Spencer High School - Spencerian Yearbook (Spencer, IN)

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'SPENCERIAN Valedictory of the Senior Class We are celebrating today the attainment of a goal set up in our Freshman year, and we stand at the meeting between a happy past and unknown future. After four long years of preparation, we are now ready for the beginning of other more serious steps on the ladder of life. We are proud of ourselves and happy, but beyond the glory of our achievements there is in our minds the consciousness of the seriousness of our situation, and the responsibilities that the future must carry. VVe are not unmindful of the part that the state and community have had in the services of this day, and we are not forgetful of the sacrifices that parents, teachers, and others have made that we might be here. We realize' that oppor- tunities for us to learn are far greater than they were fifty years ago. Our school equipment is more complete, teachers better qualified, and social advantages much greater. For all these efforts of the state and the community, we are very thankful, and truly hope that they have not been in vain. But our true ap- preciation for the things that have been done for us we expect to demonstrate in the future. We have attained the first round in the ladder of education, but we have caught only a glimpse of what it means to be ed- ucated. In our past school-life we have been taught to think, to will and to do. But we have learned by the problems we have had to solve in common, that the greatest thing is to think and to act to the best interest of the social group. While we once had the very vague idea that to be educated was to be able to make a living, and to be largely independent of society, we now know that to be educated is to be keenly alive to our responsibilities to the community, the state, and the nation. So beyond our pride we are aware of some of our re- sponsibilities. We feel that we are especially indebted to the Spencer High School. She has been a mother to us, and in leaving her familiar halls, we cannot escape the feeling that something is going out of our lives, or that we are departing 'from the protection and care of a hand upon which we have become dependent. But yet influences, yea the memories, of dear old Spencer High School will live in the heart and souls of the Class of 1920 until our minds become blurred, and our hearts cease to vibrate with the pulse of life. Thus, then, we shall feel no hesitancy in doing 1920

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ASPENCERIAN our part to promote the welfare of the Spencer High. We see her needs today a more efficient equipment, a larger piece of ground for agricultural experiments, a nine months' school. This is a great age in which to live. Nations are being pro- gressively changed, maps are being re-made, and thrones are tottering. But through it all can be seen the underlying princi- ples of democracy, of liberty, and of iustice. These principles have always been set before us in our High School career. We, this graduating class, declare that this priceless heritage, for which our forefathers suffered and died, will by us be preserved and defended, in war as well as in peace. ' Dear teachers, you have had the training of us for the last four years, and you have certainly put forth every effort within your power to make true American men and women out of the raw material within your hands. We trust that our future will prove to you your success. But as We advance into the world of wonderful opportunities, and are thrown more and more upon our own guidance, our thoughts will travel back to you, and we 1 92 shall realize more than ever before that the lessons in this High School were necessary to make of us such men and women that America, as well as Spencer High School, will be glad to claim her own. Soon the members of our class will be separated, each tread- ing the various avenues of life. Our schoolmates, the Freshmen, the Sophomores, and the Juniors, we leave to travel paths step by step, which we have previously traversed. Classmates, let us as we separate go forth with the determination to prove that Spencer High School was one of the great factors in the world for making individuals that are worth while. When our road grows rough and hilly, I And ambition's tide ebbs low, May our wisdom be our bulwark, Till our souls shall stronger grow. -VVard Manners. 0