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Show WEDNESDAY EVENING 244 RECEIVE O.H.S. Honors Many Stand At Annual Commencement In Orpheum Theatre Two hundred forty-four students of th,e Ogden High school were graduated at the thirty-second annual commencement exercises held at the Orpheum theatre Tuesday night. Every seat in the theatre was taken and a good many backers of the high school siood up during the exercises. i The graduates were presented j by Principal A. M. Merrill and the i certificates by W. Karl Hopkins, I superintendent of schools. Invocation was offered by the Rev. W. E. Bennett, who also offered benediction. Music for the occasion was furnished by the high school orchestra under the direction of Lester Hinchcliff. Virginia Green, valedictorian, made a profound impression with her address entitled, "The Drama Of Life." THREE FINE PAPERS. An oration by Alyson Smith, "Our Nordic Inheritance," was well delivered and was one of the features of the commencement program. It fostered the idea that we should cherish and keep intact the characteristics of the people of northern Europe. He said that we should look with disfavor on the encroachments of the southern Europeans into our modern life. A striking contrast to this was a splendid reading, "The Scum of the Earth," by Pedigo Voll, which praised the contribution of the Latin races to civilization and made a plea that they should be j treated with charity and kindness, j The salutatory, "The Modern Scholar," by Lawrence Skeen, j magna cum laude student, showed ; a depth of thought and view which is hardly to be expected of a high school student. The four music numbers, aside from the orchestra, "The Two Roses," by the double made quartet, "The Nightingale," by Ruth Prout, a clarinet solo by Carmen Hall and the violin solo,, "Liebesfreud," were especially well rendered and gave evidence of the high musical standard in the high school. PRINCIPAL SPEAKS. In presenting the graduates ; Principal A. M. Merrill made the point that education is not simply - the accumulation of facts or acquiring of information, that facts 1 are but tools which pupils use in acquiring skill and power. He called attention to a recent magazine article by one of our most noted critics, Heywood Broun, who recalled in a few sentences all the facts that he remembers from his 16 years of school experiences and these for the most part trivial and unimportant. He said that the purpose of education is in creating proper attitudes toward life, in fostering habits of industry, honesty, fairness, punctuality, dependability, courtesy, etc., and said that the teachers at the high school had before them ideals rather than facts. BECOMING CROWDED. W. Karl Hopkins, superintendent of schools, at the opening of his address, called attention to j the remarkable growth of the j high school. He said that the total number of graduates in 1921 was 105, in 1922, 111; 1923, 134; and in 1924, 244. He called attention to the fact that in 1920 the lotal enrollment at the high school was 800, that the enrollment in 1923-24 was 2,090. He predicted that there would be a graduation class of over 300 next year. He also called attention to the j modern conception and. changing Ideas of education and emphasized j also the building of character. He congratulated the parents and the teachers and the students upon the very successful school year. The closing number of the program, "Alma Mater," composed a number of years ago by George A. Eaton," former principal, was well rendered. |
