Greenfield High School - Evergreen / Exponent Yearbook (Greenfield, MA)

Page 16 text:

10 THE EXPONENT alty. What does it mean to be loyal to our school? Doesn’t it mean that we should stand back of any school enterprise—the Exponent, the games, and entertainments which our school puts on. I think that this is just what it implies. We should support our school paper by writing poems and stories. There has not been enough support for this paper and we should always show the editor and his staff that we are ready to do our bit towards making our school pa¬ per successful. Then we should go to as many games as we can and cheer for the fellows on the teams. It inspires them and helps them to be the win¬ ners. Any team can play better if it knows that it has the support of the students back of it. We should be on hand to go to the fair and stand loyal to G. H. S. by cheering our best so that we may win, the banner or the cup or both. The pres¬ ent graduating class has always tried to be loyal and it is their de¬ sire to leave as good an example as the former students have. The second word of our motto is Honor. Have we always been hon¬ est? I think that I may say that the majority of us have. Honesty should prevail more than anything else in our class work and examinations. It is here that we are tested. Our fel¬ low student may crib and get away with it but that doesn’t make it any the more honorable. It is up to us, therefore, to show that we uphold our honor on every occasion. We should look down on a person who cannot be trusted. By doing this, we would soon show these few students that we stand for honor. The last word of our motto is scholarship. All the pupils in the high school should be working hard and earnestly for high marks and scholarship. There are two or three in every class that stand high but we should have more competition. It would be a great deal more interest¬ ing if the marks of many pupils were all about the same average. Then we shouldn’t know who the valedic¬ torian and salutatorian would be. It is a great honor for any pupil to reach this goal so we all hope that there will be more competition for these two honors. Our school also stands for friend¬ ship, for many of our life-long friend¬ ships originate in the high school. Since one of the essentials of friend¬ ship is thoughtfulness and apprecia¬ tion of the other person’s point of view, this is what we should try to icultivate. There is no other school in the surrounding towns that is any better than ours, for the one we attend is, we consider, the best. It is up to us, therefore, to show that we are loyal to our school at all times, and that honor and scolarship are two of its qualities. Greenfield High School has stood and always will stand for its motto—Loyalty, Honor, and Scholarship. As the class of 1925 depart from this beautiful building as alumni they will always remember their high school days and the distinction of be¬ ing the first class to graduate from this building after attending it during the school year. I sincerely hope that the future classes will find the .same inspiration that we have found here. MILIA E. BALLOU, ’25 CLASS HISTORY OF ’25 Oh, now good friends lend us your ears, Now lend us all your ears; We’ll tell you true what we did do In Our Greenfield High-school years. Listen, my friends, if you’ll survive We’ll tell you the history of class ’25. We entered as freshmen in the year ’21 Expecting to have a whole lot of fun, But soon we found out, that with les¬ sons to learn The midnight oil we at times had to burn. Class officers soon engaged our at¬ tention, A few of whose names right here we might mention! Chet Burnham, as president, guided the class; His co-partner was Elizabeth Alberti, the lass. Then Chet was succeeded by Francis Flynn Who for three years pleased all by that cheerful grin. Roy Wheeler followed Varney as guardian of coin (It takes lots of money to ket j) a class goin’). Sometimes we earned pennies by selling of candy; Every one wanted some; it tasted so dandy. Miss Ellen Fiske kept the books for four years And as every one knows we had but few fears. When we get a breath we’ll tell some more, We’ll tell you all some more. When we get a breath we’ll talk you to death, While we tell you all some more. Our Freshman Reception was attend¬ ed with glee By hordes of small Freshies you could trot on your knee. But instead of the trotting we gave them some time, With cartoonist Parker who showed ’em his line. But all of them wanted to get to the dance, So we took out the seats and they started to prance. ’Twas voted by all to have been a success; But ah! the next morning the hall was a mess. When it comes to athletics our class is right there. We began Freshman Year at the old County Fair, And were well represented by Wood- lock and Zschau; ’Twas Woodard got “G” tho’ no one knows how; All the four years at this same county fair These three young athletes each did his share. Again in the fall when football came ’round A number of Freshmen came out with a bound. For the last couple years, ’24 and ’25 The following men showed they were alive: Woodlock and Mills, Osgood and Zschau Were there all the time in the big pow-wow! Burnham and Dudley, Warner and “Mac”, Each showed he had some strength in his back. But for basketball we are sorry to say, Not a person came out, to the coach’s dismay. Miss Johnston, however, secured a girls’ team, (When seen on the floor they sure were some scream.) When baseball arrived very early that spring

Page 15 text:

