Lawrence High School - Lawrencian Yearbook (Falmouth, MA)

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15 Lawrence High School with the far-reaching vision cf Hor- ace Mann, who was the first edu- cator to fully foresee the importance of a business education. Irene M. Silva CONTRIBUTIONS OF HORACE MANN In the early days of our country schools were few and far between. Massachusetts was the only state which had taken any steps what- soever toward a public education. By 1800 this state required every township of more than one hundred families to maintain grammar schools in which boys could be pre- pared for college. It was in one of those schools in Franklin that Hor- ace Mann obtained, as a student, his first taste of the deficiency of the system. During the depression which fol- lowed the War of 1812 Mann was attending Brown University. At the same time a great number of public schools were obliged to close, and Mann, who was filled with the love of education, determined to al- ter the institution, if he were able, so that it would be more useful in creating better citizens. When he became Secretary to the newly-created Massachusetts Board of Education, he was in a position to carry out his ideas. He estab- lished a normal school but got no further because people were too skeptical about his forward-looking principles. It was not until after his death that they began to em- ploy them. The foundation laid by Mann, plus relief from the tension produced ' by the Civil War, caused schools to develop very rapidly. Courses broadened and took on a new as- pect. History was extended so that it not only included the ancient stories of Greece and Rome but world history and sociology as well. English became the art of better speaking and writing, as well as more interesting and yet more con- structive reading. The languages were made more attractive by the addition of the romance languages. Mathematics was revised so that it was taught progressively instead of disjointedly. The sciences, which at this time were taking gigantic steps forward, were added to curriculums. Commercial courses offering actual experience were added also. Other principles were introduced, such as, allowing the student to choose his course, making him re- sponsible for his conduct and hon- or, and allowing him to cooperate rather than compete. As a result of this reformation in public education, we have today in this country one of the finest edu- cational systems in the world, an example of which is our own Lawrence High School. Thus have the dreams of the first Secretary to the Massachusetts Board of Edu- cation come true. Horace Mann has won a “victory for humanity”. Lee Clark CLASS PROPHECY Class of 1937 Ladies and Gentlemen of the radio audience, the “Knock Knock” Gasoline Co. is featuring tonight on their anniversary program those two eavesdropping reporters, “Wal- ter Snitchel” and “The Voice of Inexperience”. In the days of 1937 they were Joseph Boulanger and Thomas Noland. Since tonight is the twentieth anniversary of the graduation of the Class of 1937, we thought it appropriate to give an

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16 The Lawrencian account of each member of the class. The following bulletins are coming to you hot off the A. P., being the abbreviation for “Associ- ated Peekers”. Although Helen Augusta has been a steady employee of “Newberry’s 5 and 10 cent store ' for the past twenty years, she still has great difficulty in remembering the prices. Tommy Barnes, noted tree sur- geon, recently completed a most difficult operation. By grafting a rubber tree to an ironwood tree our beloved surgeon succeeded in get- ting shoe-trees. Raising cane to a farmer is a way of making a living, but to Win- nie Bohaker, one of Boston’s torch singers, it’s merely another term for making whoopee. Marilyn Bosworth, having discov- ered that the shortest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, has become an accomplished sur- geon. Capt. Robert Brown is taking to the life of a sailor and has gone to sea. You know, to see everything he can see, beautiful gals, etc. Gordon Burgess, probator of the class will, is still working in the same line. He now handles divorce cases for ladies; he usually being the cause for action. Elva Carl, former ivory tickler for the “Silver Tone” orchestra now tickles the scalps as a hairdresser in “Madam Shampoo’s” beauty shop. Down in a night club in New York I saw the star of the “Gay Nineties Follies”. It was none other than Evelyn Carlson. Lee Clark, ace fireball pitcher, for the “Chicago Dirty Socks”, re- ceived his early training hurling erasers in the main room before school. Going back to the old home town the other day, I saw Rodney Cowen. You remember how Rodney had been interested in trains. Well he has followed his career. He is now running a Toonerville Trolley be- tween Teaticket and Falmouth. The nation’s champion at cow pasture pool is Harold Davis, who holds the record for going around the golf course in two putts in a motor boat. Walking down the street the other day, I bumped into John De- Mello. John is a steel worker. Ah, no, not that kind of steel. John steals apples from the grocery man. The favorite topic of Deacon Neal Dolan, the neighborhood parson, is Moses. However, every time Neal opens his mouth, the bull rushes. Now that Rose Emerald has graduated from nursing school, she is employed as a trained nurse in the “Wee Diaper” Doll Hospital. While taking a vacation in New Hampshire, I met the young chick- en farmer, Harold English. He was taking care of chickens of the human variety. This year’s unanimous selection by the “All American Board” was Eugene Freeman who played a wild and woolly game at the position of mud guard for Vassar College. In a little house out of town lives Daisy Ficus. Daisy is proud owner of a nursery. Now don’t take me wrong, I mean the kind of nursery that has flowers and trees. Barbara Gifford, first class dia- mond cutter, is one female in a thousand of her vocation. Barbara ' s diamond cutting is -carried on at Falmouth Heights. That “Phantom Troubador”, that Romeo of the airways, who’s pluck- ing at all the gals’ heart strings, is