St Johns High School - Knight Herald Yearbook (Toledo, OH)

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t 4 £ SODALITY (LJ S THE Sodality of Our Lady, which for many years has been a very active organization at Saint John ' s, is one of the most progressive groups in the United States. Fr. Daniel A. Lord, S. J., the National Director of Sodalities, recently said, Saint John ' s Sodality is one of the best in the United States. The object of the Sodality, which is to promote Catholic Action, is carried out in a systematized method. The whole Sodality is divided into two sections: the Junior Sodality tor the Freshmen and the Sophomores, and the Senior Sodality for the upperclassmen. These two sections are subdivided into committees with chairmen and vice-chairmen at their head. This organization in September was supervised by the student officers. Joseph Wrobel was Prefect; William Beins, Vice-Prefect. The Secretary and the Treasurer were Richard Kelting and Thomas Murray, respectively. Father Charles Wideman, S. J., was Moderator of the Senior Division and Father John Henry, S. J., was Moderator of the Junior Division. Hdward Cajacob was elected Prefect of the Junior Sodality. At the end of November, the Apostolic Committee was organized. This committee immediately saw to it that the students should receive an opportunity to go to Conlession weekly instead of monthly. Dur- ing the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, the Sodality under its supervision did a wonderful work of charity. Baskets of food, clothes, and toys were collected and distributed by the students to poor families. This committee also inaugurated the Daily Mass Drive. Among numerous other activities, the accomplishments of the Catechetical, Lecture and Entertainment Committees were outstanding. The Catechetical Committee has been promoting excellent missionary work. Every Sunday two catechists go to Rosstord to teach catechism to children who have never had the oppor- tunity of receiving such instruction. The Lecture Committee has spread facts about the Catholic Church. Many times educational lectures have been given on Catholic Maryland, the Mass and the Little Flower. These lectures were not only given to the Sodalists but also to various groups from different parishes in the city. During the first semester the Entertainment Committee furnished light entertainment for folks at the Old Age, Cripple and Orphans ' Homes. The Sodality, too, was often entertained by skits or musical programs offered by this group. A new department was added to the Sodality when the Ozanam Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society was organized at Saint John ' s on February first. At the request of Father Wideman, S. J., the Moderator, the officers of the Toledo Council initiated seven students into this international society. The seven members are: Hubert Beckmann, Frank Eberle, Valentine Deale, Augustine Geiger, Robert Glynn, and Charles Testa. Valentine Deale was appointed President of the Conference; Augustine Geiger is Vice-President; the Treasurer and the Secretary are Robert Glynn and Frank Eberle, respectively. The Ozanam Conference was given a special work by the Toledo Council. The student Vincentians are to establish and maintain circulating libraries in the hospitals of the city. Immediately, the members solicited parish conferences for money to buy books and wrote letters to publishing companies of the country asking for donations of books. Their efforts were not without success, for at once these companies sent about two hundred and fifty bound books. JACK SOLON, Prefect of the Senior Sodality As a climax for a most suc- cessful year the Sodality of Saint John ' s sponsored a city- wide convention on April the twenty-seventh. At this gath- ering there were five hundred Catholic High School students representing Notre Dame Academy, Ursuline Academy, Central Catholic High School and Saint John ' s. The pur- pose of the convention was to discuss the various phases of social entertainment and to determine what stand the So- cialists of the four schools should take in regard to the nation-wide drive of clean- ing the movies. [23] EDWARD CAJACOB, Prefect of the Junior Sodality J ' :: rimzris E —

