Lynn Classical High School - Classical Yearbook (Lynn, MA)

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Nor is it the economic state of the world which alone assails us with dark questioning. There is also the problem of our foreign policy. What shall be our attitude toward the race for power. Shall we consent to dividing the world into spheres of influence or shall we adhere to the principles of the Atlantic Charter? Shall we view with haughty suspicion or guileless friendliness the nations which face us across the shores of the ever-diminishing oceans? Slow- ly our policy shapes and defines itself, and what its final form may be, the man in the street does not know. But the question that it offers troubles him and shuts him away from the warmth and full sunlight of peace. What shall be our attitude toward the twilight through which we are passing? As we study the vague shapes and questions which darken the road to the future, shall we View them with uncertainty and fear? The answer must be, No . America is too realistic a nation not to assess her problems, but she is too vigorous, too resourceful, to be discouraged by them. Intelligent aware- ness and spirited enlightenment shall be the policy of the Americans. We will not say that our uncertainties and fears do not exist, neither will we say that they are eternal or unconquerable. Armed with knowledge and with hope, with tolerance, and with faith, we will go forward on the dark path of the future until we pierce the fog of uncertainty and come out, God-willing into the full light of peace and brotherhood. In our hearts as we win forward toward the longed-for goal echo the words of Tennyson- Ring our wild bells to the wild sky- Ring out the thousand years of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace, Ring in the valiant and free The larger heart, the kindlier hand, Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be. L Class History Lorraine Britton '47 This history is a mistake in three acts with the scene laid at Classical High School, Lynn, Massachusetts, directly across from the city's lovely com- mon. The first episode has its setting during the school term of 1944-45. . Darling, time to get up! You don't want to be late! Remember that day three long years ago? CPerhaps four or five for the less fortunatelj Yes, that was the momentous occasion whenyou first entered the dim halls of Class- ical and by so doing, began the -history of our wonderful class. What a history, what a class, WHAT a day! Getting lost, being late for appointments, being jostled around by facetious upper classmen, asking a senior for room 107 and carefully following directions which took us to the boiler room, or some more unexpected place, and finally getting back to our home room, being dismissed, and rushing out of the building, firmly resolving never again to enter that wick- ed school where the teachers glanced at you impersonally and the kids played jokes on you. . . Yes, such were our impressions of the first day at Classical COh, now . . . you don't really believe first impressions are always truthful or lasting, DO YOU! IJ en

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Akin to the housing and labor difficulties which beset us and, in fact, allied to them, perhaps growing from them, is the grave situation concerning juvenile delinquency. During the war while fathers fought at the battle front and mothers toiled on the production line, there arose a generation of so-called latch-key children, emancipated through many hours of the day and night from parental authority. Deprived of the stabilizing influence of adult leader- ship many of these children have become hardened to the morals of the street, and overstimulated by the excitement of the war, have begun to swell in appal- ling numbers, the offenders filing through our juvenile courts. How can we sal- vage these childreng how can we reeducate their hearts to worthy living? Every adult, young and old alike, might well pause and give thought to these questions. For, America cannot afford to lose the fight against juvenile delin- quency. If she does, the war against the axis will have been won in vain. Still other distresses plague our domestic consciousness. What of the mili- tary situation? In an unsettled world is it safe almost completely to divide our military establishments? Shall we disband the armies, abandon our bases, scrap our equipment? Shall we rid ourselves of that mysterious entity called the army mind ? Does not democracy itself demand that we return to the easy going ways of peace? Yet just as we are about to give a whole hearted, yes in answer, uneasy whispers halt us. There is trouble abroad in the world. The armies fight in China. The lights go off in England because coal is short. In Berlin, the dis- placed persons from their bombed-out cellars plot confusion to the conqueror. Britain and Russia jockey for power in the Middle East. In India the Moselem fights the Hindu. In Palestine the Arab fights the Jew, and all alike fight the Briton. Starvation and malnutrition stalk in many lands. Are We so sure the dread four hoursemen of Apocalypse will not ride again? We have cut our mili- tary establishment down to the bone. Shall we diminish it still more? The answer is that we do not know. Confusion of mind assails us on yet another point. Man has made himself a new, a terrifying, and mysterious weapon of destruction of which we are joint custodian. What shall we do with the atomic bomb? How shall we share with others nations the mysterious and awful knowledge which may rule the future, may indeed decide whether the future will ever eventuate? The answer to this questfon we have sought in our own council with the United Nations. But whether man has the moral force to surmount and control his knowledge and power to destroy is one of the awful mysteries which darken the path ahead. Turning for the moment from our domestic questions to survey the in- ternational scene, we find that in this sphere of our life as a nation also, the mists of confusion beset us. How shall we use the power and prestige which have come to us as a result of the war? How shall we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and harbor the harborless of those lands which look to us for hope? We have sought within the United Nations through the International Bank, and through the International Monetary Fund, to find the solution to some of these problems of success, yet we cannot breathe too easily. There is no stability in international markets, already our economists are whispering that the British loan will have exhausted itself by August of '48 without accomplishing its purpose of helping sagging Britain to her feet. 721716

