Clifton High School - Rotunda Yearbook (Clifton, NJ)

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THE REFLECTOR yu IN As The Editor Sees It WHY AREN'T THESE CLUBS ACTIVE? HAT was the cause of the discontinuance of the YN language clubs? Why isn't the Honor Societyias A V active as its quality of members might make it? Q P 'X Where is the Press Club which once had possibilities l A x of developing a fundamental training for future X journalists? Why was the Math Club done away ,D with after it had been so successful in putting out 'X mathematicians better than classwork could develop, 'iii with the aid of supplementary study? Why did the History Club relax after having begun that series of interesting lectures? Where is the Commercial Club which once had such interesting programs of outside speakers and helped the commercial students in their work? We should like to know what became of these clubs, which, when in existence, were apparently very beneficial to the school. We should like to see each and every one of them brought back into being, as there could not have been any truly serious obstacle to keep them from performing their excellent work. Looking back through school records, we find these clubs were once very prominent in the social life of the school. The present state of affairs may be the fault of che students. Now, with permission to go home after their last class, interest in extra-curricular activities has lagged. Only those ambitious ones who really like school and who understand what these extra activities represent Hnd it Worth their while to stay until the end of seventh period to participate in the social life of the school. The clubs of the school are the strongest links whereby groups of students are kept in contact with each other. In some cases, failure of a club may be due to an inactive sponsor. The disinterest of a sponsor will show almost immediately upon the mem- bers of an organization. An original, intelligent, wide-awake sponsor will not let a group of willing students with intention lose interest. First, let us consider the language clubs: In 1929, we see the Latin Club revived after a depression, under the name of Classica Sodalitasf' Of all things, the complaint was that it was hard to get members because of the fancy name. After a term of good work, it fell away again. In 1931, the club was re-organized as Nostrum Concilium Latinumf' The motto of the organization was Vivat Lingua Latina or May the Latin Twenty-one

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THE REFLECTOR IGF! VM An' jest the other day, Mamie got a letter-the first real one in ages. Listen to this part: 'Well, Mamie, not so long ago, --this is what Barb'ra writ-'I heard that Carol Bryan had married Ted Brown around three years ago. The lucky thing! Ted really used to be a terrible pest, but now he is quite famous and all on account of those two remarkable opera- tions, though, of course that was a lucky break, too. It always is. But I wonder how she ever got him! You'd think he'd be smart enough to marry someone richer, wouldn't you? She wasn't even prettyl' Kin ye-Look, Luke! Here she comes-Carol. just say hello-you don't needa say her hair looks lovely or she looks like a spring mornin',- just say hello. An' not bein' deaf, dumb, an' blind perhaps ye kin figger it out fer yerselff' RUTH I-IENGEVELD, june 1935. ON WATCHING A THUNDERSTORM It takes a thunderstorm to bring out timidity in the average person. How many of us sit out on a porch and watch the elements at their best? Most of us will get in out of the rain and sit impatiently during the storm. Let us, instead, watch the approach of a real summer storm. It is a sultry day. The sun is shining brightly. The sky has a blue-gray appear- ance. The air is still and sultry. Then in the distance we see the edge of a cloud faintly visible, its color blending with the color of the sky. A hot breeze springs up, and now clouds appear everywhere. The sun is hidden and faint rumblings of thunder are heard in the distance. By now people are scurrying everywhere, trying to get to their destinations before the storm breaks. Suddenly a wind springs up. Paper, dust, and dirt fly around, getting into our eyes, hair, clothes. People are dashing upstairs, closing windows with bangs, getting things out of the impending rain. The thunder rolls incessantly and an occasional flash of lightning breaks forth. Little drops of rain are starting to spatter the hot earth. A loud crash and the rain pours forth in torrents! Flash after flash of lightning glares brightly, even in daylight. Thunder, like the sound of giant cannon, sets the earth into vibration. Jagged streaks of fire send their hungry fingers towards the earth, trying to destroy objects which seem to displease them. For fifteen full, fearful minutes we can watch an electrical exhibi- tion put on by giants, with giant apparatus, at nature's expense. The storm dies away as it has started. The flashes are fewer and the thunder is not so loud. Before long, the storm center has moved farther on, looking for new worlds to conquer. The rain soon stops, and the sun, more glorious than ever, makes everything sparkle. Activities begin anew, and we, who have watched, have a feeling of awe due to the example that has been shown us of the power of the elements. HERBERT SUEss, June 1934. Twenty

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THE REFLECTOR wo ,W language live. We don't know if there was any foreboding in that motto, but surely, from all the Latin classes there must be enough pupils in- terested in gaining assistance outside the class in a novel and interesting a manner as that offered by a Language Club. The French Club was active in '31, and it even presented a French play in the assembly. Activities of that group skipped a year until we heard that they had presented a marionette show at an interesting meeting. We remember seeing a large group at that meeting. We haven't heard from them since. French-the smoothly-speaking tongue, the language of the lovers, a popular modern language-Come on, you Frenchies of the classes. Allons, mes enfants! We haven't heard from an active Spanish Club since ,29 also. Then, the organization was known as El Circulo Castellano. Mr. john Dishian is very much concerned about organizing such a group, and anyone in- terested, as there should be, may see him about it. Maybe you'll be president. We pounce with determination upon the Honor Society. Of all the clubs in the school, this one should know best how to be active. The calibre of the mental capacity that the members of this group are required to possess should be an advantage over other organizations as regards crea- tive ability. If the Honor Society, which is supposed to represent the cream of the crop in the highest exponent of intellectual life, cannot create any ideas for interesting meetings and projects, then how can any- one expect any other club in the school to be anything but the well known QQHOPU. The Press Club had excellent sponsors. We must admit it was the lack of co-operation from the students that caused it to fall through last term as an active project. So this challenge is directed mainly at those who are interested in writing, but who evidently don't want to do any- thing about it: Do you think your education for anything at all in life should be handed to you on a silver platter? Have you nothing in you to make you teach yourself? Are you afraid to taste some practical work in schoolv which the Press Club would be in a position to give you? Or do you think you are not mature enough to do some practical writing in High School? You may be able to fool yourself at present, but in later life you will miss that practical foundation that is offered you in High School in the form of organizations that can give you an inkling of what to expect when you graduate. The downfall of the Math Club was also caused by the lack of in- terest of students, we are sorry to say, and we cannot understand this peculiar attitude of the pupil of today. The commercial club was once a prominent organization of the school. Why this club ever lost itself is quite unexplainable. Students will not realize until it is too late that memories, in the future, of High School days are not based primarily upon class acquaint- ances. Those memories bring back recollections of hard work, and some- Twenty-two