Winooski High School - Carillon Yearbook (Winooski, VT)

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Thanksgiving they had become familiar with the topography of the school building and were often in the right place at the right time. They were permitted to form an organiza- tion of their own, and elected the following officers, all of whom fulfilled their duties well: President, Leonard Barron; Vice-Presi- dent, Charlotte Villemaire: Secretary, Pauline Laferriere: Treasurer, Thomas Sullivan. The Freshmen became interested in a new exercise called basketball. They suffered much agony and despair during this period because of the social func- tions which they were required to attend in order to acquire poise and dignity. The male Freshmen in particular found the dances tor- ture, but the females enjoyed them greatly. In time, however, these functions became festive occasions for all. Much information was gained by the ex- ploring faculty in this first year regarding the members of the Freshman class. Their intel- lects were found to vary in keenness from sponges to razors: but, on the whole, they turned out to be very satisfactory, and some were a source of great joy to their explorers. Already some of the Freshmen were showing signs of unusual ability in various fields, such as athletics, music, and art. At the end of the year, a terrible disaster befell the Freshmen. Although it was insti- gated by their benevolent faculty and in- tended to prove of lasting benefit to them, they suffered greatly. Many had their growth retarded a year by it and a few, permanently disabled, left the Freshman class forever. This disaster was called Final Examinations, and ranks as one of the worst massacres of the time. The most important social activity that year was a Civics Club meeting to which we were all invited. Games were played and re- freshments were enjoyed by all. With the coming of the next September, they received a new name. Because of their skill in acquiring the customs of the school, they were renamed Sophomores, and the process was called by a native name. “Promo- tion.” And now a strange thing happened. Re- membering the scorn with which they had been regarded the previous year, they now adopted the same attitude toward the incom- ing strangers who took their places as Fresh- men. The routine of the classroom was now familiar and they found studying easier than before. The talents discovered the previous year were developing rapidly, and the explor- ing teachers found much to please them, but also much to astonish them. Rushing for- ward into the fastnesses of the Sophomore mind, they found strange things. The most bewildering thing to the ex- plorers was the complete absence of what they had confidently expected to find. Instead of the intellectual gold mines, the purple plains of fancy that they had hoped to see, they found vast, arid spaces totally unin- habited. However, realizing that such is the common lot of explorers, they pushed bravely on through the underbrush of ignorance, hop- ing, before the time allotted for their ex- plorations was over, to reach what would compensate for all their time and effort: a genius. The social functions of this period were delightful, the most important being the Civics Club initiation, held in the Memorial School gym. A class outing was held in June at Mallets Bay where games and roller skating were enjoyed. The class organization of the Sophomores was as follows: President. Thomas Sullivan: Vice-President, Ethel Barber: Secretary, John Korzun: Treasurer, Henry Bouffard. This was a most distinguished body and reflected honor on the entire school. In the third year, owing to an old educa- tional custom, the Sophomores became Jun- iors, and their promotion made their sense of importance increase out of all due propor- tion. Great, indeed, was their scorn for the Freshmen and the Sophomores. It must be admitted that the aforesaid Freshmen and Sophomores, completely absorbed in their own process of being explored, were in no wise embarrassed or concerned. This was a year of hard work, and the dreaded ordeal of examinations was passed with few casualties. The teachers had en- deared themselves to the hearts of the class, and there was a feeling of genuine friendship throughout the school. The officers for this year were as follows: President, Raymond Barron; Vice-President, Harry Whittemore: Secretary, Charlotte Bar- beau; Treasurer, Pauline Laferriere. Among the activities of this Junior year were: the Junior-Senior Banquet held at the Black Cat Cafe on May 29, a Hallowe’en Masquerade and an April Shower Hop. A class outing was held at Malletts Bay and everybody had a good time. It was also in this year that we chose our class ring in the hopes that we would graduate very soon. 27 —

