Wells High School - Crimson and Gray Yearbook (Southbridge, MA)

Page 10 text:

THE CRIMSON AND GRAY Through the use of homework it is very pos- sible for the teacher to cram so much us, less information into the pupil that he is unable to remember useful facts. After a hard day ' s work at school the pupil hurries joyfully homeward and prepares for an enjoyable evening — untiil he remember his homework. When friends, who cheerfully disregard homework, knock at the door and ask for the son of the house, they are told he can ' t go out, Homework again. And also a word or two concerning the athlete who comes home from practice physi- cally tired. Can he enjoy a peaceful evening at home or at the movies? He cannot! He must study until he is mentally worn out. And so to bed but there is no sleep for the weary who tosses about half-way between sleep and wakefulness reviewing in his mind the test to- morrow, football practice, the book-report due until finally he falls asleep. The next morning, up with a beautiful grouch which gradually grows worse as the day progresses. The wrong thing is said and the pupil finds himself on detention. A per- fect day is ruined. Is homework worth all this? It is not! ! ! ! by himself depends directly on high school education where he has become proficient and accustomed to study. Admittedly the objec- tion might be raised that only a small per- centage of high school pupils expect to attend college. Yet this is silenced when we realize that every student expects to find some kind of employment and to hold down a position of more or less importance after graduation. His chances of holding down are greatly in- creased when his ability to concentrate and to absorb are tuned up as they certainly should be after completing four years of study in high school. As to the athlete and his homework he is naturally handicapped by an extra-curricular duty which may take two or three hours from his after-school day. But that is part of the understood agreement, An athlete does not have to join a sport, If he does join and has the ability to make a team, the extra work is part of a cheerfully accepted condition to his athletic pleasure. After all it is illogical to look at homework as drudgery when we attend high school primarily to attain knowledge — and when knowledge is mainly to be gained by outside work on the part of the student. IN DEFENSE OF HOMEWORK D wight Webster ' 36 If homework were to be eliminated from our high school, when would the work necessary for a high school education be done? Certainly one could not expect to get along with merely the classroom lectures and study periods to prepare recitations for four or five subjects. The sole way out of homework, then, would be to establish a longer school day; and who prefers this to homework? Another angle is that of the student who plans to further his education after leaving high school. In institutions of higher learning a student is more or less on his own, and the benefit he will derive from the school depends entirely on his ability to concentrate and to absorb the text of his lessons. The back- ground and experience of his ability to study A FALL TONIC K. T. ' 37 Do you feel bored to death? Does homework haunt you? And the mere mention of more English make you scream? Then what you need is— FOOTBALL! Of course, not all of us are fortunate enough to be six feet tall and capable of mashing to bits a couple of half backs as an outlet to our feelings about the injustice of the world, but everyone can at least go to the football games. Beg, borrow, or earn ( ! ) the price of a ticket. Once there, you can yell yourself hoarse, forget all your troubles, and have a grand time! Incidentally, you ' ll also be help- ing along the school. But no matter what your reason, GO TO THE FOOTBALL GAMES!

Page 9 text:

