Western High School - Westward Ho Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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WESTWARD HO Miss Helen B. palen AVE you ever noticed a mother bird teach her young to Hy? The baby birds are very weak and timid. They must be continually urged and called; they are even stupid and must be shown over and over again how to progress. It takes infp nite patience, unerriug judgment, and continu- ous effort to teach them. Just so, the claSs of 1924, ixy'ay back in 1920, when it was very young, was in need of a leader, guide, friend, ttto teach it to fly,v to take care of it and protect it throughout its life of four years. Very Wisely, oh, very wisely, did Dr. XVeglein and that kind Fate, Good Fortune, select Miss Helen B. Palen to fill this need. Through these four years, she has been our teacher, wise and sure, our companion, staunch and devoted, our friend, loyal and loving. Re- markable have been her foresight and ability to plan and carry out every detail of parties, feasts, athletics, or dramaties. When we look back, we realize 110w often we have been saved from an unfortunate situation by her leadership. There are so many possible ways of making mistakes, you know, in a body of nearly five hundred members. But every time we have had one sure means of eseape-the wisdom and guidance of Miss Palen. Then too, as the girls say, HMiss Palen is always right on the job working so hard herself, that you just have to jump in and help her? liOurll Miss Palen spent her early life. in a most beautiful section of New York state, in a little Village called Rockland, situated among the foothills of the Catskill Mountains; 21 de- lightful spot combining all the beauty and free- dom of the country with all the conveniences of the city. Miss Palen loved this home. As Mrs. Edward B. Palen, Miss Palenls mother, writes, As a child, Helen was always passion- ately fond of outdoor life. At the age of two years, she would rock herself to sleep, sitting in a chair on the porch, watching the leaves blowing on the trees? ,Eesides lovely hills covered with great trees, wild tlowers, and exquisite ferns, over which to roam, Miss Palen had a delightful mill-p-ond on which she paddled a canoe for hours. Can you conceive of a more charming place for a home? Miss Paleu had an innate love for Home Economics. Pressing into service a Chair, to supply the necessary height not yet furnished by nature, she early began to explore the mys- teries of the culinary art. A love of books was also one of her earliest traits. Her father read to her nightly when she was very young, so that when she began to read for herself, her literary taste was developed beyond her years. Nothing in hction pleased her more than Wllhe Leather Stocking Tales, by Cooper, and Dick- ensls lKTale of Two Cities , Fiction, however, did not monopolize all her time, for she read much in the Bible and in books of biography She did not go to school as early as children do now, and consequently did a great deal of reading at home. She would be come so absorbed in a book that she was ut- and history. terly oblivious to everythinggoing on about her. Another interesting characteristic was her fearlessness. Her mother theither darkness nor other things that cause most chil- dren to tremble disturbed her; She loved a thunder storm, and was perfectly fascinated ll 0,111 afraid few of us could Donlt you remember how writes, with lightning. make a like claim. you used to shudder at the great noise the clouds made when they titbumped their heads? and how you used to run by the dark, vacant roomw Miss Palen was a good student. She ac- quired her education by studying at home, at- tending school at Asbury Park, New Jersey; i Ithaca, New York, and the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. tNo, unfortunately, Western cannot lay any claim to having helped educate herJ Finally Miss Palen came to VVeStern, where she now presides over the hearts of the class

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13,1313 By . Ceceha. NorFJk EareckSoh

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WESTWARD HO of twenty-four and over that sweet little apart- ment on the fourth floor. tReally, the living and dining rooms are fme for committee meet- ings, and the bed-room is an excellent dressing room for our actors and actresses. Hurrah for the apartment 0 But now that we, Miss Palelfs girls, must say good-bye to our beloved honorary member, to Western and all the dear people in it; now, that it is about time for the history of our class to be recorded on the annals of Western, we want to say that all our successes, any good things that our class has accomplished, are due to Miss Palen, her inflnite patience, unerring judgment, and continuous efforts. If in any place our class has fallen short of the highest mark, this has been due to our stupidity, our failure to follow our faithful guide. In the works of our basketball ttsongsterll: tKHerels our tribute to her, lVe shall neler forget her, For we love her soft ALICE M. BAUER 24. ONE HOURS MOOD MARGARET M. POTTS, l25 0 blue! 0 blue! 0 dreaming sea and sky, 0 hundred silver gulls that kiss the wave With slender, pointed wing-tip! O thou grave, Majestic, silent eagle, soaring high Beyond the sphere of straining human eye-- Beyond the spirecl cliffs all bannered brave With virgin clouds, to which the heavens gave A whiteness that with angels' robes must vie! By sky and bird and rock and cloud and sea We mortal atoms, breathing soft in awe, Must leave our More-Than-Reverence unnamed; From vanities all of a sudden free, We grope, and strive to reach th' Eternal Law, And, sensing it at last, fall back ashamed. THE TREE MARJORIE GRAFFLIN, '25 To see the flaming sun arise, To feel at noon his burning kiss, And watch him fade in crimson skies, What joy could equal this? To bend beneath the tempest's strength To laugh and sway with every breeze, Or sing a wild and dreary tune, What charms compare with these? To have 'neath leafy arms a host Of living creaturesebird and bee; To guard a thousand joys and glooms, What task could greater be? We reach toward higher things than man; The buzz of bee, the song of bird, Our slightest stir reveals more truth Than does his deepest word.