Morris High School - Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

Page 15 text:

. Editorial where it wishes. We should be content that we have this fine spirit, the spirit that will make our Morris community a better place to live in, that will make us all better men and women. In this 1919 Annual, we have tried to mirror the life of the new Morris. We are showing the part, a small part, indeed, but a great work for us,-the part which our school has taken in the war. Of the literary work in the book, we feel justly proud, and can do so without being accused of egotism, for it is the work of the students, and our only task was to skim the cream from the milk. We consider some of our contributions to be works of real literary value, and hope you will find added pleasure from their perusal as the years roll on. The book, we realize, is rather more serious than its predecessors, but when we are all groping for a new light, those of us who have seemed to find some landmarks on the way should disclose them to the rest of us. We're nearest Heaven when we 're young, sang the poet. Our high school days should be among the happiest days of our lives. We hope in this book to call up again in memory, in the dim days of the future, the many happy days and the many happy times we had in the new Morris. L. L- ll

Page 14 text:

EDITORIAL J nm Uiii 1:8 lui! El::l Iii. 1 i f ---- p During the last political campaign, We heard many lusty orators deplore the lack of school spirit in Morris. Before we dis- cuss this question, let us see what school spirit really means. Is school spirit the support of athletic and literary activities, the carrying away of trophies of the field of battle? All this is a part of school spirit, and the stimulus of competition and glow of victory seem always to please us, but school spirit is a far broader thing than this. The war has made a change in Morris. Our school has emerged from those harrowing days with a broader conception of education than the narrow recitation period. VVe have found that high school life has greater possibilities than our textbooks will permit, and in finding that, we have acquired the right school spirit. We consider school spirit to be the realization by the students of the greater meaning of high school life. Spirit is essentially an abstract thingg it may find application in cheering on the athletic field or attending debates, but it must exist within ourselves. The best kind of school spirit is not that which makes loud 11oise and show, but the steady, un- dying flame that keeps brightly burning somewhere deep in our hearts. And this is the spirit we have acquired. Look at our twelve golden stars, our twelve boys who have made the supreme sacri- fice, that the world might be made safe for democracy. Theirs was the real spirit, the steady, undying fiame, which moved them on to greater efforts, to greater service, to greater sacrifice, until they could do no more. O ye boys, with hearts of gold indeed, may your spirits hovering over us on heavenly wings inspire us always to do what is right and what is noble. lt is the splendid spirit of these boys that we are acquiring, and when we have that spirit, is it not petty to complain about the poor support of the athletic team or literary club? Let us not try to force this newly-found consciousness into any par- ticular groove, let us rather give it free play, to find an outlet 10

Page 16 text:

A Jlnrnunrh To The Board of Editors, and Business Staff of the Morris Annual, Greetings, and congratulations on this publication which records the achievements of the past year, and pays tribute to those, our Morris Boys, whose heroism and devoted service to our Repub- lic in the Great War are an inspiration for the dedication of ourselves to its service in the peace which their supreme sacri- fice has helped to secure, and so, too To All Morris Boys and Girls, Greetings and a word on some of the ideals that, as I sec it, should domi- nate the life of our school. The boys and girls who enroll at Morris thereby accept citizenship in a republic within its walls, dedicated to the ser- vice both of the individual and of the community, a republic in which consideration of the rights of others is the test of good conduct, and in which, exactly as in the nation, the basis of good citizenship is good will and cooperation, a republic in which equal opportunity is real and genuineg a republic in which only those receive the rewards and blessings of citizenship, who, by hard work and discipline, acquire an outlook upon life, at once loyal in purpose, constructive in deed, and reverent in spirit. We are privileged to be teachers and pupils in Morris, in the most momentous years in the history of mankind. In the words of President Wilsoii, We are witnessing the dawn of a uew day1 The great lesson of the war forthe schools, is this: that only that man is efficient who is trained, and that the man who knows is the man who leads. Ours is the responsibility of upholding the high traditions of our beloved school, traditions of fair play and hard work, of honor, truth and service. A new tradition created for us by the war must ever, hereafter, be our inspiration. The glo- rious record of Morrisites in their country 's service challenges us to become their comrades, now and as long as life shall last, in reverence for the principles of democracy, and in unstinted 12