Richmond Hill High School - Archway / Dome Yearbook (Richmond Hill, NY)

Page 18 text:

f5 LJ. fllt ELZEEQ 2 fl f Jamaica -Xvenuc stood l ln the fall of H397 a small red brick building just south o -1' completed. The last brick fitted snugly in place and the wet paint sign was remover and it was ready. The neighbors looked proudly at the dome on the top of the new E E' Q E high school - Richmond Hill High School. .I , - - - - - l or thirty years the building so stood a symbol in a growing community of educa- tion and progress. ln l929. a new building was built. It boasted a swimming pool. a ninety-foot auditorium. special classrooms fe all the modern improvements a school should havesbut still some of the homey community spirit that had peryaded the older building. - lt was to this Richmond Hill that three hundred bright and eager freshmen llocked VI one cold January day in l9Al4l. Our faces shone. our saddle shoes were polished V white. and our bobby sox were pulled up. Some of us clutched shiny pen and pencil 5 sets we'd got for graduation. lt was a small class and we fitted snugly into the under- jfvqf sized assembly room in Annex 56. ' ll was then that we saw for the first time the men and women who would be our at 4 leaders for the next four years A Mr. Dann. Mr. Kanwit. Miss Koch. Wie smiled when 55,5 Mr. Dann addressed us as Hthe Class of January l948. January 19-10 seemed another age away. We were assured it wasnit. that it would be on us before we knew it. and Q?-Qmikif now it is herel .im f K Vive spent the spring term in Annex 56 getting used to what was a new concept of lilo ll! education for us. high school. Annex 56 has few facilities to offer its students. We .' found the asphalt-lloored gym hard to get used to. Mr. Kersey made us face half right so as not to hump when we exercised . . . and we soon learned what seats to avoid in the study hall when it rained. We found out what commuting means. Wie A came packed into the Myrtle Avenue trolley cars or jammed on the Jamaica Avenue X XOMQRS ICI trains. We found out just what homework is and how to avoid it. BMS 7 The first third was highlighted by our introduction to school politics. the Gil. elec- ! Q, l tions. We elected Peggy Lal'ointe and George Yvhipple president and vice-president. x 6 That spring we saw a terrific Lion baseball team, ace no-hiti' hurler Doc Wvorgul, ja and hard-hitting George Kaiser. The whole infield hit over 300. Some of us were at ji X Dexter Park the day we lost a game and the championship to Jamaica. 'It Y fy V it ln our ow'n sports we trounced a softball team from Annex 90 by lil to 2. l ew of ' V X us can forget the noisy little orchestra that Miss Hart directed for assemblies. 'I Q America was in the midst of war that spring and liichmond Hill pitched in. Over 'WH X in 56 we bought war bonds and stamps. gave to the lied Cross. and collected enough X scrap paper to build one-fourth of a bomber. s 5 1 Annex 56 was closed that fall because of the war and we were split up. Some of us went to Annex 90 with its eight llights of stairs and its annoying grammar school kids. The rest of us were sent to the main building. There were hardships for us to We felt lost at first in the swirling mass of three thousand non , n iii '1'::- I Yi. fac un 1 'Elf V : 14 I Q ' 1' T-57 1 e there. too.

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lreslimen. We were no longer uncivilized freshies but still lreshies. and we made the usual mistakes. We sought the cafeteria near the studio. the studio in the boiler room. and a few bewildered girls wandered into the boys' locker room. Xlany of us met Xlr. lxanwit again in his new role. in charge of discipline. We gradually caught on to the ways ol' the main building. the queer numbering of the rooms. learning not to stand near an exit when the three oiclock bell rings, or near the cafeteria at the beginning of any lunch period. We found out what hustling is and how not to get caught at il. We learned what specials were edible and it was that l'irst term that many of us signed petitions against chow mein specialsf' Quite a fuss was made when an order was sent around that all inter-school sports save swimming were to be discontinued because of the transfer of Mr. Marcus Meyer. baseball and basketball coach. to John Adams. Hazen Hall was jammed with angry students and for a few days it looked as if sports were out altogether. The situation was saved when Mr. Harley Thomas agreed to coach baseball and Mr. Hugh Hutchin- son. basketball. Track. which was lost in the shuflle. was never resumed. ln lfebruary the class was brought together again in the main building and we lirst met Miss Cristadoro. who was to guide us through the next three years. As the term wore on those of us whoid come from Annex 90 began to get into the swing of things. We were no longer freshies and it was our turn to laugh at those who. wide- eyed. expected to lind ZI3 next to 2l2. As spring came to llichmond Hill that year the classroom windows were opened wide onto a green new world. The building was decorated with blue and white Toya- rich signsf Tovarich turned out to be the spring play .... It was that term that the war with Germany ended. V.lC. day! Russian and American armies converged in the German capital. Wvild spirits broke loose all over America and in Richmond Hill. The more excitable of us tried desperately to take a day off that wasnit granted but were foiled in the attempt. The day oil hnally came with VJ. day that summer when no one had to go to school. In June we were first introduced to llegents exams. Some of us weren't enthusiastic. Others made out better 1 marks. That summer many of us took our first crack at work. The country, still in the throes of war. took some on farms. The work was hard and even school seemed pleas- ant when we returned. Uur class with Don Monaco as president held its hrst dance. The social event of the spring term was the junior prom. the first in a year and a half and the second in the school's history. The highlights of the evening were the two lindies that sneaked in when Miss Barten was outside, the long laborious HCrand March. and the downpour that awaited us after the dance was over. Our class dance the next term featured Paul Hornick as a very successful Lena the Hyenaf' Jahn's Sundaes and a broken victrola were also present. 15 ..L14i1, -l t lug V-'M V.. JV-1 I lf . ' , kf,'..t5x . tl' pI? t l ? .,'l' l' 1 sill, tl W ' 'll l rl l f . t 1' I7 Q X. at X 7.7 .., g 4. . 611 qljjlqllll : X Wifi- , I ' r . ug. K E33 u 1 f l ga? X!