Castle School - Drawbridge Yearbook (Tarrytown, NY)

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cl THE DRAWBRIDGE Nineteen-Twenty hands, taken pride in the 'Castle's growth, and watched with pleasure the fruition of the seeds which they have sown with such anxious care. Like bright threads through the woof of this quarter of a century of woven history runs the strong strands of cherished traditions. First in the golden autumn days of October when our family gathers fromifour quarters of the Country, the old girls proudly prove that at the Castle only kindness and cordiality and sympathy are tendered the new girlsfl Then comes the Thanksgiving Banquet, time honored and adored, when the friendly class rivalry reaches its highwater mark. Throughout the long winter rare friendships are strengthened by the sweet companionship in coasting, skating, class parties and the New York trips when choice spirits together see Operas and Plays. But the keenest and warmest memories go back to the spring days when under the blossom-laden fruit trees and through the llowered bordered path- ways, by twos and threes and in larger groups, friends walk arm-in-arm. VVith the thought of the parting so soon to come the hours are filled with a rich tenderness that no future day can ever hold. And who shall question the sincerity of the sorrow that fills the hearts on that most beautiful of all our days-Commencement-when, with faltering voices, we sing songs that for twenty-five years have echoed yearly from our towers. Part of our beautiful youth is gone when we finish We plant beside the Castle grey Our ivy green, this festal day. and with breaking voices and real tears bid sadly f'Farewell, dear friends, farewellf, r C. A. P.

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THE DRAWBRIDGE days spent here, but most of them are loving and loyal and the path that leads the old girl'7 back to her Alma Nlater is growing broader and more worn by the footsteps of the increasing number who come each year to renew for a day or an hour the old mem- ories of happy school-days. And the Curriculum, how has it grown and ex- panded? The requirements have always been 'fstifff' and those girls who have tripped carelessly across our threshold intent only on having a good time, have found themselves settling down to a schedule of work that astonished them. Let an out- sider speak of the Castle as a Hhnishing school and any Castle girl stands ready to disabuse his mind of that false impression. Many colleges and universi- ties have received our pupils and graduated them with honors. The Vocationals, so suspiciously received by their fellow students in the first days of the establishment of that course, as neither flesh or fish nor even good red herring, now share honors with the best academic Senior. And the little cooking classes, presided over weekly by a visiting teacher, have developed into the strong Domestic Science Department we have today. There was a time when the words Current Top- ics was not often heard in our classic halls, but those halcyon days are long since. lt was one of Miss Masonls earliest ambitions that her girls should be able to speak composedly, intelligently, and pleas- ingly if called upon in a public assemblage. To that end the Current Topics Club was organized, and if the motion to adjourn is generally the most popu- lar motion of the evening, still not a girl, past or present, but is willing to admit that she owes much to her enforced standing and speaking before that critical but appreciative audience of her peers. VVhen the war broke out and Uncle Sam called all women as well as men to the defense of the Flag, Miss Mason, as usual, was in the van. Ere our participation in the conflict was three months old a Summer School to train women and girls to serve Nineteen-Twehty their Country was established at the Castle, and the pupils, drawn chiefly from the ranks of society girls whose summers had been mainly spent at fashionable resorts, defying mercury's dizzying altitudes, were hard at work studying' stenography, typewriting, motor mechanics, wireless telegraphy, reconstruction work and above all French, for each pupil devoutly hope she would be drafted for service overseas. What though some in dainty array breezedH,in on opening day equipped with fifteen hats and as many fashionable and becoming sweaters, they at the end of the nine weeks' course, calmly and confidently took the job they had worked to secure and hold, and when the armistice was signed the government was loathe to relinquish the pretty, dignified, efiicient, Castle-trained war-worker. That which had proved such a success and ioy could not be given up, and that is why the Castle, for the third time is asking the nation+ Why Waste ia Summer?l' As a sort of silver gift in this anniversary year, Miss Mason introduced to her pupils the now del servedly famous Psychological tests. No more can mother's shy daughter nonchalantly fling aside a Mathematical responsibility with the flippant reason -Nl canlt learn Mathematicsymother never could either. These man-made tests search out her mind and if they testify that there is grey matter, Miss Flossie takes her Geometry or Latin, or what not and learns it. Cf great value these tests have been in proving ability-or the lack of it--and many girls have had their courage and their resolutions strengthened by what has been revealed to them concerning their own minds. And this, gentle reader, is a sketchy bit of the history of the founding, the development and the growth of the school we are proud to call ours. But can I lay down my pen without one word concerning those who have loved and labored with FMiss lVIas- on? Is loyalty less than hnancial backing? And if the head of this enterprise is proud to look back over her twenty-five successful years, no less so are those who have labored by her side, upheld her

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