Forest Hills High School - Forester Yearbook (Forest Hills, NY)

Page 15 text:

in motion in General Electricis Uiiouse of Nlagicu show. in another demonstration clay was made to ioounce, and in still another, an electric train oheyed the commands of the human voice. Although each demonstration was magic to our uneducated minds, we were told that a fundamental principle of physics could easily explain them. For some of us this was the beginning of an all-ahsorhing interest in science and hopes oi some day entering the Vvestinghouse Science Talent Search. ln lwlay of 1948, Forest Hills High School celebrated Field Day at Yanlcee Stadium to see the Yankees triumph over the Athletics, 5-0. Approximately 5,000 lighthearted students and forty or fifty harassed faculty memloers jammed the Sth Avenue suhway to see this great sporting event, the proceeds oi which went to finance our own hase- hall team. Qur freshman year also saw the puhlication oi two new texthoolcs hy memhers oi our faculty. Tops on the hest seller list at Forest Hills were Nlr. Schwartzis Outline Text in Biology, and A Studentys Handhooiq of Science hy lxlessrs. Gillary and Udane. And Forest Hills swelled with pride when it learned that one of our students, Barhara Xvollzf, had won first place in the Vvestinghouse Science Talent Search. Before long, however, the end ofthe term came, and we felt much older and wiser as we loolied haclc over our first full year at Forest Hills High School. nAnd friends received with thumps upon the hacleu HYoung The first day of the Fehruary 1949 term saw us loaclc in school as juhilant sopho- mores. Gone was the old stigma oi heing a freshman, and scorned, the popular con- ception that as a sophomore you just Hsoifer more and more. Vve were at home in Forest Hills, and confident in the lcnowledge that we were one year closer to the fulfillment of our cherished dream of heing seniors. Socially, we enjoyed a magnificent year. The Junior Prom was again held in the decorated gym, and the many Forest Hills couples in iormal dress presented a charming sight as they danced to the rhythms oi Vvalter. The girls received Revlon cosmetics. and their escorts. houtonnieres. Refreshments included an enormous calce with a prominent 2 on it four second Junior prom, , placed in lront oi a resplendent doll seated in a high chair. That evening will he long rememhered hy Hillites. To celehrate Halloween, the G.O. presented a Black Magic dance. The ioest adver- tising minds oi the G.O. concocted a splendid stunt lor that oneg as we entered the school early one morning, we were greeted hy a horrihle witch hopping around on a hroomsticlc to the accompaniment of hanging spoons and cat calls. ln addition, announcements oi the dance were printed on the hlaclchoards in six dillierent lan- guages. No one had an excuse to stay away from that allfairl Faces oi Forest Hills students hecame well lcnown throughout the 'country that year. Ken lxfleierdierclcs, selected as the cutest hoy in the senior Vox Pop, was chosen to appear on the cover of Coronet. in Nlay there were more copies of Seventeen around school than texthoolcs, and lor a very special reason. Twelve of our loveliest co-eds appeared on the cover of that magazine. We always lmew the prettiest girls lived in Forest Hillsl That year, a new organization was instituted, Junior Arista. Forty-seven people were elected charter memhers, and Marcia Alper became the first Girl Leader. Already our class was achieving distinction. . QENEQALC .U E ul' A - Q t, . m s ig gl' Z2, 9 ' -Q vw if ' .af A

Page 14 text:

