Pontiac Senior High School - Quiver Yearbook (Pontiac, MI)

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41 ' .l HE QUlVER 28 T , . . l , 4 ' 'nalg that di-af! on societys that he will neither be -1 PJUPQI' H011 itimnli ewpenm, .' - - , . . . ' -' 11113 - - - he will not be an object of charity not a source of acci 1 . to the community. It has the right to expect fhef he will engage In . . . ' ' ' ' 'de for some useful occupation in which he will be able not only to PIOU his own wants but also contribute something of value or W01 fh to Sn' ciety. Whether the boy become a mechanic or a minister, a book- keeper or a lawyer: the girl, a milliner or a teacher, a stenographer or 3 housekeeper: in all events, hc or she should do something in the work- ing' world which should serve the double function of providing Fl l1V1I1S,' and of rendering to society some service which society needs. The high school graduate has no moral right to be a hanger-on. H Clepen' dent, a drone, 'Phe community has taxed itself that he mig'ht be a pro- ducer, a worker, and the obligation to respond to the purpose and ex- pectation of the community is no less strong because it is implied rather than expressed. Let every high school graduate, then, choose some vocation, some work, which he or she can do, both that he may therein find a means of supporting himself and as well that he may usefully serve society. In the second place, the community has the right to expect that the high school graduate will be a good citizen. Now this is really very trite and comonplace-extremely so! And yet we have such an illus- trious example, in Pol. Roosevelt, of the inegaphonous dealer in the trite and commonplace, that I am sure the rest of us need not hesitate to say a thing simply because it has been said before. So, I will venture to repeat that the high school gradaute ought to be a good citizen. But what constitutes good citizenship? And who is the good citizen? It is really at this point, and not in the mere assertion that good citi- zenship is the chief aim of the public school, that we find the opportu- nity for saying something that isn 't the sheerest and the dreariest platitude. For good citizenhip is not merely going to the polls on eletcion day and voting the right ticket Cassuniing that one knows what that ist, nor is it merely knowing the history and form of government of one's country, nor putting good men in office thighly important as that isl. Good citizenship is all this-and much more. And one of the sources of obscurity in our thinking on this topic is that we are so prone to confuse citizen and good citizenship with the mere exercise of govern- mental functions, But the good citizen-the kind that the conimunit the high school should furnish-is one who is true a home relations-as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sisterg who accepts willingly and cheerfully his share of home an y needs and that nd kindly in his d family respongi-

