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THE BLACKBIRD, ROCKY MOUNT SEXIOR HIGH SCHOOL
THURSDAY, APRIL 1. 1954
Spring Has Sprung
What strange malady has af
flicted so many students In
RMSHS lately? The boys and
girls seem to have lost much of
their former pep and vitality. No
body hurries anywhere (on foot,
that is.)
Students are observed sitting in
their cls&srooms with vacant looks
on their faces, and their thoughts
are evidently far from the class
and the lesson of the day. It is
with great difficulty that students
drag themselves to school each
moi-ning, and when they get
there, they are present in body
only.
Strange as it seems, there is
hardly any noise in the study,hall
now. When one glances into the
library, he sees most of the stu
dents bent low over their desks, as
if they were doing some very ex
acting work. But, no, on closer
examination one finds that these
slumped-over students are asleep,
or nearly so.
An old saying goes “In the
spring a young man’s fancy light
ly turns to thoughts of love."
Around here it looks as if they
never heard of this, for their
fancy has turned to thoughts of
sleep.
This inertia which is so preva
lent makes it extremely difficult
for anybody to open a book, much
less study. Has some strange
oriental disease broken out in
RMSHS or is there an epidemic of
sleeping sickness, perhaps? No.
it’s just that old spring fever
WELCOME!
Greetings To The N. H. S. Delegates
From The Staff
Hope Ydu Like Us!
Happy ‘Conventioning’
Delegates to the North Carolina
State National Honor Society con
vention, the Blackbird staff wel
comes you. It is a distinct pleasure
to have you in Rocky Moimt High
School. You are official represen
tatives from the schools of North
April Fool!
A—11 the teachers in our school
P—ut play before work, ain’t
that cool?
R—ecently they’ve served drinks
in class,
I—n all the years, it’s true at
last.
L—ate for class? Oh, that’s all
right.
P—or we can stay out ‘til two
each night:
O—ne day skipped per week is
fine.
O—n week nights, no home
work, takes too much time.
L—ucky??? No, April Fool!!!
Pro;?rams—Interesting and Informative
Isn’t it natural that teenagers all over the world
should want to be amused? It is for this reason that
the assemblies are chosen on the basis of their merits
for good entertainment. But is this the only quality
upon which they are chosen?
Recently Harry and Chita Van Pelt from Holland
entertained with their songs, dances, and jokes. This
was, by far, the most enjoyable program presented
here in a long time. This particular type of humor
was delightfully fresh and appealed to the teenage
mind. But was that the only thing the program ac-
complshed?
Did you know that swimming was a required sub
ject in Holland schools, since so many children drown
in the many canals of that European country? Did
you know that the Dutch have sports that correspond
to football, basketball, and baseball? I didn’t, but I
know it now. Therein lies the other basic qualification
for assemblies.
Truly a good assembly should meet the combined
qualities of being entertaining and informative.
Why Did They Shoot?
Shots rang out, wild and frenzied; men dropped to
the floor, blood spurting out!
No, this wasn’t a scene from a Hollywood Grade B
Western. This was real life in Washington, D. C., the
nation’s capitol! Five congressmen debating a bill on
the floor of the House of Representatives fell wound
ed, one seriously.
The would-be assassins, two men and a woman,
dropped their weapons and attempted to flee the visi
tors gallery but were quickly apprehended by guards.
Why did they do this? Who were they? The three were
members of the Puerto Rican Nationalists, a fanatical
group that wants to break all Puerto Rican ties with
the U. S.
This case is an example of individuals trying to
gain power through mob action. Such should be
fought and put down. Danger lies not in the fact that
they would gain power, but the fact that dictatorship
and communism follow closely behind them. This is
another reason the U. S. should unite and show front
Carolina, and this in itself makes
us proud to receive you.
This convention is the product
of many weeks of hard work. The
state officers have done an excel
lent job of co-ordinating their
pla^s. It is no easy task to outline
a convention with officers hun
dreds of miles apart.
The state adviser and the Rocky
Mount chapter adviser are to be
commended. Tirelessly they work
ed behind the scenes, helping—
and sometimes pushing—the stu
dents, and at the same time doing
their regular job of teaching.
But all has not been work.
We’re sure It’s been fun. And now
you can meet new people and see
the friends that you made last
summer. 6o make the most of it.
Learn all you can and do all you
can. “It only happens once a
year.”
Again we welcome you with the
hope that you have a successful
convention and that you will call
on us if we can in anyway help to
make your visit here more enjoy
able—Happy “Conventioning”!
Seeswen
Since so many students have
been patronizing the cafeteria, the
cafeteria staff has decided to
serve one free meal each week.
School’s Out?
Ah, theres good news today! All
of the “reds” have been kicked
out of the country. Taxes are to
be taken off all goods in the next
week. Major companies are rais
ing the worker’s wafees. News
stands arg going to give free
comic books to all children—large
or small.
School is to be let out for a
whole week—When school is in
operation again, there will be no
homework.
If you are good humored, you
will appreciate this; but if you are
not good humored, you will con
sider this goofy—April Pool’s Day
to all!
