Salem State University - Clipper Yearbook

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Greeting. It is with great pleasure that we publish this greeting to our class from one of the most highly respected and dearly beloved teachers of this school. To the class of 1908:- A word of greeting and congratulation. Your period of systematic instruction is almost ended. The two years which, at their beginning, stretched away so far in the future, have passed all too quickly. The things you were going to do during that time are many of them, no doubt, still unaccomplished. The weight of wisdom with which you intended to freight your minds against the demands of school room emergencies seems too slight to be measured. You look back over the months spent in the imme- diate preparation for teaching and try to realize what you have accomplished. You look forward with some misgivings to the work which awaits you and wonder what the outcome will be. But your professional fitness can not be measured in the terms of the physicist, though certain figures may be significant. Knowledge of subject matter is undeniably essential and this you have in, at least, a fair degree. If not, the system of public instruction, not you, is to blame. Important as the familiarity with facts may be there are other things which you need for success and these the Normal School, I am su1'e, has helped to develop. They are a professional insight, a spirit of conscien- tious effort and an enthusiastic attitude towards your chosen calling. You will undoubtedly be told upon your graduation day-I have heard it almost every year since my connection with the school-that you are entering upon the occu- pation of teaching at a most opportune time. Commonplace though this saying may be, it is nevertheless true, and there is more 1'eason for asserting it today than ever. This means in the near future more opportunity for the teacher and greater recognition so- cially and financially. But what you are interested in most deeply is the chance for immediate and desirable employment. You are not concerned very much with what the profession may offer ten years from now. Of course, you are looking forward to teaching as your life work. But with the average length of service not more than three years, what becomes of all the teachers? We know a good many who have taught fifteen, twenty, twenty-five and even thirty years. ln fact, it seems as if most of those now in the schools had served longer than the average period. There must be a very large number who, after one year of teaching or possibly two, are persuaded to take up some other calling. Now this is not because of lack of success or untitness for the work. There is some other reason. The professional training of teachers is an excellent preparation for something besides the schoolroom. No wonder the graduating classes of all the normal schools in the State do not furnish teachers enough to till the vacancies. While you have been pegging away at your studies 1, too, have been working hard. The year to me has been one of great opportunity and constant application. At times I have become so much absorbed that the Normal School seemed far away. Oc- casionally sounds from Salem reached me and the chance meeting in Cambridge or 11

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bowed low before the queen. Her little captor then angrily told the queen the wrongs Anne had inflicted upon her and her friends. HO queen most loved! what will become of us now? We no longer have any homes since this mortal has stolen ours and ruined them forever. 'f Nay, queen, replied Anne eagerly, ff I will return them all, each one. I did not know the harm I was doing these dear people. I'll give them back their lilies. ff No, my child, answered the queen gently, ff you cannot make whole what you so thoughtlessly and so carelessly injured. The pure white homes a1'e already ruined beyond all hope. lVhat can you do ? Remorsefully, Anne hung her head and said nothing. Slowly, tears of sorrow and pity for the homeless fairies welled up in her eyes and overflowed. The queen now spoke again : 4' Those tears, dear child, are the salvation of my poor fairies. They are tears of true eontrition and sorrow. They will nourish the hearts of new lilies and make them grow to large and beautiful homes for those who are now homeless. But after you have returned home, remember that whenever you destroy a lovely lily you may be robbing some beautiful sprite of her shelter. Do not forget. She waved her hand lightly, and Anne felt herself slipping, slipping. She put out her hand and sat up-to find herself grasping the sides of the canoe. .The sun was just setting and it was time to go home. She took up her poor, withered, mutilated lilies and dropped them gently in the water. Then she started homeward through the twilight shadows. MILDRED FISHER. Miss Sayre objects to a trip to the gas house on Saturday because she has made a solemn vow that she will indulge in no pleasure excursions during Lent. Mr. Adams: 4' lVhat is energy? Bright Junior: 'f Energy is the power to overcome work. f' They have been friends together In sunshine and in shade. Ruth and Abbie. Because of the great amount of knowledge obtained in this school, the following represents the attitude of the Juniors in June, 1908. . all 5 C ', Q3 fe . 1 416.505 ox 9 Z ' 40 W 1 2... O O, ,Ml gb I f'-x 10

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Boston of one of your number served to impress the fact that I was not far from home. Sometimes I have asked about what was going on in the geography class and have also inquired about the doings of the present juniors, but I have not heard of anyone re- peating the leap for life from the top of the gravel hill. On the whole I know little about the Salem Normal School this yearg I have become quite absorbed for the time being in the university study of educational problems. To come back to one's college after the absence of a dozen years is to find lots of changes. Think what your own experience may be in returning to the Normal School in 1920. Since my undergraduate days at Harvard many new buildings have been erected, the complexion of the faculty has changed somewhat, the standard of require- ments has been raised, the athletic games have moved across the Charles River and John the Orangeman is no more. But the President of the University is the same grand figureg the institution stands as firmly as ever for the motto upon its shield, H Veritas, and the Harvard spirit with the growth in the number of students has in- creased in strength and loyalty. To feel oneself occupying even an humble place in this great university with its wealth of associations, its infinite opportunities for 1'e- search and its faculty of distinguished men is indeed stimulating and inspiring. The experience of this year has given me once more the pupil's point of view. N o instructor ought ever to allow himself to forget that such an outlook exists and l am not willing to admit that I have erred seriously in this respect. But after a term of years behind the teacher's desk one's ideas of how things look from the other side be- come somewhat vague. Although most of my work this year has been individual research in the library, I have found myself associated at times with students who might easily find a place in a normal school classroom. To touch elbows with them in a common work, to observe their impressions regarding the courses of instruction and to note their spirit and attitude towards things in general is, especially to the teacher of teachers, illuminating and suggestive. My word of greeting must now become one of parting. This is not so easy. In September when I gave up your class I tried to do so without formality. Some of my colleagues even did not know that l had gone. I left the goodbys until another time. Suppose we do so now. Sincerely, Wn.1.1AM C. Moons. Her Fiftieth Composition. In the new f-ll of his house sat the dean before a bright peat fire. Ile had had a long illness but was now a well man. In his hand was a new treatise entitled Was Aflfuffs occupation cvcr that of a Goldsmith ? Ignorance, he said thoughtfully gazing at a crimson cushion. placed on a box bearing the label ' War on. bacterin.,' is the pit num often falls in ll- Notc : My ink has dried up, so I can't finish this today. 12