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

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Shortly before Christmas of last year, there occurred one of the most interesting and most unique events of the year. It was in the form of a Ger- man Christmas Festival and was given by the higher classes in'German, under the direction of the teachers of that department. The girls’ gymnasium, in which the party was held, was appropriately decorated with reproductions of the escutcheons of the German States, and set with a number pf small tables about which the students sat in true German fashion while they enjoyed the program which was rendered. This included a folk-dance, several quartettes and solos, a sketch and a talk by Mr. Miller, all in German. This program was followed by refresh- ments which included, among other things, real German Christmas cakes. The party was very well attended, the gymnasium l eing crowded with students and parents, and indeed a number had to be turned away owing to the limited capacity of the hall. It is planned to hold the next celebration in the Assembly Hall so that all those who are interested may be accommodated. It must be said that the affair was a marked success, especially when it is taken into consideration that it was the first time that anything of the kind was attempted at West High. Next Christmas, it will be more pretentious and probably even more successful and it should in time come to be one of the most important and most eagerly-awaited events of the year. This Spiing has seen the development of a new musical organization, the West High School Choral Union. It was organized in January simultaneously with a similar movement at East High. The idea was first proposed by Mrs. Elizabeth Casterton, our supervisor of music, who wished to offer to the pub- lic a capable rendition of favorite operatic selections. About four hundred students joined the new organization and at one of its early meetings officers were elected and an advisory lx)ard chosen. Then work was commenced in earnest and when the time came to show the results of that work, the public was given a rare treat. Two programs were given in conjunction with the East High Union, the first on April 5, and the second on April 10, during the Child’s Welfare Exhibit and the Convention of Music Supervisors. Both programs were very well received and showed the results that can be achieved by steady practice. All those who sang in the Choral Union enjoyed it and probably feel that they have been l enefited by it. It is to be hoped that if this worthy activity is revived next year, it will be as well or even better supported than it has been this year. 19

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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

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-Scholarship of Class of June 1913 Another year has been added to West High’s history and another class, that of June 1913, is about to pass into the alumni of the school. Nothing very extraordinary about that class more than any other, is there? Let us look over the records of the previous classes and compare their relative percent- ages in scholarship. We find that of the members of the class of June 1906, 27.4 per cent, was eligible for commencement honors; of 1907, 13 per cent.£ 1908, 22; 1909, 19; 1910, 12; 1911, 14; 1912, 18.5, and of the class of June 1913, 26.7 per cent. We are proud to think that we belong to a class that excels in scholarship. The various sports are fine, so are debating, dramatics; and music, and to excel in any of these is a good thing, but to excel in scholar- ship is the topmost rung of the ladder. Important as school activities may be, they must give place to scholarship. The primary reason of establishing high schools is education, and it is that reason that prompts many to go there. The students who realize why they are going to high school are likely to be the ones who will excel in scholar- ship, but they are too few; too many belong to the other class. So, have we not reason to be proud of having so many students in our class, that have been faithful workers throughout the four years and can now present records above all reproach not only when examined with the naked] eye, but also with the microscope ? Activities may 1 come, Activities may go, But scholarship goes on forever. Honor Roll Faith Adams Earl C. Karker Myra Seymour Barbour Lieschen Langenbahn Marie Brewster Ethel Rose Lannin Leon H. Buckler Marian E. Leary Margaret Louise Coleman Louis C. Lovegrove Giles L. Courtney Paul Robert Meinhard Marguerite J. Eastman Agnes C. Miller Mabel Evarts Adele Oberst Glenn Henry Ewell John W. Remington Cornelia Farrington Ruth Hazel Roworth Marion V. Gunson Jane King Salter Mabel Hager Irene Walsh Viola M. Hall Mildred D. Wilcox Donald Hershey George Willis »