Milford High School - Oak Lily and Ivy Yearbook (Milford, MA)

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IO OAK, LILY AND IVY A Reminiscence. Twenty-four years ago this fall, the Senior class of the Milford High School, under the inspiring influence of Principal Herbert W. Lull, issued the first num¬ ber of the Oak, Lily and Ivy. Well do we remember the anxiety with which we awaited the result of our venture and our joy when we found that its success was greater than we had dared anticipate, for 400 copies of the little four-page paper were sold at once. What a year of work that was! Principal and pupils bent all their energies to the good cause of making the paper one to reflect credit on the school and the class, and our efforts were so well supported by advertisers and subscribers that at the end of the year we were able to donate to the school a $90 present as the result of our labors. Since then the Oak, Lily and Ivy has been an established fact in the history of the school, and succeeding classes have gained pleasure and profit from their connection with it. Have we alumni all realized, as our direct connection with the school and the paper has ceased, how important our continued interest is to their prosperity and success, and how much our support means to those who have taken our places ? Though our years of study in the school may have long since passed, it is still our school and the school paper is still our paper, to which in the old days we gladly gave our best efforts. Let 11s rally to its support, as never before, and by our subscriptions and contributions to its columns, help to make this twenty- fifth volume of the Oak, Lily and Ivy, the most successful in all its history. To encourage contributions from the undergraduates and to promote greater excellence in writing, I offer a prize of five dollars to be awarded in June, either for the best single article contributed by a pupil of the school to the Oak, Lily and Ivy, or in case no article shows especial merit, to that pupil whose literary work has been of greatest value to the paper, the decision to be made by judges chosen by the Principal, and not connected with the school. Inez L. Gay, ’85. - ' «- To The Alumni. By invitation of the Editor I write a few words to the younger alumni. This is a pleasant task, because of my interest in you. And in that word “interest” lies the key to the whole situation. Are you, “fellow graduates” of the Milford High school interested in your school? Are you interested in the Oak, Lily and Ivy? I am sure you are, and I am sure you ought to be. To you the Milford high school ought to be the best in the state. If it is not, it is your duty to make it so. You have the power; use it. A school with

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OAK, LILY AND IVY. 9 and that of Dr. J. G. Holland, some space is devoted to their lives and sayings. Mention is also made of the daily papers being enjoyed by the school, and we remember that the Boston dailies were then on file in the school room that all spare moments might be profitably improved. A sense of satisfaction is ours, as we read over our youthful efforts and our sympathy goes out to the young editors of the present High school journal. This feature of school life, apart from regular study, seems to us most worthy of a deal of attention from the scholars and substantial support from those interested in them. “Bodily exercise profiteth little” says the Book of right estimates, and yet what an amount of time and attention is demanded and cheerfully given to school athletics nowadays. Doubtless many a parent fails to appreciate the “little” profit, so much of hazard, contention and exposure is connected therewith. But this journalistic effort may profit much and lacks any element of danger. Not simply pastime, indeed far from it to many of us, it furnishes a great field for the practice and display of the Rhetoric and English one has learned and in¬ cites the writer’s best endeavor on account of its public circulation. In such un- sought-for ways, one’s ability is often discovered and developed, and journalism is no mean calling in these days. Elizabeth Clark Libbey, ’S 3 . ■--—i 1 o 1- To the Editors of the “Oak, Lily and Ivy ” In assuming the editorship and management of this honored paper you are becoming the possessors of a great privilege, and are, at the same time, accept¬ ing a great responsibility. It may be yours to mould, in a great degree, the thought and the opinions of your fellow pupils. It may be yours, if you will, to inspire this school with a zeal and a love for the school’s institutions that will be felt for years to come. Let me urge you to make your influence a positive one, neither negative nor passive, but splendidly positive. Take, if possible, the in¬ itiative in each worthy cause, and lead the way; and be assured that, if you do this, you will n eed never to complain of lack of interest and support. Enthusi¬ asm inspires enthusiasm, and enthusiasm brings success. Further opportunity will come to you in that this journal will be the nexus between the alumni and the undergraduates. To the great body of the alumni the school looks for the cheering word and the helpful hand. A glorious past generally augurs a splendid future, and if the alumni maintain an active, living interest in the work and the welfare of their Alma Mater they need have no lear of its falling away from the high standards they would set for it. I congratulate you upon the opportunity that is yours, and 1 am confident that you will grasp it bravely and use it nobly. Edward R. Clarke.

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OAK, LILY AND IVY 11 a Graduates’ Association in continuous existence for nearly fifty years must sure¬ ly have, right in the home town, enough graduates to create a demand to be ac¬ ceded to. If you do not see in the school what you want, ask for it. Ask loud¬ ly enough and often enough and you will get it. To you also, young friends, the Oak, Lily and Ivy ought to be the best high school paper ever published. If it is not, make it so. You have the power; use it. How, do you say? Why simple enough. First, subscribe and pay your subscription. Second, write for the paper. Send the editor the kind of articles you would like to see in its columns. After having done these two things, if the paper is not all that you wish it were, “kick.” Every newspaper man knows that subscribers, like football men, are sometimes entitled to free kicks. If enough of you kick hard enough and often enough, defects will vanish. Make the school paper the organ of the whole school , of which the alumni should be the strongest branch. As you are proud of the long life of the Graduates’ Association, so are you proud of the Oak, Lily and Ivy’s twenty-four volumes. Let the good work go on ; do your part. Fraternally yours, John C. Hull. The Soul of the School. it is a principle of Mechanics that you cannot get more work out of a machine than you put into it potentially. It would seem that we might similarly say that you cannot get more success out of an undertaking than you put into it in the form of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm has been defined as that “which accomplishes things.” School spirit is a form of enthusiasm, and of a most laudable kind. Its aim is always the good of the school; its means, a union of interest. Now this inter¬ est is of at least two classes : That which relates to the immediate work of a stu¬ dent, namely his studies, and that which concerns what we may call his outside work. The first, scholarly spirit, is absolutely essential. If a man does not be¬ lieve that his studies are worth doing well, he should not remain at school under false pretences. It is impossible to imagine true school spirit which does not include this intention to learn something; any enthusiasm without it is an un¬ healthy growth. The second class of interest, that in other school matters, is very important for a different reason. It is practically the only index which the public has of the spirit of the school. It is the great manifesting sign to those outside, and by it their opinion of the standard of the school is largely regulated. Hence the necessity of having as good athletic teams as possible, ol having the school at¬ tend the games in numbers, of issuing and supporting a school paper which shall represent something, and of encouraging public speaking. Besides, it is Ire-