Providence Technical High School - Review Yearbook (Providence, RI)

Page 48 text:

THE TECTI REVIEW 1030 44 Everything Done in a School Should Educate— Do Socials Educate? By Esther Devine, '30. [Awarded Girls' Prize in Anthony Medal Contest.] Schools and institutions are for the sole purpose of education. 1 he student attends school to acquire knowledge of the world about him and of life in general. Every- thing which is taken up in school should educate the pupils along some line. By this statement, I do not mean that a school should not have activities and functions which do not pertain to book learning. We cannot receive education from books alone. The education which we obtain from friendships and co-operation with other students is exceedingly necessary to every boy and girl. Apart from the extra-curricular activities which are organized under the familiar titles of Athletic Association, Glee Club, Debating Club and others, there are those events of a purely social nature which must be considered in a well-rounded program in the high school. Ordinarily, we call these affairs socials, parties, or “proms.” Whether these be enjoyed by boys and girls together or separately is a matter which may be given special attention when the question arises. Certainly the former plan is nearer to the natural way of living and is to be emphasized. Social affairs teach a pupil the correct way to do the desirable things he will do anyway. Extra-curricular activities have a distinct moral value, and also give the pupil an equalization of opportunity. The color of one’s thoughts changes, as an escape is made from the routine business of a school program to the lively anticipa- tion of being one’s friends socially. The social training many students get in the high school is the only social training they do get. Boys and girls should know to some extent, how to carry on a conver- sation, how to please people, how to come and go without awkwardness. I o meet older men and women as well as people of their own age; to learn important, con- ventional social customs and to have respect for them, is in perfect harmony with the natural desire of the adolescent, who, be- cause of his expanding personality is sustained by the social medium in which he is placed. This means that social train- ing, which in the last analysis includes moral training, can only be given by means of concrete situations, and these are sure to arise. Dr. Royce once said: “Social conformity gives us social power. Such power brings to us a consciousness of who and what we are, hence we begin to have a will of our own. We may discover this will to be in sharp conflict with the will of society. This is what naturally happens to most of us for a time at least in youth.” It may seem a little thing to call after one has been invited to dinner, to rise when a lady enters the room, to eliminate such terms as “say” or listen” when beginning a conversation, but it is these little things which distinguish a trained from an un- trained individual. Dancing is a very favorable participa- tion at social functions. It gives poise, courteousness, democracy, sense of rhythm, and good taste of mind. Social functions should be held in every school. My answer to the question as to whether socials educate is strongly in the affirmative.

Page 47 text:

1030 43 T II E TECH REVIEW School Spirit 'I he success of a school as well as of any other institution is due largely to the spirit and co-operation of those connected with it. School spirit has already been emphasized on several occasions at I echni- cal High School relative to social and ath- letic activities. What is real school spirit? In answer I should say it is the co-operation of every student to make school activites a success. No matter how small a part an individual has played in any activity, the result would have been far from successful without that co-operation and support. When you selected this institution of learning, you had some feeling of admira- tion and respect for it. Why not keep this thought fresh in your mind during your remaining school years? When your class organizes a committee to make plans for any social event, that committee does the actual work. But that does not exonerate us from responsibility. We must all do our utmost to make the event a success by attending and also arousing class spirit among our fellow students. We have rea- son to be proud of the records established in athletic events. Do not leave it entirely to the various teams to make these records. Our duty in this case is to attend and sup- port all games. The activities of dramatic and debating societies reach outside of our school circles. Here, there is a duty for us to perform, just as there was one to perform in social and athletic activities. It is our school spirit that makes successful these school interests. During your remaining school years keep this idea foremost in your mind. Help and support in school everything with which you are connected. Kathleen M. Kelley. “Farewell Tech” By Esther L. Devine, '30. hour years we’ve spent within these walls, ’Mid study and laughter and friends; But now our sojourn here is o’er. And each on his own journey wends. What may the future hold for us? Our several destinies be? For no one knows the whims of Fate, A fanciful lady is she! The friends we’ve made—the fun we’ve had, I he lessons we’ve learned, day by day. Have all become a part of life; For each of us, now, come what may! And oft in years to come we’ll find A memory, tender and dear. Will take us back to l ech once more, 1 o the good times we’ve known here.

Page 49 text:

1930 THE TECH REVIEW 4.5 Islands in Fact and Fiction By Daniel Earle, '30. [Awarded Boys' Brize in Anthony Medal Contest.] Islands, those enchanted spots in the midst of a great ocean, which harbor pirates, castaways, and other heroes of our story book days. Many an exciting hour has been spent by most of us as we followed Robinson Crusoe about his little kingdom, or, hidden in some dark recess of Treasure Island, heard Long John Silver plot some dark and terrible deed. We have, in all of our imaginary visitings come upon our islands just as the last rays of a tropical sun were playing upon the highlands, bathing the whole vista in the most harmonious and enchanting colors possible. We have always wakened on our islands with the splash of a waterfall ringing in our ears, with a slight breeze swaying the palm trees, and with the prospect of a happy and beautiful day before us. We have invari- ably walked from our abode down to the seashore, and there we have seen the great blue ocean stretching away into oblivion, and, nearer to us myriads of beautiful fish darting in and out among the coral reefs. We have, without fail, seen our hero and heroine brought together by some queer twist of fate, and always have we left our island with a feeling of remorse which can only be likened to the loss of a very dear friend. I hese islands are the islands of fiction. I have traveled. My summers have been spent on the decks of mercantile vessels plying between the great ports of this world. I have seen the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Mediterranean, each in its calmness and then in its fury. Being of a romantic nature I have watched for one of my pictured islands in the hope that some day I might walk, in reality, in the foot-steps of Captain Kidd or Robinson Crusoe. In many of our voyages the lookout’s hail of Land, Ho! , would come down to us, and sure enough, in a short time we would see, rising before us an island. But w'hat a shock awaits one. This is not an island! It can’t be! Why! there arc no beautiful palm trees waving out their welcome to you; in fact, you see but a few struggling bushes. What is more, there are no beautiful waterfalls or bubbling springs. What! unbelievable as it may seem, there is no water of any kind. Surely, you say, this mass of broken stone and struggling vegetation is a glaring ex- ception to the general run of islands, but as each successive Land, Ho! brings you running to the ship’s rail, and you pass an- other of these barren spots, you begin to realize that the beautiful abodes of you. island heroes have been but the creation of the minds of authors. In spite of these things which I have just related, in spite of the fact that I may never travel again, I will always cherish my pictured island, and, if some day it is my good fortune to find it, I will be happy on the island of my story book days.