Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

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lessness and thoughtlessness on the part of the user. When we have anything to say, we say it without giving thought or time to proper enunciation or grammatical construction. We lop off the ends of our words, use don ' t for does not, and run our words together. (It has become almost a thing of the past to hear a student of the high school pronounce every syllable of a word.) Would we think of insulting the Ameri- can flag? Our flag, the emblem of our country? We certainly would not. Then why insult the language of that flag? Is not that what we do by the use of slang and colloquialisms? If we appreciated this fact, read our English Creed oftener, and tried to live up to it, we should use better English. We should avoid vulgarisms and slang, and speak thoughtfully, painstakingly, and clearly. We should remember that there are such words as Yes, and No, and should take time to enunciate so clearly that there would be no need of an I beg your pardon, what did you say? Then let us resolve to make every week Better Speech Week ; and in this way try to bring our mother tongue back to its original power and beauty. BERTIL A. LYBECK, ' 21. THE DEBATER KNOWS That 1920 is one grand class. That the Senior Basketball team is good. Why Frizzle has returned to the Seniors. That W. H. S. has some actors. That we ' ve got a regular football team. That we have some artist in Buckley. That we got an orchestra that is. The Seniors can run a regular party. EXCHANGES The Debater acknowledges with thanks the following exchanges: Authentic, Stoneham High, Stoneham, Mass. Boston University Beacon, Boston University, Boston, Mass. A very fine paper, well aiTanged, and containing a splendid variety of articles. Tufts Weekly, Tufts College, Medford, Mass. Record, Littleton High, Littleton, N. H. Snappy little book, showing careful prepar- ation. Harvard Alumni Bulletin, published by the Harvard Bulletin, containing a rec- ord of the class of 1920 and its officers, in- teresting to Harvard students. The Argus, Gardner High, Gardner, Mass. An especially good paper. Our only suggestion is the addition of a few class pictures. Published every two months. Monitor, Wellesley High, Wellesley, Mass. A short story number with a clever ' ■Smiles column, and enthusiastic edi- torials. Clarion, Everett High, Everett, Mass. Published weekly. A humorous little pa- per. We think you must have an ambitious stall to publish a copy every week. Lehigh University, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa. A weekly paper, contain- ing interesting accounts of all the activities of the colleges. School Life, Melrose High, Melrose, Mass. We find your magazine interesting and attractive in design. Your interest in athletics is manifested by the amount of space you devote to that subject. We have the promise of several other exchanges including a copy of the Fair- haven High School paper, of which school Mr. George Dickey is principal. EXCHANGE EDITOR. THE DEBATER WANTS TO KNOW Why Marnie goes to Cambridge? What happened to the hockey team? What was the matter with the track team? Where Lally buys his gas? How Dinan got that way? If Garniss ever runs down? Who put the jazz in W. H. S.? MOONLIGHT A whip-poor-will called across the lake. The moon shining down left her silver wake, A canoe glided forth on this path of light, The pines loomed black from the mountain height, As dreaming I stood alone on the shore. ADELAIDE SWFFTSER ' 20. 17