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Well, for a time things went along 'so-so' until football days came along. The season was a good onel :with a grand ending when the Classical ' Sophs whipped the English Sophs Sby the colossal score of 49 - 13, the stars of the game being Dave Wardentzand Walt Henshaw, with Andy making the first touchdown. After that victory we new-comers felt that Classical was 'not-bad'. Then dances started and Classical became 'pretty-good . Finally, we elected class officers. As president we choose Hippo 'Sonny-Boy' Kyrosg Michael Gar- nier, vice president, and sweet Marion Howard, secretary. After this elec- tion, Classical quickly went back to its'so-so' status!! You know I'm kidding. . . DON'T you ?? Mercy, how did that word kidding get by our censor! We really loved our class officers! By mid-term we were hopeful we had survived, we had withstood the strain of exams, we had made new friends, tall and short, fat and skinny, smart and dumb, handsome and homely. By the end of the term gangs had formed, high school tricks or shall I say techniques had been discovered, tried, and abandoned by us for the rest of our natural lives! And so came to a close of the first act-just after everyone finally discovered who Shultz really was. The second act was laid three months later, in the fall of '45, after a wonderful vacation. This year, strangely enough, and to our horror we found ourselves or so we thought, being again lowly sophomores! We had the lay- out of the rooms clearly pictured in our minds and knew Classical inside and out fmostly outj. We had bragged all summer about being Juniors! Alas, our disappointment! What had the office done to us? Yes, you've guessed it. They had changed all the numbers of the rooms. Were we mad! fAnd, confidentally, we were just a little bit confused.l This was our year to play tricks on the Sophs: but we soon found that when we tried to follow our own directions, we couldn't find the boiler room! But somehow we surmounted our shame and settled down for a restful year. Ha Ha! That's a laugh, maybe the boys had a restful year, but the girls didn't. Who could with the program for developing sleek, sweet, feminine figures. Girls, remember the after-effects of those back- breaking work-outs?? But we were compensated, for this year's Classical-Eng- lish struggle was ours with a score of 19-0. It was a thrilling game with many of our brilliant Junior boys on the first string and many more on the bench dying--dying to get into the game! It was in this year that the I.A.D. boys began to loom on the horizon. Girls began to prepare their attachments for next year. Our officers this year were Dave Warden, Mike Garnier, and Marion Howard. As for the school play, it might as well have been the JUNIOR play with 'Andy' as a hard-boiled copy Ann Holdsworth as 'Penny'g and Anita Stoler as an, shall we say, alcoholic victim. We welcomed back Coach Twohig who brought a very successful year to our basketball team. In the 1946 Olympics, our wonderful athlete, George Pike was the record-breaking winner. More- over our Junior Prom was a huge success with sweet George Kwmuntis and Carol Agnew winning the elimination dance. And so JUNE rolled aroundg we said farewell to the seniors, but we quickly took the innocent halls of Class- ical over. The third act is the act of acts. The year 1946-47. Boy, oh Boy! This year was our year to howl. The I.A.D. boys took the howling business seriously, and so skillful were they that they delighted all the girls. The year began with Hi, long time no see! What room you in? What ya been doing? Who've eleven