Pembroke Academy - Academian Yearbook (Pembroke, NH)

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NANCY CA ROL BROWN What looks dark in the distance brightens as I draw near Everybody else 's troubles are Nancy's specialtyg she's the Court of Last Resort for many of us. Her mild manner has won admiration from students and faculty alike. Efficient in every way, there is no responsibility too great for her undertaking. Humble and generous, you'll never find a girl who is more praiseworthy. Nancy devotes her whole self to every project. This is especially true when applied to her position as Class Secretary. We elected one to serve us, and we certainly have in this girl much more than we bargained for. Thanks, Nancy, for a job well done5 and good luck-- you're competent enough to serve as any president's secretary. Salutatorian5 secretary 45 general chorus 3,45 senior play 45 student council 45 operetta 35 winter carnival 45 assemblies l,2,3,45 prom 3,45 memory prize speaking 25 D.A.R. 45 yearbook staff 45 original prize speaking 4. SALUTATORY Welcome, friends and relatives, to the graduation of the Class ofNineteen Hundred and Fifty-eight. We are pleased that so many of you could come and see us off into the world of tomorrow. Tonight, I and forty -seven other Seniors are graduating and leaving behind us four years of high school training. I do not know how the others feel, but I look into the future with a feeling of trepida- tion and doubt. Have I enough of the right kind of education to be a success--if only as an individual-- in life? Or am I to be a failure, as so many others--unnecessari1y--have failed? Sometimes I think I shall succeedg at other times. . .I wonder! Several recent magazines have pointed out that there is much concern among our educators today about the lead that Russian students have over the students in this and other democratic countries. As you know, American students are given an opportunity to develop to the fullest extent of their individual ability. In large schools, trained personnel guide students into the field for which each in- dividual is suited, as indicated by scientific aptitude tests. In the smaller schools, the teachers attempt to lead the individual into the proper field. Perhaps some are guided into fields which, at the time and to the individual, do not seem at all appropriate. Many times, however, experienced teachers can see deeper into the hidden recesses of the child than we like to admit. Thus, in our school system, the individual is the important factor. Now, this--we know--is not true of the Russian plan of education. Russia teaches the group, not the individual. If a person cannot keep up with the group, he is sent to the mines, or a farm, where education is unnecessary. They stress such subjects as science and mathematics, and not the molding of the individual character. Their hours of schooling are long, hard, and grueling. They go to school six days, instead of fiveg they have a total of 213 days a year of schooling, as compared to our 180 days. Each child must take 10 years of mathematics, 4 of chemistry, 5 of physics, and 6 of biology. By con- trast, only one-half of our schools have any physics and only 640111 have any chemistry. 12

