Sturgis High School - Sturgensian Yearbook (Sturgis, MI)

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Honor Roll Some of us, under the careful guid¬ ance of our advisors, have shown special effort and ability. Thus, we have attained the ten top positions in our class. When we were green freshmen, alge¬ bra was our “bug-a-boo”, and many were the anguished tears we shed as in vain we tried to master those disgusting formulas. Our second year as full-fledged senior high students found us again stymied by math. That year it was in geometry class where time and again we met our Waterloo. Theorms and postulates caused many head¬ aches, but again we conquered and emerged victorious. When we became “Jolly Jun¬ iors” we found that it took lots of concen¬ tration to learn thirty memory lines from Shakespeare’s Hamlet as we struggled with English Literature, Sonnets and essays worried us too, and themes and Readers’ Digests added to the burden. We surged onward, however, and at long last became those “Sophisticated Seniors”. It was hard to maintain the sophisticated and carefree attitude belonging rightfully to us as members of the Senior class. We had to struggle long and hard to keep up our high standards as we met up with trouble in the forms of chemistry, govern¬ ment, math, and economics. We labored diligently and long, but with the aid of a little recreation—the senior play, the oper¬ etta, the senior party, and various other amusements—we managed to pull through. It has been a long pull, but after four years of determined effort and hard work we have reached our goal. A few of us have attained supreme success. It has giv¬ en us a taste of victory and we hope to continue in the top notches. These past school days will be treas¬ ured memories. Pleasant memories, it’s true, for the happiest days are those spent during school days. We will always have these trials and tribulations to look back upon. Certainly there were times when we were discouraged and blue, tired and depressed. Anything worth while must be obtained by honest-to-goodness hard work, and we of the Honor Roll feel that our posi¬ tions here are well worth the hard work and the worrying we’ve done for four long years. It’s an honor to be a member of the Honor Roll, but not an honor that is freely and easily won. Back Row, left to right: Blaine Cadwell; Roland Pagels; Grant Parker; William Zeeb. Front Row, left to right: Ellen Linder; Alice Bogen; Beverly Hossie; Ruth Stratton; Lois Walker; Wava Large.

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★ ★ ★ ★ El,wood Stevens Baseball; Intramurals; Class Officer. Ray Strang Football; Intramurals; Art Club; Wrestl¬ ing. Ruth Stratton Choir; Glee Club; Operetta; Latin Club; Jr. Play; Soph. Prom Comm.; J-Hop Comm.; Trojan Staff; Sturgensian Staff; Senior Play; Honor Roll. Newton Wayne Taylor Football; Intramurals; Baseball; Jr. Play; Wrestling; Sr. Play. John Toepper Band; Baseball; Intramurals. William C. Toepper Intramurals; Band; Baseball; Football. Jean Tooley GAA; J-Hop Comm. Ernest R. Vaillancourt Football; Chorus; Operetta; Choir. Lois Walker Glee Club; Choir; Orchestra; Latin Club; Operetta; Soph. Prom Comm.; Jr. Play; Dance Band; Trojan Staff; Sr. Play; Honor Roll. Ted Warner Band; Intramurals. Jane Watson GAA; Class Officer; Jr. Play; Sturgen¬ sian; Trojan Editor; Latin Club; Soph. Prom Comm. Virgil Wittenberg Band; Basketball. Norma Yunker Operetta; Chorus; Choir; Girls’ Glee Club. William Zeeb Honor Roll.

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— Valedictory “I desire to see the time when educa¬ tion and by its means, morality, sobriety, enterprise, and industry shall become much more general than at present. ’ ’ Such were the words written by Abraham Lincoln in the last century when a good education was a rare privilege. Lincoln’s keen mind saw far into the future when the common man’s passion for more knowledge and greater learning would be satisfied by a great sys¬ tem of public schools. Lincoln’s desire has now been realized. Since his time amazing strides have been taken to bring to the Am¬ erican youth the ‘‘Light of Knowledge.” The men who were responsible for making a success of our educational system realized the heed for more advanced subjects in our public schools. As a result our public high schools offer work in chemistry, physics, mathematics, social sciences, and a great number of vocational subjects. Dur¬ ing the past twelve years we have had the opportunity of taking full advantage of this great educational system. However, our graduation will open an entirely new era of our lives. Each one of us will become a vital link in the ranks of our city, state and nation. It will be our duty to accept responsibilities willingly and to help protect our rights to “life, lib¬ erty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Most graduates of the past looked forward to colleges and universities where they could, through further study, obtain better posi¬ tions and more rapid advancement. How¬ ever, our graduation class faces an alto¬ gether different situation. We must share the responsibilities and burdens necessary to win the worldwide conflict now raging. Most of the boys will enter the armed forces of our nation while the girls must make their efforts felt on the home front. We must meet any problem as a challenge and face it with courage and de¬ termination. The greatest men of the past succeeded because they had the willpower to carry on through all opposition and de¬ feat all difficulties confronting them. Will¬ power shall also play a vital roll in shaping our lives. The progress we make, the heights of prosperity we attain, and our future happiness depend upon it. Therefore it will always be important to remember that “the man who has the will to undergo all labor may win to any goal.” —William Zeeb ★ ★ Salutatory Parents, teachers, fellow students, and friends: William Shakespeare once wrote : “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players ...” Life is a mammoth play. High School graduation is but a step between the acts. It is, however, a big step, out of the shelter of school life into the world. In the first act most of the scenes are pleasant, but now the play becomes more serious. Sometimes we wish we might prolong the pleasant scenes where the players and scenery are familiar, but the play moves on and we must make our adjustment to new scenes, new players, and a changing plot. The stage on which we are about to step has un¬ dergone a great change of scenery in the past few years. The act into which we shall enter is different. This class, instead of going on to college and private positions will be working for the defense of our country, in the armed services, on the pro¬ duction front, and on the home front. Many of us may feel miscast in the roles which we shall be obliged to play in the next act, but if we give the best we have to those roles, playing our parts with courage, sincerity, and high purpose; and if we hold steadfast to the age-old principle that right must prevail, we shall eventually find ourselves in the roles in which we can give our best performance. —Blaine Cadwell