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

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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

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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

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CREED e the class of ’24 upon starting out on another phase of our life will always think of the cherished memories of old St. Clair High. While in school we have more than tried to emphasize the true meaning of the “square deal” policy. We have tried hard to keep the standards especially the moral standards of our school high. We have tried to live as we would have others live. We feel sure that our success, if we may call it that, is not due wholly to ourselves but to the encouragement of the whole school. Although we may depart from the High school life, we shall never forget the friendships made there and as our l ast words we wish the greatest of success to the school and its benefactors. Page Twenty- four