Cary High School - YRAC Yearbook (Cary, NC)

Page 7 text:

You know the adage, “All work and no play.” C. II. S. does not believe in that, as the spirit of fellowship that thrives among the students will show. In a school like “Cary High” everybody knows everybody else, and there is not that feeling of being lost in a crowd that you find in the big schools. This knits the boys and girls more closely together, and there is a sense of co-operation in the way they unite to carry out a project. One of the dearest memories that each boy or girl has of his or her school career is the letters they receive from an “old student” the summer before they come to C. II. S. for the first time. Part of the homesickness was effaced when on arriving in Cary you were met by a group of the school boys and girls who were unfeignedly glad to see you and to help you over the difficulties of the first few days. The “new boys and girls” think that no one can get up such wonderful parties as the “old students.” And no one can until the new boys and girls become old students themselves. There does not seem to be such a word as “can’t” in the C. II. S. vocabulary when they are planning some form of entertainment, and nothing is too much trouble. Yet the simple little affairs are often the hap- piest, for how easy it is to get acquainted at cosy “get together” parties when everyone sits around the “Edison” and chats, while everyone who can does a stunt for the entertainment of the rest. In speaking of the classes doing their part, we come to the last of the four elements that go to make up the spirit of C. H. S., the spirit of Emulation. This spirit of merry rivalry shows that we do not want to have others do more for C. II. S. than we do. It is disclosed among the school societies when each one tries to outrival the others in having the greatest number present at the meetings, or in doing the most for our school. It is illustrated among the students in their studies, when each tries for a high grade or an honor. Among the classes the com- petition becomes very lively; for each class strives to make its program best. But it is in athletics that this spirit of Emulation becomes most market. The influence of an athletic girl is recognized as a balance that keeps the intellectual emphasis from swinging past the danger line. Athletics teaches a girl to work for her class first and herself afterwards, develops class loyalty, and through that, school loyalty. Life in C. II. S. is perhaps the most nearly ideal life on earth —scores of people living together in almost ideal community life, the best ones put forward for posi- tions of trust and honor; plenty of freedom, work and play. And yet, even in this Eden, there is sometimes a feeling of discord. There are elements that resist the even trend of student life, that criticize and complain, and cause an unrest among the whole—in short, that miss the happy thrill. But after all school is only an experience of school spirit. The student falls short, the school falls short, every- one falls short of perfection. Criticism, if honest, is healthy. It is only by con- structive criticism that we advance. It is not until the dignity of the senior year is reached and is nearing a close that we discover how great is our love for our dear old C. II. S. As the lint of boys and girls passes slowly in front of Mr. Dry, receiving a bit of parchment, it gradually steals over us. There is still the senior reception to look forward to, but we shed no tears, only gay speeches and little moments of silence when life and its meaning conn» rolling in on us, and a great wave seems carrying us forward out of the sheltered school that we love now with a kind of fierceness. This is the culmination of growth of the Spirit of C. II. S., that lias been with us all our student days. Now we go out to do our part, to carry the spirit of C. II. S. into the larger life. Do you not see that the initial letters of Loyalty, Industry, Fellow- ship and Emulation spell LIFE. The Spirit of C. II. S. is the life of C. II. S. and when C. II. S. has come to realize the ideal school spirit, then she will live in the truest and best sense. S. S. Page Nine

Page 6 text:

THE SPIRIT OF CARY HIGH SCHOOL As you enter the campus of C. 11. S., stroll slowly around the cement walk and gaze at the dignified beauty and academic charm of the buildings, at the grace- ful colonial columns that indicate a reverence for tradition and culture, and at the athletic field; a feeling that you cannot resist gradually steals over you; for you have felt the spirit of C. II. 8. But C. II. 8. is not just a collection of buildings, a campus and athletic field —C. II. S. is her student body, and it is in reality from the students, both past and present, that the spirit of C. II. 8. emanates. “What is the spirit of C. H. 8.?’’ you ask. It is a feeling that is too deep for words, that defies analysis, and yet, as one considers it, there seem to stand out pre-eminently four attributes especially characteristic of it—loyalty, industry, fellowship, and emulation. Emile Brontroux in answer to the question, “What is a nationality?” said: “The will of a certain number of persons to live together, to cultivate together common memories, and to pursue common aims is at once the essence and the test of nationality.” This definition is just as true of a school as of a nation. A school is in reality like a small nation. It has its laws, its customs, and its gov- erning body, just as any large community. While we term the feeling that we have for our native land patriotism ; that which we feel for the institution that we hold dear we call loyalty. True loyalty means that we are willing at all times to give our best efforts and our entire respect to the school toward which we have this sentiment. Unless we are willing to make some sacrifice, or work harder than we are actually called upon to do, we are not loyal, we are merely following the path of least resistance. We feel that Cary High School will always be back of us ready to aid and advise us as we need her, and that in the future she will stand for great things in the world of education. While we respect our school, it is through us that those who do not come into personal contact with her, revere her; for, beyond the belief of most people, the standing of a school in the community and the effect of a school in the country depend on the personal character of the graduates and under- graduates. In the community the students of a school make a power for good or evil; and by them in school, and by them after they have left school their school shall he judged. In this way, though we seldom suspect it, our school is judged, and we show our loyalty by being girls and boys that C. H. S. need never be ashamed of for bearing her name. The spirit of industry is often harder to carry out than the spirit of loyalty, for it is more prosaic. It lacks that feeling of uplift that goes with sacrifice and means steady plodding. What have you found most useful of all things school has given you? I think it is a willingness to do what I am asked to do, and a kind of feeling, a belief I got in school, that I could do anything, no matter what. Cary boys and girls have put this belief to the test and are never found wanting when called upon to do their part, whether it is after school when they can help by doing the things that lie before them in the best possible manner, or in school when getting the next lesson perfectly seems to be the task of the moment. Lessons are more or less compulsory, but there are many hard things that C. II. S. hoys and girls do of their own free will. The excellent concerts that the Glee Club gives and the plays by tin Dramatic Club are not prepared in a night but through weeks of steady labor. The programs given by the four societies show thought and research that take time and effort. The C. II. S. Echoes is a successful proof of the labor spent by the staff in getting out increasingly fine numbers. These arc all examples of the spirit of industry that exists among the boys and girls of C. IT. S. Page Eight

Page 8 text:

FACULTY Miss Brinson Miss Cranford Mr. Blount Mr. Dry Page Ten Miss Pasmore Mr. Meekins Miss Baker