Middleborough High School - Timaron Yearbook (Middleborough, MA)

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22 MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL 1940 History of the Class of 1940 VIRGINIA BURNETT When we entered Memorial High School on September 9. 1936, we numbered 178. We were all very frightened about the new experiences. Some of the pupils from Car- er and Lakeville were more frightened than we of Bates Junior High, because they had never seen such a large city as iVIiddleboro, and such a huge school as its high school! However, we all became acclimated quickly enough. We held our freshman class elections in September, choosing the following of- ficers: president, George Sampson: vice- president, Beverly Fish ( who left during her junior year); secretary. Barbara Otto: and treasurer, Richard Stafford. At the beginning of our first year. Mr. Hill, Miss Whitty, and Miss Glutton ar- rived, replacing three teachers who had left the previous June. Mr. Hill departed the following year: but Miss Glutton and Miss Whitty remained, the former as athletic coach, and the latter as dramatic coach. Be- sides regular teaching, each has made a success of her special department. Our sophomore year we felt more at liome. Now it was our turn to watch the bewildered freshmen, instead of being be- wildered ourselves. Our sophomore class officers were: Greg- ory Mitrakas, president. Bartlett Harrison, vice-president: Bernard Sheehan, secretary; and Roger MacAula). treasurer. Gregory and Bartlett left us in their junior and senior vears. respectivelv. hen ' Greg and ' Bart left, the class of 1940 lost not only two good officers but two excellent athletes. Two new teachers were added to the staff our second vear. Mr. Farlev. from Abington, replaced Mr. Hill as Civics teach- er; Miss Ryder took Miss Field ' s place as freshman English teacher. Mr. Farley has worked hard as athletic coach, assisting Mr. Battis, and Miss Ryder has been an efficient adviser of the Sachem staff. In 1937. when we were still sophomores, Bernard Sheehan won first place in the annual Foul Shooting Gontest held at Brock- ton. His freshman year he had tied for sec- ond place with a boy from North Easton who was 6 ' 5 tall. Buck at that time wasn ' t much over 4 ' tall. To his opponent he must have looked like ' The Little Man ho Wasn ' t There. Our junior year saw a change in the music department. Mr. Phillips, who had been Middleboro ' s supervisor for approxi- mately 20 years, retired, and Mr. Luther Ghurchill of Bridgewater replaced him. Al- though Mr. Ghurchill has been here but two years, he has won the admiration of all for his kind and patient methods of teach- ing and for continuing so well Mr. Phillip ' s previous duties. The arrival of Mr. Maynard at the be- ginning of that same year meant that Mem- orial High had three graduates of Dartmouth on its faculty: Mr. Thomas, Mr. MacGown, and, of course. Mr. Maynard. Our Junior Prom was a great success, and those who attended enjoyed it. The fine orchestra and the fact that it was a St. Patrick ' s Day dance made it one of the outstanding social events of the year. Our junior class officers were: Roger Soule, president: Edward Gromwell, vice- president; Nelson Russell, secretary; and Ruth Carev. treasurer.

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' ' The Best Is Yet To Be ' '

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1940 MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL 23 Our fourth and last year brought about many new things: first, Higgenbotham ' s Es- quires ( later replaced by Dunn ' s Dukes of Swing ) ; then Mr. Maynard ' s Public Speak- ing Class; and lastly. Nelson Russell ' s new car ( if you could call it that ) . The tragic occurrence of the year was when Buck Sheehan broke his wrist play- ing football with the team last fall. It will take Stevie Stanley a long time to live down what happened to him when he went to see Buck at St. Luke ' s. The officers whom we chose for our last year were: president, Edward Cromwell; vice-president, George Sampson; secretary, Thelma Berry; and treasurer, Evelyn Baker. Probably the most important event of the senior year was the senior play, What a Life , by Clifford Goldsmith. Richard Stafford and Marjorie Matthews were ex- cellent in the leading roles, and the support- ing cast co-operated 100% to make the play a success. Mr. Hyman and the Student Council fin- ished revising the Constitution in this year, also, and adopted a new type of election pro- cedure, which has proved very popular. Mrs. Brawn, a loyal friend and helper of many senior classes of Memorial High School, left us at Christmas recess. At this time Mr. Thomas took over the reins for guiding the seniors through the difficult last months. His untiring efforts and excellent advice have been invaluable to the seniors. A little scientific research has proved that the girls of the class of 1940 have more brains than the boys. Mr. Tillson and Mr. MacGown both agree that the brain of an average human weighs 50 ounces. Since there are 60 girls in this class and only 45 boys, simple mathematics readily reveals that the girls possess 3000 ounces of brain power to the boys ' 2200 ounces. Hats off to the girls! We have had, during our four years in Memorial High, a lot of fun; but we ' ve had our troubles, too. Nevertheless, on the whole they have been happy years, and it is with regret that we think of leaving. Per- haps we can find our happiness in the future by finding the job we want. With deep appreciation of what the school has done for us in the last four years, we turn over our place as seniors to the class of 1941, and we wish them much success.