Columbia High School - Mirror Yearbook (Maplewood, NJ)

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SENIORS

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MRS. GLADYS H. HOWELL, Senior Guide Senior viAord an J O icerA JOE CARTER, Class President Page Eight DIXIE SNOW, Class Secretary

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Our stay at Columbia has ended. As graduates, we now stand on the threshold of a bright and promising world. And yet, the memories of these past three years are the thoughts that mainly fill our minds, for only now do we realize how wonderful our sojourn here has been. We came into Columbia one bright autumn day in 1951, a crowd of nervous, chattering sophomores. Everything was unfamiliar: the teachers, the rooms, and the other students; but we had finally arrived.” During those first few weeks we were easily distinguishable; our rushing, our desire to please, and our curi- osity pointed out one word, sophomores. In the fall and winter that followed we became a real part of the school by joining clubs, working with committees, and assuming positions of leadership. Our first year was filled with both tragedy and victory. During the previous summer, Mr. Crehan, the principal, had died. Mr. Sheeley brilliantly assumed the responsibilities of principalship. To him go our deepest thanks. The bright spot that fall was the football team. Loyally and joyously we trooped to game after game and victory after victory. Who will ever forget that late October day when mighty Montclair was toppled, or the assembly in which the state championship trophy was presented? April is the month of school elections. We had never seen anything like them; the fierce campaigning, the rows of posters and streamers lining the corridors, and everyone wearing the button of his candidate. No manager of Ike” could raise such shouts as those for Peter Kasen and Jim Rose. When the hubbub had died down, Peter was the winner and successor of the capable Peter Campisi. Thus ended our sophomore year, the most tumultuous in our lives up to then. Through the fall and winter of our junior year plans were being prepared for Junior Night. Everyone was busy writing songs, cultivating mellow voices, and perfecting his theatrical abilities. After much re- hearsing and loads of fun, we proudly presented Top Secret.” It was an overnight success. For months the whole school sang and hummed The Graduating Class of ’54,” State’s the Place, and all the others. To be specific, it was terrific!” On the heels of Junior Night came elections at which we were now old hands. After the usual furious campaigning (What an uproar there was when Martin Ritter platformed on smoking rooms! ) Art Brooks came out on top. That spring, Joe Carter was elected the Senior Class President. Perhaps the most significant happening in our junior year was the entrance of Mr. Amsden into our lives. All of us, of course, knew that he was the principal, but within an amazingly short time we learned that he was a man interested in us as individuals and desirous of our confidence. A bond of mutual respect, the healthiest of feelings, quickly grew between us. The first days of our senior year were black. Peter Kasen, beloved and respected by all, had, on a seem- ingly carefree excursion through the West, taken his step into eternity. Much has been said concerning his death, but th£ words, Death is swallowed up in victory,” seem the most appropriate to describe the even- tual effect on us. The entire student body rededicated itself so that the gap made by his passing might be filled. In October, Miss Helen Snyder, the head of the home economics department, passed away. Her loss was deeply felt for she had, in her thirty-two years of teaching here, become an integral part of the school. One of the fondest memories of our senior year will be of a mustachioed Chilean, Senor Tomas Gray. One of several guests from foreign nations who lived, ate, and studied with us over a period of nearly six weeks, he helped us to understand better his country and people, and, more important, ourselves. In March, as part of the New York Herald Tribune international youth program, Sergio Santiago of Madrid, Spain and Peter Hudson, of Northumberland, England, spent two weeks visiting our school. Our last year was filled with many other important happenings. The comedy, The Curious Savage,” was chosen for our senior play. Ably acted and mounted, it received enthusiastic applause from all who saw it. After much anxiety most of us succeeded in passing our driver’s license test and the college boards. In our last spring at Columbia we made definite decisions as to our future. Some of us decided to enter the armed forces, others, to enter the business world, and still more were admitted into the college of our choice. Now we are looking forward to graduation. Soon, with the last strains of the Alma Mater” in our ears, we shall leave Columbia as did sixty-five previous classes. Basically we will be just like those preced- ing ones: the same types of people, with the same likes and dislikes, and the same deep devotion to our school, our community, and our country. And yet, one fact distinguishes us: these past three years belong to us alone. wJriitor y Viicfe 'Jen