Suffield High School - Sagitta / Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Suffield, CT)

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I Mr. Gowdy cam© to Suffield as a social studies teacher eighteen years ago after teaching in Bloomfield. He found the school small and homey and it became everything I thought it would be. Mr. Gowdy sees the facility drifting apart socially, as well as a lessening of student in¬ volvement in the school. One of the major changes Mr. Gowdy has noticed is the fact that he remembers when labels were on the inside of clothes. Mr. Katulka, economics and history teacher, has been at Suffield for thirteen years. Mr. Katulka feels that in the thirteen years he has been here students have become a lot less aware of what is going on around them, but also that the average high school student is more mature than students were thirteen years ago. Mr. Thomas, a long time biology teacher at Suffield High thinks by far the most dramatic change in the science department was the move from McAlister to the new high school. Science classes moved from the caveman era to the twentieth century. Mr. Thomas sees less camaraderie among students, but as always, they are as friendly and just as easy to get along with. Mr. Frank Pacocha, a music teacher at Suffield since 1961 sees students ' interests becoming much more diversified in the last couple of years, but as a result the educational system has been left trying to teach too much with less and less being mastered. After producing more than twenty of Suffield High ' s musicals, he gave this advice, Never do ' Lil Abner. To illustrate this point Mr. Pacocha reminisced over the three nervous weeks of a music department filled with munch¬ ing goats, geese and chickens. As for his job he had this to say, I don ' t have to walk in and say two and two equals four, because in music that may not always be the case. Mr. Michael Duni, an English teacher at Suffield High School, was also a student here as well. As a student, he thought the school was comfortable and enjoyable. He feels teachers now are still as overprotective as they were back then. Yet, he believes that Suffield High School has become more aware of the student ' s need to cope with life ' s problems. Therefore, it has included within its curriculum necessary life skill objectives. 13

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HAPPY 50th ANNIVERSARY SUFFIELD HIGH Suffield ' s first high school class began in September 1939. The following article is an excerpt from the Hartford Courant concerning the construction of McAlister High School. The building which we are presently in was completed in 1963 and became the new high school. NEW HIGH SCHOOL ... LONG A TOWN NEED The new high school now being built on the site of the old fair grounds will help Suffield solve many of the problems in education. Many subjects which have not been offered before will be taught in this new building. Commercial courses covering work in bookkeeping, type¬ writing, stenography and office practice with modern equipment will meet a definite need. A long felt need will be met by the homemaking department. Sewing and cooking will be taught. The equipment will be modern and include gas electric ranges, a refrigerator, electric irons, sewing machines and storage facilities. For many years, students have not had a proper place to eat lunches. In the new high school, a cafeteria will accommodate the entire student body by seating 100 at a time. The lunchroom will have its own kitchen separate from the cooking classes. This cafeteria, at times, will be used for classwork in music and English. Another department which will help the school to furnish a modern high school program is the general shop. There will be found woodworking, metal working, mechanical drawing, electrical and perhaps, printing. Wide doors will permit running an automobile or pieces of machinery into this shop for repair work. A chimney provides an outlet for a coal burning forge. Music and art will be taught in all grades. It is hoped that a school orchestra may be organized. Proper shower-baths for boys and another for girls and gymnasium facilities have been needed in Suffield for years. This new building pro¬ vides ample showers and gym. Every student will, in addition to a gym locker, have a hall locker assigned. These lockers are built into the walls of the corridors and provide ample storage space for each student ' s personal belongings with locks to protect them. One may take the college preparatory courses, the general course or the business course. Physics, chemistry, biology and general science will be taught in two rooms equipped with furnishings, hooked up hot and cold water, gas and electric outlets. SCHOOL CORNERSTONE LAID Laying of the cornerstone of the new high school was held Wednesday morning with town officials, representatives of the PWA and the building committee, school children and townspeople in attendance. A. Ward Spaulding, chairman of the building committee, stated he believed that with the com¬ pletion of the school, Suffield will offer advantages they have not known before and will fit them more adequately for life. The cornerstone was placed in position by Mr. Spaulding, Mr. Merian and Robert Loomis. HIGH SCHOOL DEDICATION The new Suffield High School was formally dedicated last eve¬ ning with special exercises held in the auditorium of the school. Presided over by A. Ward Spaulding, Chairman of the Board of Education. Following the presentation of the program, inspection of the school was made by a large gathering. Members of the school faculty were present and explained the layout of the school and the work and purpose of the various rooms. Senior class students served as ushers. The school was erected at a cost of $250,000 and was com¬ pleted this fall. A P.W.A. project with the federal government fur¬ nishing a grant of $112,500, and the town balance of $137,500, it is one of the most modern high schools in this section of the state. 12 Mrs. Christian, business de¬ partment chairperson, not only teaches here, but was a student as well. Before attending the new high school she attended Suffield Academy, which served as the town ' s high school before the construction of the new building. Mrs. Christian recalls finding the transition easy and was proud and happy that Suffield now had its own school. After graduation, Mrs. Chris¬ tian attended Central Connect¬ icut State College. Upon gradu¬ ating from Central Connecticut, she returned to Suffield High School to teach. During all of her time at Suffield High, Mrs. Chris¬ tian has always found sources of enjoyment.

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14 Part of your town, part of your life. Helping people in the communities we serve for 120 years. Member FDIC £ Suffield Bank Suffield 66 North Main St 668 1261 • Avon, 290 West Main st. 6“ , 8 7114 l ast Vkidnr, heaa ' sMriiet623 1138 • Enid ScIticoPbBi749 8355 Glastonbury, 2-4SO Main St. 633 3380 • Windsor Locks, 24 Dexter Plaza 623 2531 Windsor Ixxks, Six National Dr 623 9879 Equal Housing Lender