Belleville Township High School East - Yearbook (Belleville, IL)

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Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them. John Ruskin

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I firmly believe that if ' we do not meet the problem of environmental pollution with all the creativity and ingenuity of our age, then within a very shott time nothing else will matter for there will be nothing else to worry about. Mark O. Hatfield

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Obvious display of non-involvement” is a popular way of get¬ ting attention at Belleville East. Sitting down during the school song and the National Anthem is a sure method to get someone to look at you . Perhaps this is the only way some people CAN get attention. I am totally in favor of involvement in school activities. I sup¬ pose I cannot present an unbiased opinion because nearly all of my friends either participate or support some form of school ac¬ tivity. I believe that those who participate in extracurricular activities demonstrate a great deal of self-pride in their accomplishments. Personally, I have a great deal of pride in this school. It means something to me to be able to wear the uniform of Belleville East in interscholastic events. I have pride in anything that I might do to help to further the respectability of this school. I should think it would thrill any individual to be one of the few with an opportunity to represent East and this would inspire him to give his best effort. I also realize there are people who have no interest at all in school activities and they should not be put down for their feelings. I don ' t, however, see any point in some of these individuals putting down those who are involved in activities. I should think that being a part of any team, club or other or¬ ganization would give one a sense of accomplishment and re¬ sponsibility. It seems most people who frown on school activi¬ ties are those who were, at one time, participants, but event¬ ually failures in those activities. Isn ' t it every little boy ' s dream to become a successful athlete in some sport? Some people chose this type of goal and strove long and hard to achieve success. How can these, same people be put down for achieving, or attempting to achieve, a worth¬ while goal? This is just my personal idea of achievement and I don ' t appreciate being looked down upon because I am an athlete. Those active in other school activities such as drama, debate, journalism, scholastics, language clubs, and so forth, probably don ' t appreciate being looked down upon for their involvement, either. To develop school pride, one must first have SELF-PRIDE. If an outsider makes a remark about East, are they actually cut¬ ting down the school itself, A building, B100, or the indivi¬ duals who make up the school? One of those individuals is YOU. If a person doesn ' t have enough pride to stand up for himself how can he expect others to have respect for him? I ' m glad I was able in my three and one half years to observe East in a relatively objective way. I ' ve never been on the side of either of the extremes: Super Lancer spirit as opposed to anti-spirit . East isn ' t really a bad school, as far as high schools go, it ' s a 6