Hammond Central School - Spotlight Yearbook (Hammond, NY)

Page 15 text:

14 HAMMOND HIGH HAPPENINGS WHAT THE SCHOOL CLOCK SEES The wise old clock hangs on the wall. It has no eyes but sees it all. It hangs there quietly through the day, And never thinks of giving anyone away. At nine o’clock they all file in, And then these thrilling sights begin. It watches the doings of every- one, And let me tell you sometimes it’s fun. They’d like to whisper, but no one dares Until perhaps someone ap- pears with a note from down stairs. Mr. Northrup suddenly starts For a certain room in lower parts. The atmosphere now seems to change, And the room indeed looks very strange. A movement here, a whisper there, And there’s a sudden stir most everywhere. It watches one pupil as she starts to chew, And if others had candy, they’d chew, too. All of a sudden there’s a creak on the stair. Up comes “Prof.”—silence in the air. Miss McClelland’s turn comes now. Does she watch ’em ? And how! Then comes Miss Charter as you know, Into the library she does go, And so on and on throughout the day, That wise old clock ticks the time away. It knows a lot it won’t tell, And keeps all secrets very well. Hilda Dake. As the pendulum methodi- cally swings to and fro on our old school clock, it sees long, lanky Donald Dunham, who has been chosen as the all- scholastic center of our league, and it says to itself, “No doubt, Don some day will be playing center on the famous New York Renaissance team.” Next in line it sees Erva McLear, our school artist, but it also notices that Erva’s hand is not so steady, since her trip to Og-

Page 14 text:

HAMMOND HIGH HAPPENINGS 13 mary room boasts the least. cold that school had to be closr ed, probably much to their sat- isfaction. The heating system certainly was inefficient and the ventilating system also, gave some trouble. In 1915 an attempt was made for improvement and, steam heat was added, replac- ing the hot air system. This helped a great deal and, two years ago, several extra radia- tors w;ere added, which seem- ed to solve the heating prob- lems. There was no lighting sys- tem in the school except large brass lamps which hung from the ceiling. These were so in- convenient that they were sel- dom used. The janitor often carried a lantern so that he could see to sweep the floors. In 1912 an electric light was put in the boiler room. The same year another wire was, extended up to the library. Two years later the high school was wired and later the grade rooms. This was a great help for it made the school brighter on dark days. The janitor work was also made easier for electrical appliances could be used. Of the many teachers who have been employed, the pri- Only four teachers have occu- pied that room. The former Miss Ethel McClelland holds the record of ten years teach- ing there. Miss Bertha McClel- land has enlightened youth for twelve years, first in the inter- mediate room, later advancing to the high school, where she is now our well-loved precep- tress. Last but not least, Miss Ada Allen has taught the gram- mar grades almost as long as the building has stood. She came in 1909, making a total of 22 years of unquestionable service. Something should also be said of our present janitor who has kept the building clean and warm to the best of his ability for sixteen years. Such services as these are well worth appreciation. Improvements are being made each year. An efficient pressure water system was in- stalled last year. New equip- ment has been added yearly. A modern electric radio has also done much toward making school days brighter. Such has been the past. What will be the future ? Who can tell ? Erva M. McLear;

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HAMMOND. HIGH HAPPENINGS 15 densburg on the seventeenth of March. After Erva is Parson, the noted orator, who, it thinks could take the lead in the play entitled, “Peck's Bad Boy.” As its hand swings around to ten o’clock, it sees a noted character ascending the stairs, who is known throughout the school for his fondness of work and his habit of coming in late. I don’t have to tell you who this is because, by now, you have already guessed that it is none other than that celebrat- ed personage, who goes by the name of Dave Moore. Last, but not least, it sees our good friend, Carol John- son, who hails from that very well-known and historical country,: the Rossi e Hills, and she reminds us of that exqui- site piece of poetry, which goes like this:— A wise old owl sat in an oak, The more he heard, the less he spoke, The less he spoke, the more he heard; Why isn’t Carol more like this bird ? Janet Gallagher. “Creak” goes that step on the stairs as Mr. Northrup comes up on tiptoe. “Parson,” who has been bothering Hilda stops and digs into his Physics book as if Hilda never existed. Bill Massey who has been imi- tating everything from a grey goose shaft to a flintlock gun, digs into “History A.” Dave Moore engaged in earnest con- versation with Ella Mae settles down to “Caesar.” Carol, the note thrower, just in the act of slipping one over to Winona Slate puts the note in her desk' and grins at Mr. Northrup when he walks into the room. Ted, who has been waving a magic wand at Bill Gleason, decides to go to work. Roger Craig, who has been gossiping with Donald Dunham suddenly becomes interested in English III. A step on the stairs caused all this. Yet no teacher saw or heard a thing. Such is school. Malcolm Barney.