West Division High School - Comet Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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WILLIAM C. KNOELK Principal In what has come to be known as the Critical Period in our history, George Washington is reported to have said to lohn lay, Your sentiment that our affairs are drawing rapidly to a crisis accords with my own . . . We have probably had too good an opinion of human nature, in forming our confederation. There have been other periods in our history when times were critical, but never has there been a time more critical than the last two years. And never has there been a period when Washington's words were more applicable, if we substitute U N O for confederation. The essence of the present danger lies in the startling newness of the situations that confront us and the effect these changes have had on our thinking and our attitudes. The problem is can democracy survive? Can citizens be trusted to be of sufficiently fine character to meet the demands of the tre- mendous reconstruction? History has no parallel. The war emergency imposed supreme demands upon the democracies to overcome dictatorships. By a willing yielding of rights and privileges, the foe was overcome. Can the peace which has been secured by war be saved to make a lasting peace? Will there be enough unselfish generosity to rebuild nations and improve human relationships? The youth of today will have to furnish the answers again, as youth in all ages has had to do. Will it require coercion or will democratic persuasion suffice? Washington's words are a challenge. I-Iave we had too good an opinion of human nature? i

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The task of our educational system during the past seventy-five years has been generally well performed, even though many inequalities and some irregularity existed. Proof of this performance is evident in the size and success of our war effort. The greatest factor in helping to develop the concept of a society for which we were willing to make any sacrifices was our system of free public education, which furnished us with the techniques and skills necessary to solve the practical problems of organization and production which war unexpectedly thrust upon us. During the period of readjustment which we face, there will be more variables in the educational equation, more unknowns. To solve the equation, the educational system must be more resilient, more fearless in leadership and action. lt cannot meet its responsibility if it fails to break down certain inflexibilities which now exist. One inflexibility of the educational system is the continuation on too wide a scale of a tendency to stamp a standardized pattern upon everyone. A mass production approach to education has developed. However, the potential contribution to society of our young people cannot be measured in terms of their ability to conform to a standardized pattern. A factory like educational organization costs less financially, but is wasteful of human resources because it does not fully develop the individual person for the benefit of our democratic society. THEODGRE C. POTTER Vice-Prin ci pal