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enjoys studying and participating in. Ev- ei-yone knows his own tastes. Why, then, is it such a difficult task to choose a life work that will always be a delight, and that will hold untiring interest, instead oi the position he is unqualified for, which is uncongenial to his special tastes? For every career, every successful ca- reer, there must, necessarily, be consider- able drudging, which, though unpleas- ant, is the most valuable experience we can have. But your ordinary boy and girl of today are, in plain words, too lazy to be- come someone worth while. Everywhere about them, they see their fellow-students intent only on pleasure, and so they, too, succumb, and their ambitions gradually, but surely dwindle away, leaving them only a shadow of what they might have been. Occasionally, there are some pupils strong-willed and intelligent enough to distinguish between the things that really count, and those that are the means of kill- ing their ambition. So strong and earnest is the ambition of those few, that they are willing to settle down to serious, hard work and to give up some of those early pleasures, if they interfere with their school work. To them comes success, — success that they surely deserve. They leave far behind, their feliow students, who look with envious eyes at the splendid fu- ture those few have built for themselves. But — we question what right they have to be jealous of the other ' s good luck, as they call it. They had just the same chance if they had been but willing to grasp it. It is not good luck, ' it is merely the strength of mind, a rare quality, it would seem, that some possess, a mind and will strong enough to sacrifice much perhaps, in the beginning, but in the end, the result is worth the sacrifice! Of what value are a few frivolous pleas- ures that we indulge in? Are we really de- living so great a benefit from them that w can afford to let them overshadow our am- bition? Be willing to settle down to a little serious hard work in our youth, even though it may mean sacrificing some of those early pleasures. The trouble is, the pupil of today is inclined to think more of pleasure than of all his studies combined, and the time comes when he wakes with a start, to the realization of his mistake, of the loss of all those valuable years, when he might have trained himself to be some one worth while. We can all be what we want to be, if it ' s within reason, and if we strive hard enough. Go after it! Choose the right job, and don ' t be discouraged by a few hard knocks. M. K., ' 22. EVERY WEEK BETTER SPEECH WEEK Some time ago, a certain high-school in Chicago set aside a week to be observed as Good Speech Week. The object in view was to rid our native language of the grammatical errors that have crept into it. The result was so gratifying that the educational authorities appointed a simi- lar week to be observed nationally, as Better Speech Week. We all know the interest that went towards making this experiment a success, especially in our own school. During that week the English depart- ment of our school devoted its entire time to promote the success of this project. Posters, drawn by members of the student- body, were displayed in conspicuous places throughout the school building. The va- rious teachers of English showed more than usual severity in their criticisms of oral and written compositions. They called special attention to errors in common use among the high-school students, particu- larly emphasizing proper enunciation. The endeavors by no means ended here for several weeks later a play written by one of the faculty, having for its theme Better Speech , was given by the senior class. Unfortunately we are gradually sliding back into the old rut and the deplorable part of it is, that we are making little or no attempt to keep out. The continual use of ungrammatical English will in time be- come habitual, and like most bad habits, will stubbornly refuse correction. The English language is one of the most beau- tiful and expressive languages in the world. But in daily use it has become cor- rupted to such an extent that it is no longer a thing of beauty. We do not have to search very deeply to learn that the reasons for this corrup- tion ai-c to be found in the downright care- »

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ATHLETICS CROSS COUNTRY The Wakefield High School Cross- country team opened its season at Wor cester, Oct. 11, 1919, by winning the third leg- and permanent possession of the Mayor Peter G. Holmes silver trophy cup. The race was run under the auspices of the Worcester Knights of Columbus, and over a course of a trifle more than three miles long. The W. H. S. boys were pitted against the best schoolboys in New England. After leading throughout the entire I ' ace, Lybeck of Wakefield was beaten by D. Mil ler of Worcester Academy by a scant yard. It was the third victory in as many years and the team finished second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh places scoring 24 points. Jazukawiz, Patterson, Capt. Burke and Malonson finished 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th places respectively. North High of Worcester was second with 49 points Worcester Academy third with 58 points, Commerce High of Wor- cester scored 76 points. The next race was against the strong Harvard freshmen over the Belmont course. Winchester of Harvard led Lybeck of Wakefield by 15 yards, covering 3 1-4 miles in 17 minutes and 11 seconds. Harvard won 23 to 32, which was a close score. Malonson was 6th, Capt. Burke 7th, Jazukawicz 8th, and Patterson 9th. The next race the team was defeated by the Medford High Cross-Country team over the Medford course by the close score of 26 to 24. This is the first time that the Medford team has defeated the local team in the last four years. The local team was se- verely handicapped by the loss of Lybeck its star runner, who hurt his foot in prac- tice. The W. H. S. men who finished were Malonson 1st, Jazukawiz 5th, Capt. Burke 6th, S. Levine 7th, and Moncrief 10th. Much credit should be given Ma- lonson for placing first in this meet. He took the lead at the start of the race and kept it, closely followed by a Medford man. After a thrilling sprint of about 300 yards from the finish he just barely nosed out his opponent and finished about 2 yards ahead of the second runner. Next year the team can look forward to one of the best Cross-Country teams that ever has represented the high school and with the aid of a coach should have the best Cross-Country team in New England. CAPT. ALBERT BURKE. TRACK The State Meet, March 22, brought the track season to a close for the W. H. S. track team. Although the team failed to win any of the meets the school body was backing them to the limit and was cheer- ing just as strong when Wakefield was losing as when winning. Wakefield par- ticipated in six dual meets, two of which were held in the Armory, and one inter- class meet. The inter-class meet was easi- ly won by the Seniors (class of 1920) scor- ing 40 points, the Sophomores came sec- ond with 11 points, the Juniors third with 6 points, while the Freshmen were unable to score. Ttie first dual meet was with Hunting- ton School at the Boston Y. M. C. A. The latter won the meet, but not without fight- ing all the way. Draper got second in the 50-yard dash and the 300-yard run. Skulley got second in the 600-yard run, while Burke was third in the 1000-yard and the shot-put; Sea- bury tied for first in the high jump and Gamiss got third. The relay race was won by Huntington, 18