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

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JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL CLASS ESSAY Johnson at War 771 UR boys are fighting and dying in the marshes of Guadalcanal, the fox holes of Africa, and on the ships in the Atlantic and Pacific. They are fighting y that our nation and other democratic nations in this world may live without fear of enemy aggression. They are fighting that the people of these United States may not feel the whip of the Gestapo and the bayonets of the Japs. We, too, on the home front, have our battle to win, the battle of production. It is taking the combined efforts of every man, woman, and child to keep guns, ammunition, and food in the hands of our defenders. Through the Victory Corps we in Johnson High School have a part in the war effort. The two objectives of this wartime program are: to train youth for wartime service that will come after they leave school, and to provide active participation of youth in the community’s war effort while they are yet in school. It is intended as a nation-wide student organization for secondary schools. It is democratic and voluntary in nature. All are invited to work together for a common purpose—Victory. There are five divisions in this Victory Corps: The Air Service Division, the Land Service Division, the Sea Service Division, the Production Division, and the Community Service Division. To fulfill the requirements in these special divisions, many pupils are taking correspondence courses, and are per¬ forming other wartime activities. Among us we have model plane builders, forest fire wardens, defense messengers, airplane spotters, and block leaders. Some of us work at the report center, and attend surgical dressing and first-aid classes. Others are learning automotive repair work. Correspondence courses have been available in foods and nutrition, radio, and automobile upkeep and repair. Many are doing sales work or caring for children of working mothers. During the six weeks after this organization was begun, sixteen hundred hours, or two hundred eight-hour days were put into various wartime jobs. Eighteen hundred hours were spent, exclusive of physical education, in such activities, and in training for various projects such as blue-print reading and messenger work. That is what Johnson has done for the war effort. The students of our school have participated in three salvage drives: a steel salvage drive, and two tin collections. Five hundred pounds of scrap iron and steel per pupil were collected in one day. The average tin collection was thirty-five pounds per pupil. From the weekly sale of war savings stamps from December 1 to May 1, $3,200 were collected. The students are very proud to say that they have bought a jeep for our boys. They take great pride in having been able to lend their money to provide guns, ammunition, and grenades for those who are giving their lives in order to keep the enemies from our shores. To relieve the manpower shortage in local industries many have taken part- time jobs working in stores or taking care of children of working mothers, or 21

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THE GOBBLER - 1943 and women have gone forth with a bravery and courage as great as any pioneer or pilgrim, and many of their names will go down on the pages of history with Boone and Washington to be honored forever. Youth is fighting this war, and so is doing its part right now to preserve our Democracy tomorrow. Victory we must have, but victory alone is not enough. When the last gun is fired and our tired boys come home, there will be other battles to be fought on our own soil. Our young soldiers and sailors and our farmers and factory workers who are now fighting our way to freedom will have to take up the battle of thoughts and decisions which will take a part in shaping the world. We cannot lay aside our duty with our arms, for in the answers to these ques¬ tions lies the very life of our Democracy. We will have to take our part in deciding what policies we want our nation to follow. What shall be done with our armies and our navies? How can we safeguard world peace? How can we keep production and employment at its fullest? What about world trade and world air routes? How shall we put our Democracy on its feet financially? And how shall we punish the agressor? All these questions must be answered. They are a challenge—a gauntlet flung in the face of youth. Some philosophers have said that after the last World War, if the Allies had taken over the schools of Germany along with its banks and munition plants and led the young German mind along different channels, this second war might never have come about. Instead, what did happen? Their Nazi Youth leader declared, “Every boy and girl in this nation will be made a National Socialist. There will be no escape possible from the channel we shall mark for the German to follow from childhood to manhood.” So the Nazi youth was trained. Its freedom of thought and speech was taken away. Its individuality was crushed. Even its loyalty to home and family was trampled on—and out of it all came the Nazi war machine, cruel and relentless. Nearly two centuries ago Thomas Jefferson wrote our Declaration of Inde¬ pendence and so laid down the fundamental principles of our Democracy. We want no youth built and trained around one pattern! We want no youth without initiative or imagination! Life! Liberty! and the Pursuit of Happiness! These things are the very bone and structure of our Democracy. They are its very life blood. But we do need training. We need education from the home and on through high school and college, so that each individual will have an understanding and a willing cooperation in world affairs. We need to under¬ stand what our Democracy is about, what we want from it, and what, in turn, we can give it. We need to be taught to pick our leaders, and we need the truth at all times to help us in our decisions. On the shoulders of the youth of today rests a very serious burden, but there rests also the opportunity to answer these problems that come with judge¬ ment and courage and bring to the broken world again happiness and peace. “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the pro¬ tection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” George R. Barker, Jr. 20

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THE GOBBLER - 1943 working on farms. Over half of the pupils are employed in some work after school. To aid the farmers in planting, caring for, and harvesting crops, about thirty pupils have volunteered to do their best as farmers and farmerettes. The school has acted as a go-between for employers and employees. Emphasis has been put on domestic arts, mathematics, and the sciences. Every morning the chemistry class tested the drinking water and sent a report to the head of the Water Department. There have been additions to the curric¬ ulum: pre-flight training, and physical education. Current events play an im¬ portant part in our wartime program. In our current events papers authori¬ tative accounts of events at home and abroad are written in such a manner that they are easily understood. Space is given to discussing at length post¬ war problems. Another valuable paper provided for the pupils of the school is Current Aviation. This is to acquaint the students with the principles of aviation. The importance of aviation now and in the post-war world has been recognized. Now is the time for the people to learn about aerodynamics, and meteorology, so that they will not be in complete ignorance when aviation is introduced into the world on a large scale. How better could I conclude this than to quote our President, Franklin D. Roosevelt? “When our enemies challenge our country to stand up and fight, they challenge each and every one of us, and each and every one of us has accepted this challenge for himself and for the nation.” H. Pauline Dainowski VALEDICTORY Music, the Universal Language HE language of music is understood all over the world. It is the part of man’s J U nature by which he expresses thoughts he would be unable to express through words, gestures, writing, or the arts. “Music is infinite;” said Balzac, “it contains all, it is able to express all.” The Chinese claim that music began in their country 3000 B.C. The first music was probably vocal, and then the natural desire for rhythm led to the making of instruments of wood, stone, metal, skin, or clay to keep time. Carv¬ ings on monuments of Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, Persia, and among the Hebrews show a remarkable resemblance between the first musical instruments and the modern families of the violin, guitar, harp, and drum. During the first thousand years after the birth of Christ, the leading musical work of the world was done under the shadow of the Church. During the story-book life of the twelfth century, when chivalry was at its height, trouba¬ dours wandered from place to place singing the praises of some fair lady or the deeds of some famous hero. The melodies of the troubadours may have formed the basis for the folk-songs of the French people of today. We see that, from the very first breath of life, the need of music is mani¬ fested, for the cradle-songs of a mother lull the baby to sleep. In a few months the baby amuses himself with a little rattle, bells, or other musical toys. In 22