Lent Signifies Faith
On the third morning, following
the crucifizion of their Lord, three
women came to the grave. Being
unhappy about His death, they
grieved. Upon the arrival at the
sepulcher they found it open, the
stone had been rolled away. They
were afraid, but an angel spoke
and told them not to be afraid, for
Christ had arisen.
In the lives of people today,
things happen to make them as
happy as these women were, but
their minds are more centered on
material things than spiritual.
If in the world today, people
would take their minds off bombs,
war, and crime and think more of
heavenly and spiritual ideas there
would be no reason to fear. Pear
causes worry and discontentment,
but faith leads to an understand
ing world.
Certain churches in the Chris
tian world today are now engaged
in the season Known as Lent, a
period of abstinence and medita
tion before Easter.
Lent signifies the forty days
that Christ spent in meditations
in the wilderness before the cruci
fixion. There satan tempted
Christ three times, but He over
came each temptation. Man is oft
en faced by similar temptations
and during Lent many Christians
seek forgiveness through abstin
ence and meditation. Such abstin
ences are good for the soul.
If The Shoe Fits, Do Something About It!
The school board has just ruled
that on Friday, when seniors leave
activity period five minutes early,
they need not return to school un
til the following Monday morning.
This, of course, does not apply to
those students who feel they need
to remain in school.
News In Names
“Names make news,” the old
saying goes and has been the pol- ^
icy of the Blackbird this year, toj
get in as many names in the news
as possible.
It has also been its policy to
print new names—names that
haven’t appeared over and over.
To avoid repeating names is dif
ficult at times, since the “doers’
are the people whose names must
be mentioned—whenever and op
portunity has presented itself to
use others unpublished names, the
paper has jumped at the chance.
Some members of the staff
made a count of the names that
have appeared in the paper so far
this year to check their repetition.
Peggy Searcy ied the score with
her name having appeared eleven
times. George Knight comes up
w'ith a close second of ten.
“Smoky” Lancaster and Elizabeth
Vann tie with eight counts. Gor
don Wilkinson h^s been published
seven times. KaV Congleton and
Patsy Pearce scored six times.
Jimmy Lancaster, Boliby Patter
son, Kay Sanders, and Baxter
Savage have seen their “John
Henry’s” in print five times each.
Julian Aldridge, Dave Bames, Val
McMillan, Bart Ritner, and Elise
Williams hit the news four times.
Pi'om the entire student body,
173 names have been printed so
far. That leaves approximately 427
more to go. Get hep, cats, here’s
your big chance to become known.
Dear Editor
Why should the early lunch pri
vilege be taken away fi’om “all”
seniors?
It is true that some seniors took
advantage of this privilege and
sneaked out to go home when they
should have stayed in their classes
until the bell rang. But these are
the ones who should be punished
instead of the whole class.
There are people who always try
to get away with anything they
can. Even when they have some
thing good, they can’t recognize it
and therefore lose it by taking ad
vantage of the situation. These
people are very poor sports and
don’t deserve to have anything
good. They are the ones who have
grown relfish and immature. They
think only of themselves and have
no respect whatsoever for the
other person, or for the rules of
discipline.
The majority of the seniors re
spect this privilege and have been
upholding it. Maybe if each mem
ber of the senior class would ap
point himself a committee of one
to remedy the breaking of regula
tions, these “eager beavers” could
be caught and rightfully punished.
A Worried Senior
Dear Editors,
Since the lunchroom has open
ed many students have taken on a
“you-better-get - out-of-my-way-
or-I’ll-push-you-down” attitude.
This is unfair to other students
and creates an unfavorable im
pression of our school.
Now that we are in senior hj^,
it’s time that we begin to act like
adults. There seems to be plenty
of food left even if one is at the
end of the line. I hope that The
Blackbird will publish this letter,
and I hope that some students will
be a little more restrained.
Someone who has been
pushed out of the way
THE BLACKBIRD
Official Publication of
Rocky Mount Senior High
Member of the
Columbia Scholastic Press Association
EDITORIAL STAFF
Co-Editors Patsy Pearce, Valentine McMillan
News Editor Mary Lee Fountain
Sports Editors Gerry Gardner, Playe Hammond
Feature Editor Lucinda Oliver
Exchange Editor Anne Proctor
^terary Editor Woodrow West
Columnists Kay Sanders, Julian Aldridge
Sarah Moore
Staff Writers Martha Bradley, Joy Ann Hayes Eddie
Felts, Charles Bateman, Myma Kay Bell,
Jean Stephenson
BUSINESS STAFF
Business Manager
Assistant Busines,s Manager ..
Advertising Manager
Assistant Advertising Manager
Circulation Manager
George Knight
Carole Morgan
.. Ruth Parmer
Betty Sue Cash
• • Peggy Searcy
You don’t have to steal anything
to aggressors, for liberty should be kept alive in or kin anyone, just do something
and get your name in the Black
bird.
human hearts as well as in government.
FACULTY ADVISER
Mrs. T. D. Young
Published nine times during the year by the Journalism Class of
Rocky Mount Senior High School.
Subscription Rate $1.00