OCTOBER 1935 — EDITORIALS A SYMBOL OF OUR IDEALS Walter Howard ' 36 Outlined against the ivy covered school, a tall, silver shaft shoots upward from the green carpet of grass, toward the blue sky. Two uniformed men, one ready to raise the flag, the other — our bugler for over twenty years — to sound taps, stand at attention; two pupils, one a boy, one a girl, representing the student body, hold the flag. A scout, the last to make up this picture, stands at attention also. Wells High ' s newly erected flag pole is about to be dedicated. Major Goodell steps forward, attaches the flag, pulls the cord, and the red, white, and blue banner given to the school by Miss Coombs unfurls in the breeze out of the arms of Sophie Constantine and Gerald Peloquin; Sergeant Girard raises the bugle to his lips and the dignified notes of taps echo across the hill. Jack Burnham, Senior Patrol Leader of the Boy Scouts, raises his arm to salute, the signal for the student body to salute the symbol of freedom. What a warm feeling must have arisen in Major Goodell ' s and Sergeant Girard ' s hearts when they saw the Stars and Stripes stream from the top of the newly dedicated flag pole! We pupils who stood out in the street with heads uplifted, watching the flag unfurl in the wind did not realize what those soldiers who helped dedicate the new pole had gone through. We still do not realize what it means to them and may we never learn through fight- ing, the respect they have for their country and flag. The newly dedicated pole, tall and straight, stands for our government, a tall and straight one. The flag up there, flying high in the breeze, stands for liberty and love. Our ideals should be based on these two symbols. They should be just as tall and straight and should be just as loving. THE NEW PENS K. T. ' 37 An evolution seems to have taken place in Mary E. Wells High School over night. Gone forever, we hope, are the dull and stubby pens; now we have long graceful ones instead. But that ' s not all — the black morose color has also fled, and this year the pens which glide over scores of pieces of composition paper are red, yellow, and blue! Freshmen are no more pleased over this small matter than Seniors, for one member of the highest class said proudly the other day, We can pick the color we like best in our home room. Perhaps it only proves the amount of child- ishness in the most dignified of us all, but in any case, we are grateful to the person re- sponsible for adding this zest, however small, to the life of the hardworking high school pupils. ON THE SUBJECT OF HOMEWORK Lionel Proulx ' 36 Homework is one of the decayed traditions which some people still regard as beneficial.

Page 11 text:

OCTOBER 1935 LITERATURE MASTER SWIPEY, PEACEMAKER Kathleen- Tilly ' 37 There was nothing nice about Swipey, who had, like Topsy, just growed. He remembered very little about his parents, for since early childhood he had lived with the Big Boss, as crooked a racketeer as ever lived. Big Boss had taken Swipey under his protection during his less prosperous days when he realized that the youngster ' s limber feet and light-fingered hands would be of great value to him in his petty larcenies. Swipey had a regular gang consisting of other dirty urchins such as he, who openly bragged about their pickpocket- ing adventures. One evening as Swipey and Big Boss were talking on a street corner, they saw the new doctor of the district, a young man by the name of Robert Snowden, approaching. ' With a snarl, Big Boss stepped out onto the side- walk, blocking the young man ' s path. Look here, youse, he said disagreeably, ya know who I am? Dr. Snowden evidently did not. I ' m da Big Boss and ya better come across wid one hundred bucks protection money by Friday — or else! The agreeable smile vanished from the doctor ' s face, and Swipey tried in vain to drive away the feeling of admiration he felt for that quack as Snowden replied proudly, I ' m a doctor. Try and get your money! Then he turned abruptly and continued down the street, leaving a greatly astonished pair behind him. Friday came, and there was no sign of any money from young Dr. Bob, as he was now called by those who had immediately become slaves to his merry laugh and gentle eyes. He tried to be friendly and had even played foot- ball with Swipey and his gang one night in the narrow squalid city street. At first the boys had been sullen, but hero worship of the young doctor ' s broad shoulders and six-foot-fitness overcame their prejudice. When Dr. Bob was about to leave, Swipey had said shyly, Doc- tor Bob, ya better pay that hundred bucks or Big Boss ' ll get ya, but his only reply was a carefree laugh, and a smile of thanks. But now it was Saturday, and Big Boss, tipsily assertive, was really angiy. Tucking a .45 revolver into his pocket and yanking Swipey along with him, he said unsteadily, We ' ll get that guy! Swipey had no choice but to follow. When they had gone about half the distance to the doctor ' s house, they suddenly saw a runaway driverless truck careening down the street towards them. The first thing they knew, the truck was upon them, heading straight for a glass show window. Big Boss jumped clear, but Swipey was almost under the wheels when some one grabbed him out of the way. The next instant the air was filled with flying glass, and he recognized his rescuer as Dr. Bob Snowden before he fainted. When he opened his eyes a few moments later, he saw the young doctor twisting a first-