Spencerville High School - Echoes Yearbook (Spencerville, OH)

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VALEDICTORY-Cont. Argicultural possibilities are truly great. The Future Farmers of America must learn to preserve fertile top soil and rebuild that which has been depleted by erosion due to the ignorance of our forefathers. In the past a farmer tilled his land until the fertility was used, then moved on to new frontiers. These having disappeared today, we must build and pre- serve the worn of our land. The factory workers will soon have a huge task facing them, namely conversion from war time to peace time materials. Great machines which are now producing guns, tanks, and planes must change to producing automobiles, reefrigerators and electric appliances. This transference will call for ingenuity. Teaching is another attractive profession with a future for service. Young minds must be trained to search for more knowledge. Not only should it be obtained, but it should also be used wisely. We see many college graduates who have been failures because they cannot use their learning sensibly. Now is a good time to enter this field as 120,000 teach- ers have left since Pearl Harbor. They have entered armed forces and found better paying jobs in defense factories. Although the salary seems small, it is steady even in times of depression. It is estimated that 400,000 more teachers will be necessary for an adequate post war school program. The actual work varies greatly. There are subjects ranging from science and mathematics to English and foreign languages, With these new worlds to conquer, with this clear-cut challenge be- fore us, have we truthfully reached the end? The years ahead will give the answer. If some of us do not grasp the meaning of this immediate task, today is the end. For those who are enthusiastic for the future, this is just the beginning. True pleasure comes from accomplishment through service: therefore to us who would succeed: The things that haven't been done befofre are the tasks worthwhile today. Are yo-u one of the flock that follows, or are you the one that shall lead the way? Are you one of the timid souls that quail at the jeers of the doubting crew? Or dare you, whether you win or fail? Strike out for the goal that's new? And now-Fellow Classmates: Our days in school are ending, Our lessons in pad and text. But problems now beginning, will test our skill the best. The success in our occupations The future alone will tell, Now with sincere' congratulations We say to you- Farewell Page 19

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Valedictory Members of the board of Education, faculty, parents, and fellow classmates Each day is a fresh beginning Each morn is the wcrld made new. Tonight - Commencement! To some it seems the end - to others but a beginning - a. time to try the strength of our character. 'Tis true, it is the end of years of work, play, joys and, perhaps, sadness of close companionship in the class-room, in sports and social contacts as a class, but is the beginning of something greater, something bigger than any of us. Yes, examinations and tests have caused us anxiety in school. Now, as we go to face life, will we be able to stand. each test and solve each problem satisfactorily? Have our predecessors proven their skill? We may answer this by observing the useful things about us. Take, for instance, our electric lights, radios and automobiles, which have become so commonplace as to have ceased to excite wonder unless we stop to reflect. Yet many members of the audience l- am addressing can remember when these things were not in existence. Many fields includ- ing television, medical scientific research, plastic experimentation and world air power offer us a challenge! Is it inevitable that these fields will advance with amazing rapidity? We, the youth of today, must sponsor these enterprises. The world moves forward on the feet of its citizens, We cannot stop thinking. Each of us owes a debt to mankind, regardless of the fact, that we do not like to admit such a responsibility. If we do not make the world better by our being here, we break faith with those who have lived and died before us. Can we, the class of 1944, accept this challenge? Several of our boys have already. They have taken their place in the armed forces. Their mettle will be proven on the far flung battle frclnts of the world. We, on the home front, will have more choice in our vocations. We may choose to enter higvhier -educational institutions, to step into the field of agriculture or to work in a defense factory to hasten the advent of world peace. Hundreds of fields are open to us if we wi-sh to continue our educa- tion. Alhough many new miracles have been performed in medical science, there will always be diseases to conquer. The new sulfa drugs are saving the lives of millions of soldiers, and sailors and marines, but nothing has been developed to cure cancer. Sister Kenny has alleviated much of the fear of infantile paralysis, but we cannot trace the common cold germ. What a boon to mankind if some individual might bring forth a simple cure for the ravages of this disease. The chemical laboratory has brought us such things as synthetic rubber, cloth made of milk and plastics made: of coal and soy beans, but as yet chemists have merely scratched the surface of new discoveries. Page 18

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Salutatory Mothers and fathers, faculty, fellow schoolmates and friends: New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouthg They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast the truth. The graduating class of 1944 salutes you! We especially pay tribute to our parents who have worked, planned, and sacrificed that our ambi- tion to study and to graduate might be attained. On behalf of the mem- bers of this class, I welcome each of you to this scene of our final efforts. This is indeed our night, our graduation. Even the members of the faculty fade into insignificance. Gofod Old Mother High School ha.s written Finis upon our pages and is sending us forth to prove the worth of her endow- ments. Yes - tonight we have reacihied one of our goals and even though we have looked forward eagerly to this event, some of the pleasure has been seized from it through our separation from some of our classmates. Early this year, the long hand of Selective Service entered our ranks to take six of our boys into the armed forces of our great and beloved country. We are all conscious to a greater or lesser degree of the consequences involved in an all-out war effort, in which we have been forced to engage ourselves, by greedy, vicious and unscrupulous enemies, in order that we might survive and perpetuate the freedoms to which we have long been accustomed. This class of 44 salutes all members of our armed forces who are so gallantly giving their all. We would like now to think of the pleasanter things that we feel sure are to follow this great world struggle. Industry has astounded the entire world with its production. Plans are now being madle for reconversion to civilian production which assures all of us a higher standard of living. Science also has made important discoveries that assure us of longer and better lives. Statistics show that 90 per cent of savings that we have put into savings bonds forms a huge reservoir that will be used for new homes, cars, radios, washing machines, and all types of manufactures and agri- cultural prodfucts that make for a higher standard of living. We as a class look forward to taking our places in the different walks of life, agriculture, business, or professions. We aspire to help to solve the many problems that will face a war-torn world. We must progress, for tonight is our commencement. The highest suc- cess ought to be ours. Each day new opportunities are ours and each one of us has an equal chance to do something worthwhile. Never has the value of educa.tion been so fully realized. Never were there so many skilled instructors, each a specialist in his o-wn line. The opportunities of the classroom have passed, but the opportunity for making the most of what we have acquired in school is just beginning. As it look back upon our record and think of us who started together, of the constant routine of being in the class room together and of the kind teachers who have been so faithful, thoughts of regret rise and steal away some of the joy of the day. Everything this class has accomplished has been through the coopera- tion of its members and the guidance of its teachers. We all understand it takes an intelligent individual to study to' become a teacher, but it also takes an observing one who can readily see the wants of his pupils and does all in his power to help him acquire them. Again we thank you for this special privilege accorded us and say wel- come, thrice welcome, to this 56th Commencement of Spencerville High. Happy - yes, we are happy tornighitg how could graduates be otherwise, for Great it is to believe a dream When you stand in youth by a starry stream But greater still is to fight life through And say at the end, My dream is true. Page 20