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

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curricular activities, and atthough the hatts and ctassrooms were idie aiter 5:50, the tactc ot ciuhs and evening programs made tor more activities during schoot hours. The G.0. sponsored a taient show which was the sutoject ot a great deai ot discussion among Hitiites. Xve had never reaiized how much unrecognized tatent there was in our schoott Eddie Angardys Dixie Land Band hrought iusty cheers from the audience, and hiay Fuer, the winner, thriited us with her rendition ot the Eiwarsaw Concertof' Never to he outdone, Piay Pro carried on, staging severat untorgettahte one act plays during assemtoiy programs, Their most enjoyaioie productions were The Ro- mancers, and Dickens, Christmas Carol, which were presented with the ease and perfection of a Broadway cast. As membership was now open to us tor Piay Pro and the various honor societies, many red, totue, and goid huttons hegan appearing on dress cottars and shirt iapeis, as did service pins and chevrons on the giris' age-oid gym suits. As the months ttew hy we found ourseives hurning the midnight oii, matting posters and devising ingenious campaign methods for prospective G.0. oiiicers, most ot whom were memhers of our junior ctass. The hig sociat and athietic event oi the year was the hastcethatt game hetween the New York Knictcerhocicers and the F.H.H.S. championship team of ,42-'45, it was an exciting game throughout, with our aiumni victorioust At the end ot the iast quarter the score was a ctose 67-65, and we cetehrated our triumph with an intormat victory dance, prearranged hy the Parents' Association. it was during these months that the Charleston was in fuii swing r-f titeratiy. in the Health Ed ciasses and on the tines in the cafeteria, iemaie coupies coutd he seen prancing ahout. How many speciats were mopped oft the ttoor in those days? Those days were happy ones. We were iootcing forward to our senior year, when we coutd waiii up the senior staircase without quatms, and tip the precious red, yeitow, and htue hats cociciiy over one eye. But in the midst of the fun and anticipa- tion of our tast year in high schoot came the reaiization that ati was not peacetut and carefree in other parts of the wortd. As our summer vacation commenced so did the Korean war, and the thought that many of our ctassmates might soon he forced to uphotd the ideais ot democracy on foreign soii, was a frightening one, especiatty atter hearing news of the drafting of eighteen year oids. The spontaneous shout ot wiiatce coveri' hecame a familiar one, and tacutty memhers were at iast hecoming familiar with parts of our anatomy other than our mindst This unfortunate 'crisis made us acuteiy aware of the need of a wett educated youth in order to keep peace in a worid, which, through misunderstanding, couid destroy itseti. in many respects our junior year was an important one. As we enjoyed tife in high schoot, as teen-agers atways wiit, we aiso matured and coutd give serious thought to the wortdis prohtems. Stowty hut surety we metamorphosed from carefree adoies- cents into thintcing adutts. HOur youth we can have hut tortayg We may always find time to grow otctf, r-r Bishop Bertctey in February, 1951, we entered the schoot tor our tast year r- hut as seventh termers. As such, we enjoyed a very unstahie position. Not yet high enough to enjoy the visihte signs ot seniordom, we refused to toe catted tower ctassmen. Consequently, we seized 1 J Z any v f FP fr NQETNM r r yn fi X, S VL Fxflg i J equi: I 5 . P .SV 'i ' 'ivitv ' 131' sf-:.. u sgtrirfra -I r 5 1:57 -1-. Q-'in' 15 - l F it . I 2 V S x ' Q Q 9 VPAQHQQE !

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-- 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-

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x rx 'K 'V ,Wg f ., ' Q Qxlifm 1 N ff LWQQL Q 2.7 K l 1 i U 7 n f W 6 115 3 i fa , ' 5 . . P :g,lP x , 1 . Q7 Q! A19 11111, QSM tl X O ln' ll, 54's 11 x 54,6 -,. 'tv . e so ' ,I 1-, l every available means by which we could bolster our sorely neglected egos. Nlany wore borrowed senior hats so we could stall: proudly up and down the famed marble senior staircase. And in the caleteria we surrounded the senior tables, glancing longingly at those coveted places. Vve were grateful, then, that we had school to occupy our time. Several ol the girls were brave enough to try and usurp AI Vvienerys position as the class Ubad boy.H Sue Cylinder and Roberta Schiff began playing tic-tac-toe in Spanish class, until one day the irate Mrs. Keyes ordered them both to lace Mr. Pred in the language office. And Mr. Nlanheimer was the mean faculty member who invited Nlargaret Hertzig to leave math class until she could control herselif, But Margie fooled him, she stayed out all period! At last the day arrived for which we had waited so long, the day we entered the sacred portals ot our Alma Mater as eighth termers i- full Hedged, titled, and, most important, visible seniors. Vve sported senior hats at every ralcish angle, and peered out of the corners of our eyes to malce sure we were duly admired. But this newly acquired pride and conceit passed quiclcly. Much to our dismay we saw school continuing as usual, and realized, with a bit of grumbling, that we, too, would have to settle down. Vvhat a hectic term that wasl ln addition to the regular academic curriculum, we were constantly lcept busy raising money for senior dues and jewelry, filling out college applications, discussing job possibilities with Mrs. De Farkas, running to the photog- rapher for yearbook pictures, and straightening out various program difficulties. Nlany of us were assuming responsibilities in school. Vvith extra-curricular activ- ities resumed at last, Nat Soifer and lxflargaret Hertzig were elected to the managing board of the Beacon, Phil Gray was editor of the Forester, and lwlarcia Alper and Dick Mayer became the leaders of Arista. Remember the buzz of excitement that circulated throughout the school when senior averages were announced, and we discovered that Dick had attained the highest average ever achieved by a Forest Hills senior? 98.11,-that was really staggeringl The final dramatic production we were able to see was a splendid presentation of The Barretts of Wimpole Street, the love story of Elizabeth and Robert Browning. A Hurry of excitement was caused by a small fire in Mrs. lVlcQuade,s car, and Mr. Vvilson put on a fine display of Southern chivalry when he rushed to the chem lab and struggled furiously with a stubborn fire extinguisher. Thanlcs to him, a major catastrophe was averted. And so passed Senior Day, with the usual array of clever costumes and Conga lines. Only this time we were the uninhibited participants, instead of envious onlook- ers. Many of the boys will remember Mr. Wilson for his active participation. He insisted on depriving some of our mature and sophisticated friends of their trusty Water pistols, only to malce use of them on inattentive members of his classes! We couldnyt feel too gay, however, when regents weelc rolled around. This was the final challenge and we were determined to meet it successfully. As we donned our caps and gowns for graduation, the worries of marlcs and exams were forgotten. Vve rejoiced in the completion of our high school careers, but we couldnyt escape the feeling of sadness that tugged at our hearts. Former teachers and classmates were viewed through tear-filled eyes, and we lcnew that thoughts of yesteryear, of days at Forest Hills would live forever in our hearts.