Farmington High School - Laurel Yearbook (Farmington, ME)

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'I' I'-I Ii LA U R Ii I. 27' in circulation in the school. At this time a definition of wastcbasket might be appro- priate. According to Mr. Webster it is a basket to hold scraps, waste paper, etcf' The etc. is Mr. Wcbster's, not mine. No one wants it said of him that he can't take it. We all have occasions when it takes every ounce of self-control to keep our feelings under our thumb. There are times in our school life when we all make a mark lower than usual. Instead of throw- ing up your hands and blaming the mark on the teacher or on a difficult assignment the night before in some other subject, you should put the blame on yourself, where it generally belongs. Life is full of pitfalls and failures, and you might just as well learn in high school to face a low mark or punishment and blame no one but yourself, as to have to learn to do it after leaving school. Have you ever played dodge ball? The idea is to keep out of the path of the ball because of the penalty to the one whom the ball hits. There are some pupils who apply that game to school life. Convenient illness may seem to be an easy way to get around a difficult exam or an unprepared lesson, but we can't always dodge distasteful as- signments now or later. You are only in high school four years. Some of you are realizing how fast time does fly, and how much of the profitable things you miss. I-low often outside in- terests separate you from the companionship of class and schoolmates. Soon you lose interest, and perhaps your ranks drop. It is impossible to be happy deep down inside without friendship and companionship in connection with your businessg and your business, at the present time, is school. Most of you enter high school in the first or second year of your teens. Witli a few exceptions that is too early in life to definitely decide on a vocation. However, you ought to begin to lay plans, as far as possible, in your freshman year so that you can plan your course of study, If you don't, when you come to your senior year, there will be a great many vocations and lines of busi- ness which will appeal to you. Which are you going to take? You must decide for yourself, and it takes a great deal of thinking. Have you ever heard this quotation: Fools' names and fools, faces are always seen in public places P We have all seen some of the inscriptions written or carved on desks or books. You wouldnlt want anyone to come into your house and mark up the furniture. Moreover, you wouldn't deface your own property. Although the school is owned collectively, that is, it is public property, it is your personal duty to respect and take care of it individually. Slightly changing the words of a seven- teenth century poet, I shall say, K' Yet, if in my desire to do you service, I humbly offered my advice fbut still under correc- tionj, I hope I shall not have incurred your high displeasuref, Then to come back to dear old Cicero, He loves who advises. Farewell and be- ware. Laura Worthley '38. Tr ADDRESS OF WELCOME-CLASS DAY ARENTS, teachers, and friends: I am deeply grateful for the opportunity and the privilege of Welcoming you to the long- anticipated Class Day of the Class of 1938. Mothers and Fathers, we want you to realize that we appreciate your mingled feelings at this time as you become keenly aware that your boy or girl is steadily veering from beneath your parental and friendly guidance. As you have joined with us individually in our joys and cares of past years, we invite you to unite with us today in our facetious reminiscence and prophecy. We, the class, sincerely express to you our gratitude for this co-operation of the past. It is through your aid and under- standing that many of us were able to re- main throughout the four years. We, as a class, are intensely proud of our size, it is the largest to ever graduate. The spirit of fellowship has not, however, been

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26 THE: l..AL.RItI, ADDRESS TO UNDERGRADUATES Izmiors, Soplzomores, and Freshmen: It is not pleasant to be critic, but since I have been asked to give you some advice which may be of help to you when you re- turn to school in the fall, the following quotation from Cicero expresses my feel- ings: Both to advise and to be advised is a feature of real friendship. We all do things heedlessly, not thinking of the con- sequences, and I hope you will return to school in the fall determined to do better. The main purpose of the high school is undoubtedly for study and learning, but not for that alone. Your high school life should contain three ranges of activitiy: intellectual, social, extra-curricular. As you grow mentally you will want to make more friends, because of the broader view you will have toward other students. Your social activity will then be a daily event instead of merely a special occasion. If you keep your intellectual and social life well-balanced, you will feel the urge to go out for extracurricu- lar activities: music, sports, or public speaking. Soon your veins will thrill with school spirit, and you won't think school such a bore after all. It is surprising when we stop to realize it, how much time we waste though every day seems crammed with activityg but all too often, it is with useless, ineffectual activity. We Hit spasmodically from one thing to an- other. Too many times we half-heartedly tackle the easier task and hopelessly wish the harder one were done. Before we know it, there isn't time enough to thoroughly study that important assignment in chem- istry or biology. That is why you frequently see so many of your friends hurriedly scan- ning a text-book during the twenty-five minute period or a few minutes before class. You will rarely find time to study that les- son you didn't fully prepare last week. Slackness in one thing has the tendency to lead to slackness in othersg and it doesn't take long to gain the reputation of being a shirker. I-Iave you ever walked along a busy street just at the rush hour when a group of persons decide to call a conference and do so right there and then? If you have never encountered such a congestion, take a glance at the bevy of girls conversing at the end of the girls' walk just before school begins. Will they move to let one by? Not a frac- tion of an inch more than the Rock of Gibraltar would! It is a very convenient place to talk before the bell ringsg but we should show at least the common courtesy of stepping aside when someone would like to get by. Now I admire a person who has a little get-up-and-go in him, but when it comes to getting up and going all over the building when he should be studying just to ramble around in order to satisfy a yearning to travel is quite a different story. We all know who the chronic meanderers of the school are. Have you ever been in the library when two so-called book worms of the human variety were trying to whisper fOh! so quietlyj and then they looked up innocently to Hnd the eyes of the student teacher turned toward them? It is advisable not to use a speaking privilege for a tete a tete either in the library, main room, or elsewhere. More- over, have you ever heard anyone speak right out without permission because he thinks the teacher librarian is his friend and will overlook the broken rule? In the October issue of the Reader's Digest there was an anecdote telling of the thrill the Serbians get from breaking glass just for sheer enjoyment. I can sympathize with this idea of pleasure. There is something about the sound of breaking glass that is fascinating, but will someone please tell me where the fun comes from tearing paper into tiny bits until it looks like confetti, and then covertly dropping it on the Hoor or depositing it in another person's desk? Missives which are of such private nature that it is necessary to tear them into minute particles in order to keep their contents hidden from inquisitive eyes should not be

