Wachusett Regional High School - Wachusett Yearbook (Holden, MA)

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Raleigh B. Bubar Dedication With great appreciation and respect the class of 1954 dedicates Holden High School’s last year book to Mr. Bubar. His unflagging zeal and jovial spirit have been a great inspiration to everyone. For the kindly interest and understanding he has shown in the guidance of his pupils, he will long be remembered as a true friend. 2

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THE bn THE CLASS OF 1954 HOLDEN HIGH SCHOOL i , HOLDEN, MASSACHUSETTS The Clarion

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dddredd oj ' WJelt come Mr. Buker, Mr. Bubar, Members of the School Committee, Faculty, Alumni, and Friends: My happy task and privilege this evening is to welcome you to these graduation exercises—the last for Holden High School. This occasion finds our class with mixed emotions of sadness and joy, of fear and confidence. We are sad because we are bidding farewell to our faculty and classmates, to many close associations at Holden High School. We are saying “Good-bye” to persons and scenes and activities that have played so important a part in the best years of our lives. We now realize that the breaking of old ties is most difficult even for us—young people whose eyes have already glorified our future careers. We are joyful this evening because we have finished the work to which we set our trembling freshman hands four years ago. We have attained the goal toward which we have given our best effort, and joy resides in the personal satisfaction of a job well done. Our diplomas will afford us that gratification and “life will be all before us as we choose.” But as we look forward to our next step after graduation, our hopes and desires are tinged with a coloring of fear. We shall be asked to take our place in the amazing era in which we live. We shall be challenged to utilize the scientific progress of our age to bring happiness into the world. Can you wonder, then, why we hesitate for a fearful moment before entering that future? But it is for only a moment, for our background at Holden High School has made us confident. Much will be expected of us in the solution of the tremendous problems facing our country. Much will be thrust upon us, because there is nowhere else to turn for help and guidance but to the youth of our nation. Indeed, the leadership that we provide in the anxious months and years ahead will determine the course of world events for the next generation, for the rest of this century. We are willing and ready to face this challenge of leadership because of our implicit faith in the educational training of Holden High School. We realize the burden of responsibility, but we are confident that its weight will never be too great, for our foundation has been established and strengthened by the tireless and skillful efforts of our teachers, to whom we are most grateful. In particular, may I say a word of thanks in behalf of the Class of 1954 to our principal, Mr. Bubar. His patience with our many insistent questions and prob¬ lems and his great eagerness to prepare us for future success are but two of the numerous quali ties that make our principal an example to us all. In conclusion may I quote from George Bernard Shaw: “Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” Education in Holden—1741-1954 The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life ” Next fall will mark the beginning of a new era of education in. ' Holden. Our regional high school is symbolic of the interest that Holden has always had in its schools. As early as 1741, when the town was still a new community, at its first town meeting it voted to have a “reading and writing school.” The schools were held in various homes for periods of three months, and this type of education lasted for about two years until the town finally appropriated enough money to build a school in the center of town. The building is not standing today, but it was located a short distance west of the Town Hall. The town frowned on women school mistresses, as we find in the old records, which reported, “Put to vote to see if ye town would grant any of the School Money to a woman school and it passed in the nega¬ tive.” During this period the town was divided into dis¬ tricts which were called “squadrons.” Included in money voted to several of these squadrons for the purpose of building new schools, we find bills for the following items: 2 kegs of nails 1 gallon NE Rum and Sugar 1 quart of Rum How these last two items entered into the construc¬ tion of a new school was not elaborated on, but their inclusion did not seem to excite any comment from the school committee. In 1753 the town appropriated twelve pounds (about sixty dollars) for schools and appointed three different sections of town for their location—one in the west part of town, one in the center, and the other in the east. The second school building in the center of town, built about 1824, is still standing at the comer of the left-hand drive into the high school, though the bricks of which it is constructed are now covered by clap¬ boards. One of the old school benches may still be seen on the second floor. At one time, in the outlying districts of Holden, there existed eleven one- or two-room schools. These little schoolhouses were arranged inside with rows of benches, and when the teacher wished to hear the reci¬ tation of one of the classes, they came forward and took the front seats. At this time the selectmen appointed the teachers, but later they were selected from the results of tests that were taken in history, arithmetic, physiology, and geography. They were required to obtain a mark of 3