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I , sfgiw' ' ,- vi I , 1.f1a 1ss.1 ' m ags.-1 1,-1 i , THE QUIVER What the Community Expects of the Hlgh School Graduate JAMES H. HARRIS, 'lhe community establishms and maintains tht hifh sfhool, mt filou to give its young' peoplt -in opportunity tt yet -in ec ucati Il and tlus 11 a le the111 as individuals to malw a sutctss, 'lu wt nay '1 ' , even in a greater degvrte to 11-o111o1m its own wt - tinge -1.-s -e ' s resent welfare and to provide for its future profi-ess an: rnppiiiess. om the standpoint of socimty 'ls a whole, main tnantt ' ools is simply 211 economical md effi ieut means It ' llS6l'Vlllg 'ui and vital importance that its citizens be educated: that they It rain I o such a standaid of intellig'e111t that they will think and act san -luv upon matters uhich pertain to the welfare of themsmlvms and their pos- rity and that they be not likt dun1b 11-1 e 1 riven 4 the s li lll 1 was with this thought i11 mind that thr I-thmrs o' ie ,xi '- ' e famous Ordinante of 1157 det-1-ted that l li, , 1-- - ' e ication beinc' 11ec,tssary to - ood ,,'UYtl'lllIlCllI ant in 1- niuess 1 ' mankind schools and tht means of edum ation sl1all ton-tvtr ht eiicoiu- aged. And fifty years later Horace lllilllll. Yvlltl has het ll wtll-styh l T e father of modern 'hIllGl'lt'2lIl LLIIIURIIIUII laueutly tht-lar I: 25 U I U Y 1 1 2 . , t ,. 1 1 f ' 1 4 1 l ll l lo en b 11 1 1 1s 1 s f, ll lite but - 1 1 1 'll b1 U, to .s ui it p ' 1 g l lr FI' 1 1 . 1 the t1 -1 ot lllllil sch 1 1 I c 1 to -I 1 il romotinff its own existence. I11 a rc wublic such as ours it is of su 111111111 2: l ' ' It SVI 1 . A . .1 , V . I 1 1 te ', 1 fttl l tl ll llcs ' It ' ' 1 911 11 t tl I-,lllllllllf lll th 1 1 'W 1 le 1-ion lIl1l1lllIX 111111 dl , D 11 D 1' 1 1 l t 1 l 111 1 il 1 1 . 1 1 1 , 1 7, s A I 1 1, 'L h 1 1 , em I 1 er The property of this CtlllltlllXVE'2lllll' fIIl2lStlI'llllSUIISl is pledged for the education of all its youth up to such a point as will save them from poverty and vice, and prepare them for the adequate 1l6l'fUl'lll2llll'C oi their social and civil duties. From this conception of the public school as a social institution, established and D1tlll'll7tlI11Qtl by the state for its own well-liciiig, vez-tain implications follow as to the responsibilities and 1lllll,2'tlIlIlllS at1acl1ing' to those who are the beneficiaries of the C'tllllllllllllty'S Ellltl the state's bounty. In particular would I make the application as to those who have received the benefits of a high school educationftlie liigliest f1lI'lll of free education to which conimuuities as such have thus far g'Hll6l'illlY committed themselves. What, then, has the community the right to expect from the gradu- ates of its high schools? In the tirst place it has the right to expect that they will be self- supportingg that they will be able to support tliemselves and those who may be dependent on them. To put it negatively, tl1e Ctllllllllllllty has the right to expect that the graduate of its high school will not be a 11.11. .V we y K

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-'ls M' lf.. an V THE QUlVER 27 bilities and duties: who is helpful, obedient, unseltish. The good citizen is also a good neighbor-fair-minded. square, considerate and help- ful, not imposing on others, nor on the other hand permitting himself to be unjustly imposed on. 'llhe good citizen pays his debts, lives within his income, is an apostle of the square deal, and looks the world fair in the face, conscious, but not boastful, of his integrity and sincerity. The good citizen is in alliance, further, with all good causes that tend toward the uplift of the community in which be livcsg he is progressive, not retrogressive: he stands for good schools, healthful conditions of living, a wholesome moral atmosphere. lle is willing, it need be, to bear his share of public responsibility, and at all times stands for lite and growth, as against death and stagnation. i To sum up, good citizenship consists largely in the possession oi' certain homely and commonplace virtues, which, if practised, would lead rapidly enough to the Utopia which Plato, More, and liellaniy have dreamed for us. 'llhe good citizen does his share of the world 's work, provides for the welfare of himself and those dependent on him, is faithful and unseltish in his home relationsg is a good neighbor, an honest man, and a forward-reaching', up-building member of the colll- munity, It is this type of men and women that the connnunity has the right to expect the graduates of its high school to be. Else, its invest- ment in buildings, grounds, equipment, teachers, is disnially failing of the purpose for which it was designed. In the third place, the community has the right to expect that the four years' training of a high school 'should create and foster correct habits of thinking and a scientific attitude of mind toward the nu- merous problems that are continually presenting' themselves, lt is still one of the defects of American life that it is swayed too easily by pas- 'sion, prejudice, and mere opiuiong that snap-shot judgments are too much in evidence: and that reasoning and retleetive thinking' are still too little used. The training' in the sciences, languages, history, and mathematics ought to yield some results, not only in the amassing' of information but as Well in the inculcation of habits of application, standards of accuracy, and ideals of efficiency. It ought to result, too, in a certain power ot' inhibiting mere impulses and in substituting' therefor the reasoned con- clusions of a carefully and patiently worked out series of suggestions or thoughts. Surely the study of such a subject as physics or chemistry -if it teaches anything-teaches that Hjumping' at conclusions is dan- gerous and unprofitableg that the only 1'esults that are of any value are those that have been reached through a earefuly worked out series of experiments, or that are based on tested evidence. s t A ' WJ1.'fM-te. , ' , ' 2