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

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OAK, LILY AND IVY. I 2 quently a great mistake to attend to lessons exclusively. After all, they are but means to an end,—and there are other means. The experience gained in out¬ side interests is something as valuable as anything learned from books. There is one thing especially opposed to good school spirit. It is the chron¬ ic habit of grumbling, finding fault and doing nothing. We may quote Cicero’s words, “Est ridiculum ad ea quae habemus nihil dicere, quaerere quae habere non possumus,” and twist the Latin enough to torture out for a translation, ‘It is absurd to shut our eyes to the good we have and howl for what we cannot possi¬ bly have.’ No doubt Cicero meant that, whether he said as much or not. If one advances to a higher institution, the need of school spirit is more and more impressed upon him. Such spirit is the vital principle, the very soul, of a school. By it, and by it alone, can Milford High be what we all want it to be. Accordingly, there must be support of school undertakings, thorough, earnest, and continuous; the result w ill be brighter school days and pleasant memories. Both are worth the trouble. John E. Doherty, ’ 06 . School Notes FOOT BALL. In dedicating this number of the Oak, Lily and Ivy to the Alumni of the Milford High school, it is the purpose of the editors to acquaint the graduates with all the phases of the present school life. As the recollections of athletic contests in which he took part or witnessed while in school are among the most pleasant memories of an alumnus, it may not be out of place to say a few words concerning the present day athletics. For three years past we have maintained a supremacy in the two great branches, baseball and football, and we enter upon our present school year with great prospects for athletic success. We need the co-operation and aid of the graduates as well as that of our fellow students in order to achieve this scccess. Many of the Alumni are able to help us financially and to these we make a strong appeal for aid. Because of the fact that the town gives no financial aid to athletics in the schools, we are wholly dependent upon the persistent work of the pupils, the assistance of the principal and teachers and the encouragment of alumni and friends. We have started in our present football season under somewhat discourag¬ ing prospects, but the boys have tried hard and deserve commendation for what they have done and should not be criticised for what they have failed to do. Remember your failing interest in the high school athletics; remember that in whatever way you aid and help them, you are adding to the name and fame 01 the Milford High School, your Alma Mater. Thomas F. Dempsey, ’ 09 .

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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-

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OAK, LILY AND IVY L3 RHETORICALS. We occasionally hear some undiscerning person complain that rhetoricals in a school are but a waste of time, for, they declare “All the pupils certainly are not going to be public speakers, and they might employ their time in doing something which will be of more use to them after graduation.” But it is not to make orators that we have rhetorical exercises, any more than it is to develop artists that we have drawing. As in drawing, the eye and hand are trained to be accurate, so in rhetoricals, the wits are sharpened and the per¬ ceptions quickened. Learning, word for word, a selection taking from five to fifteen minutes to deliver, cannot fail to cultivate a retentive memory. A pupil who has been trained to carefully place his accent, and to appreci¬ ate the value of words, learns to express himself in carefully chosen and forceful language, and so makes his conversation vastly more pleasing. One is apt to be somewhat embarrassed when facing a large number of people and trying to address them with ease and calmness; yet what could bet¬ ter inspire that confidence in one’s own powers which is so necessary to the suc¬ cess of any undertaking? Surely that cannot be considered wasted time which is spent in cultivating a good memory, self-confidence and the ability to express one’s thoughts readily. Dorothy Shean, ’ 09 . THE ORCHESTA. A few years ago the Milford High School Orchestra was founded with four members, three violinists and a pianist. This year the organization consists of eight members: Miss Turner, piano, Edward Bath, flute, Batista Vitalini, cor¬ net, and R. S. Bragg, H. Higgins, J. McCarthy, R. Kay and John Keane, violins. Such advancement deserves encouragement, but this essential factor in the development of the organization is lacking. The fact is, the members of the Milford High School do not realize the value of the orchestra. They do not think of the expense done away with at the different speaking contests, school plays and graduation exercises, by the orchestra. Neither do they realize the stand they take as critics of the musical abilities of the different members indi¬ vidually. We do not claim to be Paganinis, neither do we believe our selections compare with those of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, but we do conscien¬ tiously think that at times we are unjustly criticised. What we desire is a less critical attitude and more sympathetic encouragement. Another point which should not be overlooked is that it costs money to run a musical organization as well as any athletic association. Of course the ex¬ penses are light, but they are expenses which must be paid nevertheless, and which should be paid from the school funds, inasmuch as the orchestra is a part of the school. In view of this fact, it seems only just that a fair portion of the proceeds from the entertainments at which the orchestra assists, should be al¬ lowed for orchestral expenses.