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

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ON PHOTO. C Class of June 1913

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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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Editorial In every Annual that has been published since the opening of West Highj there has been expressed, in one form or another, the regret of the outgoing class at the prospect of leaving our school. The class of June 1913 is no excep- tion and as the sun of our high-school life is sinking low upon the horizon, we experience the same feeling of regret that the other classes have before 11s. When w e were freshmen, we believed that four years were an eternity of time and never gave the matter of graduation a thought. Now as we stand poised, ready for the start into life, we realize how care-free is the life that we have been leading when compared w ith what we must expect hereafter. We realize that we have virtually grown into the school and that it will mean a wrench to leave it. The occasion is bound to be one of the saddest of the part- ings that arc in store for each of us. Our great consolation is the thought that we are now a great deal better prepared to meet the problems of life than we would have been had we never spent these four years so profitably at old West High. In the past, a great deal of interest has been shown by West High Stu- dents in the game of Chess, and for a time there was even a Chess Department in the Occident. West High has always been represented by strong Chess Teams. Several times when competing with much older teams, they have narrowly missed w inning the championship of the Junior Chess League and for the past two years the cup for individual championship has been held by West High players. Hitherto, Chess lias not been recognized, under the constitution, as a school organization and the teams have received no insignia. This spring, however, the matter was brought up in the Executive Council and. after a dis- cussion, that body approved the plan of making it a school activity and appointed a committee to frame an amendment to the constitution. On April 25, it was submitted to the Students’ Association and was passed unanimously. Chess is now a full-fledged activity and a pin, probably similar to the Occident and Debating Pins, will l e awarded, so that our chess-players, in addition to their desire to bring honor to the name of West High, as they have in the past, will have another spur in knowing that the school will give them some token of its appreciation of their efforts. 18