Gridley High School - Bulldog Yearbook (Gridley, CA)

Page 7 text:

 Education For Peace is the spirit of '47. This slogan has been chosen this year by educational forces throughout the United States, and we use it as the theme for our yearbook. The implications of such a watchword are far-flung. The graduating class of '47 has not the imagination nor the wisdom to show you the results of the united efforts of the American schools under this new impetus. It would take Aladdin's lamp and the genie to give you any breathtaking glimpses of the magic methods of atomic-accelerated school systems. But, wait — we do have an Aladdin's lamp! Our Spirit of the Lamp — good, old '47, will appear at one flicking rub from our toil- hardened hands and show you, not the future Gridley High en- visioned by scientists, but the plain, everyday happenings of our past. That is magic enough for us — the magic of memory with a hint of the future. Here it is, classmates; the pictures and written record of 1946-1947. Here is our work, our play, our successes, our failures, in education for peace. Look, lads and lassies; read, remember, smile, and smother a sigh. Here is our Aladdin's lamp. Take it away, Spirit of '47!

Page 6 text:

(OsutizcdtlML We, the class of '47, dedicate this annual to the Spirit of '47.” Like our dauntless ancestors represented in the Spirit of '76, we advance from war into peace and an unpredictable world. The peace of World War II has not been declared, as we write this, yet the incoming era, christened the Atomic Age, is coloring our thought and changing our lives, even now. We are not sure that our four years in Gridley High have even begun to prepare us for the Atomic Age. but we do know one thing. We know that the frail, infantile spirit of brotherhood born of our close association as classmates through elementary and high school has grown and expanded into a prophetic ideal of peace and unity for our younger schoolmates who follow us, for our community, our state, our nation, our world. In a mood of pride and prophecy, then, we dedicate this book to our mysterious, long-awaited year, our guide into a changing world — The Spirit of '47.

Page 8 text:

(( TYlsL AOjpL RALPH W. GUILFORD -IRS. AUDREY THOMPSON School Secretary Cessation of hositilities has not brought about the full measure of peace anticipated by a war-weary world. The school year 1946-47, while not fraught with the anxieties of actual warfare, still is marked by constant threats to world and national unity. At the peace table, the victors have difficulty in reconciling their differences. The members of the United Nations can not agree upon such important matters as the proper use of the veto power in matters of world decisions and an international police force. Control of the atom bomb and the use of atomic energy on a world-wide basis is imperative, but no plan has yet been accepted. The atom bomb has become the outstanding threat to our physical existence. Albert Einstein, one of the world's greatest scientists, has made the statement that there is no defense against the atom bomb except world peace. This places a great responsibility upon the Security Council of the United Nations. On the national scene, labor, management, and capital are at logger- heads in many industries. Abolition of price controls, price rises in basic commodities, strikes of union laborers bring a threat of a spiral of in- flation which will devalue money and wteck our national economy. Meanwhile, the Gridley Union High School has resumed its normal prewar activities. Constantly, throughout the year new students have appeared to crowd our housing facilities. Athletics interest many boys and full schedules in all sports have been re-established. Many former students, recently discharged from the Services, have returned to schools to prepare for their world of tomorrow. The future will be bright if peoples of the world will lay aside dis- trust and suspicion and work together in the spirit of good will and understanding. R. W. GUILFORD