Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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thing worth infinitely more than any- thing that can be reckoned in terms of money values that constitutes his re- turn for the cost of his education. We have seen then whether we con- sider the cost of education from the point of view of the town or of the pupil, that no matter how great the cost may be, it is always exceeded by the return in both money and satisfac- tion. We can make no better invest- ment. Let us not begrudge, therefore, any money, time, or effort that we can spend in behalf of this great cause of education. Earl Ewing. “PALMA NON SINE PULVERE” “Palma non Sine Pulvere,” no prize without a struggle, is our class motto. Everybody realizes the truth of this motto, but we need to be reminded of it frequently in these days of ease when people are apt to forget that the only things in life worth having are those worth striving for. There seems to be a regrettable tendency even among some modern educators to believe that everything must be made pleasant and interesting for pupils in school and to discard those subjects which they regard as merely disciplinary, such as Latin, Greek, literature, and others. For the few who fail to recognize their own indebtedness to these studies, however, there are countless others who, in the broader culture and ideal- ism they have obtained, realize that they possess treasures all too rare in this age and country of material wor- shippers and of commercialism. They have not forgotten, however, the period of drudgery which they passed through before the glories of an ancient or even a modern literature dawned upon them. So it is in ev ery field of life where there is anything to be accomplished. Mo.it musicians can doubtless look back to days when they drummed out uninter- esting scales for hours at a time. Suc- cessful authors, most of them at least, have experienced a discouraging pe- riod of training and very often failures. Such examples might be multiplied indefinitely, but let us pass on to ob- serve examples in the history of our country as a whole where success was attained only through a struggle. First, we have the Pilgrims who came here for religious and political freedom. They had many struggles to contend with, — those with the Indians, those against disease, a nd those for food. Their task was not easy, but in the midst of hardships which, for us, would be unendurable, they never lost sight of their purpose and attained it for themselves and for posterity. Second, we have the Revolutionary War in which we struggled for the peace and safety of our country. We had been deprived of the rights which had been promised us in our charters, and those rights were deemed worth all the strug- gle of the disheartening days of the war. Third, we have the example or the Civil War in which there was a struggle for the preservation of the Union and out of which came a glorious and indissoluble nation. For the fourth example, we have the more recent World War. On the outcome of this, the democracy of the whole world depended. These were all bitter strug- gles, but in the end we were rewarded with success. All men who have gained national or public distinction have done so through their own efforts. We can truly say 30

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now occupy, but we feel it has served its purpose and outlived its period of usefulness. The building is not mod- ern, it is not large enough for the num- ber of pupils which occupy it: it has no recreation room; its laboratory is poorly equipped ; the assembly hall has to be used for a classroom; and the school library is about one-fifth as large as it should be. With a new building the principal and the faculty would be able to work more efficiently and to produce better graduates. With a gymnasium and equipment, better athletes would constitute the teams, and there would be greater competition between our school and outside schools. It is in the high school that the young people really begin their career; it is in the high school that we learn how to live and to get along with others ; it is there that we learn to cooperate with and to be guided by others so that we may succeed; and it is there that we get our background for a start in life. How important it is then that we get the best start pos- sible by being provided with a modern building and equipment, which are regarded in educational circles today as necessities. Nor is it all a matter of paying out, for although the town does get a money return later in the form of taxes paid by prosperous citizens it has helped to educate, there is a greater return that cannot be reckoned in terms of mone- tary value, but which is of much greater and permanent value to the town. Its greatest assets and reward are the loyal citizens who have been trained- for leadership in its schools. It is in this way that the town is repaid with inter- est for the cost of educating its youth. But on the other hand, if it costs the town something to educate the pupils, it costs the pupil something to be edu- cated. The greater share of the burden of the expense of supporting the pupil during the school years rests primarily, of course, upon the parents, most of whom do not hesitate to make personal sacrifices to keep their children in school. However, among the boys especially, ' there are very many who have already learned how to work out- side of school hours and to help sup- port themselves. It is not difficult for these boys who have thus learned something of the value of money and who help to defray their own expenses during the educational period to realize something of the cost of education. Many of them, too, are sacrificing (for the present) regularly paying positions because they realize that the extra years spent in school will increase their earning capacity later. The pupil, however, has to sacrifice more than money in order to secure an education. Time and effort are no small items of expenditure on his part. There are so many occasions when sports and the great outdoor world ara calling and when books, seem deadly dull. But if he has learned the valu3 of an education (which brings us back again to Huxley’s definition) he will stick to the books until the lesson is learned, and in so doing he has learned one of the greatest lessons in life. In a very true sense, of course, one’s educa- tion is never completed. However, when one has finished his formal school- ing whether it be terminated by high school, normal school, college, or uni- versity, he has something which no other person nor any mischance can ever take away from him. And it is the knowledge that he possesses some- 29

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that our government has been governed by self made men who have risen to high positions through struggling against many difficulties. Their own efforts trained them for great and good service and well qualified them to rule our nation. Grant, Lincoln, and Roose- velt are among those who have gained through hard work the highest posi- tion which this country has to offer. We all know the struggles of Lincoln during his early life and during the Civil War. Grant was made President as a reward for his war services. He was a military genius and did a great deal toward the success of the North- ern cause. While he was in command of all the Union forces, his soldiers were stimulated by his energy. His success in battle was due to the fact that he kept struggling, apparently los- ing, but in reality gaining inch by inch, and never letting up on Lee’s army. The struggles and success of Roosevelt are all well known to us also. He him- self said that his “success was not due to any special gift or genius, but to patience and laborious persistence.” Other great men have also gained success through struggling. Edison, one of the greatest of American iiiv en- tors, was, at the age of twelve, a news- boy. He studied in all his spare time and experimented with electricity. He was alw’ays struggling and many times worked far into the night. We, also, shall be successful if we do not let ourselves be discouraged at the thought of hard work. Never have so many opportunities been offered. We have many opportunities for education and preparation which will fit us for whatever we want to do. If we but use these, we are bound to accomplish what we planned to, and we shall be rewarded with the satisfaction that comes from knowledge of a task well done. We must be willing, however, to per- severe in our efforts and to sacrifice some pleasures. Think of the sacrifices great men and women have made. Many of them were willing to sacrifice even their lives, to accomplish what they had set out to do. We may not be called upon to sacrifice our lives, but we must be willing to sacrifice some pleas- ures in return for the things most worth while in life. Others have felt that there was n o sacrifice too great for the prize they were seeking. There is success in everything if we are only willing to work for it. Those who are the poorest may gain the most fame and success. Their efforts will overcome all obstacles. For them dif- ficulties will only become the occasion for greater struggling. The way to success for us, the class of 1926 , may be made easier and shorter by having a single ,strong aim and by struggling and struggling hard, keeping ever in mind that there is no prize without a struggle. “Palma non Sine Pulvere.” Hazel Manzer. THE VALUE OF THE STUDY OF MUSIC A comparison of the origin of music with that of other arts such as archi- tecture, sculpture, and poetry shows that the latter have a definite begin- ning wdiereas the source of music is not certain. Passing rapidly over the history of music, we learn that the ear- liest musiq was without doubt vocal, and the rhythmical element in music soon led to the invention of the drum, tam- bour, and castanets by the primitive man. Next came the invention of cer- 31