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

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14 THE HERMIAD MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR OPPORTUNITY fEvelyn Wellman, 19341 Do we realize that we should be thankful to have the opportunity to attend high school? I do not believe that many of us consider that we should be grateful for the chance to receive a high school education. We take it as a matter of course and do not stop to think that it is the people in oui: town and our parents who make it possible for us to have a high school and possible for us to attend it. We should, therefore, make the most of our opportunity and study while we have the chance. But-how many of us really study as much as We should? It would not be exaggerating to say that not more than one fourth of the students at Plainfield High School are really taking advantage of their oppor- tunity to acquire knowledge. Most of us are satisfied with a passing mark, and think that so long as we graduate it is all that is necessary. We think that the teachers are too strict or that they give us too much work. How else are we to learn, if we do not have the work to do? We would not learn much by listening to a teacher reading or talking to us. It is ourselves who are to blame if we do not pass. The teachers do their best to help us, but if we are not willing to do our part, the teachers cannot make us do it. We, the senior class, who will soon be going out into the business world, or going to higher institutions of learning, will have a chance to make use of our education and will find it very essential. How many of us will be sorry that we did not use our time and opportunity to the best of our advantage? The pupils in the lower classes should realize what it means to be at high school and should study. Parents should be more persistent that their children see what it will mean to them in the future. So, classmates, so, Freshmen, Sophomores, J uniors-start thinking of what you desire to do after graduation and prepare for it by making the most of your opportunity. AS OTHERS SEE US The following paragraphs are taken from papers written by certain mem- bers of the Senior Class who have transferred to Plainfield High School from other schools. From Connecticut At Plainfield-we are allowed the freedom that high school boys and girls desire. The pupils' reaction in the school makes it possible to do this successfully. Plainfield lacks outside activities such as an active dramatic club, a monthly school magazine, dancing after basketball games, and a school band. From Massachusetts One of the most noticeable things to me since I came to Plainfield High

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THE HERMIAD is that he must have been alone in the world, and it was arranged that the village magistrate should look over his belongings and dispose of them according to their value and so forth. The Master Van Dine had made a will stating that, being alone in the world, he would leave all of his estate to the schoolmaster who should succeed him. Among his possessions was a locked trunk and this, opened, revealed the savings of a lifetime. Best of all, it was Ichabod's, all Ichabod's. The hour Ichabod learned this his mind was made up. Gathering his belongings together, he set out on horseback, at a gallop, down the rutty road he had travelled a year or more ago. Katrina Van Tassel Van Bummell, when we left her a year ago, had been happily wedded to Brom Van Bummell. But this happiness soon turned to grief for Brom was still up to his old tricks, reveling every night with his gang. One night, after partaking too heavily of the wine cup, Brom was thrown from his horse. The injuries he suffered soon choked the last breath from his body. Katrina returned to her parents, a widow. But this sorrowful picture was not to last long. Katrina fell to thinking of Ichabod and of how he had courted her unsuccessfully. But for all that, she still liked him and wished that he had not disappeared. Onto this scene broke the dashing hero himself. After relating his wonderful luck to Katrina, he announced that Katrina was going to become his wife even if he had to drag her to the church. So, on a bright, cheery morning in the spring, to the strafns of organ music, Ichabod and Katrina were married, and Ichabod achieved the success for which he had worked so hard. I might add that they lived happily ever after. IT REALLY PAYS fLillian Steinman, 19371 It really pays to work and toil, To labor hard and not recoil From the task that is before you. It is not right and it is not fair To be a quitter, not do your share. So let's all work and never shirk The task that is before usg For it really pays to work and toil To labor hard and not recoil From the task that is before us.

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THE HERMIAD 15 is the student government. Last year the pupils of the high school from which I came argued and debated for and against this government, but nothing was done. Cooperation and school spirit which are necessary for successful student government are both present throughout Plainfield High. From New York I entered Plainfield High School as a senior from a large city high school. The two schools are quite different in many respects. The city school has a student body numbering over seven thousand, all girls. The principal is a man and there are a few solitary male teachers. The faculty numbers about the same as the students here. We had no Student Council, but had instead a Service Squad. The regu- lations were very strict, forbidding anyone without a pass to go through the halls during periods, to enter or leave the building, or to enter the library or study hall. There were various clubs ranging anywhere from swimming and tennis to art and language. School began at 8:40 and let out at 3:00 with eight periods including lunch which was in three shifts. Physical training was quite differentg ropes, ladders, stall bars and tap dancing composed the gym activities. A 'I find Plainfield High School a more likeable place than the other school in many ways. I might add that one thing that impressed me was the boys, which, of course, was quite natural after seeing nothing but skirts for three years. JOURNEY'S END I Ethel Seidman, 1934i We have come to the conclusion of a voyage on the Sea of Learning. Some of us have had a smooth crossing, others of us have encountered stormy weather. Nevertheless, whether the waters were still or ruffled, there has been a certain amount of joy in the trip. Some of us have arrived at our destination, others of us will travel further. Some of us wish to continue the voyage but have not the means or facilities for doing so. Some of us have been overjoyed to reach port, others of us have wished that we might go on forever. Be that as it may, we have all come to port for a little stay and now is as good a time as any to clear the hold of our vessel and inspect the cargo. Has some of the produce we have been carrying spoiled? Have some of the products mellowed in the crossing? Have the foods become tangy, spicy? Have the silks become musty? Have we learned fortitude, endurance, labor, during the voyage? Have we become tolerant, wiser, more steadfast? Have we devel- oped as much mentally as we have physically? Have we, as the crew, gained the respect of our ofiicers and the admiration pf our passengers? Have we earned the right to become officers ourselves?