Sanford Preparatory School - Chrysalis Yearbook (Hockessin, DE)

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The first years were by no means easy. The years of nineteen twenty-nine and thirty marked a time when few things were beginning, many ending, except the one little idea which was starting to develop. During those hard years all the tremendous amount of work necessary to make the school a success Now.. S,4,,,,hc,,,,May was done by the little group, which was steadily growing. is I! In those days everyone lived in one large building, known as Quigley Hall, which today serves as the main dwelling. After a time a little red brick school house was built some distance away and named Sanford Hall after the little boy who had inspired the great work. Each year saw a steady increase in enrollment, and nearly every year a higher grade was added. All of this we found out, piece by piece, after we had been at Sunny Hills for a while. When we arrived in nineteen thirty-five Stephen May Hall, the dormitory in which we now live, was just being built. It is just across from Quigley Hall, and is unique in that it is rebuilt from the structure of an old barn. During our junior year we started many things that are now looked upon as customs. There is, for instance, the large formal dance that we have every year. This, of course, is a great deal of fun, but we all seem to find just as much pleasure in the annual barn dance. At this time we all dress in country costumes, ranging from milkmaids to country parsons. There is an orchestra, and plenty of hay for atmosphere. One of the things that we have learned here is that work can be made a pleasure. A good example of this happens . every spring. On any morning around this time we are apt to come across something like this when looking at the bulletin board: 1:20 P.M. Sunny Hills Annual Whitewashing Festival 46 Beautiful Brushes 46 Come one, Come all!!! . -W X Then we pull on our H0IlI,HllZl

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HISTDIQY UF SUNNY HILLS BARBARA F. KELSEY HERE we are, the senior class, on the point of graduating, in this year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and thirty-seven. The longest that any of us has been here is two years, and yet we feel as though this had been our home for a lifetime. In fact we felt that way after the first few days we were here. When we first came to Sunny Hills the Upper School was just beginning, and we were rather proud to be the highest class in the school, even though we were only juniors. Most people have to work their way up from insignificant freshmen, but not we-we start and finish at the top. Of course there had been a Sunny Hills School for quite a few years before the Upper School was established. The official opening date was the twenty-fourth of September, nineteen thirty, the unofficial date a good deal earlier. September twenty-fourth marks the birthday of a little boy whose life was at all times an inspiration to his mother. He passed away when he was a small child. This experience many times causes an embitterment or a shrinking-within for those who come into contact with it, but a few rare natures it broadens and softens. The mother's sorrow lent her understanding, and her love grew to include not only her own children, but all children. The mother began to realize the great need there was in the world for a place where children would not only be taught the fundamentals of educations, but also a workable principle of Lifeg something by which they could guide their course at all times, a place where Love, Truth, and Harmony would ever be made manifest for the growth of the child. One day a boy came to stay with the family for two weeks. This was the beginning of the school, for instead of two weeks he stayed ten years. Little by little a group of children gathered. At first they were friends and relatives of the family. Later on, as more people began to hear of the school strangers found their way there. Friend or stranger, all were heartily welcomed into the household. The idea of Sunny Hills, however, was not fully developed. At first it was known as Sunset Hill, a summer camp, with eight children staying the year round. As the years went by it became necessary to find a larger home for the children. Like the old woman in the nursery rhyme, the mother was beginning to have so many children that she didn't know what to do. It was in nineteen twenty-nine that Sunny Hills was moved to its present site. 0'1f ' '1

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overalls and dash out to whitewash the two miles or so of fence, and the building foundations. Everyone likes to do this, and afterward some kind of refreshment is usually served. Last spring saw the beginning of another tradition, the Gavel Banquet. Last year it l was quite a surprise, for none of us knew what was going to happen until the time came. But we soon found out that every year the gavel was going to be presented to the boy and girl in the junior class who most nearly lived up to the ideals of the school. The Gavel Girl and Boy are selected by student vote, for the honor involves the responsibility of being in active charge of the students during the coming year. i Annual Wh,itewashi11,g Festival Sports play a large part in our lives. Many a time we have sat through a long afternoon class, looking forward hopefully to the athletic period to follow. During the fall there is hockey and football, and in the spring, baseball and track. In the winter there are all sorts of winter sports, such as coasting, ice-skating, and skiing. Many times we have coasted merrily down a hillside, forgotten to turn sharply enough, and ended up with an icy shock in the stream at the bottom. Many of us stay for camp during the summer. It used to be that everyone lived over at The Haven, an old building dating from Revolutionary times, in two cabins, one for the boys and one for the girls. Last summer, however, the boys lived at the Haven while the girls stayed in Stephen May. Those of us who didn't stay during the summer were greatly surprised on returning to see the work that had been accomplished. There were two new buildings, a dining hall for the Upper School, and a house for the small children, known as Hebb Hall. This building was named for the Misses Hebb, whose school Mother had attended all through her school life. Besides this, in back of Sanford Hall, the boys had dammed back a lake, a fine addition to building of a large stone wiener roasts, and other This winter we had the scenery. This fall the boys completed the outdoor fireplace, around which we often have outdoor festivities. a change in the regular school curriculum. It provides for group discussions and project work, as well as for regular