La Salle Academy - Maroon and White Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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MWIIIIIW ' Q X 1 THE MAROON AND VVHITE Y GU fO, l'2ffJCClffO1flCl T Cjfl ance ,1 its HE selection of a career in life is the most important problem that confronts a boy and for which he must eventually Hnd a solution. For a boy to place his utmost confidence merely upon the word of an adult or any other fortuitous method without proper study and direction is to gamble with the success or failure of his life. The world today is surfeited with men, yes, and with young men who trusted too much to their own judgments and eschewed the intelligent direction of those familiar with the hazards that invariably lie along the pathway of the average man's life. A career or vocation in life must be planned. And this is particularly the case today when commerce, business, industry and the professions require the individual to be highly specialized in the occupation or profession he adopts. At La Salle proper recognition is given to this fact. Matriculation at this Academy does not merely mean admission and the promiscuous assignment of the boy to a course selected by himself to suit his own whims or fancies, or at the suggestion of a parent unf familiar with the Academy's curriculum. This was the system widely prevalent in the days that our parents familiarly and fondly recall as the good old days. The tempo of modern life has changed this aspect of course selection completely. Now there must be no guess work, no chance selection, lest the pupil hamper himself and throw away his chances for security in life. To forestall the pupil's failures and to enable him to select a course that will best suit his mental capacity and ability, two members of the faculty, Brother Flavian and Brother Edward are appointed to supervise the program of the students. Records are carefully scrutinized, interviews with the students enable the vocational director to discover the boy's aptitudes, his preferences and other qualifications that are imperative for the proper disposition of the boy's program. The salutary effects of the Vocational Guidance Office are manifest throughout the school. Courses are no longer devised to fit the student, but the student is placed to fit the course. The result has been a large decrease in pupil failure and a higher increase in the number of students who have been elected to the scholastic honor societies of the Academy. This def partment has justified its existence immeasurably. i Sixtyffom'

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wllllfll - Z 1' H o NLI- A N r E Y UD QICISSQS Thus, our initial days at La Salle were passed. There were so many things to do, so much activity around us, that the past was completely forgotten and our one desire was to get all that was possible from the facilities afforded us. With a real live spirit pervading the academy it required little effort on our part to capitalize the many opportunities placed at our disposal for the development of our physical, spiritual and intellectual faculties. In the brief record of achievement that follows, the story of our freshman year is told. Our orientation progressed with rapidity. Swiftly growing familiar with the place you could gradually notice our bewilderment melting before the sun of friendships quickly formed. And so it was that the class of '36 warmed to La Salle heart and soul and gave to her a iilial devotion. From the very beginning this seasonls yearlings showed themselves intent upon doing all things well and boosting each and every activity with a gusto. Our enrollment reached two hundred and seventyffive, of which number one third made the Silver Letter Society. What a thrill it was for those of us fortunate enough to gain this charmed circle of scholarf ship and with what pride did we exhibit both here and abroad the insignia given in token of advanced scholarship. No Phi Beta Kappa key was ever more proudly worn than our Silver L's. Cur feature classes were r-A, 1-B and 1-E. Thanks to them our first year set a pace which not infrequently the upper classes found altogether too severe to follow. In the realm of sports our interclass competition showed how well we took to the great coaching facilities of the school. In Football, Basketball and Track our representatives worked doubly hard to make the various Freshman teams attain a standard of excellence for future first year groups to shoot at. Freshmen, when it came to other activities such as the raffle, the Band Recital, the Plays and other entertainments were at the top of the heap. With the successful comf pletion of the final examinations we will be Freshmen no longer. Let us express the def termination here and now to carry on. As Sophomores we must follow thru with confidence and courage. V Sixtyfthree

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mxuzffffw, QI Q . - s - - a TH oN1AN Te Y CD QQQIQQJO gf OVQS ,, K HE true end of education is to make religion known, loved and practised. It is to give to souls the authority of faith, which alone can lead efiicaciously to sanctity and to habituate them to conform all their conduct to its dictates. Today a veritable broadside of censure is being turned against scholastic and colf legiate institutions whose pompous and ponderous catalogues advertise every known course under the sun, save religion. From the pulpit, the press and the home the demand for more religion, for something spiritually vital in the lives of our citizens is becoming incessant. People are suddenly awakening to the necessity of religion in the life of the child and later the man. In every Catholic institution of learning proper provision is always made for the spiritual development of the student. He is instructed in his religion, in the knowledge of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, in the mysteries of faith, in the Church, the means of sanctihcation, the end of creation, his duties, the Gospel maxims, divine worship, in a word in all that is grandest, most elevated, and most necessary in life. A Catholic student has set before him the fundamental principles of morality. His duties are explained to him and he is inspired to love them. To him the truth is un' veiled in all its beauty, elevation and wholesomeness. The student at La Salle is indeed blessed in this respect. In all his programs, careful attention is paid to the spiritual character of the instructions. For one period each day, he is instructed in the principles of his faith. Through the kindness of our Right Reverend Bishop a permanent chaplain, Father Farrell is mainf tained in the school. Imbued with a zeal that is Christ' like he addresses the students once a week on matters that affect their everyfday relations. To him they have recourse whenever the diiiiculties of life bother them. Besides these advantages, an annual retreat is conf ducted each year, a spiritual inventory, as it were, to enable the student to check on his spiritual condition. During the holy season of Lent, the student has the opportunity of assisting at Mass each day in the school Auditorium as well as Benediction on Tuesdays. In a word, at La Salle, the full spiritual developf ment of the child is carefully considered. Sixtyffive