Hopewell High School - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Hopewell, VA)

Page 19 text:

Exchange present. It is the duty of the Exchange Editor to in¬ troduce the representatives to the students; he serves as chair¬ man of the convention and has only to introduce the various dele¬ gates by telling their names. They speak for themselves and all have individual and pleasing personalities. In reality each paper is a true representative and we do derive the same benefit as if conventions were held and each school sent some one to tell about their school. It is a necessity of every school paper to hold such a conven¬ tion, for it is through it that ideas may be received from dif¬ ferent sources for the improvement of their school and paper. The “Kaleidoscope” is certainly no exception. The word “Kalei¬ doscope” means an instrument containing loose pieces of colored glass and reflecting surfaces so arranged as to show symme¬ trical form. In our case it means an instrument through which the school is acquainted with the activities of numerous other schools, both American and foreign, in a concise form. The ex¬ change department endeavors to make true the title of our paper. Without the aid of our exchanges the meaning of our title could not be verified. We do thank every school with which we ex¬ change. It has been a pleasure to meet your representatives. Just as people are changed by associations of friends, so are papers influenced by their friends—the paper of other schools. In some instances the influence of associations of good ideas is not noticed in a concrete way, but to cite several such examples: A western exchange school gave us some very constructive criticism by telling us that our paper was too serious—that we needed more humor. Have you readers noticed that our jokes have improved and increased? It has been directly through our exchanges that we are attaining our aim—a perfect paper. Last year the goal of this department was that of forming an exchange with at least one school in every state in the Union. The department this year hoped to make this possible but owing to lack of funds we were unable to form any additional exchanges. Our wish for the 1931 staff is that they will have a wonderful year and that they will realize our goal—an exchange with every state in the Union and also with every foreign country possible. VERY month a great exchange convention is held at our school. Invitations are sent out to almost a hundred schools to have their representative, their paper, Page Seventeen

Page 18 text:

Principal’s Column CHOOL days should not be merely happy days. Boys and girls are entitled to those happy experiences in school culminating in the “thrill” of graduation, which they can carry through life as pleasant memories. But if your school days have meant only “thrills,” it is impossible to justify your time, the sacrifices of your parents, or the expense to which society has gone to keep you in school. At this time it is well that you take stock of what you have acquired during these years. You will perhaps discard as use¬ less much of the knowledge your have acquired. This may not be a serious loss to you if the discarding is done with discrimi¬ nation. There are, however, some things which you have ac¬ quired that should remain with you permanently. May I help you in your stock-taking by suggesting a few of these? First, you should have attained a high degree of skill in the use of the tools of learning. Some of these tools are language, both oral and written, numbers and mathematical methods, the ability to organize the facts you learn and apply them to the problems you have to solve, and a habit of industry which en¬ ables you “to do the thing you ought to do, when you ought to do it, whether you want to or not.” You should also have developed a curiosity about life and its problems which never leaves you satisfied so long as there are unexplored fields of experience and thought. Every one should have a love of truth and the ability to rec¬ ognize it when he meets it. The Great Teacher said, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” The ability to translate our knowledge into action is the real test of its usefulness to us. We say that a man is wise when he is able to use his intelligence to conduct his life in a sane course. We are judged by what we do and not by what we know. Finally, you should have acquired an open mind. By open- mindedness I do not mean a lack of faith in the unseen or a contempt for authority. Rather I mean a willingness to ex¬ amine all the evidence on both sides of any question and to give to each item its just weight in making your decision. When you have once arrived at a decision in this manner, you should be willing to act on it even if it means rejection of old beliefs. Page Sixteen

Page 20 text:

Sidney Lanier Literary Society S the main object, the Literary programs of this year have been to intensify the study of Universal Litera¬ ture to a greater extent than in our daily classes. Our first program included a study of American Literature, enumerating the outstanding authors and their famous contribu¬ tions to Literature. The program following was devoted to English Literature in its various stages. A very interesting re¬ port was given on the Passion Play. The meeting before the Christmas holidays imparted the true Christmas spirit in the miracle play given, which was translated from Latin into English by the Latin students of both societies and in the Latin and French carols sung by members of the society. The Literature of the less familiar countries was condensed into one program. A contest was the main feature of the last program. A giant book, made of paper, was placed on the stage so that imper¬ sonated characters from familiar books were able to step from its pages. The remaining members contested in recognizing these characters as they appeared. The winner was Teddy Lindfors. At Christmas time our society established the precedent of caroling in the city. The citizens showed their appreciation by the many candles placed in the windows of their homes. April began the enthusiastic preparation of the final Literary contests between the two societies at the close of school. The students participated in the first preliminaries with eager efforts to outstand. The new talent in the society gained special merit. There were ten public readers, five essayists, nine public speak¬ ers and six debaters. The winner of the public reading was Frances Johnson; of essay, Margaret Argenbright; of public speaking, Edward Parker; of debating, Abraham Cohen and Mary Frances Wells. We are proud in having for our society five of the interforensic students, representing Hopewell High School, namely: Mary Frances Wells, debating; Edward Parker and Margaret Argenbright, public speaking; Frances Johnson and Abraham Cohen, reading. The last two presidents of the Sidney Lanier Literary Society have also been presidents of the Student Government, William Earl Pritchard and Custis Burton. The Literary Societies plan to combine their treasuries and present a Literary Night in token of devotion to Alma Mater. Page Eighteen