Washington Township High School - Maroon and Gold Yearbook (Iberia, OH)

Page 20 text:

Pageie THE MAROON AND GOLD It gill - U cjC5ElI :ISLE 1' because of the difficulties that confront them. In order to succeed a person should decide early in his life what he is best fitted for. By this is not simply meant what one desires to do, but what one can do. Wishes, longings, and impulses however good, are not always indications of genius, nor are they a forecast of an adaptation for a special pur- suit in life. If mere wishes could make men great or rich, there would not be a poor or an insignificant person on earth. The greatest question of the average person is, What shall I do? This is a very important question which demands much careful consideration. Many people inherit their occupation as they do their dis- position, from their parents, and so the child fol- lows the business of the father because the father was in it before him. But you probably are capable of doing better things. If so, why should you want to do what your father has done? Life is full of op- portunities. This is an age of specialities in mechan- ics, in art, in science, and in literature. Every one certainly can find the place and work for which he is adapted. The main thing when you get a job is to stick to it. Why? Because life is too short to be spent in roaming. -Harriet Marie Johnson. TI-IE SCHOOL AS A COMMUNITY CENTER Why can community interests center around the school? Why will the school become the center of interest of all right thinking communities? These questions I will attempt to answer as well as I can, and as briefly as I can. First, our cviilization depends upon it. Our people to be happy must have more or loss education. It is the foundation of our national existence. Therefore the greatest concern of every township, county, state and nation is its schools. Then comes the question of right and wrong cducationg an education in good or bad thingsg an education rightly or wrongly directedg an education in the right subjects, whether difficult or easyg an education which takes into consideration the mental, the spiritual, the moral and the physical. All of these are essential. All of these are matters of C0111- munity interest. In these subjects all classes of peo- ple have a common interest. A nation, a state or a county is too big for peo- ple to get together and have a common interest. But in a community where the people are interested in one school they can get together and know each other and become interested in each other's problems. The children get to know each other at school and thus bring the parents into closer acquaintance. There must be community cooperation in order to accomplish the most for the school. It is the school which brought together the people at our 311- nual school picnic, which is so well attended. Without the common interest which the people have in the school the athletic events, such as bas- ketball, football and baseball, would not be so well developed and would not be so well attended. The Parent Teachers Association would not ex- ist if it were not for the central interest in school. School interest has brought about the leasing of our Community Hall, the repair of the building, the in- stallation of furnaces and lights, and recently the building of a road to get to it. The school is the one thing in which almost all of the people in the community, without exception, are interested. And when people are so unitedly in- terested in anything of so vital importance their united efforts are sure to result in great good. They are also too busy to stir up much dissention and strife in a neighborhood. The greatest movement to- ward prohibition was created and developed when forty years ago the schools began to teach the ef- fects of alcoholic drinks on the human body and the brain. The generation thus educated helped to create it. Pride in the appearance of the school rooms and grounds creates a community pride in home improvement not only in the house, but on the farm. The school is the hub of a great wheel of which all other interests are the spokes. Neither can pros- per without the other. School again can be likened unto the center of a great snowball. The more you roll it in the snow the larger it grows, and we must be careful that it does not pick up that which is harmful to it. School interests bring many good attractions both entertaining and helpful. The literary contests in our school not only bring our people together but create an inter-family interest. It was the rivalry between the different schools of the county which, if they had been better attended, could have been of great benefit to the voters of Morrow County. The ouestion was, Resolved that all property should be classified for taxationf' Community interest in the school means the election of good school board mem- bers. It means the selection of the best teachers and it also results in a higher standard of scholarship. Iberia once was the center of a college com- munity but the college ceased to exist many years ago. The school needs the community interests in or- der to prosper and that same interest will, without fail, help the community. Elizabeth Richardson. SUCCESS In these days of struggle and toil, of success and failure, in the midst of competition and strife, it is well for young people to pause and ask themselves these questions, 'fWhat is the meaning of success? and What is true success? Shall these questions be answered according to the usual standard of the world? Seek wealth and amass a large fortune and you will never be lacking for friends or enjoyment, or shall they rather be answered from a higher and 422911 ucgfcan sei-

