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

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CHRISTMAS 19 3 9 hear her helpful answers during the question period that she granted us. On November 29 noontime brought about the end of school and the beginning of the Thanksgiving holi¬ day. An appropriate assembly was held and we were reminded of what we have to be thankful for today. Richard Lewis and Carleton Adams represented us on the platforms, and that well known trio—Evelyn Comey, Alma Mansfield, and Vivian Hook—entertained us with song. By now, you have enjoyed several other interesting and varied assemblies. At least, as the Pioneer goes to press, there are planned for the month of December a film entitled “The Symphony Orchestra’’, a performance by Bruce, the Magician, a talk on “The Work of a Sec¬ retary” by Mrs. Thurber, and our annual Christmas as¬ sembly. We know that it is safe to say at this time that they all proved worth while. Erdine Farwell THE TIME TO START IS NOW! In most of the higher class schools in this great country, there are student governing bodies of one sort or another. Reading High is typical of one of the high¬ er types of high schools in Massachusetts. As most of the student body and faculty know, we have in our school this year an organization known as the Student Affairs Committee. The members of the committee were chosen so as to represent thoroughly the different factions of the school. The committee is comprised of the leaders of various school activities: captains of athletic teams, class officers, leaders of organizations like the Hi-Y and the Service Squad, editor of the Pioneer, and last, but not least, the homeroom repre¬ sentatives, who have one vote and who inform the home¬ rooms of what is being done by the committee. We are banded together to work as one unit for solving the problems which are always arising in mat¬ ters involving scholarship, athletic competition, civics, and sportsmanship. If we in the council can make a favorable start towards the solution of these vital prob¬ lems, then we believe that a great part of the task of improving our school will be accomplished. But we can function only with the complete co-operation 6f the student body. We must have that co-operation. Will you give it to us? If you do, we can promise you a bet¬ ter student government than ever before, and also one that will accomplish something for our school. We were not chosen for the committee by any elaborate elections. We were merely selected, as leaders of school activities, to represent you—the student body. It is our duty to carry out fully what is expected of us as mem¬ bers of the committee and also to uphold the standards of Reading High. A student governing organization is a great thin 2 . On our committee we have a very capable and ambitious group of students and a very fine adviser. Mr..Spencer, all ojLwhom take a great interest in school affairs. W • are not politicians; we simply are a body of students all seeking a common goal; mainly, the betterment of our school. We are fervently trying to get the ball rolling. If you can help us give it enough additional push, it is our expressed belief that in future years Reading High School will have a Student Affairs Committee that will really stand for something in school affairs. Irving Holcomb THE HI-Y CLUB “To create, maintain and extend throughout the school and community, high standards of Christian character.” That is the purpose of Hi-Y, its officers, and members. The club has this year the following hardworking set of leaders: Sherman Poland, vice-presi¬ dent and chairman of the program committee; “Dick” Fellows, secretary; “Ray Hutchinson, treasurer; and Tom Connelly, president. We hope this year to pep up Hi-Y socially and scholastically and to give its mem¬ bers some interesting and beneficial programs. We really believe that 1940 will prove a very eventful year for Hi-Y. The season did not begin until quite late in the year and the first meeting was held in the school library on October 5. Plans were made for the future and a program committee was appointed for the remainder of the year. We felt fortunate in obtaining as the guest speaker Mr. Orville Poland, Chairman of the Civil Lib¬ erties Committee of Boston. Mr. Poland gave a very clever talk on the functions and some of the odd experi¬ ences of that committee. On October 20, we met for the second time and this meeting was a regretful one, for we said “goodby to Mr. Pope, who resigned as our advisor. Mr. Pope has been Hi-Y advisor and an active member of the club for four years, and under his guidance our club en¬ joyed a fine position in the State League and in the community. We were genuinely sorry to lose his services, and we wish him the best of luck. On the same night we welcomed Mr. Spencer, the popular young Latin teacher, who very kindly accepted the hard and irksome job of