Ionia High School - Ionian Yearbook (Ionia, MI)

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worthy of noto would have resulted. Likewise with us. If our prepara- tion these twelve years we have been in school has been of the best our future life will run accordingly. If it has not been what it should be, then our life will have to suffer the penalty. No one accomplishes anything worth while these days without pre- paration. Even the detested book agent spends weeks in study, before going into the field. He must learn his pre-canvass, canvass proper art- icles to fit different types of people, and a closing speech to bind tin order, if he gets it or a polite fire of words, on a retreat, if he is rejected. The history of literature is full of instances of the untiring and relentless energy which have been used in preparing certain great works. Pres- cott, for instance, spent fifteen years in reading and in preliminary work on his South American histories and Motley spent thirty years in tin; preparation of his history of the Dutch. And so. if we are going to ex- perience the deepest meaning of that word success we must make our preparation just as thorough and just as far reaching as possible. The future is before us. We are to be the people of tomorrow, and if age is to bear the same relation to the present age that the present age bears to the past, we have a great task on our hands. It therefor remains for us to create out of ourselves greater men and women than yesterday produced. People who will wince at nothing, but who with our ex-Presi- dent Roosevelt, will wield the big stick till there is trembling even in the seats of the mighty. And now as we leave the last year’s dwelling for the new we greet you again, dear friends, and sincerely hope that this hour for which we have striven so long shall not be in vain, and that we have your best wish- es for our ultimate success.

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Salutatory BY GEORGE TAFT. '10 P ATRONS, friends, members of the Board of Education, teachers and classmates, we greet you. We have today reached the con- summation of our hopes as high school students. The moment is at hand for which we have waited for four years, the point on which our eyes have been fixed since our first morning as Freshmen, an occasion made dear to us through our hopes and our aspirations. On this June morning when everything is so joyous and full of life, we beg of you to share with us some of the enthusiasm which we feel surging through us. Go back to the days when you were graduates, bring back those fond memories and put yourselves in a position to con- sider with us the meaning of Commencement Time. This day ends our first step in tin; preparation of what is to follow. IIow well we are pre- pared, the superstructure of the coming years will determine. When a mason sets out to build a tower he must insure a firm founda- tion before he can go on with the structure. Then as the work progress- es scaffolds have to be erected, one on the other. He must also be very careful in his actions, for a misstep will mean a fall, possibly death, and he must be scrupulously accurate about his measurements, for a single stone misplaced will mean failure when the work is completed. At last it is all but finished and he is reaching up to place the last stone, it is done! He has reached the acme of his profession. Everything is perfect and the completed tower stands ready for the use for which it was intended. Thus it is with ourselves, our character growth and de- velopment. When we are young we move under our parents’ guidance and with their help form a strong foundation for after life. As we grow older we must needs depend more and more on our own efforts, be more careful of our actions and little by little assume the cares and duties of life. Through all these experiences we are building our structure, using at each successive stage that which we have before acquired as a foun- dation. A life fully developed along such lines for us all spells success, success in the sense that every opportunity for development has been seized and improved and the finished product is therefor well nigh pei- fect. Success, however, of this nature is not easy to attain, for just as the mason may mar the beauty of his structure by a single blunder so we may thwart our purpose by a simple mistake. If the mason had not been thoroughly prepared, efficiently trained for his work, nothing

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Class History BY ETHEL CONNOR PACKER: “The class in history will now recite. Turn! Rise! ilL Pass!” (Class assembles, composed of Eva Klingenberg, Marion Spencer, Harry Cobb and AVill Bouck.) Teacher: “Books closed. We will review this morning, beginning with the first chapter. You remember when the future Class of 1910 com- pleted their work in Central, they felt that they had accomplished won- ders. Fifteen members out of a class of nineteen entered High School. Not many days after they had enrolled, they found out how little they really did know. Early in the year, by uniting with the class preceding them in February, they organized as the Freshman class, consisting of thirty-one members. The large number of parties which they had dur- ing the year shortened the time for all. so that they were hardly prepared for examinations when they came, but nearly all succeeded in receiving sufficient credits for a Sophomore. “Mr. Cobb, who is a Sophomore?” Air. Cobb: “A Sophomore is one who has received three credits.” Teacher: “Now, Miss Spencer, you may tell us of the chief events which took place during your sophomore year.” Miss Spencer: “The first day of the second chapter of our High School life saw us studiously at work in the lower session room, under the care of our much respected teacher. Miss Stellberger. We were much busier this year than formerly, as you all know that there is a difference between translating Caesar and learning such declensions as: hic, haec, hoc. At the beginning of this year Mr. Bemis, our superintendent, who had long been here, left us to accept another position while Air. Daley came to take his place, a man of whom we were all proud. In the latter part of this year we were all saddened by the death of two of our teach- ers, Miss Taylor and Miss Stellberger. respected and loved by all who knew them.” Teacher: “That is right. Air. Bouck, you may give an account of the marshmallow roast. ” Air. Bouck: “In the fall our class met at the home of Airs. Vander- Ileyden. where we were entertained by a former member of our class, Ella Cutler. The earlier part of the evening was spent on the lawn, where we built large bonfires of leaves and roasted marshmallows over the coals. Later, we went into the house, where we enjoyed games and dancing. Light refreshments were served and we returned home after spending a very pleasant evening.”