Palo Alto High School - Madrono Yearbook (Palo Alto, CA)

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Another democratic institution is the commission form of govern- ment which was established last year. This government is more rep- resentative than the former one. It provides for five commissioners filling the following offices: Public Welfare and Safety, Literary Activi- ties, Athletics, Entertainment, and Finance and Revenue, who are elected by the members of the student body. The commissioners take turns acting as the presiding officer at board and student body meetings. This is the first year of tins type of government and consequently it has been more or less of an experiment. The result has been very satis- factory, due largely to the ability of those five persons who are Palo Alto High’s first commissioners. They are all seniors and will gradu- ate this year. The record of the Palo Alto High School has been remark- ably fine in past years. The future is left to those commissioners and classes who shall in the years to come take their places in our beautiful new school. LYSLE BLYTHE. The Library 4

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rounded on three sides hv recitation rooms and the auditorium, and on the other by an arcade. From the highway it looms like a very hos- pitable, modern mission. In the front the beautiful terrace and the massive doors give just the needed touch of stateliness and impressive- ness. A more ideal location for this beautiful new building could not have been found than the one where it stands, among beautiful oak- trees and fields of grain. The central idea of the new high school is embodied in the library. It represents the old education so successfully combined with the new social life of the school, and it is in this room that the trustees, hoping that it would be the center of school life, have set their seal. The library is located opposite the business office, two steps down, with only a glass between the halls and the attractive interior, so that the most indifferent person may at least see the outward beauty of books and be tempted to come into closer contact with them. The school is not as yet completed. War conditions are largely re- sponsible for this, although under any circumstances it could not have been finished immediately. The auditorium is incomplete. The girls’ gymnasium, the swimming pool, and the forge and machine shops could not be included. Although the finishing of the present high school seems a large problem, the necessity of a junior college in the near future makes it a tremendous task. The possibility of expansion was seriously considered when the ar- rangement of the school was laid out. Several classrooms have already been sketched on the plan. It will be possible to add to the school to accommodate fifteen hundred pupils without marring the architectural effect of the buildings. The central idea of the new school is to make it as democratic as possible. Two new institutions of the school express this especially. One is the cafeteria and the other the commission form of government. W hen the school was first planned, the distance from Palo Alto made lunches necessary. To make it more convenient, the cafeteria was es- tablished. For the first two weeks Miss Johnson and her cooking class did all the cooking and serving, but it interrupted the cooking course so much that a woman was engaged to do the major part of the cook- ing. The girls still help and do the serving. The members of the cooking class have developed a fine spirit of service in helping serve each noon. The cafeteria has been an excellent opportunity for an ex- pression of democratic, unselfish spirit among the girls. 13

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The War Story , I've never been so tired before. Today lias been le hardest and longest one yet. Thank goodness, it’s ver.” With a sigh of relief, Marian Alden threw herself nto the soft conch piled with gay pillows. Her room as a small one, but all hers. She often thought that {if she did not have this quiet, cheerful little place to come to, life at times would become unbearable. This room was only one of many in the big United States reconstruction hospital in New Jersey, and Marian Alden was one of the best workers in this branch of the service. Here soldiers who had lost arms and legs were taught new trades. Blind soldiers learned to do without eyes, and those whose minds were a complete blank were slowly and steadily coaxed back to normal. It was a wonderful work—this of being able to help these crippled heroes, and Marian loved it. All day she had been working on the shell shock cases trying to bring back the memories of those who had forgotten. It was tedious work and so discouraging. Marian lay on the couch half asleep thinking over the day’s work. Triumphantly site recalled her great achievement. One soldier had remembered his name through her persistent efforts and he. at last, was started on the home stretch. Her meditations were interrupted by a brisk knock and one of the younger nurses entered. Miss Alden. can you come right away? Lieutenant Crane has had another of his attacks and it is impossible to do anything with him. Marian groaned inwardly. She had been called before, and it might he all night before she could return to her room. Lieutenant Crane had lost his right arm and leg at Ghateau-Thicrry. His loss had made him keenK sensitive and he was subject to (its of melancholy. These attacks sometimes took a violent turn and only careful watching kept him from attempts to end his life. It seemed impossible to get him interested in anything. All day he lay, grave and brooding, and at times the doctors feared that his mind would go. Marian entered the room and went toward the white-faced patient lying on the bed. One of the two nurses standing by him came quietly over to her. I’m sorry to disturb you, Miss Alden, but you seem to be the only ’5