Germantown High School - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 12 text:

PEHCIYAL S. STRATSS To a f'01n1.selor and 1 l'l.C'IIIl.' The sorrows of parting always are one of the tempering forces that restrain'the joy of graduation. The regretful parting of student from student and of teacher from student accents in deeper tones the bright prospects of the world into which the new graduate is about to enter. In June our class will have a new member, one who has been a great. friend to us and countless other Germantown boys and girls. As he graduates with us not only we but other students and faculty members will grieve at parting from Percival S. Strauss, charter member of the faculty, a spark plug of school adairs, friend to those in trouble. and a just judge of erring students. He possesses an abiding and genuine faith in the high ideals of life, conduct and service to others. Only we who have known him and have been associated with him will ever realize his value to both school and community. Good fun, good sportsmanship and good scholarship have been the three greatest ideals that he has taught by word and deed in the years past. Character, leadership, and service he held to a degree and of a sort that will never be surpassed. They are traits that have granted him enduring friendships with those he has met. The memory of his personality and work will linger in the hearts and minds of his many friends, colleagues and students. We reluctantly bid him farewell and hope that the days that lie ahead will be the most fruitful and the happiest of his long life. Ronmefi' l,ifoNr:o, Presfflent, Sf-lmol Senale.

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W' F' M To the Glass of June, 1942: Everywhere about us, young men are going into training for military or naval service. Friends, relatives and acquaintances are volunteering or being inducted by the draft boards in ever- increasing numbers. They are going into danger, offering all they have-even their lives-for the things Americans hold dear. Here in school many are asking, What can we do to help? How can we make easier the work they have to do? Well, more than in anything else, we can pre- pare ourselves thoroughly to do the job which will come to us within a year or two, either in industry or in the service into which they are going. Ordinarily nearly fifty millions of people are industrially employed in peace-time jobs. Within a year or eighteen months that work will have to be done by something over twenty mil- lions. The others will be either in the armed forces or employed in work to support those who fight. Can you prepare yourself to carry the work of two? Do it as nearly as you can. If you can go on with your education, do so' If not, take the hardest job you can find and do it in the very best possible way. In the mean- time, Godspeed and good luck. x eg 7

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T IS, to me, an honor and a pleasure to be asked to Write these words showing, in a small way, the esteem with which Mr. Strauss is regarded by the Alumni of Germantown High School. I have had the privilege of associating with Mr. Strauss since 1926 in Alumni matters, and he has been the one person that has held the contact between the Alumni and the school through the periods of prosperity and depression which the Alumni has passed. The success which the Alumni Association is now enjoying is due entirely to his loyalty and hard work which he has exerted since its inception in 1918. In all these years he has never missed a meeting of the Board of Directors or of the Association. No member of the faculty is more revered or remembered longer than Percival S. Strauss, and it is gratifying to us graduates, on whose behalf I am writing, to see that he still is carrying on the work which he started many years ago and that the under-graduates still recognize his sterling qualities as a leader and a gentleman. Congratulations to Percival S. Strauss for receiving the honor of the dedication of this book and congratulations to the Class of June, '42 for dedicating this book to Mr. Strauss. GORDON W. VENABLE, O.D., February, 'QL ARLYLE once said, Blessed is the man who has found his workg let him ask no more blessedness. The singular ability of Mr. Percival S. Strauss to identify himself so completely with his daily work and associations was a source of inspiration to all his colleagues in the teaching profession. Mr. Strauss has been a member of the Social Studies Department of the Ger- mantown High School since the founding of our school in 1915. With the versatility bestowed upon but a few, he capably added a host of additional responsibilities to his teaching roster in order to enrich the lives of the pupils of our school and to give our school a constructive role in community affairs. Coaching the swimming and tennis teams year after year, assisting in the conducting of student singing in assem- blies, initiating a student government system, organizing the Alumni Association, serving on the Athletic Council-to mention a few-to all these activities he de- voted himself so sacrilicially that his profession and recreation were merged into one completely satisfying life. The unanimous selection of Mr. Strauss as the dedicatee of the CLASS RECORD of June, 1942, was in itself a remarkable tribute from an appreciative student body. As one of his associates and as faculty sponsor of the CLASS RECORD, I, too, am grate- ful to have shared the enthusiasm of the pupils and to have guided them in their happy task. We proffer this book as a humble, though inadequate, gift to our re- spected and beloved colleague and friend-Percival S. Strauss. LOUISE H. KAHLER, Class Record Adviser.