Stoneham High School - Wildlife Yearbook (Stoneham, MA)

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Stoneham High School Year Book Thirty-one PRESIDENT ' S WELCOME ODAY is our graduation day and these are the exercises that mark the end of our high school days and the beginning of different careers far us. It is with genuine pleasure that, as president of the class of 1940 of the Stoneham High School, I welcome you to our com- mencement exercises. To our parents, we extend a special gratitude for their many sacrifices and their encouragement and interest in our achieve- ments. To the School Committee and the faculty we express our appreciation for their help in preparing us for the future. To all our friends, we extend a hearty welcome. This afternoon as you see us receive our diplomas you will realize, as we do, that we have come to the end of one period of our life and are ready for the next. What will it be? Surely no graduating class has stepped into a more upset world than the present. We cannot look lightly at the serious state af a war-torn world; but we can keep our hearts tolerant and our minds alert to the situation before us. Our tasks will na doubt be difficult; But with the spirit of youth, we are eager to find our place and to do well our work. We should consider it a privilege to be faced with problems, so that we may show our strength in the solving of them. I think our feelings in this respect are well expressed by the poet who said — Labor is given us. Let us give thanks! Power worketh through us Let us give thanks! Not for what we have Not for the garnering. Gratefully we sing. But for the mighty thing For our tasks and our strength; For the journey and its length; For our dauntless eagerness; For our humble weariness; For these, let us give thanks! For these, O Mighty Father, Take thou our thanks! It is with thanksgiving for knowing our tasks and high hopes for the future that we graduate today. I am indeed happy to welcome all of you now to the Graduation Exercises of the Class of 1940. — Arthur Rich

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Thirty Stoneham High School Year Book TRAFFIC SQUAD Back Row: Mr. Thibodeau, F. MacDonald, D. Arnold, D. Morrison, H. Dean, H. Varney, M. Rich, W. Bridgman, W. Grant, L. Orsillo Front Row: I. Wallace, N. LeDuc, M. McLaughlin, A. Cassidy, E. Howard, A. Moore, E. Kleinschmidt, D. Greenquist, H. Condage COMMERCIAL CLUB Back Row: N. LeDuc, H. Phalon, M. Plummer, D. Fitzgibbons, M. Bergman, H. Hynes, D. Cutts, M. Marrone Front Row: B. Martin, J. Monroe, R. Andrews, J. Dizzazo, Ann Girard, M, McNulty, M. Doherty, P. Duff, M. Rhoades, B. Dunbar

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Thirty-two Stoneham High School Year Book Graduation Address O almost everybody the names of Pierre and Madame Curie repre- sent outstanding figures in the world ot science. Outstanding because of their contribution of radium, the element which has added so much to the store of scientific knowledge. I he Curies had an idea, a desire, a goal. And working againsr inconceiv- able odds — frail healrn, poverty, and scarcity ot material — they continued in their struggle until tney reached their goal, the isolation ot radium. I he Curies attained success. Let us pause a moment to ask ourselves, What is success? We use this expression with considerable treedom, seldom stopping to think what we mean by it. Perhaps the best detinition ot success was given by M. U. Wells when he said; Wealth, notoriety, place, and power are no measure ot success whatever. I he only true measure ot success is the ratio between what we might have done and what we might have been on the one hand, and the thing we have made and the thing we have made ot ourselves on the other. Only if an individual has conscientiously used his physical and mental abilities toward the betterment of himself and his fellowmen should he consider himself successful. Only through hard work, self-denial, and will-power can one know the inner satisfaction of keeping faith with his ideals. Undoubtedly we all have an urge for success. In some the urge is weaker than in others, but nevertheless it is there. Of course, we are bound to to have failures among us, because there will always be those who will not exert themselves in an effort to succeed. This weakness is probably due to the fear that success cannot be attained. On the other hand, it takes effort to fail; and should the energy used in the process of failing be directed into the right channels, he who would have failed, will have succeeded. One of the greatest errors committed by us young men and women of high school age is in the placing of our goals. Too often are they nestled among the loftiest clouds, tar beyond our reach. We fail to realize that we have certain limitations which we must recognize and accept. Then, taking into consideration these limitations, we must exert the greatest caution in planning our lives and in setting our goals. We must at all times keep before us two goals. The first, our immediate goal, should be that which we are trying to accomplish day by day and which should lead toward the ultimate goal, the purpose for which we are living our lives. The ultimate goal should be placed high, at a level that will keep us constantly working and achieving, but not at a level that we are not capable of reaching. Many of you will remember the story of The Great Stone Face by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Here we find a youth growing up in the midst af the New Hampshire mountains, coming face to face each day with a rock that time and weather had shaped into a strong profile. Day after day he studied that profile — until his face came to resemble that one of stone. In his character had grown the principles and ideals which the Man of the Mountain seemed to represent to him. Thus we see that by keeping his ideals and goals in mind each day, he finally attained them.