Rock Ridge Hall - Rock Ridge Annual (Wellesley Hills, MA)

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President's Address. JE Superintendent, Head-maste7', Faculty, Undergraduates, Friends .' HE class greeting has been given to you, the valedictory, prophecy, will and history are to follow, given by representatives of our class of 1912, of Rock Ridge. The Presidents address must, however, be one of welcome to you and be an expression of the appreciation of the class of 1912 for your interest in us- This is the final meeting of the class of 1912, as we shall attend the Carnival Ball tomorrow evening as Alumni. It is hard to realize, because we are so accustomed to put aside the dignity of Seniors, that we are unable to feel fully the change to the standing of Alumni. On this, our last day, we look with pride upon our record in the past, and while there is a feeling of sadness on leav- ing that which we all love, still we realize JE fd! that there is work ahead, and work, which we shall attack with the same spirit with which we solved the problems that have come up during the years spent at Rock Ridge. Our years at Rock Ridge- have been eventful and at all times the class of 1912 has been up and doing. 1Ve have had a large share in the honors at Rock Ridge and have had some reverses. The class has made mistakes, as all classes do, but we have taken these mistakes, diagnosed them and benefited by them as a result. We continued to work, making more mis- takes, acknowledging them, when after calm deliberation we had seen them, but incidentally achieving something in our efforts, which more than made up for the things we lacked. In all of our activities, we tried for team work. In athletics We pulled to- Page Fifteen

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i. ,, scholastic work or start on our business career, the class has learned that to win one must iight and iight hard. The time is now at hand when we as a class must part perhaps never to meet again. Let us defy those circumstances which might arise, tending to weaken the strong ties of friendship that have been so dearly formed here. Wfe go forth as mem- bers of a large family to meet again when occasion offers, always ready to help one another, and never forgetting to honor the school which has been so dear to us. Let today, then, be the brightest and happiest of our school life, and although the class of 1912 has but a short time to live, let us be of good cheer and enjoy these last few hours. Page Fourteen. WVe are today parting never to meet again, but this fact does 11ot dampen our spirits when we realize that our graduation is merely a step by 'which we ascend to higher things in life. And so through the exercises today I bid you listen to our chosen representatives as they give you in a small measure, various pictures of our school life, as they prophesy into the dis- tant future, or as they recall the past, and as they offer advice to those of you who are to fill our places in the years to come. May I, then, offer the cordial greet- ings, to you all, of the class of 1912, and extend to you the gratification of our illustrious class that we are able to share with you the exercises of our graduation. H. D. FELT, '12,

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gether, we continued the social work and we carried the spirit of our athletic and Social activities into the class room, thus enabling ourselves to acquire that which was of prime importance in our school wo1'k, scholastic standing. We have not looked upon the mem- bers of the faculty as taskmasters. They have been friends to whom we could go for help in our scholastic work and advice in other matters. We have respected them for their knowledge as teachers and loved them for their associations as friends. We have recognized in them the qualities which we were striving to attain for our- selves and can now realize the value of our association with them. To the Principal, Head-master and members of the Faculty, I wish to express for the class of 1912 the thanks which we all know is due to them for their help to us and advice at all timesg for the way in which they have met us, not only in the class room as teachers, but also at any time of trouble as friends and advisers. We, the members of the class of 1912, feel that we are responsible for the spirit which is present at Rock Ridge. We have tried to win and have never taken an un- Page Sixteen. fair advantage in our interscholastic com- petitions. In athletics we have won a great majority of our contests, but under the supervision of our faculty coaches, we have been taught that good spirit deals with more than being a good winner. Our class demands the best a man has, whether we are in the class room or on the athletic field, if, having done our best, We are de- clared the loser, our friends have always come forward with congratulations, and the school, even when we were losing, has given cheer after cheer because each man had done his best. This is the spirit of which Rock Ridge boastsg this is the spirit that the class of 1912 has given to the other classes as an example. VVe have tried for team work, ever pushing on toward the goal, over- coming obstacles that were in the Way and using these obstacles to secure a higher standard for our Alma Mater. lVe ac- knowledge our indebtedness to our school, to our dear friends on the faculty, to all of our friends, who have shown their interest in us, and now, as we are about to leave this school forever, we hope you will be able to say, 'flVell done, thou good and faithful servants. C. H. WOOD, '12.