Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

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KMBWXXQWXQGMXEEMXQWXQGXMBSMXQWXEHXMBWXEGXM A TRIBUTE TO OUR TEACHERS Before our final exit from Wakefield lligh School, we, the Class of l04tl, wish to thank our teachers for their patience and endurance in sup- plying us with the knowledge we now possess. lt has been not an easy task to teach us, as we are not all model pupils: and sometimes the teachers must have felt that their untiring efforts were futile. Due to perseverance and integrity on their part, we pupils have become much wiser and more intelligent in the past four years. The deep and sincere gratitude we feel for our faculty can be expressed inadequately in words but effectively in action. That we may ever reflect credit upon our instructors is our parting wish. BETTY CALVIN, '40 RELATION OF YOUTH TO FUTURE AMERICA As we approach the close of our high school years, we find ourselves confronted hy a great challenge-that of guiding the future of our country. We, the graduating class of the Wakefield lligh School, are to he the men and women of tomorrow. lt is in our hands that the future destiny of America lies. lt is up to us, as individuals, to determine wlietlier or not we can meet this great challenge set hefore us. lf we have the determination and will to succeed, there is no doulwt hut that we shall he victorious. We may make mistakes on the way, hut experience is the lwest teacher. So, if we profit hy our own hlunders and hy those of others, we shall successfully accomplish our task. lt is up to youth to guide the future of our country so that it will he a safe and glorified one, We can do what we want to do if we have the desire and determination to keep struggling until we reach our goal, no matter how long and steep the road hecomes. Stick to it, and you will he rewarded hy success in the end, Remember: llii tlosouieics Wiio livoueies. l,oRR.xwh Nluizviiv, '-lti FQXQQSXXQQQSXRQQQSXXQQSXYQQQSXXQQQSXXQQSXXQQSXXQQQSXXQQSXRQQSXEI Page Six

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KXEWXQWXMBWXEGWXEGMXQWMBGXMBEMMBGMMBWXEWK AN APPRECIATION We ot' the Class of I9-ltl wish to dedicate our yearbook to the Faculty of Wakefield lligh School. Because of their understanding. lriendlv atti- tude we have not found these four years so very diflicult. 'liheir guidance and advice have been available lor any students who needed assistance. Not only have our teachers aided us in regular school work, but they have served us as patrons and patronesses for school dances and similar extra- curricular activities. Several ptipils have made lasting lriendships with their favorite teachers. Since the Faculty has been to a great degree responsible for our having happy high school years, we have chosen this means of showing our appreciation. B,xRB+.R.x W. 'lent-oxn. '40 OUR GRATITUDE T O UUR FACULTY lirom the first day of our lour years at Wakefield lligh School, we have been under the capable supervision ol' the teachers. 'lihey have helped tis overcome the newness ol' the schedule untilealiter a few weeksvwe were well instructed as to our responsibilities. Without their help and ability to keep order, the lirst days might haxe been an uncontiuerable ordeal. Through their experience we have been aided in determining our life work. We could continue to tell of the many things our teachers have done for us, but it would take innumerable words, words which would still be inadequate. We leave Wakefield lligh School and the best teachers any- where on earth to go out into the world with happy outlooks lor the luture and the memory of four pleasant years. li.XRB.XR.X XWYOODXYARD, '40 ZQWQQSXKQQQSXRQQQXXQQSXXQQSXRQQQXEQQQXXQQQQXKHQQSXFQQQSXXQQSXEI Page Five

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MWWXWWMBWMBWXEWXEWMBWXQWMBWXQWMBWM WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION - A PROBLEM FOR AMERICAN YOUTH Today American youth is facing one of the most serious problems that ever confronted Nlan. The time is not far off when we shall have to build a new world to replace this one now consumed by war and forces of destruc- tion. Not since the Glacial Age, when the human race was first threatened by extinction, or the time when the democratic Greeks stemmed the ad- vance of Persian despotism, has the collapse of civilization seemed to be so imminent. These are awesome words, yet we show a complete ignorance of the real problems, and await only the coming of spring to unleash the dogs of war. We are like bloodthirsty Roman spectators of yore, impatiently waiting for two gladiators to begin their rain of deadly blows. But there is another evil, greater than this ignorance and fatal to the proposition of peaceful reconstruction: that is our entrance into the con- flict. At the present moment our sentiments do not tend in this direction, but let tis not entertain any doubt that they will remain as such when Europe lies in shambles. and our favorite side calls piteously for our help. Then will come the real test of democracy-to withstand the hyster- ical, false propaganda and to analyze objectively. justly, hnmanely, the best methods for bringing about peace and for rebuilding the shattered culture of Europe. Otherwise we shall be engulfed in this mad maelstrom of passion, hate, and issueless issues. To America the shock will be so fatal to our democracy that the powers of reaction will overthrow it, and we will struggle uselessly in the quagmire of barbaric feudalism. Nevertheless we should not go to the other extreme, and like ostriches. bury our heads in the sands of isolationism. This country cannot remain happy and prosperous while the rest of the world is in the death throes of Mars. We are too closely allied with the aftermath of liurope's conflict to pursue a laissez-faire foreign policy. Our path lies in getting liurope on its feet, and rejuvenating it according to the theories of democracy. Or else that continent, overwhelmed by their Armageddon, ravaged by the triumphant Four llorsemen of the Apocalypse, will bloodily turn back the clock of civilization five hundred years. and medieval times will again strike the dominating hour of its political life. l lowever, we already have an advantage to rise above our problem and master it. lt is our faith in democracy. Do not think that it was princi- pally the abundant natural resource or private capital that built this great land. No! Nol lt is the spirit of democracy, of optimism, of the theory, a man's a man for a' that. Russia with a natural wealth greater than ours has not remotely approached the ,Xmerican standard of living. Yet we cannot expect our liberty to remain unimpaired unless we zealously guard any infringement of it. ln these abnormal times we must take greater precaution to safeguard our civil rights. lt is fallacious to restrict them in the name of liberty, but that is exactly the tendency today. This is a sign ofa growing feargghysteria. lts danger lies in the fact that it might serve as a prelude for more drastic action. For that reason it is imperative that we remain neutral and continue the democratic system. Then, we as a nation shall radiate that characteristic of Lincoln, 'Awith malice toward none, with charity for all. and American youth will have made its first important step towards the solution of its immense problem. Nl etvi tie KAHN, '-ffl EQXQQSXXQQXKQQSXXQQSXXQQQSXKQQQSXXQQQSXKQQQSXKQQQSXXQQSXRQQSXZQQ Page Seven