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

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THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD 20 service. But how often do we hear this expression from men and women in almost any p rofession. “Oh, I would give a great deal if I could do that.” There seems to be an almost universal longing for a medium which enables us to get down on paper rapidly and accurately our thoughts and those of others. Shorthand is recognized not only as an indispensable time saver in business but an instrument of personal utility. And there is no reason why short¬ hand should not be learned by everyone who has any writing to do. Longhand is absurdly inadequate for many of the uses to which shorthand can be put outside of the voca¬ tional field. Tradition has decreed that college, pref¬ erably the classical college is the goal of all education and the energies of the public schools have been and are still largely directed to this end, practically ignoring the application of education to marvelously changing social conditions. But the colleges are recognizing the value of stenographic courses. The University of Georgia offers regular courses in shorthand and credit will be granted upon the completion of the com¬ bined shorthand and typewriting courses. The colleges are gradually falling in line in this matter of credit as well as giving the work a place in their regular programs. The Boston University has a course in Secretarial Science covering four years of study, with certain modifications of it pro¬ viding shorter course for those equipped to pursue them. Chicago University has also instituted such a course. A number of other univer¬ sities and colleges have definite high-grade courses in secretarial subjects. These schools are doing a much needed work. Stanford University and the University of California have each given shorthand and typewriting a definite place in their courses of study leading to the baccalaureate degree. We all agree that the power to organiz e, the power to conceive big objects and carry them out, the power to think thru to the end, to analyze, construct and reconstruct belong to the highest type of mind. We know that this sort of mind needs the biggest, richest, broadest sort of educational environ¬ ment to develop it to its fullest activity. Is there any question whether or not the vocational courses in our schools and col¬ leges do not in a large measure develop such a high type of mind? Francis Wallace, ’22. £ BOOKS AS FRIENDS. Ruskin has said, “A good book does for us what a true friend can.” Contact with books is the same as contact with friends. We meet a person, we glance at him, speak to him, and consider him in our minds, de¬ ciding unconsciously whether or not we like him. If he meets with our approval we inclu de him in our friendship list. It is thus with books. First we take a book from the library shelf. We look at the name, the author, the binding, and finally the type. Its main features appeal to us. Perhaps we glance at the first pages, recalling other books we have read and enjoyed by the same author. We read these first pages and en¬ joy them. Becoming interested, we read on. As our tastes develop an infinite number of new heros loom up to satisfy our insa¬ tiable thirst for literature. Quite as un¬ consciously as with first acquaintances we give our stamp of approval or disapproval. I am sure we can all remember the many happy hours of our childhood spent in living through the thrilling experiences and ad¬ ventures of beautiful “Cinderella,” brave “Jack the Giant Killer,” and demure “Little Red Riding Hood.” As we grew older, our book friends seemed to have grown with us. In real life we may not be surrounded by a host of charming friends at all times because our friends may be few in number whereas our moods are many. But in our world of books there is no such deficiency. We have the thoughtful friend to inspire us in our more serious and pensive moods, sug¬ gesting and guiding our noble impulses. For instance, Milton, speaking to us through his “Comus,” and Bryant inspiring us through his “Thanatopsis.” And too, there is the resourceful friend who cheers us when we are down-hearted, diverting our thoughts from our own troubles by all sorts of enter¬ taining and fascinating tales. Such a one is Mark Twain, whose “Tom Sawyer,” “Huckleberry Finn” and “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” are tried and proven remedies for ennui. Again when our minds are dull, and life seems to drag along without much zest, such friends as Shakespeare and Dickens come to coax us out of our depression. What a world of exciting and interesting events they present to us! High School English has introduced them to us in “Macbeth” and “The Tale of Two Cities. These books set our imagi¬ nation to work and in work is much oi the

