Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR White, who is to be head of the Science Depart- ment. Manchester High School, Manchester, N. H.; and Marjorie L. Henry, who leaves us for the French department of Brookline High School. Miss Anna Pushee has resigned on account of illness; Miss Nancy B. Kimball has resigned to be married, while Miss Mabel G. Curtis has been granted a leave of absence for one year, to do special work in the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union. To these teachers we extend our heartiest wishes and friendship. They have left a warm spot in our hearts, and will not soon be for- gotten. Mr. Fred W. Carrier, recently principal of the high school in Wilmington. Mass., will suc- ceed Roy W. Hatch in the History and Civics department. Irving P. Colman. a graduate of Somerville High School and Tufts College, will take the place of Howard W. Poor; Mrs. Blood, formerly a teacher in the English High School, will teach French, while Miss Mae G. Smith, who has had several years’ experience as a teacher of commercial work, will teach con- mercial subjects. 'I o these new teachers we hold forth our warmest welcome. We earnestly hope that the years spent in the Somerville High School will be pleasant and profitable. If in any way we can be of aid through the Radiator col- umns. without hesitation we place them at their disposal. v. K Among the many colloquialisms of to-day the expression, “It cannot be done,” is prob- ably the most familiar to the average high school student. Throughout the school year, and especially at the beginning of school when studies are new to us, we hear this disgraceful assertion used when we are too lazy to put the necessary tune and energy required to work out a problem in mathematics, translate a sen- tence in Latin, or perform an experiment in chemistry. Such a statement is not only abominable and foolish, but also without sense and truth. It may take us a week to work out a problem, master a translation or complete any portion of study. Nevertheless, the in- disputable fact remains, it can be done. More- over, we should know that we would not be n given anything to do that could not be done. The boy or girl who looks into the future with fear, dreading that they can’t do the thing they set out to do, may rest assured that they will never do it. So wipe out this senseless say- ing from your vocabulary, and remember the words of Mr. Edgar A. Guest:— “Just buckle in with a bit of a grin. Then take off your coat and go to it; lust start in to sing as you tackle the thing I hat cannot be done, and you’ll do it.” We are glad to announce that the Boys’ De- bating Society has started on another season. At the first meeting Mr. Mahoney had a heart to heart talk with the boys about the necessity of the club having good support, with the ex- cellent result that many pupils have handed in their names for membership. During the year debates will be held with the Girls’ Debating Club, the civics classes, and possibly some history classes. It is President Smith’s earnest desire to have as many pu- pils as possible join the club in order that sev- eral interclub debates may be held relative to a question for the Triangular League debate. To be able to speak well is one of the great- est assets in life. Professor Palmer says, “He who can explain himself may command what he wants. He who cannot is left to the pov- erty of individual resource; for men do what we desire only when persuaded. The per- suasive tongue is, therefore, one of the chief levers of life.” This power of speech is within your reach in the debating clubs of our school. Don’t let the opportunity slip by, but join at once. All can- not make the various teams of course, but both boys and girls can give the encouragement of their presence at the meetings, and profit from hearing others speak. r . During the first few months of the school year many of us arc anxious to drop a subject or to change to another, because we do not like it or it is too hard. This is exactly why we should keep such a subject. It is precisely what we need. We require such a subject to conquer ourselves. If we study the subject tCojtmu ad uii page 0 )

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12 SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR range, and most likely to produce the best re- sults. Above all. then, get started right, and follow out the course of study that is the most suitable for you. Now is the time. Improve your opportunity! ! ! ! r v r Girls! Pause a moment amid the varied claims of classroom, society and sports. Arc you doing your duty by the Girls’ Debating So- ciety? There are almost a thousand girls en- rolled in our school this year. How many of you are supporting this branch of our High School activities? Yet the time required is only about an hour a week. Do you know that the Girls’ Debating Club meets every Monday afternoon to discuss popular topics? Why not attend, these debates and obtain a training in public speaking which will be of great value to you not only in your school work, but all through your life? Show your school spirit! Encourage the members who are endeavoring to make this society a success, by adding your name to the membership list and by attending the debates as far as possible. Remember that our girls won honor last year for their Alma Mater, and resolve to have a share in this year’s honors. Therefore, girls, Seniors, Jun- iors, Sophomores and Freshmen, join the De- bating Society and help us win the shield for Somerville this year. v » r r Watch us grow! In the year 1852 the Som- erville High School entered upon its work of instruction with an enrollment of sixty-six. The first sessions were held on the second floor of the present City Hall building and the faculty con- sisted of the principal and one assistant. Even in 1872, when the old Latin School was built, the number of pupils was but 101 and the teachers, seven. The present school year opens with an en- rollment of 2,100 pupils and a corps of seventy- six teachers. Truly our school has grown! The earlier buildings have expanded to accommo- date the increased attendance, and up-to-date equipment has replaced the cruder facilities of earlier days. Especially have we developed in the extent and variety of the curriculum. Old school re- ports show that “the three R’s” were contin- ued into the Sophomore year and that the ad- vanced Latin of the Seniors was that of