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

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The OLD CENTER SCHOOL (now the Holden Clinic), stood on the site of the present High School. Previous to 1888, when Damon Memorial was erected, used as a High School above and Grammar School below (Primary School was then in the Lower Town Hall). From 1888 to 1910 Primary School below and Grammar School above. Education in Holden seventy per cent or above, while a pupil was allowed to enter with a grade of forty per cent. The follow¬ ing entry was taken from an old school-committee record: “School committee mett by appointment for the examination of Teacher and Schollers. For the high school—1 Teacher and 8 Schollers were examined. All passed but Teacher did not.” The school year in those days consisted of four terms of about ten weeks each, and included a summer term. The school day began at about nine o’clock in the morning and ran until four o’clock in the after¬ noon with an hour out for lunch. The closing of school in the afternoon usually ended most of the school activities for the day, however, for the pupils were given little homework. Most of the children walked several miles to school, but some of them rode in sleighs or “rigs” for we find an entry in 1907 which states: “Voted to pay for good warm blankets for the rig carrying pupils to Quina- poxet.” In 1869 there were twelve men on the school com¬ mittee, each representing a school district. It was not until 1877 that the number was reduced to three, and since then it has varied from three to six members. In 1872 William C. Metcalf, the first superintendent of schools, was appointed, and in 1890 Holden and Leicester joined to form a school union. In 1900 the present union of Holden, Oakham, Paxton, and Rut¬ land was formed. In 1911, $20,000 was appropriated for the purpose of building a new grammar school in the center, which was to be located on Phillips Road. This has been named the Margery A. Rice School in honor of Miss Margery Rice, who for forty-six years was a beloved teacher in the Center School. 4

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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

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The High School students at the entrance of Damon Memorial, 1891 or 1892. Back row: Walter Turner, Reuben Moore, Minnie Timme, Miss Buzzell, Ina Lamb, Herbert Seaver, Josephine Carey, Bertha Graham, William McDonald, Annie Fales, Thomas McCabe, Amy Howe, Cleve¬ land Lowell, Mr. Learned. Seated: Winifred McCabe, William Warren, Gertrude McDonald, Alice Richardson, Ada Fales, Albert Rivers, Sadie Rogers, Marguerite Davis, Alice Mulcach, Alice Parker, Charlie Benson, Helen Davis, Maude Moulton, Nellie Moore, Inez Jordan, Persis Howe, Bessie Sneadon, Helen Johnson. Education in Holden The grammar school which now stands in Chaffins started as a three-room school and was added to in 1925 and again in 1931. These three schools have all received additions in the past five years to accommo¬ date the rapidly increasing enrollment. As we look back and compare the one-room school- houses of past years with the beautiful, scientifically planned buildings of today, we realize how far Holden has progressed educationally in its desire to produce worthy citizens in each succeeding generation. With its keen interest in its schools Holden has gone far toward achieving the aim of education ex¬ pressed by Dr. James Conant: “The primary concern of American education today . . . is to cultivate in the largest number of our citi¬ zens an appreciation both of the responsibilities and the benefits which come to them because they are American and free.” —FAITH BASCOM 5