Abington High School - Abhis Yearbook (Abington, MA)

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16 THE ABHIS The aims of this group are: To coordinate and promote student activity and encourage greater participation on the part of the stu- dents in school managementg to strengthen and develop an appreciation of membership in a democracy by stimulating a healthy school spirit and loyaltyg to maintain high standards of moral conduct and self controlg and to provide opportunities for development of leadership. Through the cooperation of all class repre- sentatives it is hoped that these aims can be accomplished. MARY LYNCH, '54 STRAWBERRY VALLEY TEEN-TIMERS The object of this club is to help boys and girls of Abington to become clean living citi- zens, to give them clean recreation, and to keep them out of trouble. The age for becoming a members is any- where between thirteen and twenty. The member should be willing to help his school, his club, and his community. The officers consist of two presidents, two vice-presidents, and two treasurers, two record- ing secretaries elected annually. The ollicers for the l95l-l952 school year are: Co-Presidents, Janet Soper and Brinton Belyeag Co-Vice-Presidents, Shirley Thayer and George Cullinaneg Treasurers, Helen Yvest- burg and -lack Shanahan: Recording Secre- taries, Susan Gates and Richard McKenna: Corresponding Secretaries, Dorothy Perry and john Mahoney. SHIRLIQY THAYliR, '52 NEW TEACHERS AT ABINGTON HIGH SCHOOL Miss Martha Cummings Anyone out for field hockey?'l was a' new cry that sounded in the girls' gym classes and echoed through the halls of AHS. Miss Cum- mings, the new gym teacher had spoken. Miss Cummings, nicknamed Marty , at- tended Bridgewater State Teachers College in Bridgewater, Mass. During her years at Bridgewater she belonged to the YVoman's Athletic Association, the Glee Club, and the Ensemble Club. Her favorite hobbies are driving and sailing. Her favorite food is steak. A comment on our own Abington High, made by her is: I was very much impressed by the school. It is made up of good students who are neat and friendly. Mr. Robert McCullough Mr. McCullough, a new teacher of driver education must have a great deal of patience, because some of the people taking the driver education course know just about as much concerning a car as nothing, and that is no exaggeration. Mr. McCullough, attended Fitchburg State Teachers College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. XfVhile there he belonged to the Gandelier Club. Besides attending college, he has spent two years in the Navy. His favorite hobby is sleeping, and his favorite food is fried chicken. He has only one remark to make about Abington High and that is, It's a nice school. Mrs. Helen Seymour Mrs. Seymour, who attended Yvheaton Col- lege, belonged to the German Club, the International Relations Club, the Music Club, and to the Girls Basketball Team. Her hobby, and a good one, is being enter- tained by her daughter, Margaret Elizabeth. Mrs. Seymour likes just about every kind of food, but tripe. In her estimation the school rates very high and the students are extremely courteous. Mr. Walter Pastuszak Mr. Pastuszak, known better as VVheatie to the students of Abington High School, is most welcome as a teacher and coach at Abington High. He attended our fair school, Coburn Classi- cal, and Mfilbraham Academy. At the latter he participated in football, basketball, and baseball. He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Club. During Mlorld W'ar II he served as an MP in the European Theater of Opera- tionslin both England and France. His favorite food is baked beans and salami and his favorite pastime is sports. Mr. Pas- tuszak's favorite saying is Anything your little heart desires, which the heroes of the A. H. S. football team will long remember. lfVhen asked what he though of Abington, he replied, 'Tm a local boy myself and I think a lot of it. Mr. Norman Roberts Mr. Roberts, teacher of the Automotive Course, is a new member of the faculty. He attended Fitchburg State Teachers College and while in school was active in many sports, including football, basketball, track, and hockey.

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Tl-1E ABHIS 15 GIRLS' GLEE CLUB The objective of the Girls' Glee Club is to interest girls of high school age in group sing- ing. Its primary interest is to bring pleasure to those who listen. There is nothing better than music to bring harmony into the hearts of those who sing and enjoy sound life. There are many advantages to be gained by members of the Glee Club. Singing puts one in a mellow mood, and, after a particularly nervewracking day, to sing is to relax and forget one's trou- bles. To those who intend to make a career of music the practice obtained by singing is a valuable asset. On October 19, the Glee Club sang at the Plymouth County Teachers' Convention held in Brockton. Under the able direction of Miss Bernice Gove, Supervisor, the girls did a fine piece of work for which they were highly complimented. The officers elected were Ann Merrill, Presidentg janet Luke, Vice-Presidentg and Peggy Hunter, Secretary-Treasurer. PEGGY HUNTER, '52 THE HOME ECONOMICS CLUB The Home Economics Club was organized to bring together girls interested in all types of home-making projects. The programs are planned to interest girls in various forms of Home Economics work, such as, foods, cloth- ing, interior decorating, flower arrangements, grooming, and party ideas. At least three Field trips a year are taken to such places as public utilities, furniture stores, greenhouses, and food manufacturing kitchens in order to give the girls further information on consumer buying and places employed by business for the purpose of planning better homes. The Home Economics Club has one dance a year, the proceeds of which, along with other ways and means of activities, will be used to provide each year an award to some member of the club interested in furthering her educa- tion in some field of Home Economics. Each year the Home Economics Club sponsors the decoration of the rooms for the Christmas Season. The officers for the 1951-52 school year are: President, Helen I-Vestbergg Vice-President, Hilda YVardg Recording Secretary, Barbara Bailey, Corresponding Secretary, Carrol Villa, Treasurer, Nancy Tisdale. NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY The National Honor Society is a national high school organization designed to give rec- ognition to outstanding students on the basis of character, scholarship, leadership, and serv- ice, and to encourage the development of these qualities. 'When the society was founded in 1921, the National Council authorized an ofli- cial emblem. It is the keystone and flaming torch, upon which are found the letters C S L S, representing the above mentioned ideals of the society. In 1947, the Abington chapter was organ- ized by Principal Charles M. Frolio for stu- dents who for six consecutive terms have made the honor role. The organization was named Alpha because it was the first chapter in Abington. At present there are twenty mem- bers in the society. The officers are President, Gertrude Spillaneg Vice-President, Janet Hult- mang Secretary, Cordane Curtis, and Treas- urer, Bruce Sanderson. The purpose of this organization is to create throughout the school an enthusiasm for schol- arship, to encourage students to render serv- ice to the school and community, to develop strong character, and to encourage further education. The goal of the society this year is to pub- lish an Abington High School Manual for the purpose of enlightening all students on the rules, regulations, schedules, and activities of the school. -IANET HULTMAN, '52 THE SCIENCE CLUB The main objective of the Science Club is to stimulate an active interest in all the fields of science. The club does this in many inter- esting ways, such as field trips, movies and slides, and small exhibits. A second opportunity is afforded by slides and movies shown by the club. Its strip films shown in class prove interesting and helpful. The small science exhibits set up by students provide a wonderful opportunity for anyone with a scientihc hobby or talent to exhibit, to exercise his particular ability, and explain about it to others who are already or who might, with a little encouragement, become interested. Besides these educational opportunities the club has its annual dance, which is always a most successful social event of the year. JUDY GRIFFIN, '54 THE STUDENT COUNCIL The Student Council organized at the be- ginning of the school year with the following oflicers: President, Gordon Batesg Vice-Presi- dent, john Kelley: Secretary, Mary Lynchg Treasurer, Ray Murphy. '

