Leland and Gray High School - Messenger Yearbook (Townshend, VT)

Page 20 text:

rf., .II I 1' I, g Our present ceremonies originated in the old 'Visiting Day' which had the purpose of acquainting the parents and any Qthcr interested adults with the schools This, however, has long since passed until-new greduation offers 'very little insight toward the seheo1,, 'It has become an event, . 15 V 4 A put on .for the benefit oi' theypeople ofthe .surrounding towns, or those who cars This year, though, there was -something of an .in the fem of one or our members giving a history of hfi years here. An experi- ment, perhaps, but a good try.' 27 - , , I 1 Neither is graduation put on as an entertainment, at least not in the usual sense of the word. This is to be exf pected when we consider 'that the class parte are assi ned independently of any speaking ability of the student, Graduation, then, hardly serves the purpose of impart- ing some of the ideas and wisdom supposedly ahsorbed in the years of schoolingq Neither does it new serve, to any great 4 extent, the function of acquainting the school and the come munity. Nor has it much in com on with the plays and such given at various times by the schoole In fact, though it may een strange, graduation is not primarily intellectual at alla It is, indeed, a paradox that this should be predominantly an emotional affair when it is remembered that graduation is the culmination of four - a years of education which is expected, among other things, to give the individual some training in reasons

Page 19 text:

Page 15 Class of 1949 Ruth Willard Ruthies Leland Q Gray l02w3f4g Basketball 2-3wNg G.A.C, 2-3-M Softball lw2H?nHs Student Council 35 Glee Club 1w213-4 Captain of Basketball hs Bwsiness Manager of Class Trip 'Tliil CLAESS PIAHTS Veiedictory N by William Knight e In the course of four years of highmsehool, the student is constantly hearing one bit of advice in regard to literary come positions write of things you know shouts Yet when that Stu-' dent is called upon to give some class part for graduation, he, or she, will, nine times out of ten, choose some totally foreign subject, frequently world affairs, It is to be doubted that any higheschool student can know much about world affairsg few enough adults understand the subjects Yet year after year we find our seniors lecturing on this and similar topicss which is to he regretted since graduation speeches offer cone siderable possibles for presenting instructive materials

Page 21 text:

ve1ed1ezery - een:'a' - Yet for 'all of that, it is to be doubted that -the senior class would give up one bit of thef ceremonies, in spite er all the trouble it gives them., This is our day, and I'm afraid we intend to make the most of it. I suspect that even the generel pub11c.would'nQt sive 1t.nn,tQ9,f05Mr, lyee It is one of the few times that the alumni can get to- gether and congratulate one another on still looking fine, when the older residents can remember when they were in high school, and, in short, when those who are interested in the school can come and enjoy the company of others of a similar state of mind. A - Again, if afterwards, one goes away with the feeling of having been uplifted, it eerte1n1y -would be ve11a re assume that something has come from the program. Should we say that it has been enjoyed? A pleasure much akin to re- ligion in nature, for any worth-while religion must be pri- marily an emotional approach to life, regardless of any professed beliefs. And here too, the feeling is the most important thing, regardless of what else may be offered. ' This, then, is graduation, Let us respect it, not for the many things it really is not, as we Qso often do, but for what it is, a quiet time when one can relax -and ,enjoy ,the fellcwshfp it offers, f ' ,William Knight