Kensington High School - Compass Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

Page 9 text:

I J E 7

Page 8 text:

INTRODUCTION TO THE THEME IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH. FROM THE DARKNESS OF CREATION, THROUGH THE ANCIENT DAYS OF DINOSAURS, REPTILES AND CAVE MEN, SINCE THE DAYS OF EGYPT, GREECE AND ROME UP TO THE ERAS OF EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY, SCIENCE AND LEARNING, TO OUR MODERN ATOMIC AGE, MAN HAS PROGRESSED AND THRIV- ED. FROM HIS CHANGING IDEAS OF GOD THROUGH THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, FROM IG- NORANCE TO SCIENTIFIC MASTERY, FROM THE DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE AND MECHANIZED INDUSTRIALISM, MAN HAS DIVESTED HIMSELF OF THE RAGS OF ILLITERACY AND DONNED THE SPLENDOR OF MAGNIFICENT CREATIVENESS. MAN HAS WRITTEN AND IS STILL WRITING THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE. HIS INGE- NUITY HAS TAMED THE ANIMALS, CROSSED THE SEAS AND CHANGED THE FACE OF THE EARTH. IN THE BEGINNING, MOTHER EARTH NURSED AND NURTURED MAN AND HIS ANIMAL FRIENDS AND ENEMIES. SHE WAS MAN'S HOME, FOOD, CLOTHING. SHE WAS HIS HINDRANCE AS WELL AS HIS HELP, CHANGING OR DESTROYING LIFE AS SHE SAW FIT, WITH TORNADOES, TIDAL WAVES, EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. BUT LATER, THROUGH HIS DEVEL- OPING INTELLIGENCE, HE BECAME STRONGER AND LEARNED TO HOUSE, CLOTHE AND FEED HIMSELF. MAN BEGAN TO CONQUER EARTH, CROSSED HER MOUNTAINS AND OCEAN BAR- RIERS, BRIDGED HER CHASMS AND DAMMED HER RIVERS. HE DROVE DEEP INTO HER HEART AND BROUGHT FORTH IRON, COAL, OIL AND GAS, UPON NNHICH OUR MODERN WORLD SUR- VIVES. SKYSCRAPERS, OCEAN VESSELS, AND FINALLY .ATOMIC ENERGY CAME FORTH FROM HER VAST STORES OF RESOURCES. WARS HAVE SCARRED HER, BUT MODERN ADVANCEMENT HAS BEAUTIFIED HER. MAN HAS BELITTLED HER WITH FASTER AND FASTER COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPORTATION SYS- TEMS, BUT EARTH HAS RETALIATED WITH DESTRUCTIONS IN THE FORM OF TYPHOONS, HURRI- CANES AND BLIZZARDS, SHOWING MAN AS THE MINUTE PART OF CREATION HE REALLY IS. BUT WE BELIEVE THAT MAN'S IDEALISM AND IMAGINATION HAVE GIVEN HIM THE POWER TO OVER- COME THESE OBSTACLES AND BUILD HIMSELF UP TO GREATER HEIGHTS. 6

Page 10 text:

ADMINISTRATION FROM A PRIMITIVE NOMAD, TO A CIVILIZED, CULTURED WORSHIPPER, THROUGH THE SEARCH FOR A GOOD LIFE IN BEAUTY, LEARNING, UNDERSTANDING, TO SELF-INDULGENCE, LUXURY, CORRUPTIONg THENCE TO RELIGIOUS FERVOR. AND GREAT GALLANTRY, MAN HAS TAKEN THE LONG JOURNEY THROUGH THE AGES. DURING THESE ERAS THE MODE OF GOVERNMENT HAS ALSO CHANGED. THE GOVERNED HAVE BECOME FREE, EQUAL, AND INFLUENTIAL. WOMEN HERETOFORE UNRECOGNIZED HAVE TAKEN THEIR PROPER PLACE IN SOCIETY. UNDER DEMOCRATIC AUSPICES WISE AND BENE- FICENT LEADERS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BRING TO FRUITION ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND COS- TUMES. HERE AT SCHOOL OUR ADMINISTRATION GIVES US THE BENEFITS OF SELF-GOVERNMENT BUT OFFER THEIR GREATER WISDOM AS A GUIDE. SKILLED IN THEIR FIELDS, OUR EDUCATORS ALTRUISTICALLY AND UNCEASINGLY IMPART THEIR KNOWLEDGE TO THE STUDENT BODY. THEY SEEK TO PREPARE US FOR OUR ROLE ON EARTH, TO MEET AND SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS, TO MAKE OUR LIVES SUCCESSFUL, AND TO BECOME THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW. FROM THIS NOBLE UNDERTAKING THE SAME ACCOMPLISHMENTS WILL RESULT, CIVILIZATION WILL BE FURTHERED. KNOWLEDGE AND HUMAN POWER ARE SYNONYMOUSV' 8