There are many things which must occur before one can graduate from high school. First and foremost, you must have a good report card! If not, you might try talking a few teachers into giving you some better grades (ya, sure!)
The second thing that must happen is to announce who the smart kids are, which is not difficult being that there are only a handful of brainy kids in one class; the rest of us are just loping along, trying to keep up. For instance, in our class of 1943, I am proud to say that our smartest kids were all girls! We had two valedictorians, Jo Ann Clark and Vivian Christensen, and salutatorian was Eileen Kane.
Jo Ann Clark had been active in Blue Tri, Masque and Gavel, Spanish Club, Latin Club and National Honor Society. She was also president of the National Forensic League, one of the business managers of the annual staff, and assistant director of the class play.
Vivian Christensen, who took a commercial course all through high school, planned to complete her education at the Minnesota Business College. She was a member of both the National Honor Society and the Latin Club.
Eileen Kane, who was the salutatorian, was treasurer of Blue Triangle, president of the National Honor Society, and one of the business managers of the annual staff.
Now, the third thing which must happen before one can leave school is to have a class play. That is mandatory! Being as how it was WWII days, our class presented a patriotic play called Victory Home. Charles Gendreau and Lois Barnett, as mother and father, exhibited excellent portrayals of family life. Assisting them were Betty Lee Lewis as Paula, Bill Gaskill as Tony Cravette and Ralph Bolin as Uncle George. The play centered about the trials of the family and their attempt to make their home a real “victory home.” It was quite funny, and a touch of drama was added by Bob Townsend, who as the son, almost became a draft dodger. Uncle George, who was basically a loafer, finally got a job which helped the war effort. So everything ended happily!
The fourth thing you must do before leaving school is to go to the senior prom. Heaven help you if you miss that! Our class had their prom on June 3, 1943 at the Radisson Hotel Gold Room and the popular band leader, Red Melgren, and his orchestra provided the music. The highlight of the evening was the “grand march,” led by Jo Ann Clark and Chuck Gendreau, president of the class. Mary Hallman and Tommy Pherson, vice president, followed. The secretary, Mary Sullivan, and her escort, Donald Millford, were next in succession. Marianne Pribble, treasurer and Eddie Mjos were followed by Gladys Vinge and Walter Walker, sergeant-at-arms. The class mascot, Harry Lindfors, was followed by the other merrymakers of the June graduating class.
The fifth and last thing one must do to graduate from high school is to attend the graduation ceremony. That is, if you have completed the other four steps! The ceremony occurred on June 10, 1943 with 184 seniors receiving their diplomas. Mr. W.A. Porter, principal, presented a member of the Board of Education, Mr. Lynn Thompson, to present the diplomas. Speeches were made first. The Rev. O. Nelson gave the invocation. Charles Gendreau, class president, discussed the class theme, “Global Frontiers.” The valedictorians and salutatorian gave speeches on that theme. Eileen Kane spoke on the topic, “Out of the Shadows.” Vivian Christensen and Jo Ann Clark spoke on “This Has Been My World” and “Tomorrow Belongs to the Brave.”
Now you can see how easy it is to graduate from high school. Just follow the five easy steps!
Note: Taken from the June 4, 1943 issue of Patrick Henry’s school newspaper, The Patriot.