v 0 ,J n n 15' :' 'hz '33 1? as ,, ff A M 3 H .rg s ' ff P. a... lg 'f' . 1 .6 it it Qu 4 aaa .Mafory My salad days: When I was green in judgments, ,-4 Shakespeare The first day at Forest Hiiis was a thriiiing experience, one which icept recurring in our minds and hearts as we witnessed each succeeding group of freshmen. The thought of going to high schooi had made us ieei aduit, but somehow, on that first day, we couidn,t seem to achieve that air of poise and maturity which we had so urgentiy hoped for. And how we envied the seniors with their jaunty hats and air of superiority. They were so woridiyg they didnit worry about anecdotai cards, about being iate to ciass, or about finding the proper classroom. And they weren't afraid of marshals .... Nothing seemed to faze themi But not even the many iittie fears which seized us couid taice away from the pride and expectancy we feitg some day, oniy a iew short years away, we too would be big, wise, wonderful seniors. Perhaps that short iittie boy fthe one who could never find his way to class, peering so seriousiy through his horn-rimmed giasses wouid be the vaiedictorian, and when you received the first issue of the schooi paper, you vowed that some day you wouid be on the BeaconU staff, maybe even an editor. Life was wonderful then: our tight iittie worids had now widened to inciude aii of Forest Hiiis High School, and the vastness of it overwhelmed us. We were enthusiastic about everything, and we went to work with a zeai. We bought CLO. cards the very first day, and we were terribly proud when our section was commended in assembly for having IOOWJ. By the time we mastered the mysteries of the combination iocic and couid distin- guish between the hot and cold iunch iines, we were about settied in our new home. We had become friendly with our ciassmates, and some of us were beginning to achieve reputations. AI Vviener, finding his gym ciass unstimuiating, sat on the iioor and read a comic booic, 'consequently receiving from Mr. Howlett his first iecture on the proper behavior of young gentiemen. The teachers, too, were beginning to assume definite proportions for us. Mr. Vvigier was the mad chemistu who icnociced us out with his poisonous gas experiments in General Science, And Mr. Mcindoe piagued us with Time magazine tests, when most of us were just iearning to read the newspaperi Aithough Play Production was as yet beyond our reach, when they announced the presentations of You Can,t Take It With You and the Royal Family we bought ticicets for the whoie famiiy. Enthusiastic audiences haiied these productions as unsurpassed amateur performances. One of the outstanding successes of the Forest Hiiis sociai season was the mem- orable Junior Prom, the first of its icind to be held in our schooi. The gym was breath- taicingiy ioveiy, decorated in a winter theme of muiti-coiored iights and snow Hakes. Science was the subject of the most fascinating assembly of the year. A capacity crowd watched with amazement the fantastic effects oi stroboscopic lights on objects

Page 16 text:

-- Vit 'Q Sinai of lg se' .. V J gismiitt iveot'-266 Rafi? X . F lX C0 fofffer .F C' 7 x. But we were lcnown lor other things, too. Everyone heard of the hiology class in which hir. Schwartz was attempting to show a film, and only alter twenty minutes ol trantic fiddling with the machine, discovered that Al Wiener had forgotten to put the plug ini ln lourth term we had music again, and in true Forest Hills tradition, we sat quietly as hir. Zarelco called out the seat numhers oi ahsentees '- A6, FS, JIO, etc., and then waited for a smart-aleclc in the rear to shout out Bingo That was the year a group ol European students came to America to visit, and our Alma Mater played host to three ol' them. Will we ever forget Australian Peter, whose charm and sparkling humor endeared him so completely to all ot us? And the following term we were all thrilled hy the news that our own Ben Zelenlco had won a ten weeli trip to England, all expenses paid hy the London Daily Mail. ln the field of sports we achieved other outstanding successes. Cleveland High School was the only school ahead ol us in the Queenshoro Soccer Championship, and our fencing team, under the very ahle leadership of Mr. Ritchie, placed second in the P.S.A.L. Eastern Tourney. But our outstanding accomplishment was the winning of the Queens P.S.A.L. Tennis Championship for the third successive yearl It seemed as il Forest Hills was always tops in every scholastic and extra-curricular activity. Twenty-tive ol our students won State Scholarships. ln the held of science we again triumphed when four of our contemporaries reached the Finals in the Xvest- inghouse Science Talent Search, and others attained honorahle mention. Play Production worlced hard to measure up to the excellence we attained in every other activity we engaged in, and scored two outstanding successes. Remember Hit the Deck with a cast of gohs and gals that included the finest talent of both students and teachers? The whole school was singing Haiieiuiaii lor days, and Connie Titus was nicknamed HLulu from that day onward. in December Play Pro presented Arsenic and Old Lace. Vvithout eltort we can visualize Teddy Brewster shrielcing nchargefi as he galloped down the cellar stairs to continue excavating for the Pan- ama Canal. And weire still wondering if Wir. Kerr ever summoned enough courage to drinlc the hottie of elderherry wine which the cast presented to him alter the performancei All too soon came the end ot our second year at F.H.H.S. We viewed the future with mixed emotions, for we were beginning to wonder it the distinction of heing seniors could hegin to equal the lun of heing sophomores. Hour pleasures and our oiisconients, Are rounds hy which we may ascend. -Longfellow Qur junior year at Forest Hills was comparatively uneventful. The grammar school promotions on a yearly hasis caused a chronic laclc oi freshmen,-ra disaster for the upper termers. Vve had finally hegun to assume that all-important Hsavoir-faire - at least we thought we had a hit ol the sophisticated poise we had longed for as freshmen. As juniors we could hreathe a sigh of relief. We had overcome the first prominent obstacles in our high school careers-regents. And we had come to accept them as necessary evils which eventually confront every student in the state. At least we weren't alone in our sutteringi XZ l The teachers' salary difficulty during our fifth term caused a cessation of extra-