Woonsocket High School - Quiver Yearbook (Woonsocket, RI)

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THE QUIVER ‘23 the number of students will perhaps be doubled and Woonsocket will be able to hold its own in numbers among the cities of the United States. Yes, a new era is awaiting us, an era of efficiency and prosperity, influenced by an increase in culture among our citizens. With thj coming of our new High School an important question has arisen. It is a generally admitted fact that every high school stu- iuit should have an adequate lunch at noon. Lunches brought from I' ine usually amount to but little, and are far from satisfying. Under ire present conditions it has been impossible to have a lunch counter which might supply the needs of the students. A satisfying lunch should be .available to every student at a low price, and especially so. 'hen it is considered that there is a growing tendency in favor of lengthening the school day. Therefore, those who have the authority to do so should see to it that our new High School be well equipped in this respect. new and very pleasing feature which has been introduced at the school is the taking and preserving of group pictures of the various s' hool organizations. There have been photographs taken of the ath-k tic teams, the girls' gymnasium class, the school orchestra, and the g aduatir.g class, all of which will be carefully preserved, so that, in tl e future, they may awaken pleasant reminiscences of former times. Uuthermore, a list of the graduate and information about each is be-i'.g kept. Hitherto there has been no such record, and the addresses ot graduates of the school in former years had been lost, with the result that it was a very difficult task to trace them. All hail to the revived Woonsocket High School Alumni Association! May it long endure! SCHOOL NOTES A weekly magazine, printed in French, L'illustration, has been subscribed for by the school board for the French classes. The registration this year has been 280, a gain of 26 over last year. Since the school was opened 39 years ago, this gain has been equalled cnly twice, in 1892 and in 1901. Although the attendance has been greater this year than last, there have been 150 less cases of tardiness, and 270 less than the year before. Of the pupils in attendance, 28 per cent, were born outside of Rhode Island, and 40 per cent, were born outside of Woonsocket. The following states are represented: Maine 6, New Hampshire 2, Ver- mont 1, Massachusetts (19 towns) 38, Connecticut 3, New Jersey 2, South Carolina 1, Illinois 1, Montana 2. Foreign countries are also

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22 THE QUIVER only a useful subject, but also a very interesting one. It is a pity that so few of our students are taking advantage of it. At last, at last, the great ambition of the people of Woonsocket is being realized. At last the High School, which we have patiently awaited for so many years is nearing its completion, and in a few months more will be ready for the use of our students. A noble structure it will be, a fitting memorial to those who have made it possible, a school of which all the people of this city, young and old, will have good reason to be proud, an institution of learning which will send forth into the world worthy representatives of our community. Day by day it rises, and soon its doors will be opened wide to all who may desire to enter and gain knowledge. No more will persistent freight trains chug their way into the hearts of teachers and pupils, driving their souls to a silent frenzy, violent expressions of which are with difficulty suppressed; no more will streams of water from the laboratories drip down to the recitation rooms below to the great consternation of him who may be sitting in the way; no more will fragments of plaster fall from the ceilings, endangering the heads of those underneath; no more will mice crawl into the principal’s desk and feast upon his lunch, or boldly enter classrooms, frightening the girls and invoking a shower of erasers and other missiles from the boys; no more will large classes be crowded into small and poorly ventilated rooms, the windows of which must generally be kept closed to shut out the noise and smoke of the trains. All these conditions are about to come to an end. Our recitations will be uninterrupted by trains, and our nerves will remain unimpaired; the ceilings will be firm so that one need not look upon them with apprehension; mice and other rodents will dread we hope, to enter the sanctuary; and pupils will be able to gather in classrooms with ample space in which to move about, and with fresh air to breathe. Now the Freshmen will have an opportunity to gather in the assembly hall with the other classes on special days and derive benefit from the words of the speakers: now the science and drawing pupils will have sufficient apparatus with which to do their work ; and now the students will be able to indulge in athletics for the amelioration of their physical constitution. With the completion of our High School a new era in education is hefore us. Among the youth of this city a desire for learning will, we trust, be awakened, a desire which has long been dormant, as is evi-denced by the small percentage of students in our school. Those who have begun their high school education will be more likely to continue until they graduate. In a few years

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24 THE QUIVER represented: Austria-Hungary 3, England 2, Ireland I, Nova Scotia 1, Prince Edward s Island 1, Russia 10. The following students will probably enter college next fall as follows: David Gaskill, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Marjorie Child, Yassar; Joseph McGill, West Point; Joseph McDonnell, Tufts Medical or Brown; Mae Jackson, Felicetta Leoni, Elizabeth O’Donnell. Brown; Harry Leon, Harvard; Susan Handy, Harriet Vose, Wellesley; Stanley Spratt, Bates. A picture of the Brown University campus, a gift from the college, has been received and hung in the study hall. The Bulletin and the Daily Herald are also received. In the winter a declamation contest, open to various high schools in this vicinity, was held in Franklin. Sadie Spencer and Stephen Greene v. ere the speakers from this school. During the past year, great interest has been showm in the debates held in room 10 every Tuesday morning. Some of the subjects discussed were the franchise, the employment as wage earners of children under fourteen, the Mexican situation, the right of the United States to formulate and maintain the Monroe Doctrine, the fortification of the Panama canal, gymnasium work as a requirement for all high school pupils, the value of the commercial course in high school, the two-session plan, and the amount of education that should be required of all immigrants. Much interest was shown by the pupils of room 10 in the sale of Red Cross stamps. A prize of ten dollars was awarded to them as a result of their labors. This is to be used in purchasing a bust or picture to be presented to the new High School. At Christmas, the pupils of room 10 collected clothing, games, books, and toys, which were contributed to the Relief Committee of the Anti-Tuberculosis Association, for distribution by the district nurses among families in their care. Tuesday mornings. Miss Mowry has held a Current Events class in room 9. This has proved interesting and enjoyable, as well as instructive to the pupils, since it has afforded means of studying conditions as they exist in our country to-day. A list of the topics discussed has been made each week by reporters from the class and a list of the magazines and newspapers read has been made and posted. To give greater interest to the French and German classes, songs have been learned and sung in these languages. The French classes have learned “La Marseillaise,” the national hymn of France. Th- songs learned by the German classes are “Die Lorelei, “Sein Sah ein