Page 19 text:

w 1 T H E M A R O O N A N D G O L D Page 15 If 231430 e P llGTiC3IQk?9u H935-+1 plished fact. People, thru education, are becoming What is prohibition? It means to prohibit, to keep people from doing certain wrongs. But as used by the United States constitution, it means the sale, manufacture, use, and transportation of alcoholic liquors in the United States or in the territorial pos- sessions thereof. It is stated in the eighteenth amendment of the constitution, which was adopted in 1919 after being ratified by thirty-six states. It became a national law a year later, in 1920. But why is so much made of prohibition as de- finediabove? Are there not many other evils in this nation which are worse and which should be given more consideration than the liquor evil? There are crimes of different rank from first degree murder down to theft. Are they not a larger evil and a greater detriment to society? No! The above crimes, terrible as they are, do not begin to approach the evil that is done by al- coholic liquors to the users as well as to the com- munity. A larger death roll is caused by alcoholic liquor either in its use or in the way in which it is obtained, than is caused by many of our worst contagious diseases. If alcoholic liquors are used by an individual it has a weakening effect upon his body and may even cause death. It makes one unable to perform his duties and has been proven a harm to a person in almost every way. People addicted to drink are no good to themselves and a detriment to others. Liquor often causes people to lose their minds and they do deeds that they would never think of doing under normal conditions. These people have a bad influence on the rising generation. They neglect their families and deprive them of the necessities that they should supply them with. Crime follows the use of liquors and often are the direct cause. Since the prohibition amendment has been in force, the sale and manufacture of liquors are carried on under cover. This cannot be done in a public way since it is against the law, so in this way the rising generation is not tempted to such an extent as it was when liquor was sold freely in a public way. Much of the trouble over prohibition is due to the fact that many officials can be so easily bribed and do not enforce the prohibition laws. It is like what Stephen A. Douglas once said of slavery: 'tIt cannot exist in a locality for a minute if it is not supported by the police. Many policemen fail to ar- rest bootleggers on account of getting bribes. Prohibition laws are like criminal laws in the United States in that money has too great an influ- ence in the courts. If an official brings in a bootleg- ger and is under a small bail, the bootlegger's friends pay the bail and he is released so that he can start over again. The fines are never very large and the imprisonment not long enough to be hard on the wrong-doer. But prohibition is already becoming an accom- acquainted with the evils of liquor and are uphold- ing the laws and the officials who enforce the laws. It is now only opposed by the men who are ignorant of the harm and who look for the money they will get from the general use of liquors. We can be glad that opposition to prohibition is becoming a dead issue and may God grant that it will forever remain so. -F'loyd Nichols. SELECTING AN OCCUPATION He who starts upon a journey should have a definite idea as to his destination, otherwise, he will wander about aimlessly like a vessel upon the ocean, without a chart or compass, or even a pilot, and will finally be wrecked upon the shore of some unknown country. So many people today discover that life has been spent in vain. Life is a journey and he who would succeed should carefully consider its aim and end, Every person endowed with facilities and intel- ligence ought to make his life a success, especially the present generation, in this best and greatest coun- try of all civilized nations. It seems to me the only real excuse for failure is either lack of intelligence or pure laziness. Success is sure to come to a person who possess- es an average intellect, a high ideal, a disposition to work, who is ready to sacrifice if necessary and en- dure without fiinching, and is willing to bear need- ful trials. Take for example Mr. Beshore, humorist, who gave the last number of our lecture course. He was born in Pennsylvania, and at the age of eighteen months was afflicted with infantile paralysis, which left him with an evitable handicap.. At the age of fourteen years he was turned out into the world alone with only a few cents in his pocket. He went to work at once and as he wished to receive an education he studied and worked during the day and went to school at night. He had to sacrifice and endure a great deal but because of his intelligence, high ideals, and disposition to work, he finally reached his goal or destination, now being one of the greatest of platform men. Not only Mr. Beshore but most of our greatest men of today have had similar experiences in life. Many persons who are determined to reach cer- tain goals have to face many difficulties. But yet the element that offers difficulty is the condition that is necessary for success. Take for instance the loco- motiveg its chief difficulty in moving a train is fric- tion. Yet if there was no friction the locomotive would be unable to move the train a single inch. An- other remark some philosophers have made is that a bird has to overcome the resistance of the air, but if the air was withdrawn the bird would fall instant- ly to the ground, being unable to fly in a vacuum. The very element that offers the difficulty is the condition necessary for any liight whatever. There are in the world few who succeed and many who fail --me anceiieou U .air-

Page 21 text:

