Coopersville High School - Zenith Yearbook (Coopersville, MI)

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Mother She was only a lonely mother, Feeble and gray and old, And the furrowing wrinkles round her brow Their story of heart aches told. The sunshine stroked her silver hair. With colors of golden hue. And lighted her kind and patient face, And her eyes of heavenly blue. Gently she smoothed the golden star, That in the window hung; Reverently she kissed the emblem, As its folds to the breezes she flung. Sadly she thought of her soldier boy, And bowing, a prayer she yields For the lonely grave and the wooden cross, ’Neath the skies in Flanders fields. With murmurs drawn and weary, She breathed a last long sigh; Shrouded with golden sunset; Celestial with amber sky. Pallid and silent and peaceful; Calm with ethereal joy; Her last long prayer was answered, For she was indeed with her boy.

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Salutatory WE, THE Class of ’24, have now reached Commencement, and as we appear to-night as a class for the last time upon this platform, we begin to realize just what it means. We are glad to see here so many of the mothers and fathers who have assisted us in attaining this goal, and wish to extend our whole-hearted thanks to all who have helped to make this great opportunity possible. To-night is Commencement —commencement of the Voyage of Life. We have looked forward to this great night with eagerness. Our one aim in high school life was to be graduated, and we have labored to that end, expecting a crown of glory when it was reached. And now victory is at hand; but I wonder, now that we have completed our course, if we have won the greatest battle in Life! We have indeed won a victory—a small one, only a beginning —but it shows we have taken our first big stride for- ward in preparing ourselves for the future, and we are determined to make life a success. To-night we launch —where shall we anchor? All the preceding years have been developing and preparing us, not for this event alone, but for life. Slowly, each one of us has been constructing a craft, in the ship-yard of Education. We have been given the essential materials—reading, writ- ing, arithmetic, and the other school subjects, and our teachers have daily shown us the specifications for construction, but it was up to each of us to build our own craft. If we have put it loosely together, we shall meet with ruin and disaster, but if we have builded wisely we shall be carried safely over the shoals throughout our voyage. We are launching out confidently on life’s vast ocean, secure in the knowledge that our previous work has been well done. We are now cap- tains of our own destiny, and as we assume control, we feel that we can guide our craft safely to the harbor. We know there will be difficulties to overcome and that storms and hardships will assail us, but each victory will increase our powers and wisdom and better fit us for the future. And as we near the shore, we’ll anchor not among the rocks and sand- bars, but keeping away from the reefs and wrecks, and guided by help from above, we’ll reach the sheltering harbor where we may rest, know- ing that we have accomplished things worth while in life. BERYL GLEASON, ’24 Page Twent

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Class History ONE bright morning in September, 1920, as we stood expectantly bp- fore C. H. S., we thought we had a fairly clear idea of what was expected of us. We have since come to realize that there was more than we anticipated, but we have tried our best to do what was asked of us. Selecting our subjects and becoming acquainted made the first few days busy ones, but the teachers w’ere very kind and considerate in helping us to adapt ourselves to the new surroundings. It was not long before the upper classes invited us to a party, which we will long remember as our initiation into the social events of the school. After this our position gradually grew more tolerable and a deeper interest in the school activities was aroused. We established a Correct English Club for the improvement of our English, which the most of us sorely needed. Some of the girls joined the Hot Lunch Club and Camp Fire. In the spring of 1921, we, as a school, had a track meet with Ravenna and Hudsonville. The silver cup which had been held by Ravenna the previous year, was awarded to Coop- ersville, which, if we retained for three years, would become ours perma- nently. This, no doubt, did much to increase the school’s athletic spirit and to awaken a new determination to keep the cup in C. H. S. We now madly busied ourselves in preparing for the final examinations which were happily ended by a picnic at Wolf Lake. Encouraged by the success of our first year, we returned as a class of enthusiastic and studious Sophomores in the fall. Now came our turn at the Freshmen reception, to show the Freshmen how little they really knew. The only other party held that year was at the home of Mr. Conrad, who certainly showed us what real fun was. Gradually, as we became better acquainted with our classmates and teachers, we felt that indescribable school spirit creep into our veins. This manifested itself in our school work and in the support given to athletics. This year was fittingly “topped off” by a hilarous, care-free party at Wolf Lake. When we entered our Junior year our class was reinforced by students from Nunica, Allendale, Lamont and other ten-grade schools. The Fresh- men reception was held in the I. 0. O. F. hall, where we all enjoyed watch- ing the Freshmen roll peanuts across the floor with their noses. Similar to this was the spring party originated by Mr. Rens and held in April. There was an unusual interest shown in the preparation for the track meet, for if we won this time the cup was ours. It was a close contest, Coopersville winning by a small score. The Junior play, “Hans VonSmash,” was given to raise funds for the Junior-Senior banquet. As the year drew to a close, we began to realize that we would soon be dignified Seniors and that our goal was in sight. To conclude the school year our annual picnic was again held at Wolf Lake. In the fall we returned, rested in body and mind, ready to begin our Rage Twcnty-tW'