Windsor Locks High School - Herald Yearbook (Windsor Locks, CT)

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6 THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. deciding which essay was the best. And how we did work on those essays! Prizes mean a good deal to boys and girls of our age, more perhaps than the judges ever realize. And you must know that the town of East Windsor is very, very intellectual, for after a long and serious discussion our judges decided to confer the first and sec¬ ond prizes upon Neddy Compaine and Carl Larson, both of East Windsor. In May of that year one more of our classmates told us she would have to leave us. So we decided to have a farewell party. As there were but seven of us, we decided to enlarge the number and have our class teacher, Miss Hall, for chaperon. A never- to-be-forgotten evening was spent, and the moon was high in the sky when we reached home. To be sure, our chaperon and class president managed, because of a misunder¬ standing between them, to forget to bring to the house the principal object of our class party, namely, the little friendship pin we gave our departing classmate as a sign of our affection. Soon after that our teacher, Miss Hall, told us that she also was going to desert us that year. That left us but six in number to resume our studies for the final year. We were all determined to finish with flying colors and earn the praise and approbation of all, small in numbers though we were. On December 5 we gave a dinner to about one hundred visiting teachers, clearing about $45. When you consider the physics room was our kitchen, you will agree with us that serving the dinner was quite a stunt. But, needless to say, we managed the func¬ tion successfully, showing that we had do¬ mestic as well as dramatic ability. In February we attempted to give the usual midwinter dance. I say attempted, because for some unknown reason the weath¬ er man was against us, and only those who lived in the center of the town could attend. As this dance could hardly be counted a success, we had to try once more to do something which might add to our class funds. So we resorted to a whist, and added $20 to our bank account. On June 8 Johnson’s studio was chosen as a fitting place to pose for the pictures that are the most important we shall ever have taken, our Senior Class Pictures. And now tonight we come to the final chapter of our history as a class and begin our history as individuals. May the pages of these histories be as marked as those of our class history have been. Helen Shepard, ’20. ADVICE TO UNDERGRADUATES It is customary for the graduating class of a high school to give some few words of advice to the undergraduates of the school. Our class is going to follow this ancient cus¬ tom, and I am the medium through which these perhaps unwelcome but sorely needed words are to be given. By way of prepara¬ tion and warning, before I impart to you this valuable advice upon which I have spent hours of diligent toil, let me say that the undergraduates are supposed to give careful ear to my solemn words and to obey them in every detail. Juniors: We compliment you upon your progress this past year. You have truly outgrown to a great extent your babyish ways. However, we would advise that you learn to stand on your own feet. Don’t depend on othei ' s all the time, depend on yourself once in a while, and don’t have your wishbone where your backbone ought to be. You will naturally fall heir to the seats of honor vacated by us, and, although you have progressed so admirably this past year, we hardly believe that you have quite reached that high intellectual stage attained by us or that you are really fitted to occupy them at once. We would advise you, there¬ fore, to retain your old seats until you be¬ come capable of filling ours as ably as we have done. By the way, Juniors, you have an orator in your midst. One Redmond Lynskey, who has achieved fame as a speaker in the re¬ cent national democratic convention held in the school. May you always appreciate hi 3 flowery eloquence. I would also advise that John Shaughnessey, otherwise known as “Shock,” get a pair of shock-absorbers so that when he does his acrobatic feats in French II and gets “landed” on, it will take off some of the jar. Sophomores: You are known as the quiet¬ est class in school, and quietness is truly an admirable characteristic. Incidentally, how¬ ever, you are known as the most nearly dead class that we have. You seem to be for¬ ever in a trance. Come out of that mental fog which seems to have so completely en¬ wrapped you! Wake up and show some signs of life, and don’t go around as though you were all afflicted with sleeping sickness. Your class seems to possess considerable talent, however. You have one amongst you who bids fair to become a second Bernhardt. For one of her age, Miss Root possesses re¬ markable ability. We would advise you,

