Many older alumni may remember receiving thick Central handbooks at the beginning of each school year.
Written in relaxed, prideful prose, those quick guides to Central history, academics, staffing and activities had a way of adding to Central students’ sense of fraternity.
Those early-year handbooks tended to have, in addition to practical information, charming, old-fashioned guidance on being good human beings.
The 1938-1940 Central handbook on its page 51 notes: “The average C.H.S. student needs no detailed lectures to behave himself. He is intelligent and observant, he can readily distinguish between good manners and bad. However, the younger boys sometimes need a suggestion or two in their progress from irresponsible childhood to self-respecting young manhood. The following hints are therefore set down mainly for the guidance of the young and the thoughtless:
1)Be courteous to your fellow students.
2)Respect school property as the property of the state.
3)Be proud to be considered a gentleman.
4)Lay more stress on duties than privileges.
5)A school corridor is not a running track.
6)Loud-mouthed persons soon become tiresome.
7)A fist-fight is a poor way to settle differences.
8)Vulgar speech never wins real admiration.
9)Try to be a “good sport” at all times.
10)The bully is sure to meet his Waterloo.
11)Whistling is not considered a form of music.
12)A practical joke rarely justifies itself.
13)Inattention to a speaker is disrespectful.
14)Waste paper looks its best in the waste container.
15)Give attention to your personal appearance.
16)Profanity usually connotes a poor vocabulary.
17)Go out of your way to help the other fellow.
18)Teasing is not a desirable accomplishment.
19)Guard your tongue in times of stress.
20)Apply the Golden Rule under all conditions.
Printed handbooks may be obsolete but sage advice certainly is not.