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THE ABHIS 17 Besides attending school he was in the Army for four years in the Ordinance Corps of the Criminal Identification Department and served in the Pacific. His favorite food is steak and his favorite pastime is spent in raising boxers. VVhen asked what he thought of the school he enthusiastically replied, The student body is well-behaved and, on the whole, it is a fine school. CYNTHIA BUTTERS, '52 PATRICIA LAFERRETE, '52 TODAYlS ENTERTAINMENT In this age of modern science many advances have been made in the field of entertainment. The radio, the cinema, and the television are received by many more people than did re- ceive the old-time Shakespearean road plays of the city theatrical groups. Unfortunately these new types of entertain- ment have almost outweighed their usefulness with the damage they do. Because the radio and the movies reach more people they have to cater to many new types of interests. It is unfortunate that in the past leaders in the field of entertainment were forced to lower their standards in order to reach the level of this new audience. W'ith time, and much trial and error, the radio and the movies have acquired a more stable basis for the type of entertainment they produce. It is now not too often that a really useless motion picture or radio program reaches the public. The radio and movie magnates now realize that it is going to take more and better entertainment to recapture the waning interest of the public. But in television, that combined gold mine and atom bomb, proper emphasis has not yet been placed on the quality of the programs produced. Most television viewers are like small children with a chestful of strange toys. The child will First play with the simple and easy to understand toy and as he grows older graduate to more complex toys. The only Haw in this theory is that the stage of experimentation has passed, but the type of entertainment has not changed. It is the duty of each of us average television fans to prove that we are ready for more adult and informa- tive entertainment. ANN MERRILL, '52 TELEVISION POLL During the recent month the .ABHIS stall' conducted a TV poll. From this poll came the following results: In first place for the favorite program was the Colgate Comedy Hour with 78 votes. Milton Berle and Arthur Godfrey were tied for second place with 51 votes each. Your Show of Shows QSid Caesarj was a close run- ner-up with 42 votes and I Remember Mama received 38. The majority of the student body enjoys both boxing and wrestling, but of the two, boxing took 66 votes and wrestling only 34. Although Milton Berle was tied for sec- ond top program, he was voted most objec- tionable by 41 voters. Others highly objec- tionable were the kiddie shows such as Howdy Doody, Time for Beany, Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and other puppet shows. Gabby Hayes was voted most historical by 81 votes, while Living lfVonders walked away with the title of Most Scientific with 54 votes. Through this poll it was determined that 72 students watch television for an average of two hours a night and that 52 watch for three hours a night. As far as the favorite musical program is concerned, it was a land-slide for Fred Yvar- ing with 121 votes. The closest to this was the Hit Parade with 57 votes. Two hundred fourteen students watched the United Nations video broadcasts while 162 did not. News broadcasts are viewed by 364, while only 13 never watch them. The favorite news commentator proved to be john Cameron Swayze with 362 votes. The closest to him was the commentator for Shawmut with 6 votes. SHIRLEY RANSOBI, '52 ASSEMBLIES This fall we have been very fortunate to have a great many assemblies which have been both entertaining and educational. At the first assembly in September, Mr. john Della- raux gave an interesting talk on manners and explained how good manners distinguish a person from his associates. At the second assembly, Mr. Ernest johnson, a singer, entertained us with some Negro spirituals and southern songs. This was Mr. .Iohnson's second appearance at Abington High School. Mr. lfVilliam I-lauker, a talented concert pianist, provided an interesting and educa- tional program about classical music. Mr. Hauker explained the type of music that he played and told a few facts about composers, Mr. Kenneth 'Wheeler presented a delight- ful program on The Backstage of Radio and Television in which several of our senior students took part. Mr. Xvheeler is now with YVBET as an announcer and commentator.