THE EXPONENT 9 If you have a liberal educa tion, your life is worth 9 1-3 times as much as if you had only a high school education; 215 times as much as if you had only a common school edu¬ cation; and 817 times as much as if you had no education. Of the notables in “Who’s Who,” out of 10,000 men con¬ sidered successful 7,700 have had a college training. There have been 352 times more men with university train¬ ing in the House of Representa¬ tives than with no university training. There have been 530 times more men elected to the U. S. Senate with a university train¬ ing than without. Let us consider the losses that come to the boy from whom four years in college are withheld. One of the greatest is the valuable lesson of team work, of playing, studying and mixing with other fellows. It is never a good sign when a father says with some pride that his boy does not care to mix with a crowd; it smacks of a self-centeredness and a living too much within oneself that are never the best for a boy’s fullest develop¬ ment. A boy must mix with other boys and live in his age, and with those of his age. He does this of course at high school but he is far¬ ther along in age when he reaches college and is apt to get out of mix¬ ing with other boys at that period of his life something that he fails to se¬ cure at an earlier period. Furthermore, the friends whom a boy makes during his college period are to be enduring and very valu¬ able to him in following years. That one forgets much of what he learns at college admits of no question but the friends and pleasant memories of ideals and views exchanged during college days are never forgotten. The lack of a college education means, too, a loss of that most valu¬ able asset of college opportunity, sys¬ tematic mental training. It is the quality of thinking which most strikingly differentiates the college graduate from the noncollegiate man. Of course it is taken for granted that the boy has tried for, and se¬ cured something from his college years. He will get mental training in business to be sure, but it comes more slowly. The mental training which a boy gets from his college work makes for brushing away ques¬ tions and going straight to the heart of a matter. Undoubtedly the busi¬ ness man also acquires this but as a young man he lacks at the begin¬ ning whereas the collegiate man comes to his business career with it. There is much, too, in the develop¬ ment of his inner, mental, and spirit¬ ual resources which can be absorbed in college and brought in to business life. A man of affairs needs this if he is to be broadminded in his dealings with his fellows. The cultural back¬ ground which a young man builds up during his college days will be in¬ valuable to him when the materialism of the commercial and professional world comes upon him; he will have resources which interest him outside of his immediate job. What a man accomplishes by rea¬ son of his collegiate opportunity is, of course, entirely a question of self. There is no questioning the fact that there are boys at college who have no business to be there and whose places might to advantage be filled with more worthy material. The boy whose sole idea is to get by in his studies, whose chief aim is to make this or that team and who considers the time spent at college a hardship rather than an opportunity is—allow¬ ing for a certain amount of natural feeling of this sort—an encumbrance to his college. On the other hand a boy who accepts college with a cer¬ tain degree of earnestness and does his best in his work can not help ben¬ efiting by it for as Professor De Witt, president of Bowdoin college, has aptly said, “A college training will help a young man to be at home in all lands, to count nature as a familiar acquaintance and art as an intimate friend, to gain a standard for the appreciation of other men’s works, and the criticisms of his own, to carry the key of the world’s li¬ brary in his pocket, and to feel its resources behind him in whatever task he undertakes, to make hosts of friends among the men of his own age who are to be leaders in all walks of life, to lose himself in gen¬ erous enthusiasm and cooperate with others for common ends, to learn manners from students who are gen¬ tlemen and to form character under professors who are Christians.” This is the offer of the American College for the best four-years of your life. GARDNER DAVIS, ’25. IVY ORATION WHAT OUR HIGH SCHOOL STANDS FOR We, the class of 1925, are about to leave this beautiful building to go on to a higher institution of learn¬ ing or go out into the world into the different fields of life to seek our fortunes. We have been in this build¬ ing just one year, but even in this short time it has come to mean a great deal to all of us. The build¬ ing in all of its newness and with its many advantages is one of which we are very proud. Four years ago as Freshmen we had no such building to attend. We were required to go to school in the afternoon and as long as we had this schedule the Freshmen did not come in contact with the upper classmen. The old High School did not have a gymnasium in the building as it was so crowded that we needed all the floor space we could obtain; conse¬ quently, the gymnasium was given up and the room was made into class¬ rooms. Then we had no cafeteria where we could buy our lunch. In our new building we have special study rooms which we did not have in the other. The students were re¬ quired to study in the assembly hall or recitation rooms and because of so many distractions little studying was accomplished. These are just a few of the many advantages that this beautiful new building has over the old. School always has meant and al¬ ways will mean a great deal to us because it is at school that we learn many of life’s lessons, we make some of our truest friends and we have many experiences which will benefit us through life. Knowledge gained from books, while very essential, is not the only harvest gained from our school career. Just what does our high school mean to us? Is it merely a building which we are required to attend or does it signify something greater? Doesn’t our school motto—Loyalty, Honor, and Scholarship—express what our school stands for? If not, why do we have such a motto? Have we always lived up to it? I tear come of us may often have forgotten to, yet it would be well for us to keep it in mind. The first word in our motto is loy-