THE MAROON AND GOLD Page17 .ff :Qu - i . ics:-al broader standard, which has its foundation in right- eousness and its end and purpose in the well being of man and his eternal welfare? Shall we enter and pursue life's mission for an altogether seliish pur- pose, which seeks to acquire all things by any means which may accomplish the end, or shall our deal- ings with men be governed with justice and kind- ness, with some regard of what is fair and right? Shall our lives be measured by the dollars we have gained or by the general good we have done in the world? Shall we not live that we may blessg gain that we may give, and love that we may benefit man- kind? The supreme agency for gaining success is the mind. It is sometimes said that the greatest cause of success is labor-meaning energy of body and strength of muscle. This is a great mistake. Intel- lect is mightier, and of more importance to success and the highest degree of happiness than manual labor. Indeed, mere muscular energy does but a very small part of the world's work today. Skill and power are not of brawn but of mind. He who teaches a man how to handle a tool effect- ively, or who produces a labor machine, is as much a producer of the world's food and wealth as he who uses them. The teacher, therefore, is, in the highest sense, as much of a producer of the world's Wealth and food supply as is the mechanic or the farmer. He who taught James Watt the principles of mechanics that led him to invent the 'tseparate condenser did more to enrich the world than any ten million laborers that ever lived. It is not a fact that the progress and present state of civilization is due to a few who are dis- tinguished above their fellow men by a superior energy. Look over the events of history. Who caused them? Men of energy who have stirred this gift that is in them like Edison, lVlorse, Newton, and many other noted men. Do not be content to be com- monplace but strike out for something worthy. Aspire after great idealsg great things of which the world has not a few. Determine to rise and so help others to rise. Climb to the highest yourself, some one has to be leader, so why not you? Success is sometimes thought impossible because of difficulties, such as the failure in first attempt of some accomplishment or maybe the lack of money. The great orator Web- ster did not succeed in his first attempt but he did not give up. Lincoln was a poor farm lad but he was not overpowered by this difficulty for he was a man of true politeness, strong courage, tact, persever ance, patience, honesty, and intellectual ability. Therefore, the men who succeed best in the end are frequently the men who have the most difficulty at the start. Can success be procured without education? Statistics show that in general the larger percent of educated people succeed rather than those of no ed- ucation. The beginnings of talent or genius are, like the other things of nature, very small, and if not cultivated, will remain small or disappear. If our great writers-Longfellow, Shakespeare, Bryant, Hawthorne, Emerson, Lowell, Holmes, Mather-had not worked to cultivate their minds they would nev- er have been heard of today. The present day affords opportunities for obtaining knowledge which lies in reach of all and he who would gain knowledge need not remain ignorant nor be hindered in pro- curing success. Knowledge, then is o11e of the secret keys to success. Procure knowledge, be strictly honest, C0llI'3g6- ous, persevering, patient, diligent, and you have the secret of making your life a success or securing success. lVIake yourself worthy and honor will come to you. -Elnora Belle Johnson. THE RELATION OF IMPROVED HIGHWAYS TO EDUCATION The extent of social contact in the country and of the interchange of opinion between rural residents is almost exactly proportionate to the degree of fre- quency and improvement of local roads. Also, the various local enterprises relating to business, enter- tainment, recreation, church, and school are immed- iately conditioned by the state of highway communi- cation. Therefore, whether or not the people of a neighborhood or community will get together and promote the various agencies of culture and so reap the benefits of their inspiring and deepening influ- ences will be determinned very largely by the con- dition of the roads. Without previous improvement of highways, it is impossible to bring about the consolidation of dis- trict schools and the union of the small, competing, and struggling churches. This is especially true in areas of extensive precipitation. Specifically, then, the educational process in its strict and narrow sense is conditioned and determined by the quality of roads. To a very large degree the grading and standardiz- ing of schools, the establishment of rural high schools, the provision of an adequate physical plant and facilities, the readjustment of curriculum so that it is more nearly adapted to rural needs, and the i11- ducement to adequately trained teachers depend on the quality of highways. The development of inter-state and national trails and highways has enabled people to make cer- tain long-reaching contacts. The advent and wide- spread use of the automobile has made travel to dis- tant points not only a possibility but a delightful realization, wherever adeqquate arterial highways permit. As a consequence, we see everywhere cars from the most distant states with their pleasure-seek- ing occupants and not a few of these distant travel- ers are farm families, More and more frequently farmers are resorting to distant lakes and forests and enjoying the inspiring scenery of some of our mountain parks and ocean vistas, and these larger contacts are of undoubted educational value to farm- ers, widening their vision and inspiring them with -- Bi- I -'EP-98 --legal