Reading Memorial High School - Pioneer Yearbook (Reading, MA)

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Class O F 19 3 7 Reading High School OPTIMISTS? As an individual grows, he begins to think for himself and the desire tc learn grows on him. After he has found an attractive method of learning and has begun to feel the effects of his new knowledge, he begins to think deeply not only about problems of surface value but also about problems which have caused many a Greek and Roman head of hair to turn gray before its time. In all probability one of his weightiest problems will appear when he asks himself what the pessimistic rumblings and grumblings concerning the terrible fate of the civilization of his time are all about. “What is this world coming to? People of every day and age have repeated that threadbare saying at the slightest pro¬ vocation. Perhaps the famous statue of “The I hinker was inspired by a man pondering on that very question. In any case the ques tion is just as appropriate to¬ day as it was five thousand or more years ago. Its bril¬ liance has all the power of the ages behind it. But! Ye who are optimists and hope to remain as such let these words imprint themselves firmly in a frequently used corner of your brain. The Almighty One gave to man one characteristic which no force, circumstance, or situ¬ ation can ever erase—Hope. “There is nothing new under the sun”—in its basic form. Every problem has been solved by a care-worn human at some time in the past. To be sure, the problem did not have all the gad¬ gets and man-made situations in it which make ours look so complicated. Nevertheless, any student of history knows that the world has had its famines, depressions, wars, crime waves, booms and social upheavals in abun¬ dance. Yet every one of them has lost its exhilaration or its sting, and man plods on. And, we who are about to graduate must remember that, optimists or not, we shall be faced with the same problems in the immediate years to come. Our faith in the destiny of man and the world is onl) the driving force behind our attempts to resolve these situations. As we leave the Pioneer and other school acti ities to the classes yet to have their fling, we also leave them our sincere hopes for many successful years—just to prove that our faith in man has no exception. Russell Bird ' 37 TO OUR SENIORS Graduation night! “W hat, so soon?” or “At last!” many of the seniors will be heard to exclaim. Oh. the pictures that form, the dreams that assemble and fade, and the chills that those two words, “Graduation night,’ eonvev ' The first picture is real and impressive. The gradu¬ ates will sit in rows upon the platform of the audi¬ torium; the girls in their dainty white dresses and fresh¬ ly waved coiffures; the boys smartly attired in the con¬ ventional white flannels and blue coats, and with hair glossy and smooth—every unruly strand having been coaxed into place with an unrelenting brush. Many faces will be wreathed in smiles, while on others there will be seen grave expressions as they listen with deep interest and close attention to the addresses, essa s, and announcements of the graduation program. Each gradu¬ ate will resolve as he stands at the threshold of the “great future upon which he is entering, to make the most of the opportunities which lie before him. Girls and boys alike will proudly, but nervously, walk, if not trip across that platform, grasp that diploma that thev have been hoping and longing for, with a whispered “Thank you and a self-conscious smile, and then. - e . then perhaps most of them w ill realize just what they are leaving behind them. Those smiling seniors will be re¬ membering that they are bidding good-bye to those ex¬ acting teachers, the countless hours of homework, the annoying mid-years and finals, and last but not least, to those unwelcome little missives frequently received in the mail, known as deficiency slips, all of which have taken the joy out of these past three years. Ihe in¬ dividuals with the grave faces will In thinking, no doubt, of the many good times and carefree hour- as¬ sociated with “high school days, ' and will be regretting the fact that soon they will be parting from loved teach¬ ers and classmates, and must take on the responsibilities of life. How different these seniors will be. these dignified seniors. They will realize that the patient and parental teachers, se ere though some of them may have l een, have guided them from “wild kids and “tomboys’ through the stages of know-it-all sophomores to “How- d’-ya-get-that-way?” juniors, and finally to the l-know- all-ahout-it seniors. But under all these fancies they have really become polite and accomplished, seniors typ¬ ical of Reading High School. Daily their faults have been corrected, and yearly the good traits of their char¬ acters have been built up and strengthened. They have learned sportsmanship, good citizenship, and courtesy. Most of them through the acquirement of dignity, poise, and tact have really earned for themselves the name of dignified senior . Through the knowledge thev have de¬ rived from their high school course, they are now pre¬ pared to face life and to become useful and intelligent Conl i nurd on fMtge 50

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High School Class o F 19 3 7 Reading Editor John Russell Bird Write-ups Virginia Aldrich Barbara Gibson Merilyn Knapp Robert Lougee Marcus Morton Barbara Parker Lawrence Roberts Rita Riley Grace Storti Barbara Turkington Robert White Harold Xavier Business Managers Harold Davis ’37 Earline Brown ’37 Robert Clinch ’38 Assistant Editor Barbara Turkington News Barbara Gibson Exchanges Donald Larrabee Sports Ruth Hill Donald Burhoe Art Senior Art Staff Jokes Earline Brown Contributors Marjorie Morss Betty Stratton Faculty Advisers Miss Helen England — Literary Mr. Luke Halpin — Business Miss Blanche Dufault — Typing Mr. Reginald Kibbee — Art Dedication This issue of the Pioneer we dedicate to Horace Mann, the greatest educator this country has ever known and benefited from. In this manner on the centennial of his establishing our present school system, we express our gratitude for his contribution to the youth of America.

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Reading High School Class o F 19 3 7 SENIOR CLASS OFFICERS Russell Bird President “Turk” is decidedly a young lady of action. As vice-president of the class and the able assistant editor of the Pioneer, she has been most energetic and perservering in her efforts for the class of ’37. A definite sports enthu¬ siast, “Turk” swings a mean tennis racquet, and enjoys golf, riding, and swimming. Her object is Middlebury and she hopes to be a chemist or pos¬ sibly a surgeon. We really admire such ambition. P. S. “Turk” likes to “swing” too, especially with a certain young man of the class of ’36 named Eddie. We like him too, “Turk!” Rita Riley Secretary “Hezzy” has been class treasurer, baseball, basketball, football star, stu¬ dent councilor, and Hi-Y member. Whatta man ! No question about your chosen calling as engineer in test tubes and flasks. Your record and your wide smile ought to insure success in any field, Hezzy. Here’s for smooth goin’ at Tufts. ■ -T ■ BN 5 v • ■ mm mm ; Vf Y SENIOR CLASS OFFICERS Whether you call this handsome young man the treasurer of the Hi-Y, Russ,” or Rusty,” you still call him our class president. If anybody doubt¬ ed Rusty’s” ability to do a grand job outside of school as well as inside, he needed only to see his fine job as stage director for the Senior P lay. We’ll wager he isn’t rested yet. We hope that “Rusty’ stays on the engineering side of aeronautics when he finishes M. I. T., for there is nothing for him to get up in the air about. Barbara Turkington V ice-President There’s so much to write about Wee Wee” and so little space. She’s active in our school sports, namely, hockey, basketball, baseball, and ten¬ nis, and she’s adept at all of them. She lends a splendid alto to our glee club and chorus, and has proved her¬ self to be a capable class secretary. Her favorite subject is study because she does it so easily, and her hobbies are all sports in general. Everyone likes her for her grand sense of humor and her friendliness. Theodore Haselton Treasurer