Newport News High School - Anchor Yearbook (Newport News, VA)

Page 18 text:

14 THE BEACON MARY BEATRICE VANDERSLICE “Venus” “A maiden good to look at, sir, and oh! so jolly.” The girl with the Golden Locks! With the twinklingeyes and delicious sense of humor, she welcomes all fun. Many have succumbed to her wiles. Good luck to you, Beatrice, in all your conquests. BESSIE SIBLEY SMITH “Bebe” “What thou art, we know not.” Class Secretary ’21. Secretary Philolethian Literary So- ciety ’21. Basket Bal l ’19. Critic Philolethian Literary Society ’ 21 . Valedictorian ’22. Bessie is different. She is a mix- ture of seriousness, common sense and a light vein of foolishness. A grow- ing capacity for a great store of knowledge led Bessie to he the shark of our class. With her splendid tal- ents she cannot fail to succeed.

Page 17 text:

THE BEACON 13 DOROTHY MAY RYCE “Dot” “I have no other but a woman’s rea- son. I think it so, because I think it so.” Student Council ’20, ’21. Class President ’20. Annual Play ’20. Secretary Philolethian Literary So- ciety ’21. Secretary Commercial Club ’21. Vice-Secretary Philolethian Liter- ary Society ’20. Third Honor Student ’22. Class Historian ’22. Dorothy has her opinions and does not hesitate to give them. She is our best all-round girl. The ready know- ledge on a great many things gave her third honor. Her jolly manner and wining smile has made her many friends. ROBERT SILK, Jr. “Trotsky” “The man of independent mind.” Student Council ’21. Vice-President Philolethian Liter- ary Society ’21. Vice-President French Club ’21. Chairman Progressive Committee Commercial Club ’20. Opinions and ideas of his own, he has and you bet he has no fear in ex- pressing them, but we honor a man who tells us what he thinks, despite opinions of others. It’s funny how Senior boys find so much enjoyment in the company of “Freshie Maidens,” isn’t it?

Page 19 text:

We found ourselves, four years ago, a crowd of green, wide-eyed, ner- vous Freshmen in the yard of the John Daniel School Building. I think we all stood in the yard and gazed at those Seniors, those Juniors, and even those Sophomores who dared to venture on the steps of that edifice. When a bell rang to summon us to cross that threshold to High School, did we lead the great rush to the Assembly Hall ? Alas, no. We followed meekly, that crowd of upper classmen, who were not excited at all — no, not one iota. Even those IB’s who deemed themselves “Educated Rats,” appeared so sophisticated that we did not even dare approach them. Our reception into High School was a cordial one. The older students were glad of our presence because of the opportunity it afforded them to say “Rats, Rats, Rats.” At last everyone was dismissed from the Auditorium except us. We were to remain to plan our courses of study. Some of us took “Business.” Maybe we thought we would be secretaries or maybe thought of that “Caesar,” which we would have to take in our second year of Latin. Many, though, decided to wade through their Latin and not learn to perform on an Underwood at 20 words a minute. In our first year we learned so many things; all about schedules, eurricu- lums, study halls, cutting classes and even military training. How often we went to the Casino at double-quick time. Folk-dancing was always a delight. Why, when we went down in that hall to folk-dance, even those haughty Seniors came to watch us. We had no sooner learned to chain-step and how to perform in a May-Day Pageant when our first semester was over. We felt almost like Sophomores when we came to Walter Reed, but we were still “Rats,” only slightly educated. This term, we lost five weeks on account of the “flu” epidemic. In our second year we descended the stairs and filed into Rooms 9 and 10. We really were progressing. The only remaining task was to slide around to Room 1. In this year, we associated with Juniors but not Seniors. In our