Sacred Heart High School - Vine Leaves Yearbook (Vineland, NJ)

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Lc9 ?C ? were highly recommended for it. Alas! this semester passed all too quickly. An evening in June found the entire student body banqueting at the ex- pense and kindness of the Knights of Columbus. We opened our Sophomore year under the special tutelage of Sr. Marie Emily. A few weeks later we were excited and very much pleased to hear that two athletic coaches had been secured, one for the girls and one for the boys. It was but a short time before two of the finest basketball teams in this vicinity represented our school on the court. (Yes, and we boasted varsity members on both teams.) But interscholastic games were not the only attraction. Interclass basketball was received, with even more en- thusiasm. if possible. We Sopha, especially, enjoyed the thrills of this new sport. Perhaps that accounts for our winning the Girl’s Interclass Cham- pionship that year—an honor we succeeded in keeping up to and including the present day as Seniors. Then too, quite a while before the closing of the school term, we had to plan, practice, and prepare for our first Gradua- tion Exercises. On learning that it was to be held in the Grand Theatre and that we were to assist at it, we certainly feit important. And why not? You don’t get a chance like that very often. Anyhow, everything went according to schedule and we Sophomores felt we did our share by our very presence, howsoever unimportant you might have deemed it. Another event that marked the second year, was the adoption of our present School Song in preference to the old one of three stanzas. As in the previous year, we were again guests of the Knights of Columbus at the Annual Banquet in June. Our Junior year found us a bit more serious-minded than in the pre- ceding ones. Not a great deal, of course, but just enough to prepare us for the responsibilities that would soon be ours as Seniors. First, let us mention one thing. We were sorry to lose, and at the same time envied, a class-mate of ten years. Rita Blum had answered the call to her vocation. and joined the convent at Chestnut Hill. Now to go on-----------. Again we were victorious in interclass basketball. The girls again won the cham- pionship this year; and incidentally received a silver cup with the names of the team members engraved thereon. Besides this, our class boasted of being the best-represented on either of the Varsity Squads. Our first big social affair was a grand success, due mostly to the businesslike manage- ment and originality of our home-room teacher. Sister Lilian. The affair referred to was the first Junior Prom, which has since been established as an annual affair. A few months later found us being addressed as Seniors. This recalled the times when we, as children in lower grades, looked up to anyone bearing that title, but now for the life of us we cannot imagine ourselves as being dignified and admired. As the weeks progressed we acquired a wider knowledge of the world at large. Such topics as political movements, society and its functions, and government legislations were forever under discussion in our Democracy and Economics classes. They built, as it were, a foundation on which all our undertakings were based. In our first class meeting we elected officers and roughly outlined the activities of the year. 14

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PLEASANT RETROSPECTS It seems but a few years ago that we started our career of seeking knowledge in the baby grade” of Sacred Heart School. Step by step, we progressed in our studies. Little by little, we acquired what then appeared to be a vast store of learning. It was not until we became acquainted with the fundamentals of an education in the wearisome classes of grammar grades, that we realized, and still realize, how little we really do know of the book of life. Our grammar school history is rather uneventful, containing incidents more or less common to all such histories. Yes, I believe we were quite a normal class in this respect. During all these years of struggling with dif- ficult lessons, and sometimes of exasperating our teachers, we were un- consciously paving the way for a higher education. This brings us to the journey through high school. It was a rainy day in September, yet not cold nor cloudy, as this would suggest, for occasionally the sun shone forth to warm and encourage the young hopefuls applying as Freshmen of Sacred Heart High. Thus, were we initiated into our Alma Mater. We were model Freshmen—, model, that is, if you consider the mean- ing of Freshmen.” If playing pranks during class hours, openly defying the petitions of our teachers to be quiet, refusing to prepare our lessons whenever we felt like it. infesting the entries at noon hour, or enacting our motto. The noisier the merrier, would imply that we were a bit too fresh for Freshmen, then I’m afraid we were that. Nevertheless we were soon to experience the veracity of the proverb, “He who laughs last laughs best.” Shortly after the Christmas holidays the kind and all-too-gentle Sister Mary Henry was transferred. An apparently inhuman and extremely cruel sister was substituted. And did we “chalk the line?”—Those were miser- able days. So much so. that half the class had decided to quit school en- tirely. But something happened. Virtue cannot be hidden for long. Not only were we transformed, but the very atmosphere itself underwent a complete change. Our teacher threw off the fiendish mask of coercion and became the considerate and loving Sr. Aloysia that she is by Nature. That was the beginning of a new era of achievement. With such an inter- ested teacher to guide us, we followed her suggestions of publishing a Class Book which we called “San Cuore”—the first, and as yet the only Class Book to be published by a Freshman Class in S. H. H. S. Nor did we shirk our duty in any passing activity. On the day assigned for the Book Party, each and every Freshman contributed a book to our then incomplete li- brary. Not even when the time drew near for our daily talks in the Assem- bly. did we Freshmen falter in our determination. With the able guidance of Sr. Aloysia, we delivered a series of talks on various World Prizes and 13

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In order to secure finances for our Year Book and our prospective trip to Washington, we started by giving several house parties. These proved to be both entertaining and profitable. In the early part of December we held a Card Party in the Church auditorium, and later on, a Spaghetti Supper. Both of these doings required a deal of preparation, but the ends justified the means, for the income was received with outstretched arms. By this time, athletics had gained a strong foothold in our school. The basketball teams enjoyed the most successful season they ever had, thus bringing pride and honor to Sacred Heart. We. especially, were interested in sports and again captured honors in the interclass tournament. For the first time in the history of the school, both cups reposed in the Senior Class or rather, the library. Connected with athletics were also social affairs. Two sport dances during the course of the season were exceptionally well attended; thus affording not only enjoyment, but financial backing as well. The next outstanding event in this history was the production of our Senior play, “After You I’m Next,” a comedy in three acts. After weeks of earnest rehearsals, we were ready for the big night. It was, we can happily say, a grand success.------and a heavy load off our minds. There is still one re- sponsibility resting on us as Seniors, the publication of a credible Year Book. Time, energy, and perseverance must of a necessity be stored in its pages. Many years hence will find us perusing its contents, silently enjoy- ing the memories it incites. And now the school year is drawing to its close. Our Alma Mater has nursed us frcm childhood, reared us under her protecting wing, and in a few days will release us from her folds. May we. as the first graduating class to acquire a complete education at Sacred Heart, always reflect honor and glory on her. FRANCES JOST 15