Plainfield High School - Hermiad Yearbook (Central Village, CT)

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6 The Hermiad the heat for thebuildina. Power driven fans may be operated by means of which the air in the building may be changed in tive minutes. This does away with the necessity and danger of cold drauzhts from open windows. up-ii DEDICATORY EXERCISES AT PLAIN!-'IELD HIGH SCHOOL On the afternoon of Saturday. March 1. the new Plainfield Hizh School was open for public inspection. Visitors were made welcome by represent- atives of the Alumni Association who conducted them through the building. In the evening appropriate exercises were held in the auditorium. A very large number turned out to show their interest in the new school and it was difficult to find even standing room. The following well arranged program was given: Overture ......... ....... Le sch's Orchestra Invocation ......... ........ R ev. FH-. J. E. McCarthy Address of Welcome ...... ...... , ....... S upt. J. L. Chapman Harp Solo ................ . . . Miss Gladys Wilbur, P. H. S. '18 Description of the Building . . . . . . Hr. Thomas T. Towner, Architect Violin Solo , .............. . . . Miss Florence Leach, P. H. S. '24 History and Reminiscences ............ Mr. Clark Denison, P. H. S. '16 Vocal Solo . . ........ . ............... Miss Alice Salisbury, P. H. S. '22 Address , .... , ...... Hr. Henry A. Tirrell of the State Board of Education Selection ........................................ Leach's Orchestra Presentation of Building to Town , ............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lr. E. F. Grenier, Chairman Town School Committee .Acceptance ..... . .............. Mr. Henry A. Bessette, First Selectmen Selections ................,...................... 'Lea.ch's Orchestra The following made up the committee on dedication :- For the School Committee, Hr. E. F. Grenier. lr. Clarence Reid, lr. J. L. Chapman. For the Alumni, Mr. Frank E. Tyler, 1914: Mr. Harry Denison, 1921: Miss Theresa Sullivan, 1911: Miss Hildred F. Healey, 1920. Mr. Chapman, in behalf of and for the town of Plainfield, welcomed the large number present and expressed the hope that the building' would be more than merely a school but would in time become the center and soul of the life of the community. Mr. Towner, the architect, gave a description of the building, calling attention to the remarkably low cost per cubic foot at which it had been erected after which he expressed his thanks to all those who had helped to make such a splendid building possible. Mr. Denison's reminiscences were of great interest. He sketched the history of the school illustrating his talk with word pictures from school life. .al

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The Hermiad 5 THE NEW PLAINFIELD HIGH SCHOOL The new Plainfield High School which is ideally situated facing the Wauregan road is a large attractive building of red brick with cement pillars along the front and sides. Since the building is fire proof its out- ward beauty il not marred by disfiguring tire-escapes. The grounds are large providing ample room for athletics of all descriptions. On the first floor of the building, to the right of the main entrance, is the Superintendent's office and that of his secretary: the latter contains the terminal of the system of interior telephones by means of which communica- tion with any part of the building is possible. On the left is the library which is also the office of the assistant principal. Back of the office is a long corridor: at its left end is the splendidly equipped home economics depart- ment which consists of two rooms, a laboratory for cooking, and a sewing room which also serves as a lunch room. At the opposite end of the corridor are corresponding rooms for the work in agriculture. Opening from the center of the corridor is the auditorium, a spacious, artistically lighted room which has a seating capacity of about four hun- dred. Still farther back is the gymnasium, fitted with baskets for basket- ball. and large enough for all manner of gymnastic activities. When the beautifully finished folding doors which separate it from the platform of the auditorium are opened it provides a stage large enough to accommodate the whole school if necessary. At each end are stairs leading to the locker rooms and showers. On the second floor are the main study hall with desks for seventy-five pupils and the class and recitation rooms for the academic courses. as well as the well supplied first aid room and the teachers' room: the latter is at- tractively fumished with wicker furniture upholstered in blue and gray cretonne. On the third floor in the front of the building are the scientific labor- atories fully equipped with all the most modern improvements and apparatus for experimental work in chemistry, physics and biology. At the rear is the commercial department consisting of three rooms, a typewriting room, a stenography room and a bookkeeping room part of which forms the bank. Throughout the building there is plenty of closet space, and there are in each room convenient cabinets in which to store books and supplies. A driven well, one hundred sixteen feet deep, supplies the water for the building by means of an automatic electric pump feeding into a large storage tank. Hot water is supplied from a coil in one of the boilers. Toilets are located on each floor. . The building is scientifically lighted by fixtures of the enclosed type which shed a very soft light. Panel boxes in the various corridors are the control centers for the general lighting system. Under the gymnasium is the boiler room where two large boilers supply --L-

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The Hermiad 7 The lion's share of the credit in making Plainfield High School a successful school belonged, he said, to Mr. Chapman and Miss Armstrong. Hr. Henry A. Tirrell of the State Board of Education gave a short address in which he emphasized the fact that the real value of the building lay not in the dollars which it cost butin the sacrifice and long' vision of those who built it. lr. Grenier in his presentation speech called attention to the unity of purpose with which the School Board had worked to realize its end. Mr, Bessette expressed his pleasure at accepting so splendid a building in behalf of. his fellow citizens and in closing voiced the hope that the young people of the town would make good use of the facilities provided for them. Q-,1-1 LINCOLN ESSAY On November 5, 1923, a letter was received by Mr. Chapman from the Illinois Watch Company of Springfield, Illinois, which read in part as follows: In view of this city being the former home and burial place of our martyred president, Abraham Lincoln, and desiring to en- courage the study of his life and character, this company without selfish motives has decided to present annually, to a student in the senior class of each High School in the United States a very hand- some medal of Abraham Lincoln.. . . . .... The obverse side of the medal will contain the head of Lincoln together with his name and the dates of his birth and deathg the reverse side to be suitably decorated, proper space being provided for engraving the name of the winner and the date presented. Every member of the Senior Class wrote an essay and the class by ballot selected the three that they considered the best. These were submitted to two impartial judges and to the writer of the following essay they awarded the medal. . ABRAHAM LINCOLN Cboris Bishop-1920 'Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. Who. of all the nation's greatest men. as they have closed their earthly careers, have left behind them deeper or more noble footprints on the sands of time than Abraham, Lincoln 2 A As a barefoot boy he trudged the lonely miles to the little. rude school. house, when, occasionally, it was possible to secure a teacher. While, hg