West High School - Senior Occident Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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The greatest social event of our Junior year was the Junior Prom held in Sibley Hall, which proved the ability of the class in that line and foretold the. success which the Senior Dance had, given in the same Hall a year later. In athletics our track team won the championship in their Junior year and Raymond Montgomery, a member of our class, won the tennis champion- ships of nineteen eleven and twelve. Our first attempt at dramatics was in giving, “The Teeth of the Gift Horse,” a delightful comedy and remarkably well presented by all the mem-; bers of the cast. Having shown the ability of the class in dramatics by the Junior Farce, we naturally decided to give a Senior Play. 1 he first question was, “What shall we give?” After much discussion and many misgivings as to its success, it was decided to give a Greek play, as nearly like the ancient Greek drama as present conditions would allow. The Alcestis of Euripides was decided upon, a shorter play than most that the Greeks used to give. Then people used to come from great distances and sit ail day to listen to the dramas; and while we don’t desire to cast any reflections on the politeness of our people or on their ability to sit still and lis- ten to something worth while, nevertheless, in this century of hurry a play of two or three hours is sufficient. Well, finally the cast was chosen and they did some good hard work get- ting ready. Beside those who had speaking parts there was the Greek chorus which told the events in song. At last the eventful night came and the Grecian chorus entered to the melody of the harp. Then the whole drama was given. The production was declared wonderful and it had to l e presented a second time. Such a thing had never before been attempted in any school in Rochester and its success proved a fitting climax to our dramatics in West High. In the last term of their Senior year, the Class of June thirteen decided that they ought to have some more good times together before leaving their Alma Mater. As a result, Marjorie Willis was chosen as chairman to make arrangements for this. It was planned to have some sort of a good time each month. In March, a party for the girls was held in the Gym, in April an infor- mal dance in the corridors for the people of the Senior class only and in May, a boat trip on the river was enjoyed. Miss Willis proved an able and original leader of these entertainments of various kinds. These are the most important events that the class as a whole has taken part in and carried through successfully. But we cannot overlook the general tendency toward good scholarship throughout the four years. The average, on the whole for June thirteen was one of which we may well be proud. Four years of high school passed! Let each one look back and see how short these years really seem now. Why they seem very much shorter looking back over them, than they did four years ago looking forward to them! Thus it is always, each day and each week seems so long in which to accomplish things but if we let them go, suddenly we find that the weeks have passed and our opportunity is lost. On the other hand if we do our work as we should do it and at the time when it should be done, then we will not be sorry to see the weeks go by knowing that we have done our best. Soon the class of June thirteen will leave West High School and in the words of our Alma Mater, “Far away, on life's broad highway, All will fortune try, Still our loving hearts will cherish Thoughts of thee, West High.” « MARION VIVIEN GUNSON. 16

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Still valiant souls and brave there be In every age and clime Who give their time, their strength, their all, And thus become sublime.” Then quickly turning toward me He said: “Oh! linger not! Within the busy, toiling world There must be some small spot Where thou art needed, go and seek Nor say you find it not.” So with quickening step I hastened From the mountain top away, Resolved to find and fill my place In the world’s work of to-day; And the spirit of the vision Shall remain with me alway. CORNELIA FARRINGTON. Class History % If the superstitious believe that there is something unlucky about the num- ber thirteen, they will have to grant that the precedent has been broken in the case of the June thirteen class; or if they are very stubborn, at least they will admit that this class is the exception which proves the rule. At any rate our class is the first class of thirteen to be graduated from West High School and it has certainly not been any less lucky than other graduating classes. But then we must not count success as due to luck since we all know it cannot come with- out good honest effort. However, we must not boast of our success without showing some facts to prove our claims, so we will proceed to give an outline of the achievements of the class in the form of a history. In September, four years ago, we entered West High for the first time. Of course the surroundings were strange and the work different from that to which we had been accustomed, but soon we became used to the new order of things. In our Freshman year, we at least accomplished one thing of note, that is, the winning of the baseball championship for our class, besides learning how to conduct a class meeting in Parliamentary form. After we had safely passed through the trials and testings of our Fresh- man year, we gave the Sophomore Dance in the corridors, according to the usual custom. On that night the library and corridors were decorated with ferns and flowers until every thing presented a festive appearance. At night, the people began to arrive and soon the halls were alive with pretty girls. The dance was informal and thoroughly enjoyable throughout. Then we entered upon the duties and pleasures of the last two years of our course. Two of the members of our class, John Remington and Glenn Ewell, made the team to debate Lafayette in the high school at Buffalo. Do you remember the outcome of that debate? Well, rather! And the boys weren’t the only persons winning laurels in the debating line. Cornelia Far- rington and Hazel Kemp were on the team to debate East High. This year the Girls’ East High Team had as members Hazel Kemp and Margaret Coleman. The boys’ team against this same school was made up of three members of our class: Glenn Ewell, Randall Matson and John Rem- ington. 16

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ON PHOTO. C Class of June 1913