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that we have made these, accomplrshments our goal rs even greater the challenge rs harder We have to mamtarn our hrgh posrtron For rt rs much easter to be on the bottom as we once were, and work up than to be on the top and stay there Amertc rns do notseem conscrous of the fact that rt ts not tmpossrble that some day we could be pushed off the top rn fact rt ts very posstble For remember Rome fell when rt was rn all 1IS glory If thrs should happen then we alone are to blame For whrle we are takrng a breather, the world can pass us by just as the turtle passed the hare rn that seemrngly tmpossrble race Berng on top does a terrrble thrng to the mrnds of people It makes them relax rt makes them complacent rt makes them overconftdent and tt makes them feel that all goals have been reached The Communrsts have already nudged us a lrttle They have shocked us partly out of our lax and non chalant attrtude Amertcans seemed rndrgnant when the Russtans put a satelltte rnto space before we drd They seemed to say How could thev do that to us'7 Don t they know that we are the best? Some people have started to do somethrng about thts threat but to the masses of Amerrcan people, the threat of Lommunrsm strll does not seem enough to get exerted about We are sttll confrdent of our posttron and content to just relax Those few who realrze the threat can not do enough The effort has to come from the heart of the natton from the people What can we do to matntatn our posrtron Frrst, we must realrze that there rs a challenge Then we must get out of our comfortable rockrng charrs and tear our eyes awav from our televrsrons rf possr ble and get to work There ts much to be done for we are far from perfect We have not yet realrzed all our goals Though our sy stem rs best we are lrvrng rn no Utopra Lontrary to popular feelrng we have so much to strtve for that we can t afford to srt by and watch We can tmprove on what we have and learn to use tt better We can turn our destructtve forces, such as the atomrc bomb rnto constructrve forces By practtctng God s law, and lrvrng democracy the way rt should be ltved, we can frght that whrch opposes us There are strll thousands of hungry people rn Amertca and people wtthout Jobs There ts too much crrme, and educatton rs far from perfect Democracy rs sttll not what rt was meant to be for often we do not practrce what we preach For strll we have much prejudrce rntolerance and rn Justtce We sttll have not learned to lrve rn peace ln our posrtron as leader we can do much to make the world a better place rn whrch to lrve We must overcome destructtve forces such as Commumsm not by ftghtrng wars, but rnstead by showtng the world that our way rs the best way So you see we do have a challenge Just as our forefathers had a great job to do the Job of makrng Amerrca what rt ts we have a greater Job We must ftght to preserve rt But we do not seem aware of thrs fact We are rgnorrng the challenge whrch manv of us don t even see We must have a change of mtnd and rrd our selves of thts smug feeltng of overconftdence We srmply must work harder, and not treat thrngs wrth such rndrfference Wouldn t rt be better to wear out than to rust out To keep our posttton, and not let rt rot away, to make a better Amertca we have to meet these challenges successfully, remembertng that though rrght now we are on top our posrtron can crumble from under us, and though Democracy rs better we are far from perfect Just because we seem safe does not mean we are We do have a goal we do have a challenge So wake up, Amerrcans revrve the frght the ftght that made us what we are get out of those soft charrs and get on the Job Act ltke the ptoneers our fathers were Thrs ts the challenge for the Amerrca of tomorrow And now, we the graduates wrsh to thank all those who gave us the tools to meet the challenges we have already met and the basrc foundatton to meet the challenges that we face rn the future To the trustees teachers our parents, and frrends we extend these our heartfelt thanks To our superrntendent Mr Watson and our prtnctpal Mr Currrer who have patrently helped us to gam what we have we add our thanks We the graduattng class of 1958 brd you farewell ll vi . .Q ' . 1 1 - - 1 1 . 1 . 1 1 1 Y . . . V . . . - 1 . ,,1 ,, . . . . . ' 1 1 1 . 1 . 3 , . ' . . 1 , 1 1 - 11 1 11 1 J . . 1 , . . , . A Y , A, . , X x . 1 1 I 1 , . . Y . . . . . . . . , . , . , . , - 1 ' 1 - 1 1 . I , 1 1 . . 1 1 1 - 1 . . . , . . . . , . . . 1 1 1 - 1 - 1 0 1 1 1 , 1 . , 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 . 1 1 1 1 1 , 1

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Russran sehoolmg rs so gruelrng that a bowret medteal cornmrssron urgently recommends that as srgnments be cut down so as to preserve the students health I don t agree wrth the Russran methods teachmg any more than you do but we are forced to admrt that rt rs gettrng results perhaps not pleasant or good results but at least they are effectrve Wrth the wonderful country we have our schools surpass Russra s rn educatronal standards for the group as well as for the rndrvtdual Our classes rn socral scrence problems of democracy bustness, home economtes grammar and so forth attempt to teach us to become rndrvtduals able to stand on our own two feet But mam tunes wC fall short of our goal I beltexe thrs mrsfortune occurs because thmgs have been made so easy for us that me fall to reeogmze opportunrtx when tt knocks at our door made the most out of our hrgh school educatton'9 I am sure there are very few rn thrs class who can honestly say Yes I worked to mx fullest capacrty and learned all I could rn the past four years know I couldn t say so because I drdn t And I am not proud of that knowledge Not at all prou Too often hrgh school rs looked upon not as an tnstrtutron of learnrng but as an rnstrtutron of soctal funetrons xvhrch we attend rn an attempt to frnd enjoyment Some of us I am sorry to say eonsrder rt as a place to meet our frrends waste a few hours gossrp break rules plan dates and cut classes at every golden chance I feel the trme has come when parents should realrze that they have an Important part to play rn helprng youth face the future and become good crttzens rn the world of tomorrow We must work to gether to make the most of our opportuntttes ever mtndful that we as adults want freedom rndepend ence and the very best educatron that wrll be second to none rn thrs world jk 13 A , , ' , l - , , - 1 of How many of us--we, the graduating class of 1958, and you the alumni--can truthfully say we ' ' , - ' ' . . dr