Cae- sar’s Commentaries. We all know what a varied choice of extended courses is offered the present day pupil. r. tt k Bang! Immediately there is a shuffle of noisy feet. The attention of the class is focused on the direction of the noise, and the minds of many of the pupils are far from the lesson. A war bomb dropped into the room! No! This is the description of a typical class- room when some thoughtless or careless pupil has let a book or a desk cover fall. Everyone has done this very thing at some time during his school life, but never with the thought of the disturbance created, and the time necessary to bring all minds back to the lesson. A class- room consisting of careful, thoughtful pupils accomplishes double the amount of work a classroom does containing pupils who are for- ever dropping something. This seems a trivial matter to occupy• Radiator space, but it is the small things that sometimes count the most. Henceforth, then, let each one see to it that he is not a disturber of the harmony of a class- room. ! In culling out material for publication in a school magazine as large as the Radiator, er- rors frequently occur. This is true of the re- cent June issue. A poem entitled “Book Love” was published as the work of Mr. Curtis F. Day. of the Class of lDlo-B. Mr. Day did not write the poem, but used it as a quotation at the conclusion of one of his articles handed into the Radiator. We have been asked, therefore, to extend in behalf of the editor of 1914-15 his sincere regrets and deepest apolo- gies to Mr. Day, to the author of the poem, and to our readers. K r We are always glad to see our instructors advance to higher positions, though it is with a feeling of deep regret that we part with them. We miss several well-known and prominent instructors from our teaching corps. Among the teachers of Somerville to go to higher spheres arc Howard W. Poor, who enters upon the headmastership of Pinkerton Academy, Derry, X. II: Roy W. Hatch, who goes to Dor- chester High School as submaster; Edward N.

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 14 flfotb Clark on fllMUtar? Craintng To the Editor of the Radiator:— You have asked me to write an article for tlie “Letter Box” and have suggested that I say something about the value of military training in the high school. You say that many pupils complain that only those selected for the vari- ous teams get any physical training and that they are few in number in comparison with the whole student body. You think that mili- tary training would be a means for providing development and discipline for every boy and apparently hope that such training will be es- tablished in our high school. I am glad to comply with your request if by so doing I can assist the Radiator or give to the pupils any help or encouragement upon any of the af- fairs which relate to their well-being or claim their interest. And among such concerns there are few indeed more important than the matter of physical health and development. So I will take your subject for my letter and will write about what we have, and what we may have even under present conditions. The first thing which will occur to the minds of all of us is that we have no physical instruc- tion in the school; the next that we have no gymnasium. To many the thought will seem inevitable that there is nothing which can be done to improve matters until we have one or the other, or both, of these conditions. That this thought is not fully justified by the facts is what I shall seek to show. It is a curious fact that we get comfort in adverse conditions by the reflection that others are no better off than ourselves. We seem to enjoy isolation more in our high than in our low estate. Applying this common feeling to the present case we can draw satisfaction from the fact that very many other high schools are 110 more fortunate in these respects than our- selves. While it is doubtless true that no com- munity of considerable size would think of building to-day a high school without suitable accommodations for physical instruction and exercise, it is equally true that few communi- ties outside the large cities thought it neces- sary to make such provision even in so recent times as one or two decades ago. Then the feeling was that the youth could get adequate physical training outside of school in the play- field and in the occupations of the home. Rapid changes in city life and a growth in interest in hygiene, health and physical culture have wrought a reversal of public sentiment concern- ing this matter, and now the school is looked upon as the place where exists the best chance to train the youth so that they shall become well developed in body as well as in mind. Physical as well as intellectual and moral edu- cation is needed. What then can we do? Forgetting the girls for a moment let us see about military drill. The exact status of that matter is this: 'I he Standing Committee on High School', of the Board of School Committee has before it an order introduced in the January meeting which reads as follows:— “Ordered: That military drill be introduced in the Somerville High School as a part of the curriculum for boys.” It also has under consideration a resolution passed by the Board of Aldermen on July 2-i, and read in the School Committee meeting on September ??. and referred to the High School Committee. This resolution is as follows:— “Resolved: It is the sense of this Board that Military Training for boys be added to the cur- riculum of the High School as soon as there are sufficient funds to provide for the expense incurred.” Under the practice of the School Committee the usual procedure to be followed is for the Committee on High Schools to report to the School Committee its recommendation concern- ing this matter. Then the School Committee will act upon this report in : u:h way as in its judgment is proper. While the sub-committee is considering this question it would not be appropriate for me to discuss here the merits of the question. There arc some things, however, which I may say about it. without impropriety, which will be worth the attention of all pupils. Of these, the first to mention is that it is well to distinguish in this matter facts from opinions. Here are some facts. Military drill is not an accepted high school institution. The practice of schools differs; some have it. others do not. There are persons who for one reason or an- other advocate the introduction of military drill