I . ' V 1 1 1 1 1 T H - 1 1 1 . 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 3 , r 3 1 YJ 1 1 1 1 1 4 Y L - 11 . 1 11 - - 1 1 -1 1 ' . ' I 3 1 D e e 1 . . H . . . . . . . . , 1 1 1 , e . 11 1 1 11 1 . . . K L 5 4 ' ' . . ' 1 1 1 1 1 11 g V e 1 1. ' lmm ' lbs School xn 1Xn1ernc.1 Society by ll.ll1 .i lurxun fhoale unnvr, ' 1 1 1 1 - ' x 3 v 1 Y I 1 Y 1, 1 3 1. . . , 1. ,. 1 Y 1 1 1 1 ' I 1 1 ' 1 - 1 1 '- 1 '1 A . T v 3 N Xl Y L 1 - , . . - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 'A Y 1 L L 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 - 1 e . 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 . , , 1 -11 1 - 1 1 1 . 1 . 1 e . 1

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12 BROCKTONIA CLASS ORATION IHE SCHOOL IN THE NEW SOCIAL ORDLR 219 WILLIAM BRONSTEIN Madam President guests and class mates As orator of the class of 1937 to day I should like to examine with you the aims of the American High school in relation to the new social order Horace Mann the father of our present system of American edu cation once said We want no men who w1ll change like the vanes of our steeples with the course of the popular wind but we want men who like mountains will change the course of the wind We want god like men who can tame the mad ness of the times and speaking di vine words in a divine sp1r1t can say to the raging human passions Peace be still and usher 1n the calm of en lightened reason and consclence At the time when these words were spoken the United States was a nation composed of men engaged primarily in agriculture and shipping The principle embodied IH the words of this great educator remains just as vital and expresses as great a need to day as It did one hundred years ago But the economic and social life of this nation ln which such influential men are to be developed has under gone a great change Instead of a rural populace we now have an in dustrial system Wlfh the concentra tion of masses 1n the cities As a re sult the number of pupils in the high schools of the United States has doubled during each of the Hrst three decades of the twentieth century With this phenomenal increase of ie sponslbility the school today finds it self the greatest factor in the educa tional system under the present social order As you realize the school holds the unique position of being the only in stltution created by SOCIGIY for the specific purpose of formal education Although other bodies such as the church and the home exercise sup posedly a great r influence on the edu cation of a child the functions of the school have not become residual and merely supplementary to those exer c1sed by other social institutions This relationship of the school to other educational influences IS in reality an idealistic one for in recent years there has been a decline 1n the home and church influence resulting in an 1ncrease of the burden upon the schools Since they had to accept this 1'9SpOf1S1b1llIY they are endeavoring to evaluate developments 1n the social and econom1c growth of our nation 1n order to prepare individuals for their large life in society and for mem bershlp 1n various social groups X One of the oldest and most deeply rooted fallacles in education IS the be lief that any subject may be taught as long as it is difficult and thoroughly disagreeable The precept used 1n the past and still used today in unen lightened c1rcles in defense of this course of action is that the formal discipline exercised in acquiring such knovi ledge as Latin or Greek will give the pupil mental development which will assist him in solving all problems which he may have to face in later life In opposition to this sophistry we have the claim of modern psychol ogy that the education of a person is specific and not general For example a schoolmaster may teach a pupil mat emmcs a d he uzll Au 0 mathematics but he will not neces sailv be 1 better student in English grammar because of this training Scientific experiments hiye proved that acquired skills in certain subjects are rot transferable to others t Loat B Y 7 T Q ' Y - v v ' o 4 1 v C ' 3 , v . . . . . . x 1 , , . . . Q 1 r 1 s s , 1 A 1 , ll , . . . . . . , . . . . I Y , . . 1 Y n r . I . . C . v 1 - . s 1 V Y T 1 I 1 - . . . , 1 1 ll- - - - . , . , ' . . . . . . ,, - . . . . . ,, . - 1 . . . . s 7 . . m , ' . . 7 - 1 . - . 1 , . . l . U - - ' . h' . n f ' ' 01 . . . . 1 1 K- i . x . . . . I 4 . I T . 1 ' L Y! . ' . x . , I . . A , , , . , e 1. K . . . . . . 1 n 1 ' ' ' A Iimm Thu School in American Society' by Pat- erson ill c runner,

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BIQOCKTONIA CLASS POEM X ICTORX QQEDWARD S MURPHY JR lht ghstcnmq 91I1dS haxt marktd T ht ytars 1n hit Q rtltntltss hour glass ln I'I1LIHO1y 1 Sttnt 1ppt.1rS xrxld 'lI1Ll cltar l rkc tht xx ork of 1 masttr s bruih Lagtr Frtshmcn xxt throng tht courst Altrt and Slllfllllg tvcd G111ng toxx 1rd a t11ck of knoxxltdgt to bt galntd Anxxously xxt 1xx 11t tht cr1ck of tht Qtarttr s gun Away Vx 1th tht llTlpLlUOl1S tnthusnsm of youth NVt d1sh xxlth 1 Hrst burst of Spttd T ht ltss surt foottd stumble gLVtfll fall 1nd do not F190 ag11n 1 ht xx ay IS h1rdtr th1n xxt thought Dtttrmtnatron Couragcl Tht ftrst lap 19 llI1lSllLCl by tht rtsolutc Sophomorts rn judgmtnt much mort sound Vxt art conttnt to plod along Knoxxtnv the ract to be both dlflicult 1nd long W1tl1 W1sdon1 counstlllng modcratlon NVt moxt 1ht1d Somt b1ckxx 1rd glmct lose strldt 'lllll ful lht dwntltse stlll prtss on lmbutd xx llll tht strtngth grxmg 1ttr1butt of confidtnct And thus tht stcond lap has bttn completed AQ Junrors axxart th1t ours IS an up htll cllmb Vxlrth firmntsi Stlll xxt pcrstxert Enthuslastlc sprrtts xx anc Xlakt xxax for rtsolut1on to succtcd P 11nt hc1rts 1rt xx tllmq noxx to qutt lht p1ct qroxxs f1sttr l71lt glllT1IT1tI' of tht Hmsh llnt Soon shoxxs tht xx Anti ltndi LI1COlll'lQtITlLlll rl lmt noxx to m1kt our btst tndcaxor lntrtpltllx xxt Qurgt 1long rl ht Qtlf dtnxtng xx orktrs m thc x111 Concludtd 19 tht thtrd lap of tht r1tt FXS ltxtl htadtd Stntors sobcrly xxc rn1kt our xx ay Along tht n1rroxx1ng tr1ck ltxx tr tht tonttst1nts Xntl mort furroue tht spttd , Y 7 1 '1 -1' 1 1 1 - ' ' 1 fv -1 3 1 'I V- 1 - 1 - t . . . , , 1 ' ' ,1 , , S. 'L AL Y N x lx x 1 11 1 1' 1 1 '. ., 1 Y' 1' 11 1 1 1 1- 1 - 1 1 1 . 1 7 1 1 11 1 1 , C, , 1 And y'ct thcrc arc a fcxx' who fallcri 1 ttt, . ,t . . t . ' 1 1 11 1 I V! 1V 1 1 Y Y 1 ' 1 ' 1 . .t K . F. 1 1 ' H t 1 1 1 Y 1 V' v 1 v A x . x L 'Q 1 1 I 1 11 1 ,