Grand Rapids High School - Pirate Yearbook (Grand Rapids, OH)

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CSalutatory Cont.J currency stabilization, and granting of credit to some backward countries, we could put them on the reed to progress. We nugt have faith in other nations and not always feel that each one is trying to chest us. However, on the other hand, we should not be too trusting for there are still those who have and always will have the imperial- istic tendencies which have existed since the beginning of time. The solutions to these problems lies in the education oftheyouth of the country. Many of us tonight finish as much formal schooling as we'will receive. Are we ready to face these problems which must be solved in order that the world can have complete peace! Or will there be another war when our children are as old as we, a war which will surely destroy the world? There can be no shirking this problem. By saying that we don't want another war, we shell not achieve peace. Meetings of the United Nations will not do it either unless the organization is better supported by the people than we are supporting it now. We should look upon this organization not as a plan which has been tried and found unsound, but ss one which will go forth and ac- complish its purpose if we have complete confidence in it and support it. We con't discontinue our education just because we are graduating tonight. We must keep in touch with problems of the world, through our books, our radios, and our contacts with fellow citizens. After tonight there will be no teacher who once or twice s week on current events dey, tries to familiarize us with world problems. It is our duty to keep informed on the problems of the world and to do our part to remedy them or the peace of the world will fail. The President or any other outstanding statesman, can not make world peace by'deliverinE a speech. Each and every citizen must assume e personalresponsibility in breaking down these barriers and causing the creation of integrity and faith among peoples and nations. My question--Can we maintain the peace?--hos not been answered. I have only suggested ways in which it might be done. Our actions and the actions of the rest of the world's people will answer it. Tonight,'however, we are graduating---receiving the diploma which is our reward for twelve years of study. This night will not stand out in your memory es it does in ours, for you have your own triumphs which overshadow ours in your mind. However, I am very happy to wel- come you to share this hour of triumqhw-our Commencement--with us. Thank you. ---Elinor Thomas

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SJ .NK 5 ft : pfff' r' iff? W x ,A ,if T l ,fi 35-'ff V xl ff-es. we-ff 5 xx A sly .I Yi Ll Ladies and Gentlemen: Tonight, we, teachers and our This year pe go forward and ke the Seniors of '46, welcome you, our parents, our fellow citizens to our Commencement. ace has been secured and clearw our challenge is to ep this peace. Men today fail to realize that the world is so united by modern means of transpo is not relatively or Athens nt the Russia disagrees countries of the single community. rtntion and communication as for from Grand Rapids time of the Caesars. We with Iran, the problem is world for the world is so that any place in the world as Rome was from Carthage fail to realize that when of great concern to all the united that it is really a It has changed from a large world of isolated, in- ,Q dependent nations to a small world of integrated interdependentnntions The thought that the world is a single community requires that we be- come citizens of this community just as we are citizens of the small communities in which we live. This community must be one which recog- nizes equality end dignity of man. It must be n community in which men work together for the good of all, not for individuel gain. To form a single political community requires patient work among nations with no nntion's saying, Wwe are first, the peace of the world is second,W It also requires that cultural, ls1guage,social,end other The racial o national barriers barriers to begin ence does it make doesn't expect us is not necessary be broken down. Cultural barriers are not even with if we use e little common sense. What differ- if our neighbor eats with chopsticks as long as he to do the same. The breaking down of individuality to hove our united politicd.eommunity. The fact that people do not speak the same language can be reme- died. Didn't we some time but it do it in our country? However, it probably will take needn't take as long as it did here. roblem can also be solved, I believe, if we learn racial tolerance in school' and in our contacts with others, for el- though the dark peoples of the world nearly outnumber the whites, they do not want to control the world, they just want equality and decent treatment. The social conditions of ourfmminegroes have inproved much in the lest ten years. Will they, in the rehnbilitation period, be able to maintain these improved social conditions? will the natives of Indie, recently offered their freedom by Britain's Prime Minister, prosper after they receive it? The economic problems are problems which must also be remedied in some way or another so that all the people of the worldheverelatively equal opportunities. We must establish some kind of production fac- ilities in the notions which have been ravaged by war. Perhaps by

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valliseueulee IN OURSELVES, OUR FUTURE LIES Parents, Teachers, Classmates, Friends: Twelve years ago, thirty-two boys and girls started in the first grade. Of these same thirty-two, only sixteen are graduating here to- night. The rest have dropped out or moved elsewhere while others have joined the class to take'their places and to form our present class. Tonight is the last timewe can call ourselves Seniors of Grand Rapids High School. Each minute draws that time nearer. As we think of this, we realize that our future holds greater responsibilities than we have yet experienced. When we were smaller, our parents and our teachers helped us make our decisions and helped us with our work. Then little by little, they let us make our own decisions and do our own work. They also taught us new things to prepare us for our future. Tonight, as never before in our lives, we go out to assume these many new responsibilities. Since we have been in school,and especially during the past seve- ral ycars, our class has been able to show some of its abilities. It is our desire that, as each one of us goes out tonight, we shall be able to retain these abilities in our individual lives, Each one of us is capable of working and getting ahead,but in or- der to know success, other things are needed. What else do we need? We need ambition, willingness to cooperate with others and to do our share, and a pleasant, cheerful personality. These are small but vital factors in building our future success. For example, let us imagine that an employer is hiring someone for an office job. Two men have applied and the-employer decides to let each one try the job for one month and then decide which man he wants to keep permanently. We shall give each man the same education and background,make their experience in the trade parallel, and clothe each neatly. When the month is up, which man will the employer wish to keep permanently? Other things being equal as we made them--the employer will retain the one who does his work without complaining,who is will- ingto cooperate with the others in the office, and who has adapted himself to the personalities and whims of others. So we see that abi- lity to get along with others is an important factor. This also means that we must be willing to do an unpleasant task as well as just the pleasant phases of our work. It means thatwemust go according to rules and regulations, and that we must be reliable and dependable.