Petersburg High School - Missile Yearbook (Petersburg, VA)

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SOME THINGS WE NEED. Is Petersburg, the aristocratic and historic center of old Virginia, to be left behind in the pursuit of modern ideas and raise her future citizens with the handicap of inadequate education? Every city that has at heart the well-fare and happiness ol her citizens is endeavoring to bring the educational advantages that she offers up to a higher degree of perfection. To this end she erects large and well-equipped buildings, she arranges the course best suited to the needs of her young people, she gets the best prepared and most thorough teachers possible; and is always especially careful to insure com- fort and sanity. Is our city, which in population ranks fifth in Virginia and which certainly desires and aims for the very best for her youth, reaching up to this standard ? In the education and training of the mind our High School is above the average. The pupils who go from us to other schools find themselves thoroughly prepared for their work and glowing accounts have come back to us from schools to which our graduates have gone, Sc

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18 THE MISSILE. he bestowed on everybody, and the bad character which he tried to hide by his smile. The house of the seven gables was a very old and dreary house, but it was worse before Phoebe came than afterwards. She seemed to brighten it up and to make it look more cheerful. More burdens and cares were added to Hepzibah’s already heavy burden when Clifford returned from prison, where he had been confined and made to suffer for a crime which Judge Pyncheon had committed. Judge Pyncheon’s visits to Hepzibah’s cent- shop were always very painful to her. On one occasion he declared that he had to speak to Clifford because he believed he knew where he could obtain the title to some property which he desired. While he was in the parlor waiting for Clifford, he suddenly died. Hepzibah and Clifford left the house and boarded a train which was leaving the town at the time. Phoebe came back after a, visit to the country and could not find Hepzibah. Holgrave, who lived in one part of the house, met her at the door, and told her about the Judge’s death. They were closely drawn together by tne sense of being the only ones in the house with the dead. Hepzibah and Clifford returned and found the lost title, then left the house and went to live in the Judge’s country home. I enjoyed reading the story on account of the entertain- ment which it affords, the lesson it teaches, and the humor which the author often uses in describing different things. I think that The House of the Seven Gables is a very good book to be read in the schools. Florence dementis ' 16 ,

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20 THE MISSILE. But what of the physicial training? Is not this also very important? Go talk to almost any father or mother about their children and they will almost invariably say, I would rather my child keep strong and well than lead his class.” We need a gymnasium dreadfully. Boys in the coun- try get exercise enough raking hay and chopping wood, but city boys, who are in large majority in our school, need just the exercise that a gymnasium offers. They need too a manual training course. Other places, smaller and less wealthy than Petersburg, have it; why should not we ? Our girls need a domestic science course. They who are to be the future house-keepers and home-makers of our city certainly ought to have the best possible means of preparing themselves to grace this position. The gymnasium is impossible without a new build- ing and, while we hope to introduce into our curriculum next year domestic science and manual training courses, we can only do so on a very small scale because of the inadequacy of our building. Furthermore, the school is growing each year. More are coming in from the seventh grade than are being graduated, and more room is needed. New graded schools have been built from time to time, but we have never had a new High School building. We call the attention of our School Board to these matters in an earnest attempt to help them see the neces- sity for, and benefit to be derived from, a New High School building.