advisor when that position was offered him. The Hi-Y club feels that it has been very fortunate in ob¬ taining his aid, and we hope he enjoys his work with us. On November 2, we had for our guest speaker Dr. Grover, Superintendent of Reading Schools. His talk was on “The Problems of Youth and stimulated one of the best discussions that the club has enjoyed in a long time. Many of the difficult problems of the modern youth were brought out and discussed. Later in the evening we selected twenty-one new candidates for mem¬ bership. November 16, that was the night! At that time we initiated into our cozy circle the selected twenty-one. We might add that the boys took their medicine, their spankings, and other such punishment like troopers. Cheer up, fellows, you’ll have your turn at walloping and frightening 1940’s crop. After “the works were administered by those subtle brains who originated all Tuenty-fiv

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ASSEMBLIES The first assembly in September was a panel dis¬ cussion on “The Press and World Affairs,” with Mr. Louis Lyons, feature writer for the Boston Globe, as guest chairman. Mr. Lyons very ably answered the questions directed to him by the students. He discussed the duties of a feature writer, compared the propaganda of the last war to that of today’s, and touched upon the pros and cons of governmental control of the press, party politics, and other phases of newspaper work. The hour went quickly, as it always does when we have as interesting a speaker as Mr. Lyons. Our most important assembly occurred in October, when Dr. Grover, our new superintendent, was presented to the student body. From his remark about the Quaker seating arrangement in our assembly to his last words, he held the attention of everyone. Dr. Grover stressed the fact that we as members of a democracy must be taught to think for ourselves. He pointed out that we owe three loyalties—to our homes, our town, and our nation—and that youth should extend itself to further loyalties. In conclusion, Dr. Grover urged us to concentrate on our habits, which will enable us to be more competent in years to come. The radius of our circle of knowledge must be ever expanding. On October 13, the seniors and juniors attended the third assembly, which was a travelogue, “Wheels Over Africa,” shown by Carlton R. Thresher. The pic¬ ture revealed many important stopping places along the trek, among them being the inside of a sheik’s strong¬ hold! We were all equally entranced by the sight of an egg being fried on a stone. Our first November assembly was easily one of the most delightful to date. Mr. John Hines, a war veteran whose acting career was interrupted by his participation in the fracas of 1917, brought to life before the en¬ tranced audience the story of Ichabod Crane and the headless horseman. With only the bare R. H. S. stage for a setting, Mr. Hines created a genuine “theatre” at¬ mosphere. We were reluctant to let him depart and were well rewarded for our applause by his very funny pantomine of the little girl and the fly. The hall was filled to capacity on November 22 for the showing of a film entitled “The River.” Here we saw the part that the mighty Mississippi has played in the growth of our nation. In its lengthy career, the Mississippi has been both a menace and a blessing to America. We are indebted to the Reading Junior Hi jh School for enabling us to see a very thrilling and out¬ standing film. On November 24 we were privileged to hear Mrs. Adele Hors Lee, from the Bishop Lee school in Boston, give a very interesting talk on “Theatrical Arts.” Mrs. Lee mentioned the opportunities open for anyone in¬ terested in the theatre. She read two scenes from “Key Largo”, a recent play concerning the loyalists fighting in Spain. She also very effectively interpreted two scenes from “Abraham Lincoln.” The assembly re¬ gretted having her leave and many of us lingered to

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THE PIONEER this devilment, refreshments were served and the new and old limped home soon after. It was all in fun, and we think that the candidates enjoyed it as much as we did. Or did they? Well, that brings us up to date. However, here’s a word for the future. We are planning the usual Wed¬ nesday evening swims at the University Club; a dance, a sleigh ride, and a ski party are planned when the snow sets in. These, together with an imposing list of good speakers, are all potentialities up the program commit¬ tee’s sleeve. Oh, yes, one more thing. At a recent meeting it was announced that Miss Nichols is seriously planning a similar girls club. Well, you can imagine the enthusiasm that was displayed at this news! Miss Nichols shall never lack support as long as there is one Hi-Yer breathing. The Hi-Y would like to thank both our adviser, Mr. Sussmann, and the school for helpful co-operation with our club and our