St Clair High School - Clairvoyant Yearbook (St Clair, MI)

Page 26 text:

1 9 2 4 THE CLARION 19 24 not wrong and that he was not cheating — not cheating because he never gave it a thought. W hen students do this kind of thing and do it knowingly, I wonder how many have even thought just who we are cheating? Is it the teacher, the school, the other student, or ourself? It is mostly ourself. What we learn in school we expect to put to use in life and so if we learn the bad or undesirable things along with the good things, we will put them to use just as much as we put to use the latter, and when cheating becomes a habit then we are in deep water and this is the time we want to put on the brakes and check ourselves. Habit, habit, habit the only way to stop a bad habit is to stop the entire habit all at once. Year by year we have noticed that through different environment in our school life, we have gradually seen the highest standards of this high school reached. Now students take a different attitude toward their work and not only their work but in their play. The selfish spirit of an individual or a group has not been so prom- inent in our school life. And what has done all this? One thing — the setting of a high goal or standard. The striving of the school, not the individual but the whole student body has made possible the reaching of this higher rung on the ladder of success. Nothing can be more promising than the making of this change for the better. The students have taken a different attitude toward their relationship and business. We are a city state among ourselves. We are now taking care of the school business and governing ourselves. In the last few years we have adopted a new con- stitution under which each student has a part. We feel that this is a shift farther in our school life. Questions have come up that have been usually left to the faculty but now the students are so interested that they have taken it to their school government and there it has been discussed and settled. This whole issue of self government has made each student more self reliant and confident in his own opinions. In athletics we have also noticed a great change which is for the better. A few years ago it was very customary to find crabbing and swearing in our athletic teams, no matter how the game should happen to be going. Lately however we have been fortunate in having coaches with principal who do not advocate this sort of thing but rather advocate a word of encouragement which perhaps can account for the many more victories gained in our sports. The mind of the school has been raised and students now look for more than victories — that of playing the game clean but hard, it is the same in life, fellow students. Look for something higher than victories — the art of playing the game of life fair and clean. Think of something besides gaining things— that of giving something, and when the harvest comes you will find that you have reaped more than you have sown. So we can say with Longfellow “Let us then be up and doing With a heart for any fate Still achieving , still pursuing Learn to labor and to wait ” Pape Twenty-two

Page 25 text:

19 24 THE C LA R I O X 19 24 SENIOR CLASS PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS In the closing hours of our High School career we. as a class, feel deeply the appreciation that our fellow students have shown in what we have attempted to accomplish in our work here. The class of ’24 is grateful for the many little kindnesses the High School students have shown and we are more than pleased with the spirit manifested in doing the m and in helping us to attain our High School success — graduation. As a whole I feel that our class has shown remarkable spirit in their work, I wish to thank them for the fine support they have given me in putting over the top our many projects. The cooperation of the class in raising funds for the publishing of our year book has been especially in- spiring. We wish also to extend our hearty appreciation to the faculty for the untiring efforts put forth for our success. We are confident that without “our type” of teacher our four years in high school could not have been as beneficial to us both intellectually and socially. Therefore as a class we want every one that has shown interest in our work to know that though we take different roads they will ever be in our minds and we shall never forget what they have meant to us. From the time we entered the high school until now, the time for us to leave it. we have noticed two changes, one a material or physical change and the other a mental and moral change. First the change of our sur- roundings and buildings. We started our education in the old red brick high school and are now finishing it in one of the best school buildings in the country. This physical change has not come about by itself. Some one is responsible for it and I think all the credit and glory should go to our Superintendent, Professor Misenar. It was he who started the discussion of a new school building back in 1919 and 1920. Then later, however just before it was put to a public vote, Mr. Misenar put on one of the biggest advertising campaigns ever experienced in St. Clair, and did it pay? Now we are not disturbed in school while studying by some of the old beams or rafters squeaking and cracking. Did Mr. Misenar have to do this? W as it part of his work ? W hy certainly not. He did it solely because of his interest in the school project in St. Clair. I feel that we have one of the biggest men in the state for our Superintendent and I think no one can give him too much credit for this piece of work. W’e need also to mention of our class advisors Mrs. Maw, Miss Howe and Mr. Beecher and thank them for the deep interest they have shown in our class. Mrs. Maw has been one of our advisors ever since we were eighth graders, and has worked faithfully with us through the five years that followed. W T e want her to know that the class as a whole appreciate this int erest. Now we come to the second change — the mental change. When we were eighth graders and freshmen the morals of the school were so low that it was a very common occurrence for students to take an examination with open books beside them. And this was not the worst of it. This type of test became so common that students not only did it but did it with the idea that it was Page Tzventy-one

Page 27 text:

1 9 24 T II K C L A R I O S 19 24 CLASS HISTORY In the fall of 1920 a band of Pilgrims about fifty in number landed on the rocky-bound shores of St. Clair High. The main purpose in coming to the new land was to seek higher education and intellectual development. This band of Pilgrims drew up a new form of gov ' t having for their leader Melvin Brines and for their colony minister of finance Wm. Engelgau, assisted by 8 other cabinet members. After months of hard work these colonists were entertained by their Pilgrim neighbors, the Soph ' s at the City Hall. Several more months having passed we returned this act of courtesy by giving our new found friends a dancing party in the Garden Auditorium. After much success as pioneers in this new country we finished our first year and a short vacation started us on our second year with a loss of about 10 members. Our little colony was dwindling but we did not give up hope although we lost our place of shelter and found temporary refuge in the various churches which were inadequate to our needs. We were encouraged some- what by the arrival of two new colonists. We welcomed to our shores a new band of Pilgrims by giving them a dance in the Garden Auditorium. After many hard knocks we again pulled thru with the assistance of our faithful guardians the teachers and under the capable leadership of Melvin Brines and a new cabinet. We closed the second year after much hard study and entered into our third year repaid for such intensive study and inconvenience by knowledge gained and as we drew near our goal the way was made easier by the new building. Several new courses were added to our ciriculum. This year Charles Moore assisted by Dorothy Beyschlag, Helen Thompson, and Blanchard Cleland led us safely through. During this eventful year we were entertained by our upper classmen with a sleigh-ride party and at the end of the year we bid them a last farewell at the Banquet. After the departure of the wise ones we moved a step higher seeking more wisdom. The perils of the journey proved too much for some but we picked up some others who were dropped by the preceding colonies. To bring us through our last years in this strange shore and to guide us safely out on the high seas we chose Charles Moore again and his able assistants Katherine Balfour, Helen Thompson and Wm. Engelgau. To maintain our colony for a time we gave a Senior Coffee. Then next in line came the Indoor Circus. This proved to be a great success, thanks to the able assistance of Mr. Schalm and other members of the faculty. Another event taking place in this year was the Benefit Movie at the Garden. We were amply rewarded for our labor in this also. This little colony was flourishing and soon would be able to break away from the Mother Country. As we neared the end of our last year great efforts were put forth that we might reach our goal successfully and we broke away fully satisfied that we had done so. Frances Cox Julia Wells Page Tzceiity-thrcc