Yonkers High School - Blackboard Yearbook (Yonkers, NY)

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gli! HHBUTDYY ' DE Bessie 385111 with Grateful ibrine for the ibrihilege uf Qtiaiming that ,memory Glu 'ilihe in i5eartK We iieahe ibebinn is ,jaut tu QDie

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HF: P+1.AcKFxoARrb E Ezhitatinn O the Faculty of the Yonkers High School, to the men and Women who have guided, befriended and inspired us, to the Faculty Who, by their patience and kindliness have made these four years a time of present happiness and of future memories, the Class of 1924 dedicates this Blackboard. lt is fitting that this symbol of our graduation into Wider fields of life should be inscribed to those who have made that graduation possible. To them is due not only our gratitude but the gratitude of the Whole community. They have devoted the splendid qualities of mind and heart, which would have brought them success in more lucrative walks in life, to guiding the young along the paths of knowledge. This dedication can only express in some slight degree our deep appreciation of, and abiding devotion to our Faculty. 6

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To the Class of 1924: Treasured among the possessions of the Yonkers High School is a letter from former President Theodore Roosevelt Written from Albany in 1899 when he was Governer of the State of New York. Expressing his regret at not being able to be present to address the school, he sent a message to the students of that day in the course of which he said: Our country can only be served by men who are resolute and honest, who have high ideals and who yet strive to reach them by practical . methods. These words bring to our attention certain aspects of good citizenship which are if possible more important today than they were twenty-five years ago. In your classes in Civics as well as in your course in American History and Institutions you have been taught the great ideals of good citi- zenship. More than that-in your other classes, in fact in all your relationships in the High School, the basic principles of citizenship have been presented by example as Well as by precept. And now it is of supreme importance that these teachings, both expressed and implied, shall have be- come so fixed by habit in your lives that all the fine qualities which enter into School Spirit shall express themselves in a larger patriotic loyalty to our country. ' P In ancient Athens the youth of the city on arriving at the age of assum- ing the duties of citizenship took upon themselves, by oath, the following obligations: We will never bring disgrace to this, our city, by any act of dis- honesty or covvardice, nor ever desert our suffering comrades in the ranks. We will fight for the ideals and sacred things of the city, both alone and with many: We will revere and obey the city's laws and do our best to incite a like respect and reverence in those above us who are prone to annul or set them at naught gr We will strive unceasingly to quicken the pub- lic's sense of civic duty. True in all these Ways, we will transmit this city not only not less but greater, better and more beautiful than it was trans- mitted to us.'l That oath might Well be taken today by every young citizen of Yon- kers. Its obligations have been put into Words more suitable to the youth of the present by Elias Lieberman. To you, therefore, members of the class of 1924, I commend this beautiful sentiment entitled: WP 19 I believe In my country and her destiny, . In the great dream of her founders, In her place among the nations, In her ideals. I believe That her democracy must be protected, Her privileges cherished, Her freedom defended. I believe That, humbly before the Almighty, But proudly before all mankind, VVe must safeguard her standard, The vision of her Washington, artistic amen The martyrdom of her Lincoln, - With the patriotic ardor Of the minutemen And the boys in blue Of her glorious past. I believe In loyalty to my country, Firm, unchanging, absolute. Thou in whose sight A thousand years are but as And as a watch in the night, Help me In my weakness To make real ' What I believe. George L. Bennett. 8 yesterday,