Waterloo Public School - Panther Yearbook (Waterloo, NE)

Page 19 text:

0 4 4 ■w F 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 m i 4 4 4 4 4 SALUTATORY Day after day youth wends its way--pausing awhile--yet not to stay. Friends of the Class of 1947, we welcome you to our commencement. It is to you, our parents, our teachers, the members of the board of education and friends, to whom we dedicate this service; and the message that comes first from our hearts to yours is a great hope for our dear Old Waterloo High. This you see means more to us than a mere beautiful ceremony. It Is an assimilation of your endeavor, your community service, your sacrifice, your vision, and your determination for us. Then too, this day, we are filled with a spirit of rededication to the ideals and principles of your helpfulness and devotion. You are ouV treasure chest, you have given abundantly to the youth of this community. It is through your efforts we are able to experience the realization of this portion of our education. It is through you that we may develop ourselves, not only mentality but recreatively, and and spiritually. Without you our school would fail; for it sees only with your vision. It hears only through you; it is fed with the zeal of your effort. In your hearts we have found an abode, in your thoughts we have found solace, in your devotion we have found realization, and In your presence we have found and always find satisfaction. And at this time friends, I pay tribute today to our school, soon to be our Alma Mater. I shall not praise It in terms to her structure, architecturally, but rather as a monument to the personal helpfulness, it has given each of us, and which we are sure it will continue to do in time to come. In 61 years the Waterloo School has emerged from one of rigid curriculm to one which has a program of clubs, plays, school publications, and athletics. The Ideal of our school is an ideal of democracy. It is the foundation of individual liberty, of intelligent citizenship. Just think what this school means to you and to us. Recall the long dark centuries when the masses were kept in ignorance--when creed and appression ruled the world with an Iron hand. Contrast that with the school today whose graduation class with the fullest kind of freedom can choose for it's motto;- Each Is The Architect Of His Own Fortune ; for by the small word Each is implied our individuality which is the basis of democracy and which is directly opposed to totolitarianism, one of the present scourges of Europe; the architect connotes too, that as Individuals, with free will we are at liberty to choose the materials to be used in making our fortune and the design by which it is to be made. Lastly, his own fortune intensifies the worth of the Individual by implying he has a fortune to call his own, or to anticipate. The basic aim of any school is character building—the bringing out of the best qualities that lie within the student. It endeavors to prepare them to succeed in passing the real test—the test of life. Our school has aimed to temper and sharpen the fine tool of our minds and our whole personalities. A school may be many things, but it is nothing, if it be not one above of all things—a stadium of intellitual exercises. Let it not be thought howeyer, that hign school is a place for Constance enjoyment and pleasure. Each one of this graduation class knows that there is no royal road to learning. The next time you pass our school, pause a moment to reflect that where the student gains the knowledge, self-respect, and recognition of his inalienable rights, the school has been his greatest ally. The school is democracy's greatest gift to civilization. We cherish our schools May we improve it by being true to its ideals. The school is preparing many graduates for a continued development; it Is awakening in us a consideration of great fundamental and eternal truths. It Is teaching us to rise above the tyranny of ready-made thinking and strike out for ourselves into the unknown, penetrable only by those of us with determination, ability, and the will to do. Yes, these are only a few of the services rendered today in our schools, where Day after day--youth wends its way—pausing awhile—but not to stay. VALEDICTORY EDUCATION OF THE MASSES FOR WORLD PEACE Rev. Wilson, Mr. Nelson, esteemed teachers, dear parents, and kind friends. Tonight the class of 47 begins its commencement--a commencement whose preparation has lasted for twelve years; and tonight each member of our class commences life’s Journey, not unlike a Roman soldier going to battle: equipped with our armor of knowledge, our shield on which is inscribed in clearly defined letters the motto: EACH IS THE ARCHITECT OF HIS OWN FORTUNE; our short sword of self-defence of fortitude; our helmet of prudence; our = =? = . 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 i 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Page 21 text:

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 i i 0 0 Javelin of temperance, or at least, that is our hope. But why the parallelism of war? Have not all wars ended? Too many of us already know the answer. For on March 10 at Moscow the Big Four Council met to discuss the question of reparations to be made by Germany and Austria, and to date the result of that meeting is conspicuous, first, by the silence concerning it, second by the ever widening rift between the East and West. It seems, the iron curtain, whose ropes are in Soviet hands is slowly being lowered over central Europe and the odds are that Germany will be about evenly divided. It is assumed that we have won the recent war and some unthinking people boast about it, but have we won It entirely, i.e. both victoriously and economically? The pages of history reveal that wars are won by decisive victories brought about by better military equipment, but never in the history of the world has a war been won economically. The ordinary student of today, with perhaps only a smathering of history in his cultural background wonders how nations bankrupted by a defeating war can pay reparations? Is there blood in the turnips of today? It isn't sheer guessing that perhaps another year will roll around, and perhaps, another graduate will be occupying this rostrum delivering his speech before complete peace can be declared with Germany. However, in this case, I would much rather be wrong than be prophetic. Then too, with conmunism, totalitarianism, fear of the atomic bomb's being used unjustly, nations' starvation or collapse, scourge of aggressive peoples, etc. being ever present, cannot these impending dangers bring about another war? Can war be averted? Can we ever outlaw it? These are questions we hear about us every day, and we graduates will try to answer, through force of habit, each question but to us, and our answer is: Yes, but only through the education of the masses' . And at this time I am pleased to quote from the National Education Association. The founders of our country knew that the surest basis of liberty is education of all the people. George Washington was so earnest in this belief that he built a school-house himself. The building still stands as a part of the public schools of Alexandria, Virginia. The Continental Congress set aside millions of acres for the support of education. The schools which were built with the money from these lands are an important part of the Ar. erlcan institutions of learning. Since 1802 the Congress of the United States has passed more than 150 laws granting aid to public education--the strongest defense of American liberty. But more aid is needed and the need is urgent if we wish to equalize educational opportunities. American children are entitled to a fair start in life. They are not getting it. Some children go to school in safe comfortable buildings—others in ugly dangerous shacks. Some children have the chance to go to high school—for others no school is provided beyond the eighth grade. Some children go to school ten months--othera only six. Some children have college trained teachers--others are taught by teachers who have not finished elementary school. Some communities spend 60 times as much for education of their children as others do 1 Since I have mentioned that at the beginning of our democracy George Washington erected a scnoolhouse by hJ.mself, I need must repeat a story I heard over the radio concerning Henry Ford, now recently deceased. A teacher had established a school in Georgia with her own money. At firpt she had just a few pupils. But after a period of a few years the school began to grow and she was badly in need of money. At this same time Henry Ford had established his automobile industry and a friend told her that if she would go to him he would surely give her money so that the school wouldn't have to be closed. She took the last few dollars she had and made a trip to Dearborn, Mich, to see Mr. Ford. When she finally got a chance to tell him of her needs he smiled and good humoredly gave her a dime and told her to buy a bag of peanuts. Not to be outdone, she too, had a sense of humor. When she arrived home she did buy a packet of fertile peanuts and planted them. The returns from those peanuts in a few years was enough to keep the school going. Later the teacher Invited Henry Ford to visit her school. He was pleased to do this and gave sufficient money to take away its financial burdens. The school is still functioning today. This is Just one of many examples of how great men like Henry Ford have come to the realization of the desperate needs of the education of the masses. This young teacher by her firm determination and ambition serves as an excellent example for most of us to emulate. Since I have chosen teaching as my profession, I would like to choose as my model and guide He, who was the greatest of teachers, Jesus of Nazareth 0 4 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 4 ? ; ; 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 r 0 0 0