Polytechnic High School - Polytechnic Student Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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Strange to the world, he wore ll lHlSllflll The fields his study, nature was his book. l look, Bloomfield

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for Nature 's companionship. Even the book worm will carry his book to the shade beneath a tree, or to the beach, in order to get a fuller realization of its charm. The most neglectful of students will wax enthusiastic over a lesson teeming with the spirit of the Nature lover. This attitude can be observed any day in our classrooms and among our friends. Is it not appropriate, then, that we should bring into our school life a phase of our being which our education can only strengthen? ......,.. As each school year draws to a close, we turn back to survey our accom- plishments. The question uppermost in our minds is, What has made this year different from its predecessors and successors? ,This year, in answer to that question, we turn to a new idea which has grown up in our midst-an idea promising to influence greatly the rest of our school history. We refer to the proposed plan for making Polytechnic an institute where six years' special training will supplant the customary four- year courses. Our school will become more strictly polytechnic by the gradual elimination of general college preparatory courses, and the gradual extension and elaboration of courses in applied arts, sciences, engineering in all its branches, commercial pursuits, architecture, and domestic economics. Emphasis will be placed upon tl1e practical value of the work rather than upon the college credits involved. Thus the new plan will be a boon to those students whose busin.ess career must start in their youth, and who, though not able to go to college, ,can afford the time for two years' extra training. If this plan is adopted in the near future, it will not only mean much to Polytechnic, but, even more important, it will shape tl1e careers of many young people of college age. Any plan which makes possible greater education, increased usefulness, and therefore increasd happiness for the men and women of tomorrow is surely more than worth while. Throughout the school year, one of the most salient features of the school magazine has been its art work. Our young artists have shown sympathy, well balanced between student interests and the larger ideals of art, coupled with marked ability. Whatever ,have been the subjects treated, the work has appealed to a large class of readers, and that is surely the test of its merit. VVe have all enjoyed this feature of our book, and we here acknowledge our gratitude to the art advisor and her willing assistants for their large share in our success. .1.?t.. Only too often we are inclined to consider our home life a thing apart from our school interests, but with the larger outlook fostered by education, we come to regard our school system as the result of co-operation between the home and the school. All the citizens of Los Angeles, indeed, have been most earnest in their support of all educational projects, and to them is due a large share of the prominence we have attained. But our parents have also helped us in a more personal way, to their encouragement and sympathy We owe our ability to make the most of the opportunities which our Alma Mater oiers us. l18l

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LITERARY THE JOYS OF THE SIMPLE LIFE ' Lilian Selleck, S '14, Yes, I've taken up the simple life, Alice told me pensively, when I met her accidentally on the street. The doctor ordered a complete change. I've taken a little shanty in the Vermont woods, and I'm staying there until he says I may come back and take up my social duties again. My dear, it is simply killing me! And she shuddered. You don't know how the utter loneliness of the place gets hold of one. None of my old set--nothing to do, all day long! Oh, I'm just sick of it! And the house itself! An old tumble-down affair-I just sit and weep when I look at it! Now Alice is an old friend of mine, and, although I am not in her set as she calls it, we are still very congenial. So I said without any hesitation, Hlilll just waiting for an invitation to come up and spend a week or so with you. .I 'in utterly fagged out and long for a rest. Do invite me. lnvite you! cried Alice, embracing me hysterically. I'll give you ten thousand invitations, if youlll only come. I'd have invited you before, if I had dreamed you would accept. It's such a God-forsaken place though-I haven 't dared to ask anyone out there. Yes, I said rather wearily CAlice is a bit overpowering at timesj. I'll come. I'1n just longing for a rest. I'll expect you, then, before the week's over, she replied and, after kiss- ing me aiectionately, hurried away. As I packed my suit case, I became rather depressed at thc dearth of stylish sunnner clothes I had, but was reassured by the thought that, as there would be only Alice and I, I would not need any elaborate toilette. As the train steamed out of the Grand Central, I settled back on the cushions of the parlor car with a sigh of comfort. Thank heaven! No more bustling, crowded streets for at least a month. Perfect rest. How glorious that will be. A11d I drifted into a doze. I was awakened by the conductor, who tapped me on the shoulder, saying that Centersville was the next stop. CCentersville was the little town near Alice's shanty. j As the train stopped and I got out, I saw before me a little village- much larger than the one I had looked for. A neat little station with a red roof Haunted a large sign Centerville -and I knew I was not mistaken in my destination. A group of nattily dressed inen and women were gathered at the mail box, and by their well-bred voices 1 could see that they were izoi t