Ionia High School - Ionian Yearbook (Ionia, MI)

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1932 THE IONIAN President’s Address PARENTS, TEACHERS, FRIENDS: The Class of 1932 sincerely welcomes you to its Class Day Exercises. During the last three years as pupils in the Senior High School we have looked forward to the days of our graduation, that is, our Baccalaureate, Class Day, and Commencement Exercises, when we would complete our high school tasks. That joy which we anticipated in graduation is not as full or complete as we thought it would be, for Commencement Week means leaving familiar places and friends. Here in our school we have developed a splendid spirit of co-operation, helpfulness, and true sportsmanship. Soon each member of this class will be on his or her way in life. Some are fortunate in having their life work already chosen; some of these will be able to further their education by going to college. I hope all will be successful in the various occupations that best fit their training and character. To me, graduation is very much like a football game. Not that we are to be compared with the contending teams, but to the lowly football which is kicked suddenly out onto the field. At a given signal—our graduation— we are projected into the world and, like the football, we bounce up and down and around aimlessly, are picked up, carried, thrown, and kicked again and again. One moment we are in the air sailing along and the next we are in the mud of heated competition. All these things and many more must be endured on our way to our final goal. From what we have heard and read from men more mature and experienced than ourselves, this world of business is full of sordid things— crooked competition, petty jealousies, and small minds. But, fellow classmates, we have many responsibilities; because of that splendid training given us at the expense of the community and our parents, we must rise above these lower levels of life. We must live according to the highest ideals of morality so that we can say we have left the world better than we found it. And further, my classmates, we will always remember these school days as the happiest days of our lives, because of the associations and friendships made here. Friendship and sentiment, while the words seem soft, should be in evidence more often in the world of business and trade than they are today. In closing our school days we are greatly indebted to many persons. To our parents we owe our deepest appreciation for the encouragement and support given us. We will never forget what they have done for us in making our education possible. We wish to thank the faculty for their splendid help and co-operation. Their attitude towards us and willing suggestions made school life a pleasure and a success. To the business men we express our gratitude for the splendid backing given to our school functions and activities. To the taxpayers and the Board of Education we wish to express our thanks for making it possible for us to go to school and enjoy the best means possible of securing an education. Classmates, I sincerely thank you for the great honor you have given me. I assure you I have carried out my duties to the best of my ability and hope I did not disappoint you. I hope you will always have the attitude of co-operation you have shown during this year and wish you the greatest success in whatever vocation you undertake in life. [21] James Barkdull

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THE IONIAN 1932 SIXTY-SECOND ANNUAL High School Commencement at the NEW IONIA THEATRE Friday, June 24 10:00 o’clock a. m. Principal Lloyd T. Smith, Presiding Program 1. Processional—“Father of His Country” - - (E. E. Bagley) Ionia High School Orchestra—Mr. Denton, Directing 2. Invocation.................................Dr. Paul L. Stetvart 3. “Finale—Quartette in G Minor,” Op. 74, No. 3 - (Joseph Haydn) String Quartette Katherine Bensinger, 1st Violin Louise Winchell, Viola Rosamond Patterson, 2nd Violin Katherine Benedict, Cello 4. Commencement Theme..................................“Citizenship' 1. Introduction ------ Edgar White 2. Citizenship Through Study - Mildred Stone 3. Citizenship Through Practice - - Alice Sessions 4. Conclusion ------- Lee Webster 5. “The Hills of Home”................................(O. J. Fox) Girls’ Glee Club 6. Presentation of Diplomas ----- Supt. A. A. Rather 7. “Alma Mater” ------- Class of 1932 8. “America”................................................Audience 9. Benediction...........................Dr. Paul L. Stewart 10. Recessional—“With Trumpets’ Blare” - (F. C. Menges) Ionia High School Orchestra [20]

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THE IONIAN Valedictory 1932 FRIENDS: It is with mingled feelings that we gather on this high school campus for the last time. We come with a deeper appreciation for those who have made our high school life possible; we come with a certain feeling of satisfaction in having successfully completed one chapter of our life’s work; we realize also a feeling of regret at breaking association with those classmates and teachers whom we have learned to love and respect. We come with a more serious sense of the responsibilities that are ours in starting out into life, each in his own way, with his own duties to perform. Life has been likened to a game of chess. The board is the Universe; our opponent, a fair, exacting, unseen player. The chessmen are our opportunities, our chances of gain in life. To play successfully, we must know the rules of the game, and knowing these, use them to the best advantage in our plays. Huxley said, “Education is learning the rules of this mighty game of life.” Through education, then, we learn to play, we acquire the ability to live. It has been said that “ability involves responsibility”; and that, “power to its last particle is duty.” So we find that having learned the rules, we are expected to play a better game; having acquired the ability to live, it is then our duty to use this power in living successful lives. Living successfully involves two great responsibilities. First—the responsibility to and for ourselves; second—the responsibility to and for others. Each must live with himself, so it behooves us to make ourselves as fit companions as possible. We all owe certain things to that companion —Self. We must be self-respecting and self-confident, with enough self-reliance to live according to our own convictions. We must do all that we are capable of doing, being diligent in all things. Myself will respect me more, and think me to be a more desirable companion if I use my time to good advantage; if I achieve and gain. I must keep myself in good working order. My mental self has to be kept as clean and powerful as my physical self. My mind must be cool and logical. I have to be able to “spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind.” I must grasp opportunities. In so doing, we do not mean to be selfish, but we must be moderately aggressive in looking after our own interests. Indeed, we have many services to perform for ourselves. Our responsibilities do not cease, however, in fulfilling our duties to Self, for we owe much to others. “Are you not your brother’s keeper?” Then, surely you are responsible to and for him. Since we, through our education, are learning to live, it is our duty to teach that art to others. We must be good examples, radiating truth, friendliness, and humility. We should respect customs and conventionalities of society, being, at the same time, open-minded and receptive to new ideas. We must, above all else, serve others, co-operating whole-heartedly with them. Although these responsibilities are numerous, they might find their total in the Golden Rule. With a serious sense of these duties, both to Self and to others, in our hearts, we are almost bewildered as we look out and see our lives stretching before us into the unknown. How can we hope to measure up? Even as we question, we think Emerson’s thoughts and with him agree: “So nigh is grandeur to our dust, So near is God to man, When Duty whispers low, ‘Thou must’; The youth replies, 7 can’.” [22] Katherine Benedict