West Chester University - Serpentine Yearbook (West Chester, PA)

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FOREWORD Because we believe in the high aims and philosophies ol our prolession — Because we arc trvmy to become worthy of their excellence — Because we consider the human mind a most precious element which we are privileged to mold — our dedication is to an ideal: the sympa- thetic, vital, ins]-)iring teacher that each one ol us IS strnini: to become. OUR THEME For the many who inhabit the sections of our state where the culture we fondly call Pennsylvania Dutch prevails, our theme will be little more than a recapitulation of the familiar. To those who know little of the customs ol the lascinatmij, little group whose mores have so enriched our own, we may be the open sesame to a wonderful saga. Even those who have never seen evidences ot it have heard much of the loveliness of Dutch art, beautiful for the sources that inspired It as well as for its own charms. The histories of the ilower, bird, and star motifs so popular with these people, the mystical interjiretatlon of the hexerei symbols that decorate their barns tell the story, if we wish to read it, of the philosophy oi a grouji lamed as much for its masterly creations in needlework, i-)otter , and stone as lor its cul- inarv treasures that tourists will cross a continent to enjoy. Proud that they are part of our Commonwealth, we present to -ou the Penn- svlvania Dutch, with the hojie that your accjuaintance will be pleasant and long- lived.

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Published bv the Class of 1945 Editor-in-Chief SUSAN R. KAUFMANX Business JIanaijer ELAINE G. HUNN

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: 5 Give OS schools that give us knowledge; Give us teachers who love mankind, Who know the world outside their own life ' s circle. Who know that things are not Fixed and unchanging, That manmade rules are not eternal truths. Give OS men and women too who judge The world not by their own little habits Nor by the printed words of textbooks of theories Or the dogma of systems and methods. Give us men Who dare defy conventions When these would make us thoughtless puppets, Acting on a set stage, Pulled by strings of official orders. Give OS men Who, humble and wide-awake, See the good in the strange And the wisdom possessed by an underling, And dare to show it. Give us men Who know that others think and learn and do Just as well as those in command, Tho the external patterns differ. Give us leaders Who bring out in us The good that nature put there; Men who, fearless and bold. Trust those who are working with them, Even OS they would be trusted in turn. Deliver os, please, from those Who spill words to hide their thooghfs, From sweef-speafeing yef cruel and heartless Followers of pedagogical fashion. Deliver os from those who brook No differences of opinion, Of method or routine, From those who sweor todoy by one set of rules And on the morrow drop it As if it had never existed, For a new scheme equa y dogmatic. Give us, the underlings. Strength to keep our innate endowment Intact against all onslaughts from without. Give OS cooroge to show that we too Know life and its children. The past and the present ' s great happenings. Give us patience to endure stupidity in high places Without rancor or resentment, And let us against all odds Do what we believe is right. Teach us to think Not OS oor teachers soy Bot OS we know we should. Give us, we pray, wisdom and willingness to use The gifts which are ours, And ever complete and unafraid to be, Not a copy of another. But just ourselves. A Teacher Prays Myrtle Mann Gillet TvT TTTTTTT JHiX