Samuel Gompers Vocational Technical High School - Artisan Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

Page 16 text:

Uo you relnelnhcr thc first day at school? Rt'lll0lll- her you were happy when you left your house, happy lu-cause you were going somewhere, entering sonic thing you had never experienced hefore? Then when you reached your temporary destination you grew lonely. you were leary, you were afraid to take the step,-this becoming a Gompers man. The doors of the school were wide open, like the out stretched arms of a mother, and you stepped in. As soon as you had done so, you started to he per- secutetl as a rookie. You asked a senior student how to get to a room, and he sent you to the basement custodianis locker. Another fellow directed you into the court yard. But that wasnt as had as when you were sent for a wire stretcher. for a left handed monkey wrench, and when you were told to get a hox of anlperes. After he-ing led astray hy these seniors or so called upper-

Page 15 text:

Wisdom is the First Cousin of Freedom and Freedom is the Glory of this Nation and its People tTlwnu' of a rm-cn! nmlion picturej Your graduation from our school marks the final important step in the course of formal education. With these graduation ceremonies, you are not completing your studies, you are only beginning. Formal education ceases and education in life and living begins. Never before have graduates of vocational schools been given greater opportunity to serve as defenders of our great Democracy than at the present time. Until to-day, your schooling has been designed primarily to teach you the basic principles of a vocation. Your moral obligation and civic duty will now be to diligently pursue and continue this training until you can qualify as a skilled mechanic - a master craftsman. However, specific training in a vocation - master craftsmen - is, in itself, not a sign of WISDOM, or its first cousin FREEDOM. lvith even greater eagerness you must seek to employ your Cod- given mental tools to be an honorable and law-abiding American citizen. You should strive to think for yourself, to have a high moral and men- tal attitude in serving the common good. Attend your Church regularly, have faith in yourself and fellow-Americans, and put your trust in God. lt is my earnest hope and sincere prayer, that each and every one of you, despite all adversities - by your study, knowledge, skill, at- tainment. understanding, and tolerance, may achieve true WISDOM, so that your generation will always cherish and perpetuate American Freedom, the GLORY of this NATION and its PEOPLE. Sincerely, CHRISTIAN ALBERT GEISSINGER ROY B. STANLEY

Page 17 text:

' L .fs ernst for il while. you felt good lneealuse you knew you would he doing the same thing in the future vealrs, If you eun pieture the sehool the first time you npproanehed it, you might relnemher saying to your- self, Hls this the sehool they 1-all the prison? It looks an little like one . You rememher, it was your friends who told you it wus u prisong that onee you got into the plaee. the doors closed and you started to stiffer the eonsequenees of heing an student. But. when you went inside. something happened. You opened your eyesg you were impressed hy the numer- ous shops, hy the variety of maehines. You started to form your own opinion. Before long the rumors you had previously heard uhout Compers vanished from your mind. After going through this primary stage, you started to feel at home here. By now you had made at few Wt