Page 17 text:

THE EXPONENT 11 A number responded to the “Ump’s” yearly ring: Woodlock and Walsh, Durkee and “Mac.” Pasted the ball for many a crack, Varney and Reynolds, Sevrens and “Hoot”, Each one did honor to his G. H. S. suit. Our tennis team being practically new, Zschau was the only one who would possibly do. Oh we hope kind friends we do not bore We hope we do not bore; We can’t do our best till we’ve had some rest Then we’ll talk words galore. About midyears and finals there’s little to say. Look! Most of us wear the significant gray. Ralph Everett Durkee on the pin¬ nacle stood And Christine Fortin was almost as good. Along in the spring of our Junior year Our Class gave a Prom to the Sen¬ iors, dear. In Washington Hall so bleak and so bare A committee did gather to make the place fair. The orchestra tuned up as the clock struck eight And our guests soon arrived tho’ some were quite late. The party broke up at just about one And the Seniors declared ’twas a job well-done. But this year the Juniors did fix up the gym And everyone danced with Oh! such a vim! We all bought refreshments from Mrs. Snow Which troubled us little in our stom¬ achs to stow, And now to you Juniors we Seniors do send A “muchas gracias” and “merci bien.” Oh we’ll tell you all some more, some more. We’ll tell you all some more. For the more we drink the better w r e think Now we’ll tell you all some more. A play “Silas Marner” we gave second year, But as seniors “The Rivals” stands alone, without peer. Our actors all covered themselves o’er with glory; ’Twas a wonderful thing; you all know the story. Our teachers each one have been helpful and kind. They’re the finest bunch that you ever could find. ’Tis the principal, our Edgar B. Smith Who ' is rotund and real-far from be¬ ing a myth. Messrs. Lawrence and Sander has each done his best. To guide our young minds, with praiseworthy zest. Miss Atherton, too, is exceedingly fair, A teacher of her type is certainly rare. In Room 17 where Miss Hamilton rules Is one place at least where nobody fools. No one can get by in Miss Pierce’s class With slip-shod work. Just try if you dass! Miss Allen in Latin has worked with a will In the hope that somehow our brains we might fill. When our soul would express itself in a song ’Tis to Mark A. Davis for the time we belong. Miss Holmes in biology helps us to learn, To view with lespect the bugs we did spurn. Our helpful Miss Childs is always so ready To correct our bad English and keep us all steady. It is Leo A. Pennegar, who tho’ teacher of art, With friendly help in all ways does his part. ’Tis to all of the teachers in these classic halls We owe the success that to our class falls— We hope that they never will think of us less For the fun that we’ve had in old G. H. S. Oh! we ainta gonna talk no more, no more, We ainta ' gonna talk no more, But how shall ye know, unless we go, That we ainta gonna talk no more? ELIZABETH ALBERTI, ’25. CHESTER BURNHAM, ’25. CLASS PROPHECY, 1925 Scene—Cabaret in New York City. Year—1935. (Pauline Seavey is seated at a table with Timothy Toomey close by at an¬ other table. The former drops a card from her bag while paying the check. The waiter picks it up and discovers it to be a G. H. S. alumni membership card, and as he passes it back to her he says:) M: “Pardon me, but do you belong to the G. H. S. Alumni Society?” S: “Yes, I do. Why?” M: “I belong to the Alumni of G. H. S. myself. I am Richard Minott.” S: “Why, Dick Minott, is it really you? Don’t you remember me? I’m Polly Seavey.” (Toomey at an adjoining table hears the conversation and joins the others.) T: “Pardon me for interrupting, but did I hear you say, you were Polly Seavey?” S: “Indeed you did. Aren’t you Timothy Toomey?” T: “I am.” S: “Well, what are you doing here?” T: “Why, I’ve needed a vacation for months; I thought New York City a nice quiet place. So here I am. I am manager of a country store in Leyden, Mass., Mudd Hurl- burt and Ruth Cummings are my trusty clerks. Do you mind if I join you at your table?” S: “I’d be delighted to have you.” T: “Bring us something cold to drink, please, Dick.” (Waiter leaves for drink.) S: “Have you seen any of our old G. H. S. classmates lately? Tell me all the latest gossip concerning them—just think ten years ago to¬ day we graduated from dear old G. H. S.!” T: “Yes, and little did we realize how easy our High School days were. I think I have a bit of news for you. Let me see. Oh yes! Did you know that Helen MacGowan became so thoroughly interested in dramatics at G. H. S. that she organized a com¬ pany of her own and she has been very successful producing—‘When a Dumb Student Is Dumb.’ ” S: “Helen sure was a shining star! Speaking of actors, did you know tha 1 Harvey Sevrens and Hermon Walker have joined the circus? They make very clever clowns. Helen Cornilovich