Coopersville High School - Zenith Yearbook (Coopersville, MI)

Page 23 text:

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC.H.S.IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'RO DEOllllllllllllllH 1931 lllllllllllllllll bend out into the deeper channels which lead to the larger sea of life which awaits us, we must rely upon our own knowledge of life and obtain our lessons from our own experiences. We must learn to live. If we expect to gain happiness and prosperity from this life, we must put something into it. We will receive no more from life than we put in. So, classmates, as we go out into the deeper channels, let us go forth with a desire to do our best. There is great joy in the satisfac- tion of knowing we have done our best. Therefore let us pledge our- selves that in years to come when we are drifting along a certain course in life—for we shall not all travel in the same channels—we will remember the true and lofty ideals and aims that have been born in us so that when we are out in the stress of life and can no longer hear the call of the school bell, we can still cause our parents, teachers and friends to be proud that they have had a part in helping to shape and mould the beginnings of our lives. And with a last lingering look at the setting sun of our high school days, shining with a tender radiance, we, the Class of 1931, bid you all farewell RUTH BROWN I Page Twenty-one

Page 22 text:

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIc.h.s.IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIrodeoIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 1931 lllllllllllllllll V aledictory TONIGH T, classmates, we linger at the bend in the stream. We have met together as a class for the last time. We have at last reached the pinnacle of our childhood hopes and desires, Com- mencement and Graduation. We have all been looking forward to this time as a happy one, but as our boat rests tonight at the bend in the stream, we realize that we had forgotten that this was to be the time of parting. But we sud- denly remember and it makes us sad, so let us not linger over the parting words. This day marks the end of High School life. There is gratifica- tion in the thought that we are, by conscientious work, now ready to take a step beyond. The voyage of life is through many deep and unknown channels, with so many turns and windings, that we do not fully realize that we have passed and what we have yet to meet. So far on our journey the stream has been calm and the rowing easy and we are often tempted to drift. As we rest on our oars and look back, it seems but a short distance after all, that we, as a class, have come. In years to come when the progress in the deeper channels seems difficult, we shall often think of the dear old school room, just how- each person looked, how we as a class learned the same lessons, over- come the same trials and shared the saline triumphs and pleasures. We shall then know how to say “Our school days were the happiest of our lives.” Tor many years our boats have glided smoothlv along through the turbulent waters and over the rapids, many and furious, and we have scarcely been conscious of any effort in propelling our crafts, but as we linger at the bend in the stream, we realize that we are about to enter that great school of life called the “School of Experience” in w hich we w ill be thrown more and more upon our own resources. During our school life we have been preparing ourselves to meet the serious problems and difficulties which w ill confront us in the “School of Experience.” W'e have learned to profit by the experience of others. But most important of all, we have been building charac- ters. What kind of characters have we? Are w e lit persons to become the future generation, the future builders of our nation, for we all have a part in helping to make our nation a success. The future prosperity and happiness of the world depends on us, the future generation. Most of us w ill never be famous, but we can all contribute to the happiness of the world. We can be unselfish anti live a life filled with services for others; we can do our part and do it well; famous or not, we can fill life with worthy deeds, deeds that are truly achievements. 'Therefore let us train our characters to be honest, loyal, perseverant and unselfish. But tonight when we leave the calm stream and drift around the Page Twenty

Page 24 text:

Salutatory IN THE fall of nineteen hundred twenty-seven thirty-seven fresh- men romped into the assembly hall of the familiar red building which we are leaving forever tonight. Each one of the thirty- seven was there with a different idea in mind yet underneath we all had the same principle and that was to acquire knowledge and polish. The voung people of America are sometimes spoken of as uncut dia- monds; and that they use education for the process of taking off the corners. Well, most of us being of Dutch descent, we had plenty of corners. The grade school had only begun to educate us, in fact we may sav that the eight years spent in the grades merely gave us the tools with which we might acquire an education. Tonight, after nearly four years of acquiring knowledge and pol- ish, we are passing on into the world or else into higher institutions of learning. How much knowledge we really have remains to be seen. However, I believe that we all have learned many things in our brief stay in high school. Some of the credit for acquiring that education goes to ourselves because of our own diligence, but by far the greater share of the credit goes to our instructors, whose never ending patience is a source of wonder to the more hasty and quick tempered members of our class. Now we arrive at the real purpose of this so called Salutatory, for 1, in behalf of the Class of ’31, am thanking most heartily all the in- structors who have aided us so greatly in the procuring of an educa- tion. Many of you will say' that the teachers deserve no thanks and that all they do is done in the line of duty. Then if that is the case, we are thanking our teachers not only’ fordoing their duty so com- petently and so well, but also for going far beyond the limits of duty to help students in times when no one would expect them to help. It is this outside instruction that shows how well they like their work and how they are devoted to it, but it is for their daily' work and good nature in the class-room that we are showing this appreciation. When you consider that each of the teachers has to meet about forty new students, and endeavor to reach each one in order to teach him some- thing about the subject he or she is teaching you can realize that the teachers have no easy task. Each one of the students lias a different personality, each has a different way of acquiring knowledge and one teacher is required to teach a subject so that each w ill understand and so that all may learn accordingly. Many times in the past four years we have heard some teacher explain some point, which seemed perfectlv clear to the rest of the class, over and over again to some student who, it seemed , could not quite get the line of thought that the teacher was trying to present. We have never seen a teacher get impatient at the seeming thick-headedness of a student, even if the class was getting impatient at the delay caused, for she knows that one thing is hard for one student and easier for others. The next time it may be that the student who was the most impatient at the delay caused by the extra explaining is the one who can’t understand some other point which came up in clasr discussion. And again the teacher has to do some careful explaining. It is the ability to do this many times over which Page Twenty-two