North Andover High School - Knight Yearbook (North Andover, MA)

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1937 YEAR BOOK ciples- Future scientists may again revert to the practical policies of a few years ago and cause a period of industrial expansion greater than we ever have experienced. Parents and Friends: We the class of 1937 extend to you our heartfelt thanks for your moral support and your many kindnesses throughout the past four years. We sincerely desire to show you our gratitude for your assistance by working hard to attain the goals we have set for ourselves. Dear Principal and Teachers: Our gratitude for your sincere cooperation and assistance in all that we have attempted, as well as your friendship and understanding will be everlasting. Schoolmates: You will return another year to continue the work you have started. To you will fall the duty of maintaining the high standards of our school. We shall always remember the many happy hours spent with you and we extend to you our sincere wishes for success in all that you may un¬ dertake- Classmates: This may be our last meeting as a group but the memory of the past four years together will grow more brilliant as the years slip by During this time we have made many friends and have come to respect and admire each other. We will all proceed into different walks of life but there is not one single member of this class who will not pause in years to come and think of the many happy days spent among his friends here at Johnson. The class of 1937 bids you all good-bye. MASON DOWNING CLASS HISTORY X T was a warm September day in 1933 and outside of Johnson Fligh n School stood many excited, nervously chattering boys and girls, waiting for the bell which would mean that a new life had started for them. The bell rang, and thus the Class of 1937 began its career. The first few weeks were turbulent ones but at the end of that time we had learned most of the customs and rules of the school and had become acquaint¬ ed with the members of our own class. Many of the class reported for the various sports and several of them won their letters. Thus, with sports, elec¬ tions, the school exhibition, and, of course, studying, the weeks passed until a great day arrived: the day of the Senior-Freshman party! It was an enjoy¬ able evening for everyone and a memorable one for we freshmen. Our return party came in February and was a great success. Who said the freshmen couldn’t put it over? 25

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JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL making burning possible. When oxygen was discovered by Priestly this erroneous idea of the alchemists was destroyed. Priestley was followed by other scientists who established the chemical principles of today. One of these was Dalton whose idea of the chemical atom led directly to our present conception of it. Then followed Avogardro who corrected much of Dalton’s work and introduced several new principles of his own. Then came Wohler with his creation of an organic substance from in¬ organic substances, a task heretofore believed impossible. In the latter half of the nineteenth century came the all important periodic table of the chemical elements arranged by Mendeleeff which has led to the discovery of many new elements and to the knowledge that only a finite number of these elements, about ninety in fact, can exist on earth. As the accumulated knowledge of the chemists increased they were able to determine structural arrangements of atoms and also space arrangements. After the structures of the atoms were discovered the problem of synthesizing new molecules was greatly simplified. Knowledge of structural chemistry has opened new fields to the biochemists and has produced new reasons for hoping that sometime the processes of life will be understood with completeness. If the day ever comes when proto¬ plasm, the life substance in living form, can be produced from nonliving sub¬ stances in the chemical laboratory, the organic chemist will have been re¬ sponsible for the accumulation of knowledge making this discovery possible. The age of theory had reached its peak when Andrew Carnegie applied chemical processes to his steel industry. At first many of his competitors laughed but shortly they were forced to adopt similar measures or lose their business- There is a vast difference between the earlier days and the pres¬ ent, when every large industry has its own well stocked laboratory and ex¬ perienced research staff. Steel, gasoline, dyes, illuminating gas, bakelite and most of the other products used in this industrial age are produced under the skillful guidance of the chemist. The desirability of controlling industrial operations in a scientific manner has finally been recognized to so great an extent that even the government is spending vast sums of money on experi¬ mental research. For instance, our own department of agriculture is contin¬ ually assisting the people of this country by the publication of its researches relating to soil chemistry, fertilizers and the utilization of farm wastes. Often entire industries have been founded as a result of chemical discover¬ ies. Examples of this are the Aluminum Company of ' America and industries producing nitrates, helium, and rayon. Gradually this period of utilitarianism is giving way to another period of theorism or pure science- All sciences are being drawn together. The phys¬ icists recently presented a new theory of the atom and the chemist is now able to go forward with a new study of the processes of chemical combination. The physical chemist is comparatively new but is not out of place among biochemists and biophysicists. ' The application of physical methods to the problems of chemistry, has proceeded so far that it has become somewhat difficult to classify a man as either a chemist or a physicist. Thus we see that throughout the history of the science of chemistry there has been a gradual swinging between theorism and practicalism. The alchemists with their practical searches gave way to the search for fundamentals of the time of Dalton and Wohler. This in time gave way to the utilitarianism character¬ ized by Andrew Carnegie. Now there is a very definite turn back to the discovery of fundamental prfii- 24

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JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL 1934, and we returned to school as proud sophomores. There was only one dance for us this year, the Sophomore-Junior dance, which was held early in December, but many of the class were occupied with athletics and proved their worth for we were well represented on the school varsities. lAt the end of the year we heard that we were to lose four of our teachers. These were Miss Lucy K. Hatch, beloved instructor of English and German who was re¬ tiring after many years of teaching at Johnson, Miss Betty Oetjen, English teacher, Miss Orele Scott, Biology and Domestic Arts instructor, and Mr. Walter Mitchell, boys’ coach and Math teacher. We were sorry to lose them and wish them luck. 1935-36, and we were juniors, out to make this the best year of all. We were very curious to see our new mentors and after observation decided we were very pleased with them. They were Mr. James Cavalieri, new coach, Miss Mary Buckley, Miss Eileen McAloon, and last but far from least, Mr. John Donovan. The year passed with an exciting program of sports (which were aided by the newly established (Athletic Council,) the Sophomore-Junior dance, the annual Junior Semi-Public dance, the awarding of the prize book of the Harvard Club to Mason Downing, and the class supper. if Seniors at last! three years have passed. They have become merely hap¬ py memories but the present and the future are most important to us now. The present contains dances, athletics, pictures, the class supper and gradua¬ tion. It also holds, however, sobering responsibilities and serious thoughts of the future, which, no matter what it holds for us, will be faced with deter¬ mination and the will to win success by the Class of ’37. EDNA CASSIDY SPORTS—1936-37 5 quet. HE School was represented on the 1936 gridiron by a fast squad which scored 127 points to our opponents’ 40. At the close of the season the team, captained by Buddie and Ernie Roberts, was honored at a ban- Team members were awarded sweaters or letters. Mr. Cavalieri was presented with silver in appreciation of his splendid work with the team- Boys’ basketball opened with an 18-17 victory over an alumni team. The team then won twenty-one victories in twenty-three starts. Undefeated in the Lowell Suburban League, they captured that championship as well as the Merrimac Valley championship. Seniors (Captain Isabelle Phelan, Emily Sanderson, Rosemary Cashman, Caroline Barker, Margaret McRobbie, and Dorothy McGregor) have aided the girls’ basketball teams of the past four years in securing one runner up honor rating in the Lowell Suburban League and three championships. 1937 baseball teams won the Merrimac Valley championships. 26