subsidiary, the Service Squad, which boasts a full complement of Hi-Y men. Tom Connelly RIFLE CLUB A new organization in the High School this year, and one which we feel deserves publicity, is the Rifle Club under the leadership of Mr. Taylor. The group has been meeting every Thursday night at eight o’clock in the American Legion House. Their president is Les¬ lie Kittridge, who was awarded the post when it was vacated by Bill Campbell. Bill was the moving spirit in the organizing of the club, but he had to drop out of it because of increased activity in connection with his National Guard membership. The rules governing the club are set up by the Junior Division of the National Rifle Association of America, of which the Reading Club is a charter mem¬ ber. The object of the Junior Program of the N. R. A. is to develop those qualities of sportsmanship, fair play, manliness, self control, and co-operation which are so essential to success in life. The code which follows is that of the National Rifle Association and should be carried out by every person who picks up a rifle, re¬ gardless of whether he is a member of the N. R. A. or not: (1) I will never allow the muzzle of my gun to point at anything which I do not intend to shoot; (2) 1 will never load my gun when the muzzle is pointed at any part of my body or at any person, nor stand in front of anybody who is loading a gun; (3) I will never cock my gun and pull the trigger for fun; (4) I will never shoot directly at a flat, hard surface, a bottle or similar object, as the bullet is certain to ricochet (glance) from it; (5) I will never handle a gun with¬ out first opening the breech to be sure the gun is empty and looking through the bore to see that it is clean; (6) 1 will never carry my gun loaded except when hunting and will then be sure that it is locked in the “safe” po¬ sition; (7) I will never shoot at a song-bird or harmless animal for the sport and will always be sure that no wounded game is left to suffer; (8) I will remember that a .22 caliber bullet will travel three-quarters of a mile, or through nine inches of ordinary board, and will ricochet a long way across water; (9) I will always put my gun muzzle first through a fence before I climb the fence and will climb over between the next two fence posts; (10) I will always give my gun a thorough clean¬ ing as soon as I am through firing. The first meet was at Beverly with the Beverly High School crack shooting team of girls. The results were excellent for Beverly! The scoring was done on this basis: out of ten shooting for each side the scores of the five highest were counted. The scores for the Bev¬ erly girls speak for themselves. Out of a possible 100, their first shooter got 99; their second entrant, 98; their third, fourth, and fifth shooters tied with 97. The boys have hopes in connection with some of their other meets, however, which are in prospect with Malden, Melrose, Norwood, Braintree, Quincy, and Haverhill. Due to the lightness of their own rifles, which are the only ones they have had for use, the boys have had much difficulty in making good scores so far. This reason for lack of accomplishment will be reme¬ died in the future by the fact that the Reading Post of the American Legion will lend the club their heavier rifles for practice and meets. As the enthusiasm is high, we feel that we shall hear a lot of the Rifle Club in the future. We send them our heartiest wishes for a suc¬ cessful opening season. David St. Hilaire ALL THE NEWS WE DARE TO PRINT Let’s get some support for the 0. F. F. Club! We still believe its aim to be a worthy one and some day we fervently hope that it will receive the recognition due it. The fate of its officers might have something to do with its decline. First President Gunn resigned, Second President Adams was removed from office, and the third president, Andy McLaughlin, was nearly as¬ sassinated in a futile attempt by some females to end the club activities for good. We have news of a law suit: “The Coffee Cup” vs. Mr. Joseph Fitzgerald. Charge—One broken drinking glass, unpaid for. Result—Case settled out of .court. Mr. Fitzgerald, due to the urgings of his friends, paid “The Coffee Cup” management one nickle. What romantic young couple can be seen wending their amorous way home from school every afternoon? We can say, however, that Russell is training her cor¬ rectly. He makes her walk home with him. Who is the cute little blonde whose picture adorns Mr. Dixon’s desk? We know, do you? What two gridiron stars used two lockers apiece? There’s nothing like having plenty of room is there? The things we see on blackboards are many and varied! Mr. Spencer’s fertile brain has matched the titles of modern books with the names of mythical char¬ acters. . We hope that we are not infringing on any copyright by quoting Mr. Spencer’s “original” list: “If I had four Apples”—Atalanta; “The Conqueror”— T wenty-six