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5 THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. themselves, but just to avoid harder work and (ret alone a easily as they can. They usually do not remain in school any length of time. Some of them managed to drag through to the end of the year, but they didn’t pass. “The teacher didn ' t like them,” is their favorite explanation. They start out in life no richer either in character or in fame than when they entered school. There is another class of pupils who like to make a show of what superficial knowl¬ edge they do get. When the. e finish high school they seldom attain the same heights in life as an ambitious grammar school graduate who has gone deeply into all his work. They dream of a rosy path filled with ease and luxury—fame. But they will not buckle down and carry their load. The crowd goes on, but they follow in the wake. Occasionally one of these is thrown into the lead by circumstance, but he does not re¬ main there very long, because he is unable to get down below the surface to the real fundamentals of life. He has been building for fame, his part is to receive the praise while someone else bears the respon ability. There is still a third class in our school, composed of those pupils who work not only to attain high marks, but for what they can really get out of their studies. When a difficult problem confronts them, they ana ' yze it, instead of just glancing at it, and stepping over it. An opportunity is never mi-sed by which advancement may be gained and gained honorably. These are the ones who step into Life ' s School unhesitatingly and make progress in life. Classmates: Let us strive on, as we have in the past four years, and remember that in the building of our characters every single day counts. Build today then strong and sure, With a firm and ample base; And ascending and secure Shall tomorrow find its place. Carl Larson, ' 20. HISTORY We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart thi’obs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. So in life and so in school, as classes and as boys and girls we live in deeds, in thoughts and feelings; therefore the history of our class, as of every class, though ar¬ ranged in order of years and events, is really the story of our thoughts and feelings for four years. From the time we entered the Windsor Locks High School as freshmen in nineteen sixteen, nineteen in number, quality predom¬ inated. That is why our number was dimin¬ ished each fall when we returned to school after our summer vacation. We are truly a shining example of the “survival of the fittest.” As we now look down from our present lofty position, as dignified seniors, upon our freshman year, it is hard to realize that we were ever so small and verdant as the little children who entered last September. Did we ever feel so bashful or so awkward? Were we ever timid in looking for our vari¬ ous classrooms ? If we were less honest we would deny the modest and fearful shrink¬ ing from publicity that characterized our freshman year, but, truthful we always were, we admit the charge. During our freshman year we were too occupied mastering algebra and Latin to think much of social affairs. We gave our time and attention wholly to school work trying to adjust oui-selves to our new en¬ vironment. When we returned in the fall as sopho¬ mores we became ambitious. Just to give something, to do something, was uppermost in our minds. Having settled into our prop¬ er niche in the Windsor Locks High School, we were ready to go on and work for our class and our school. But we were informed that the upper classmen were to have the preference, so we had to watch and wait, curbing our laudable ambition until the proper time for action. Yet we did make one more or less public appearance. In English II we had read, as thousands of classes have before us, George Eliot’s “Silas Marner,” and for one of our rhetorical per¬ formances we dramatized the story. Not to boast too much, we felt that we had some dramatic ability, and we were all the more eager to do something to earn money and show our class spirit. W ' hen but seven of us returned to “carry on” as juniors we were resolved to work hard toward the goal of graduation. So we decided to give a military whist on Feb¬ ruary 17, clearing $33, which we thought a good sum to start on. Our minds then became occupied in writ¬ ing for the Junior Prize Essay Contest. We were going to give the judges no easy time

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THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. 7 Eleanor, however, to confine your acting to the stage and not the school room. There is another one of your sophomore girls who trips the light fantastic toe with graceful ability. It would not be a bad idea for some of you to follow Miss Lyons’ art and thereby gain grace and poise. Verdant Freshmen: Do you realize that you are now almost sophomores, and it will soon be your duty to show another class just how high school students should act? Since we as seniors have been this past year located in a separate room from the rest of the high school, we have very seldom seen you freshmen, and indeed when we have visited the main room on special occa¬ sions we at first thought the front seats were empty until we heard childish voices proceeding from their depths. On one occa¬ sion when the freshmen presented a rhetori¬ cal program, in the midst of it the piano suddenly started playing. We were dum- founded, for we had not heard of our piano being changed into a “player,” and indeed we would not have allowed our beautiful in¬ strument to be so used. But when the room was filled with vibrating chords and crash¬ ing crescendos we were awed beyond ex¬ pression. But lo and behold when the music ceased, up jumped a sprightly freshman girl, who had been entirely concealed by the piano. You also seem to be a very studious class as a whole and cover a broad field of lead¬ ing, especially the boys. I have been told that our freshman boys can be found nearly every day reading from our World’s Refer¬ ence Books, looking up, usually, such data as the evolution of the Blastophaga Nas- sorum and various other biological subjects. Just here I would like to deviate from the usual custom and give just a few woi’ds of advice to the School Board. We think it would be an excellent plan for the Board to provide a few cradles and perhaps a nurse¬ maid if need be for the incoming freshman class. So much for the lighter part of my ad¬ vice; now for the more serious part. Your high school years pass quickly. You who continue your high school career, and you all should continue, will soon be graduating as we are tonight. Work hard and you will find that you will gain due reward for your efforts. You have strong class spirit. Weld that into a strong school spirit and strive to keep the standard of your school higher than that of any other. Make W. L. H. S. a school that you, your parents and towns¬ people can well be proud of, and to each one of you, individually, I can give no better advice than that which Polonius gave to his son Laertes: “This above all, to thine own self be true And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” Malcolm Macdonald, ’20. ACCEPTANCE OF ADVICE Members of the Class of 1920: In behalf of the undergraduates, I wish to sincerely thank you for those precious words of advice which you have imparted to us this evening. We have listened attentively to your words of wisdom, and we have taken them all to heart. At this moment we are, no doubt, think¬ ing of the time when we, too, shall be seniors, when we shall have to leave our classmates and teachers, and pass on to the business world. We have learned many lessons from you as upper classmates, but we have, no doubt, learned something which we would have fared well without—the matter of talk¬ ing to yourselves on occasions. But, Seniors, I must confess that you have been a quiet and respectable class, and from the bottom of my heart I wish you the best of luck. Herbert Poulter. PRESENTATION OF GIFT In selecting our gift this year we have aimed to leave the school something useful. The appropriate gifts of former classes have attractively decorated the walls of the vari¬ ous rooms and supplied many valuable refer-, ence books to assist the pupils in their work. There was a time, long centuries ago, when it was no uncommon thing for a person to go through life without ever learning to read. Times have changed since then and great benefits as well as pleasures are de¬ rived from books and current magazines. The most obvious of all benefits is pleas¬ ure—pure pleasure entirely free from any idea of improvement. We turn to books and magazines for much the same reason that we join a merry crowd, engage in sports, or a tramp through the woods. But there are higher benefits. How de¬ pendent we are upon books for facts and