English High School - Blue and Blue / Record Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 12 text:

Walter F. Downey, A.B, Ed.M. Head Master

Page 11 text:

onstant as the Stars T URING the last four years we have traveled along together, attempting many things. Some have succeeded, and others have failed; but out of these victories or defeats have come, tested in the forge of experience, ideals and attitudes that will serve us through life. Time, in its onward sweep, is relentlessly carrying us toward a new portal that will open to us the lists of life and at the same time close upon us the period of carefree high school days. We must turn in different directions, some to enter the world of business and industry, others to continue their educational activities. All groups, however, are bound together by the strongest of ties, their loyalty to Alma Mater. English High has not only nourished us through these formative years, not only strengthened us in mind and in body, but above all it has imbued us with its spirit — a spirit constant as the stars. This feeling has no sudden birth. It is the result of long exposure to English High aims and traditions. Through the years this loyalty has attained an almost legendary reputation. To us of English it is a source of pride; to others, a cause for wonder. Each class, as it returns year after year to renew its pledge of fealty, gives evidence of the vigor of the love that fills the heart of every English High man from his entrance as a freshman to his departure as a senior and far beyond. Our introduction into the world of endeavor initiates us into the body of alumni whose principles become ours and whose example we cherish. The new dignity will test our worthiness to uphold the honor of our school. Whether in business or in education, the ideals of manhood must be those taught us in our youth. Conditions may differ, and no definite rule for the conduct of our class- mates can be laid down ; but he who follows the guidance of English High has a firm basis for future success. As our predecessors have been models for us, so too do we become ex- amples for those who follow. We, who have but lately learned the truth, have become teachers. Thus it lives on, in a never-ending cycle, this elusive something with which old English endows her sons. Because of it, we will go on planning and building until the world is a better place for living, and until Honor is the goal of every man ' s Achievement. JOHN H. CRIMMINS June, 1937

Page 13 text:

n Appreciation ' I HE ending of the present school year will mark the completion of Mr. Walter F. Downey ' s thirty-fifth year of devoted service to The English High School . . . For twenty-three of those years he has guided the destinies of the school in his position as Head Master . . . High honors, civic and professional, have come to him during his career . . . He returned to us in September, 1943, after having held the office of Commissioner of Education of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts . . . His name is known and respected throughout the entire country as being one of the most distinguished in his profession . . . And yet, and to us this is the full measure of our Head Master ' s devotion to English High, even on the busiest days of the school year, at an early hour in the morning, throughout the school day, or late into the afternoon, his office door is always wide open in a welcome to the boy who would seek counsel, to the serviceman on furlough from the stark realities of war, to the parent who feels baffled by problems arising out of prevailing conditions . . . Mr. Downey has striven masterfully to interpret or us and fo us the mis- sion of our school in the world of education, what The English High School stands for, and what it is: Not a building broad and high, Turrets pointing to the sky; Not a system hard and cold; Not a pen for sheep in fold; But a spirit, sweet and fair, Breathing consecrated air, Wearing robe of spotless hue. Bearing banner blue and blue. The boys of the Class of 1945 respectfully pay tribute to a loyal friend, unflagging in his zeal to do everything in his power at all times to help each and every one of his boys toward the goal of honor and achievement in life.