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THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD 19 Give them a chance for innocent sport, Give them a chance for fun, Better a playground plot, than a court And a jail where the harm is done, Give them a chance, if you stunt them now, Some day you may have to pay, A larger bill for a greater ill, So give them a chance to play. Grace Kilty. -(o)- EDUCATION IN A VOCATIONAL COURSE. First let us consider what is education. Education aims at two things; to teach us how to make a living and to teach us how to live. It is a gain in control of any mental process whether it be the skillful manipulation of a typewriter or the mastery of ideals. It is not to be obtained only within the limits of the purely academic courses of study, untainted by any sugges¬ tion of the practical, unstained bv direct contact with the problems of daily living. The process of learning to skillfully manipulate the typewriter demands a higher degree of patience, perseverance and cour¬ age than is demanded by any of the aca¬ demic subjects. A good secretarial course trains the student to follow direction with¬ out deviation, to carry the task thru to the end without relaxation of care and atten¬ tion, to make repeated trials until a diffi¬ cult task is accomplished, to prevent waste, to be orderly and to look ahead. In no other course is the demand for ac¬ curacy so important. An error throws out the entire piece of work, so one simply must become 100% perfect. There is no getting by in the business world with 80% of ac¬ curacy and 20% of error. This habit of absolute accuracy is a habit of value be¬ cause the forming of it has brought forth persistent, honest effort. Even the science courses in college demand no such high standard of a passing mark as 90% which is required in many of the Business Col- eges and which should be made universal in all High Schools and Business Colleges in the United States. In the Gregg School in Chicago the passing mark is decidedly high. A student has to obtain an average of 95% before he is allowed to graduate. Shorthand may safely be termed a lan¬ guage study. It is estimated that the train¬ ing of the mental and physical powers of the student obtained in a two year short¬ hand course is quite equal to the training from a two year course in a language. The language study trains eye, ear and vocal cords to form new words for the expression of ideas thru a new medium. Shorthand study trains eye, ear and hand for a similar purpose. In both these cases there is a common element of changing language from one form to another. The process of learn¬ ing and applying rules of French grammar is almost identical with the process of learn¬ ing and applying the principles of shorthand theory. In both studies the student must acquire a whole field of memory facts and associations, phonetics, vocabulary, punctua¬ tion, and rules for grammatical construction. In shorthand all these.facts must be learned thoroughly to give the power of quick auto¬ matic response. The learning of the course taxes the student to a greater degree than the demands made in the early stages of learning a foreign la nguage. There is a definite standard to be accomplished in shorthand that is lacking in a language study. Moreover a two year course in shorthand is a great asset to the learner whereas a two year course in French is of little value unless the subject is pursued longer. Shorthand also has a wider range in es¬ tablishing more firmly principles in English, idioms in good usage, spelling, punctuation and precision in the use of words than French course has for the reason that the reading and writing exercises in a two year French course are confined to the simplest sort of contact with a limited vocabulary. In shorthand, once the theory is learned, the content of the reading and dictation matter has no limitations. A glance over the classics now published in shorthand will convince the most critical that there is a distinct educational value in the type of English selections used. Bookkeeping too has a great educational value. It stimulates penmanship and arouses many an indifferent student to a life of usefulness. It makes one more ac¬ curate, for in bookkeeping your work is all right or it is all wrong. There is no half way mark. Commercial courses have enriched both history and geography. The history of com¬ merce follows very closely,. the history of exploration and conquest. Commercial courses vitalize arithmetic. No one questions the value of commercial training for the young man or young woman who is to enter into commercial

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THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD 21 real pleasure of the World. Books like all true friends are ours forever. And so on through the years has our appreciation for literature been developed. Old age has no terrors for us now, because through reading we can still be transported to any condition or clime to which our fancy directs us; romance, travel, adventure. Every door is opened to us. It is simply the reali¬ zation of the Bible lesson, “Ask and you shall receive” “Seek and you shall find” “Knock and it shall be opened unto you.” Teresa Cerri, ’22. -(o)- AN ANCIENT SETTLEMENT Last year people from all parts of the country flocked to Plymouth to celebrate the three-hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims. Here was the real beginning of our American nation. But his¬ tories deal so much with this point that we forget that other settlements of im¬ portance were made before this. As soon as a path had been found to the “New World,” Spain sent out ship after ship with men to explore, claim and settle the land in the name of their king. Following in the track of Columbus these early explorers landed in Mexico, and mak¬ ing the settlements there, their bases, pushed out in all directions. The rumor which led them to what is now New Mexico and Arizona was that some¬ where in that vast region to the north were seven cities richer in gold and wealth than anything that had yet been discovered. What is the country through w ' hich they passed? A desert, stretching far and wide; peaks often rising to a height of 12,000 feet, lofty plateaus, cut into by deep gorges, flat topped mesas of gorgeous coloring. By day the sun beat down on a parched land; at night the cool winds blew down from the mountains. On the higher elevations there were forests, but on the low, sandy deserts they found sage brush, mesquite and nu¬ merous varieties of cactus. Nearly a whole century before the land¬ ing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth the south¬ western part of our country was being ex¬ plored. In 1540, Coronado led an expedi¬ tion through this territory. Later several more explorations were made and though the search for gold was a failure, having bold, daring natures they braved the hard¬ ships and dangers of an unknown land in their quest. America has been known to white men for a few hundred years, yet occupation by the First American Families dates back to the dim ages. For centuries the Indians in¬ habited this land unmolested, and have left the evidences of their civilization to puzzle the archaeologist. On the ruins of two old Indian villages the foundations of Santa Fe were laid. As nearly all Spanish towns have a plaza, here it forms the center of the town around which the Spaniards built their Mission, the house for the governor and forts. It has had a history marked by hundreds of tragic, thrill¬ ing episodes. It was the center of Spanish and later Mexican government until it be¬ came an important military and trading post, under American supervision. The Indians resented the efforts of the white man to gain a foothold in this country. For a while they seemed peaceable but there was steadily growing an intense hatred against the invasion by the Spaniard. This was brought to a climax in 1680 when the Indians gathered their forces and besieged Santa Fe, killing many, while only a few escaped. Later a force was collected from the Spanish settlements farther south which came upon the Indians and subjugated them. The eighteenth century marked the com¬ mencement of overland traffic by way of the Santa Fe Trail. This had its starting point in Kansas, and across the plains and over the mountains the caravans found their way. They disposed of their goods here and car¬ ried back gold, jewels, hides and other mate¬ rials to the East. Santa Fe itself was a center for this trade. From there other trails led to California opening up this vast territory for development. In spite of fre¬ quent attacks from Indians and highway robbers, this trade continued with growing importance until replaced by the railroads about thirty-five years ago. Santa Fe still cherishes its old traditions. The Governor’s Palace, the scene of so much fighting, still remains, bearing on its walls the marks of many battles. Here, under American occupation, General Lew Wallace made his home while writing “Ben Hur.” There is a mingling of “Old Spain and New America;” the up-to-date city preserves the artistic Mexican and Indian style of archi¬ tecture. Old adobe houses may be seen with their out-of-door ovens as well as modern