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28 THE LAUREL dulled by our size but has predominately been threaded through our association since our initial days together. A certain few among us have faced many diHiculties to attend high school. Some have been obliged to live away from home. Others, who wished to take part in extra- curricular activitiesg such as sports, dra- matics, and music, have remained late at school and gone many miles only to help to do their share of chores at home. Some of us have been able to relieve the financial strain on your pocketbooks through work- ing for the National Youth Administration. We are fully aware that to the teachers we owe our genuine thanks, and to them we extend it at this time. They have endured patiently and understandingly our crude pranks and obvious shortcomings. So now, hoping that you will enjoy our program as much as we enjoy having you here,-on with the program! Norman Blanchard '38. CLASS HISTORY-CLASS OF '33 ELL, I think I'll have to spend this evening studying. I must put the finishing touches on the lecture I have to give before the Portland Historical Society. CSees package on tablej I-Im, wonder what this is? Oh, yes, it's my latest history on the Development of Farmington High School. QBegins to look through bookj I-Iere's a picture of the Class of 'Thirty-eight. It was quite a class at thatg it had approximately 80 members. That's my old class, come to think of it. This picture must have been taken when we were green freshmen. Those were the days when Norman Blanch- ard didnlt comb his hair so often. Why is it that some fellows begin to think more of their appearance about the time they be- come sophomores? .Norman was elected president of the class that year. Dalton Hardy was vice president. In that period Dalton didn't have to pay for his two movie tickets and went more than he now does. There's Pete I-Iall right up beside Gwen Richards. Those were happy days with Pete. I-Ie did have time to become our first Student Council representative though. Connie McLeary was secretary, and did she keep us busy looking up big words which she put in her reports! Ieannice Robinson must have been the class treasurer. When she approached the he-men of the class with that heart fluttering smile of hers, they never knew whether she was going to inveigle a date or a dollar from them. There's the original bashful boy in the form of Richard Morrill. But we Find that he wasnit so bashful when it came to raising cain in partnership with cousin Dana. I recall that I collected school dues that year and acquired several grey hairs trying to balance the book at the end of the year. I 'll never forget the teachers we had when we were freshmen. Mrs. Bryant was the anti- ain't', teacher. We had a good time in her class, and no one was really afraid of her scowl because she couldn't control the twinkle in her eye. Mr. Gould taught us that 3 and 2 are 7 by the means of the all- powerful X. Miss Howard taught us all about Cleopatra and her boy friends, Mark Antony and Caesar. Until illness pre- vented it, Mrs. Miner taught Latin, and then we were under thc care of Mr. Owen Gilman, Miss Magoni, and Miss I-Iawkins. That didn't help some of us who found it obligatory to sit in the front seats, as we hadn't delved into thc dead language too much as it was. Our friend of long standing in the music department, Miss Perkins, came over to high school to make sure we still sang do on pitch. Mr. De- Wever taught commercial arithmetic and held open forums on any subject that an unprepared student might mention. Part of that year Mrs. Ryan had the art class, and when she resigned Mrs. Webster taught the subject. fLooks in bookj. I-Iere's a high light! Along in Ianuary the Freshman Reception was held. We all had a good time, and only a few had a belt placed across their pos- terior.