Westville High School - Echo Yearbook (Westville, IN)

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But the result proved that this line of reasoning was far from accurate. Kathleen Cornelius came home from the contest with a first prize in read- ing. For several years following we continued to send contestants to LaPorte, but they failed to win any of the medals. However, this was only the calm which precedes the storm. Last year Mertie Shunk won second in a reading entitled Her Husband's First Dinner Party, and Helen Chivington delivered an oration, Is America Worth Saving? She won first prize. This was a great night for Westville and one that will be long remembered. The school has again planned to enter and let us hope that she will prove her metal as before. HIGH SCHOOL AND GRADE PLAYS. ' For many years it has been the custom for the High School to give a play near the end of the year. These have always been well attended and show that the community is interested in what the school is doing. Such are the crowds that it has become necessary to present the play two evenings. ' The following plays have been given in recent years: His Uncle John, Dodging an Heiress, The Spy, The Clever Doctor, The Colonel's Maid, An Early Bird and Safety First. The rehearsals for all of these plays have been conducted away from school and ofi' school hours. The plays have been recognized as a means of giving self confidence and poise to a pupil. That the American people need this is apparent when we notice middle aged men stammer and blush when they are called on for a two-minute speech. The grade pupils have presented some excellent cantatas and recitals in the past few years, among which are The House That Jack Built, The Happy Family of Father Time, and ln a Flower Garden. The only objection to giving a play of this sort is the fact that the school does not possess a room large enough to accommodate the rehearsals, and taking the pupils away from the building to practice is not altogether satisfactory. A. B. Kln Hamletj--I drink to your good health, and let an onion in the cup be thrown. M. E. H.--What kind of people inhabit the South Sea Isles? M. E. K.-Hannibals. For Sale-TwentyJthree wads of gum located under Ruth's desk. Almost as good as new. Hardly been used. Inspector-Any abnormal children in your class, Miss Pedagog? School Teacher-Yesg one of them is well behaved.

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SCHOOL ACTIVITIES The work of a school should not confine itself entirely to instruction. The public school is coming more and more to be a community center. That this should be so is claimed by the best educators in the land. The Westville Public Schools have made every possible effort to maintain its position in this respect, but it hardly has a fair chance with the other schools of the county because of the lack of space. Not only do we lack room for social activities but even for the best type of class instruction. EXHIBIT DAYS Since 1914 the grades and high school have prepared an exhibit each semester. These exhibits endeavor to bring before the public the lines of work pursued during a semester. The school patrons have not been slow to show their appreciation on such occasions. At such times great numbers come to the school building to see the Work of pupils. The school authori- ties believe that exhibits are helpful in uniting the interests of school and home. Westville has come to regard these events as a permanent institu- tion. PARENT TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. In November, 1915, The Westville Parent Teachers' association had its initial meeting. Points of interest were generally discussed and a great community supper planned. This social event was given on February 22, 1916. Suflicient money was cleared to purchase a giant stride. This piece of apparatus has ever been a source of pleasure to school children. The supper feature was discontinued during the war because of the food prob- lem which faced the world at that time, and has not been resumed. How- ever the club has not been inactive. In 1916 it was instrumental in the purchase of two and one-half acres of land for the school ground. This is an accomplishment worth while and shows that the club has done some- thing besides talk. Last year the Association petitioned the County Board of Education for a county traveling Red Cross nurse. We feel that this action is largely responsible for the appointment of a nurse this year. Parents and teachers really are working toward the same end, the education of the youth of a community. It is true that they have a great many problems in common, and there is no better way of comparing notes than at a meeting of the Parent-Teachers' club. Be present at the next meeting. THE ORATORICAL CONTEST In 1915 the Westville High School entered the County Oratorical con- test. Westville had been a little slow in getting into county activities and no one usually considered that Westville had it in herto do much anyway.

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F ff SAFETY FIRST An American Farce Comedy in three acts by Sheldon Parmer. Pre- sented by the Westville High School, April 28 and 29, 1921. Under the direction of Scott C. Knoll. Cast of Characters. Jack Montgomery, A Young Husband ......... .... O scar Jarrell Jerry Arnold, An Unsuccessful Fixer .... ..... E dward Gill Mr. McNutt, A Defective Detective .... .... A lden Herrold Elmer Flannell, Awfully Shrinking ..... .... L loyd Miller Abou Ben Mocha, A Turk From Turkey .... ...... V ernon Forbes Mabel Montgomery, Jack's Wife ........ .... E sther Davidson Virginia Bridger, Her Young Sister ....... ....... H elen Reed Mrs. Barrington Bridger, Their Mamma ..... .... F lorence Ortman Zuleika, a Tender Turkish Maiden ....... ..... M ertie Shunk Mary Ann o'Finnerty, An Irish Cook ..... ...... L e1fTMi11er The Story. This new and sparkling farce has a story of sustained interest, abound- ing in mirth provoking situations. Its leading role is that of an innocent and inoffensive young husband, Jack Montgomery, who is plunged into the abyss of the law after trying to rescue a Turkish maiden from the hands of the police. Jack and his chum, Jerry, visit Zuleika to aid the interests of Jack's cousin, Elmer Flannel, a shrinking young man. Jack, Jerry and Zuleika are arrested and sentenced to thirty days in jail. In order to keep the disgrace from Jack's wife, Mabel, and Jerry's fian- cee, Virginia, they tell them that they are going to a convention of Shriners by boat. The scheme works and Mabel and Virginia bid them a tearful farewell. In the second act the ladies have received word from the steam- boat company that Jack and Jerry are not to be found on board and have probably been washed overboard and drowned. They are heart-broken and don deep mourning for the loved ones they never expect to see again. Jack and Jerry in jail, know nothing of this, and when their thirty days expire they return to the ladies full of joy and explanations of their won- derful trip to Florida. It takes some tall explaining to show why they were not drowned, and when Mrs. Bridger, the mother of the girls, learns that Zuleika has been missing for thirty days, she naturally thinks that she ac- companied the boys to Florida. Mabel decides to return to her mother's roof and never see J ack again. The third act straightens out the tangle after a series of laughable events culminating in an elopement down a ladder in which Jack, who thinks he is eloping with Mabel, his wife, finds that the lady he is running away with is the Irish cook, Mary Ann O'Finnerty.