Hartford High School - Hartford Key Yearbook (White River Junction, VT)

Page 14 text:

Senior Class Officers Senior Class Officers Hartford High Back row, left to right: William Crosby, Attorney; Edmund Freitas. Treasurer; John (loss. President; Everett Whitney. Sergeant at Arms. Front row: Louisa Kontos. Secretary; Marie IJe Roche, Vice-Pres. 9

Page 13 text:

M. Park Osgood, B.S. University of Vermont Instructor in Mathematics Leonard W. Saunders, I.A. Newark State Normal Instructor in Manual Arts Z. Martina Van Duesan Rochester University Instructor in Latin and English Anna E. Young, A.B. Russell Sage College Instructor in French

Page 15 text:

Valedictory Address Once more a Senior class of Hartford High School has come to the parting of ways. Once more a Senior class has reached a certain climax in education. Once more a Senior class must say farewell to a school where it has spent so many happy years. Even though this time has come, we do not consider that we are severing all links which have held us together. Rather we consider this as the beginning of a further adventure—the adventure of life. We shall always associate ourselves with our alma mater wherever we go or whatever we become. We shall constantly strive to make it proud of us. Now we pause for a moment to look into what we hope will be a bright and prosperous future. We are confident and eager to sally forth and win recognition. Yet we hear from all sides that we are facing a hard age. An age where there is scarcity of work. We have in mind Shakespeare’s philosophy that “all the world's a stage” where each must play his part. Naturally there comes to our mind, “What is our part”? We are facing this gigantic problem of work scarcity but there is at least one way that will help us to overcome this. That way is by specialization. Yes, that is the answer, for specialization is the fundamental principle of the modern economic world. A vast increase in efficiency and in the consequent growth in wealth is based only upon specialization. What could a peasant or frontiersman know about stock breeding or the raising of crops when he had so many other occupations to pursue? How could he become an expert weaver if he wove only a sufficient quantity for his needs? When workers began to devote themselves to weaving, and little else, when farmers began to specialize in stock breeding, the way was open to a vast increase in productivity. Lack of specialization means a lack of efficient running production. “Subdivision,” says Professor Henry Clay, “results in making operations easier in themselves. The estimation of forces and sizes, called for by almost any craft, became instinctive by specialization. Delicate tasks come to be performed with accuracy, and the speed is increased.” It is this idea upon which our modern scheme of things is based. It is this idea upon which we should base our plans for the future, for to fit into this modern world we must accept the standards it has set, and conform to its demands. It is the person who specializes who gets the better positions, the higher rungs of the ladder, and who stays on top. We, therefore, who want to be a success will specialize. Specialization implies organization, especially large scale organization. It is fully as important for us to develop and capitalize our special aptitudes as it is for a country to cultivate its particular produce. A man who is a genius at civil engineering would be foolish if he tried to grow his own food, or build his own house, even if he were able to. Different types do certain jobs better. Individually and collectively it is man’s responsibility to recognize his type of work.