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— ORGANIZATIONS L W) S THF organizations, which are usually extra auricular, play an important part in the High School cur- riculum and enter largely into the life of the student. Saint John ' s has always fostered a reasonable number of well supervised and well chosen organizations and extra curricular activities. A well bal- anced plan of organizations at Saint John ' s includes the field of religion, music, journalism, dramatics, forensic art and athletics. It is with the greatest pride that Saint John ' s presents a summary of its activities and those who have participated in them. One of the genuine sources of pride for Saint John ' s is her library and its staff. Father John Henry, S. J., is moderator of the library, and as a result of his efforts it has increased in size and developed in appearance. The library now contains oven ten thousand volumes. This number is ever increasing, owing to the generosity of students who donate books. The librarians, Frank Eberle, Joseph St. Charles and Raymond Jacob rendered efficient service to the student body. Acolythical Society — The purpose of the Acolythical Society is to serve daily Mass and to assist the priests in various religious ceremonies. This organization has been very active during the past year. Under the direction of Mr. George A. Wallenhorst, S. J., the faculty director, assisted by the Prefect, Joseph Wrobel, and the Vice-Prefect, Charles Wright, and aided by the two Junior chairmen, this organization took care of all divine services in a commendable way. During all the services the members followed closely the object of the society, which is to add to the beauty and grandeur of Divine Worship. The members of the society served Mass on all school days, Benediction on First Fridays, and Stations during Lent. The servers were prompt and loyal whenever they were appointed to serve. They were always ready to assist the priest and to make the ceremonies as solemn as they could, thereby giving good example to the rest of the students. Orchestra — The orchestra, another organization which brought much glory to Saint John ' s during the past year, has furnished entertainment for many of the school functions. It reached the pinnacle of success at the High School Play, and has been complimented ever since for its splendid showing. The orchestra has accomplished much during the past year under the personal direction of Mr. George A. Wallenhorst, S. J., an accomplished musician. It was smaller than usual, but the members accomplished much by their fine spirit of cooperation. During the past year a change was effected in the location of the music room when all the orchestra equipment was moved from the basement into a more spacious room on the first floor. This new music room is better than the old one, not only because it furnished a larger space for rehearsals, but because the temperature of this room is better for the instruments. Drum and Bugle Corps — The drum and bugle corps, which is closely connected with the orchestra, makes a fine appearance when the members are in uniform. The appearances of this group were confined to the two parades in Toledo, the one on Armistice Day, and the other on Decoration Day. When they appeared in their capes and caps of blue and gold, the school colors, they made a fine showing and reflected much credit on Saint John ' s. The corps con- sisted of twenty- five boys headed by Charles Wright and Thomas Murray, the color bearers. Tom Ferrell acted as drum major and received many compliments on his work. The corps made a late start, but under the direction of Mr. Wallenhorst, S. J., and Mr. Fred Witherell, it developed into a very fine representative group. [22]

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CL 4frV5 KNIGHT HERALD d- tt J WITH this special issue the Knight Herald celebrates its first major achievement since its inception just eighteen months ago. It was not until the school had been without a student publication for an entire semester that a group of interested boys under the guidance of Mr. Reynolds, S. J., as faculty supervisor, put their heads together, passed around the hat, and answered the students ' clamor for a school newspaper. The paper itself was small, and there were many changes to be found in succeeding issues, but each month brought a marked improvement. By the end of the scholastic year and after the publication of only four issues, the Knight Herald was firmly recognized as a real activity. The first issue of the paper this year found its size increased, its appearance improved, the staff en- larged and everything made better. Without hesitation the Knight Herald was accepted as a member of the two leading scholastic press associations of the country, The Catholic School Press Association and The National Scholastic Press Association. In the early part of the present year the paper developed and ad- vocated an editorial policy, stressing increased enthusiasm in school activities, the organization of a Dramatic Club and the formation of an High School Alumni Association. The results of the space devoted to articles stressing increased enthusiasm in school activities was clearly reflected in the attendance at the basketball games, the large audiences that viewed the two performances of The Bat and the success of the Sodality in all its undertakings. The Dramatic Society has become a reality. The Alumni Association still remains an unfilled plank of the platform, but its realization will probably be seen in the near future. It is certain that the Knight Herald has and will do everything in its power to further plans for such organizations. Few papers, scholastic or metropolitan, can boast of placing two-thirds of their advocated policies into practice within a period less than a year. The paper since its beginning has constantly been experimenting. The headlines have been subject to frequent changes and criticisms, until at last there has been developed a system of headlines that seems to be in perfect harmony with the appearance and style of the publi- cation. The news articles have been written in many different styles in an earnest effort to determine just what was the best way to present a certain type of news story. The editorial portion of the paper has al- ways used its space to express what it thought to be for the best interests of the school and the furtherance of the paper ' s policy. This pictorial edition is a fitting climax to a year devoted entirely to progress. The paper ' s progress has never been doubted. It sent a representative to the National Scholastic Press Association Convention in Chicago last October. It has been represented at Toledo Press Asso- ciation meetings. Its staff has ben addressed by the leading journalists of our city. It is proud of its exchange list which extends from New York to California and includes many of the better scholastic publica tions of the country. The paper has lived up to its title, Knight Herald, in every respect and with its policy of bearing important messages it has attained a position of precursor worthy of any herald of the Middle Ages. Journalistic A oods ' [24]