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HISTORIA CLASSIS The purpose of this history is not to relate every step in the progress of a people, from their humble beginnings as Freshmen, four years ago, on their arrival at the dizzy height they now occupy. On the contrary, in ac- cordance with the modern tendencies in his- torical writing, the author aims to emphasize only those factors in our cUss development which appeal to us as most vital from the standpoint of today, and to explain prevail- ing conditions and institutions by showing how they came about. We have not tabulated a series of historical occurrences under successive classroom admin- istrations but have carefully selected the great phases in the development of the class and treated them in as coherent a manner as pos- sible, considering the material with which we have to deal. It will be noted there has been no attempt on the part of the author to sentimentalize or smooth over any awkward spots in this history, but she has faithfully adhered to the truth, regardless of tradition or custom. The work is divided into 3 parts: Dis- covery, Exploration, and Settlement, with an afterword in which some strictly personal opinions are hazarded regarding the probable future of the class. Discovery The discovery of the class of 1947 was an accident. Four years ago, early one morning on September 6, 1943, the faculty of Wi- nooski High School were strolling aimlessly through the corridors, chatting about the just-ended vacation and wondering whether there would be any startling changes in their work during the coming year. Suddenly they caught a glimpse of some- thing new and strange. Just inside the front door, huddled together in mute embarrass- ment and anxiety, were the members of what became the class of 1947. To the casual eye, they seemed merely a group of ordinary boys and girls, well dressed, reasonably good look- ing, and badly frightened. But to the trained eyes of these dauntless and experienced ex- plorers, these strangers seemed distinct and widely separated individuals, each possessing aptitudes and talents, deficiencies and capabili- ties decidedly worth finding out. Gently attempting to dispel the fears of the strangers, the faculty bade them enter and spent the next few weeks attempting to gain their confidence and friendship. They succeeded, after great difficulty, in accom- plishing this. The discoverers of the class of 1947 will be celebrated in history for the gentleness and courtesy they ever displayed on September 6, 1943. The discovery having been reported to the head of the high school, Principal Couture, he received the news of this remarkable ac- quisition to his territory with marked delight and a few misgivings. He examined with interest the trophies presented by the strangers to their discoverers. Among these trophies were report cards bearing cabalistic signs supposed to denote the degree of mental alertness possessed by the owner and to show his possibilities as a future citizen of the country. It is true there were in this school those who jeered at the new people and considered it folly to regard them as of value worth an- nexing. However, the steadfast discoverers believing in what they had found, received the permission of the principal to explore carefully the natures and intellects—if any— of the strangers and, if possible, to make of them valuable additions to the country. Accordingly, each of the discoverers be- came an explorer. The strangers were divided into small groups and assigned to the care of the different explorers. They were given a name, Freshmen,” and became a part of the life of the school. They were taught many new, strange customs and manners and were required to learn difficult lessons. At first they often wished they had never been found, but, before a year was over, they be- came thoroughly at home in their new sur- roundings. The most unpleasant thing about this Freshman year was the contempt in which they were held by those who had been re- siding in the school for a longer period than they. However, understanding that this was a custom of the country, they ignored it. During the first month of this year, the Freshmen suffered much inconvenience be- cause of their unfamiliarity with the new country and its traffic rules. They were for- ever taking the wrong turning, finding them- selves in the wrong corridor, and arriving at their classroom half an hour late. Because of this they incurred heavy penalties, but by — 26 —

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And now we come to the Fourth and greatest year in the history of the class. They automatically (as was the custom in many things), became Seniors in September. With the gaining of this title, they began to take themselves more seriously than ever before. And when I say “seriously,” I mean, seri- ously!” As the year drew to a close they were positively dizzy with dignity. All this-was looked upon with friendly amusement by the teacher-explorers, who re- garded the result of their four years of hard labor with rightful pride. They had con- verted a band of ignorant, untamed abori- gines into intelligent, courteous citizens of their great school, and had lost only the usual proportion in the process. Better yet, they had found that for which they had been searching so eagerly, a genius—in fact, several of them: and all of the class were passable. The organization of the Senior class was noteworthy, the following list of officers being in charge: President, Edmund St. Peter; Vice-President, Harry Whittemore; Secretary, Charlotte Barbeau: Treasurer, Thomas Sulli- van. The social events were of marked bril- liance. Those most worthy of note were as follows: The Harvest Moon Dance, Valen- tine Dance. The Sociology class also went on a trip to Montreal and visited all the im- portant places in the large city. A number of Seniors gained unusual dis- tinction during the year, and their names ap- peared on the honor rolls. A class song, a class will, and a class motto were adopted and used on every possible oc- casion, to the despair and annoyance of all other members of the school. But it was deemed advisable for the sake of peace for the class to ignore them as far as possible. At the expiration of the four years, the principal expressed himself as greatly pleased with the additions to his country and pro- nounced them all highly eligible for admis- sion as citizens. He praised the work of the explorers and predicted that their names, with those of their discoveries, would be written in history together. By way of appropriate celebration, a strange ceremony, known as Commencement, was held. Speeches were made, for no par- ticular reason: songs were sung, including the aforementioned class song; and scrolls called diplomas—from the Iroquois word “diplomacy,” signifying the skill and finesse it took to get one—were given to the Seniors, and a good time was enjoyed by all. Settlement This next period, settlement, is not so easy to describe. In these rapid and disturb- ing times, nothing remains settled for long, but it appears that the Seniors were urged to stay in this country to which they remained to be explored and are now ready to be settled. They have all chosen their vocations. Each is destined to become famous and honored throughout the land. Among them are the lawyers, doctors, artists, musicians, great business minds, philanthropists and what-have-you's of the coming years. We hope that among their number are also those who are destined to become discoverers and explorers of young and eager minds, which await training for citizenship and life in our great country. Appendix I It has been suggested by our best friends and severest critics that the form of this history is ambiguous, if not misleading. They say it should have been written the way it really happened: the pupils discovered the school, explored its vast resources, and settled there for four years of hard work, after which they moved on to greater things. But we say it is our history and we wrote it to suit ourselves. Appendix II It may be that we have erred on the side of restraint in writing this history. So we take the opportunity to say now that in our far from humble opinion, the class of 1947 is the most brilliant and attractive of any class known to history and will be always remembered by the faculty of the Winooski High School and the people of the town as that wonderful class of 1947.” Theresa Sansoucy. — 28 —