Mattanawcook Academy - Pine Needles Yearbook (Lincoln, ME)

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MATTANAWCOOK ACADEMY 9 ACTION NOT WORDS How long does it take for you to stop discussing a well known condition before you start doing something a- bout it? Your words are all right, but talk is a poor substitute for action- Oh, excuse me, I forgot to express my point. The point in this case is what grow- ing boys and girls in your own com- munity do with their spare time, or didn't you ever bother to think about it? We know they have school activi- ties, but there is so much more spare time left with nothing to do. That is the reason you find your son killing time in the pool room or your daughter playing records in some down town restaurant. Surely, she could be home playing the records, but not with the gang. That is also why you hear of accidents involving a crowd of young people. They were just going to some other place for rec- reation. What they can't find here, they will search for elsewhere. Where will your son learn to gamble, drink, and swear? In those same hangouts , namely the pool room. Those boys don't really like those places until they get so used to them that they think no more about it. Be honest with me now, are you giv- ing the youth of this community a fair chance? I don't think you would care to answer that. You may not have to worry too much about it now, but what about the terrible influence these plac- es have on the future American law- makers? Stop fretting because children are on the street. Your talk is no help. Act and act now! What have you to lose? See how much you will gain. A good sized recreation hall would be a solu- tion, one which could be open after- noons and eveningsg a place to sing, dance, study and to talk. Let those boys play pool or ping pong. There is nothing wrong with the games, it is the surroundings that count. Come now parents, don't close this book and forget it. Do something, please. Students, don't let them forget. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. -Galatians: 6:7. -M. A.- The Pine Needles may not be the appropriate place in which to publish a plea of this sort. Still, persons inter- ested in school, school students, and their activities read our yearbook. They are the people to whom this should mean a great deal. In order that this may cast no re- flection upon our faculty, I might tell you how this idea came to me. It was while a representative from a business college was speaking to the seniors that we were asked how many of us planned to go into the teaching pro- fession. One girl indicated that she was interested a little, but that she had made no definite plans. Immedi- ately my mind conceived the thought of this editorial. My subject is the much discussed topic of teachers' salaries. No matter how often it is mentioned, some of us will not feel satisfied until legislation to raise the salaries of the workers fperhaps the most important workers in the social iieldj is passed and gen- erally accepted as a wise procedure. Here are several of my reasons for believing that the subject is extremely important: 113 From the huge number of young peo- ple planning courses of action today, only

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8 PINE NEEDLES tack. Teachers easily detect a wind bag g when they do, you've never seen a redder face than that of the guilty one. After class the wind bag starts blaming it on the teacher, because he couldn't hear him, and the teacher shouldn't ask such hard questions. What does the teacher think we are,-geniuses ? Not likely! The wind bag should have studied his lesson. It would have saved him a great deal of embarrass- ment and a great deal of talking, al- though a wind bag never tires of that! Outside of school you see a great many wind bags . These are people who think they are just about the nic- est inhabitants of the earth, higher than anyone elseg and actually they have nothing to be proud of. Those people usually have their share of skeletons in their closets. Buche plumas -with empty minds! If you are lacking something to do, look around and see how many wind bags you are able to see. You see many more than you ever thought there were? I'm not surprisedg did you ever think that you might be one? If the shoe fits, for your own good, put it on! -M. A.- Let's take a walk! Come with me for a stroll through the halls of Mat- tanawcook. There are a few things that I would like to point out to you. Are you noticing the classrooms as we pass them? Do you see the unusual- ly large number of students in each one? Surely you must admit that the seating space is used one hundred per cent. How can that teacher effectively instruct so many students? It is a mys- tery, but it is absolutely necessary that she do it. Do you realize that there is only one homeroom teacher for every thirty-five students? This is why the classes are large-too large for effic- ient study. We'd better move since the bell has just rung, and the corridors soon will be filled. How many boys and girls are jammed into this small space! You are staring wide-eyed at the groups of students filing into the hall now. No, they are not high school stu- dents 5 they are attending the eighth grade. Are they glad to be in the high school so soon? I think notg to make their school less crowded, they for- feited their only opportunity to be the oldest members of Ballard Hill School. Perhaps by now you have guessed the object of these remarks. It is to make you aware of the great need for more space for Lincoln's students. Where can we find that extra room? If the number of students at Matta- nawcook were decreased, the problem would be solved. Still, we cannot re- duce our enrollment when conditions in the elementary schools are so badly in need of repair. A new school-a junior high school -is the ideal solution of the problem. Where else could the seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students secure the type of education they should have? In what other way could the enroll- ments of both Mattanawcook Academy and Ballard Hill be lowered? The idea I have presented to you is well worth your sincerest considera- tion. Action should be taken while there is still time to build the best school possible. Think about it a lot! Talk about it! Do something about it!

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10 PINE NEEDLES a very small percentage want to make teaching their profession. The low salary does not attract them when such golden opportunities are lying on either side. 121 Under the G, I. Bill of Rights many young men and women could be trained as fine teachers if some incentive were given them. Q39 Our boys and girls need well-trained instructors-people who felt it worth their time and money to secure a good education. 145 Salaries paid for the full year would enable teachers to go to summer schools or to travel. A worthy teacher should be re- freshed and eager to begin in the fall after his summer vacation. He should be ac- quainted with modern teaching methods. Q51 At their present salaries, teachers cannot afford to live as they would like. They are unable to save money when their living expenses consume most of their sal- aries. 161 With higher pay, the people engaged in the teaching profession could become better respected in their communities. They could rise above the rather low level at which teaching has been kept. With these factors in mind, one can scarcely dismiss this subject without a little thought. There is no doubt a- bout it-something must be done. -M. A.- BOREDOM There's not a thing in this town for teen age kids to do! We hear this woeful remark day after day. But I wonder if it is not the teen-agers who are at fault, not the town. Blaming it on the town is really just trying' to ex- cuse themselves. If one stopped to think, he would realize the many op- portunities offered by the school alone. Right here at Mattanawcook there are many things to keep a student oc- cupied, no matter what kind of person he may be. If he is intellectual , there are the library, Dramatics Club, and Journalism Club. If he is an up and coming scientist, the lab is open for independent experiment, when the student shows that he is doing con- structive work and isn't just fooling around. Then there are always ath- letics. At M. A. all are encouraged to make use of the opportunities offered in sports-baseball, basketball, and football. An Outing Club is sponsored in the winter for those interested in winter sports. For those who can sing or play a musical instrument, there are the band, glee club, and orchestra. There are several special courses of- fered here-manual training, machine shop and mechanical drawing for the boys, and home economics for the girls. In the fall we have our annual maga- zine selling contest, later there is pub- lic speaking. There are many special jobs for students such as operating the movie projector and being secretary to teachers. Now I ask you, isn't there something here that interests you? Let's think before we lay the blame at other people's feet. We will find it nearer home than that. It all begins with the individual, not his surround- ings. -M. A.- THE LAND OF THE FREE? From this war there have come many hero stories that you have read, and there are many more that you will nev- er read. This isn't a story of one of those small town heroes who has had the honor of shooting down 50 or more enemy planes. This is a story that hap- pened right here in the U. S. A., a story that already has been repeated many times. His name was Sgt. Joe O'Connor. He