George Washington High School - Hatchet Yearbook (New York, NY)

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I-IA CHET GEORGE WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL LEONARD .s. FLIEDNER, PRmcnPAs. CITY OF NEW YORK ...J

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'Pl A . .Iggy-gf, ' 'Bl' I 'ig EIJITURIAL Wg.. 'Tir education forms the common mind: just nr the twig is bent, the tree'r inclined. N THE ABOVE LINES the great eighteenth century poet Alexander Pope expresses in his usual apt way a belief held throughout the civ- ilized world. Millions of dollars and millions of hours of labor are being spent in the task of form- ing the common mind, it is rated among the most important tasks of every modern government, and with some governments it is regarded so seriously that desperate measures are taken to be sure that no ideas reach the common mind that might inliu- ence it in any direction other than the one ap- proved bythe government itself. As we move from the halls of our high school into the wider fields awaiting us, we are aware that in addition to the numerous physical conflicts raging in various parts of the world, there is everywhere a broad general confiict between two political and social philoso- phies involving the totalitarian versus the demo- cratic way of life. We have been trained here to evaluate these respective ways of life and to go forth prepared to wage a successful fight for the deeper and more abiding values of democracy. Ours is the responsibility of proving to a skeptical, war-weary world that the keystone of our safety is an education in the arts and sciences and the social philosophy of democracy. We must reafiirm the democratic man's faith in himself and in his edu- cation, an education that can never be wrested from him. Perhaps at no other time in world his- tory have men so universally come to realize that ignorance and bungling are costly, taking their price in lives as well as dollars. In our deeds lie the hopes of the world. We must not fail. That we shall not fail is due largely to the type of instruction we have received in our high school, a type characteristic of the American system which makes it possible for every young man and woman to acquire a well-rounded development physically and mentally. In a wide variety of courses we have gained much information and many techniques, but we have learned much more, our studies have given us also an insight into character, a knowl- edge of the components of good government, a sense of justice, an understanding of the widely divergent interests of our fellow human beings, and a realization of our ability to unite behind a common goal. If it be thought, however, that in the process of learning these things we found life at G.W. en- tirely a grim affair, nothing could be further from the truth. There was plenty on the lighter side: excuses that didn't stave off punishment, devices that didn't take the place of studyg the never- ending fund of practical jokes on fellow class- mates, the excitement and confusion of adapting ourselves to each term's program, the wild scram- ble to get elected to student government ofiices. And as we look back over the course that we have just run, we do so with a smile and a tear, a smile for all the escapades we survived, and a tear for the ending of so many wonderful friendships and the loss of so many loyal helpers. Those loyal helpers were for the most part members of the George Washington faculty, and we cannot leave without a parting word of gratitude to them. To Dr. Leonard J. Fliedner we give a final salute for the democratic and sympathetic way in which he guided us during his first year as Prin- cipalg to the Deans and Grade advisers, thanks for the skill and understanding they brought to the solution of our problems, and to the teachers, a final tribute for the patience and fortitude they showed in doing a job that we shall appreciate more and more with the passing years. To them all and to a great school we wave a fond farewell as we step forth into the world ahead of us.