Brockton High School - Brocktonia Yearbook (Brockton, MA)

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Upfront Superintendent of Schools The Brockton Public Schools function under the leadership of Dr Thomas J Whalen, superinten- dent of schools. Dr Whalen's position leaves him laden with a great number of responsibilities in this complex school system which includes the largest high school east of the Mississippi River, but Dr Whalen appears to enjoy his tasks and Carries the burden well Among his responsibilities are curriculum and policy approval, school cancellation decisions, and securing a budget to financially support the A great school, a great facul- ty, and a great student body. schools and their activities every year, Dr, Wha- len has had years of experience in school admin- istration, and from this he has made some com- parisons between education now and in the past Dr Whalen commented on some basic areas in the system in which noticeable changes have occurred, He told of positive advances in the structure of the system itself lt is more respon- sive to students' needs This is reflected in an increase of voice in policy decisions, new course offerings, and expansion of guidance services, Dr Whalen also spoke of changes in academics: ln the late oO's and early 70's the school sys- tems became too concerned with offering a proliferation of courses instead of content, doing a disservice to students. We underestimated students and diluted courses - students want and need more challenge, He said that this trend is beginning to change now because there is a new interest in course content, espe- cially in Brockton, Dr Whalen stated that changes have oc- cured in students for sociological reasons, but also that those changes have not been as dras- tic as one might expect He feels that on the whole students are a remarkable group of people particularly at Brockton High, Dr. Wha- len told of when he was principle of a school in Vermont which had three to four hundred stu- dents, He finds the discipline situation at Brock- ton High to be comparable to that school, even though BHS has nearly twenty times as many students Dr Whalen is proud of the impression thOT Brockton High leaves on visitors from all over the Country, for they come to the school ex- pecting enormous problems with students and they often leave saying that Brockton High has Cl better behaved student body than most other schools they visit Dr Whalen expressed sincere best wishes for the good fortune of the class of 1080, and summed up hlS appraisal of BHS by simply stating, UA great school, a great faculty, and a great student body Betsv Zullas 'Q f , ' 1157- ' ?'f:.t, . .., ,-'nl J- .11 L, '1 ,. . l le 'r , ..-i L. , Dr. Thomas Whalen .X in-,K

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HH 3 9 E' DOIIClrS While some members of The Class of T980 have joined The ranks of The employed in order To secure Their finances, ofhers have had To counT on The generosiTy of Their families. There are a number of ways by which we acauire our dollars, buT jusT where The Class of 80 spends mosT of iTs money is more easily deTermined. WheTher iT be in The form of The movies, record albums, or BrockTon High dances, iT is obvious ThaT a greaT deal of our money is spenT on enTer- TainmenT of some sorT. The class of 80 has seen prices soar in The pasT few years. buT ThaT has noT sTopped us in our desire To enjoy The good life, and we find ThaT The dollars we spend on ThaT new sTereo or The laTesT in fashions are well worTh iT. Comparing prices Today wiTh Those of a few years pasT, we wonder where iT will lead. Con- cerT Tickefs boughT Today for 840.00 would have cosT 33.00 or S400 Ten years ago. Candy bars were 5c, now They are up To 25c. Coke was l0c, iT is now 4100. Ten years ago The consumer paid 35C for a 45rpm record. Today, iT is 84.20. The necessiTies of life show us similar resulfs. Oil used To heaT a home in 1969 was 27c a gallon. Today iT is up To a dollar a gallon. The average new car cosTs approximaTely 86,000.00 This is double The cosT of Ten years ago. ln T967 gasoline was AOC a gallon. Today, The car owner pays up To 31.20 a gallon. The need for pennies, nickles, dimes, and auarfers is fasT diminishing. Today we need dollars, In The year 2000, we will have been graduaT- ed from BrockTon High School TwenTy years. And The cosT of The laTesT model auTomobile . . .7 80 Dawn STanTon BeTsy Zullas

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.vwxxq Q . ,S-,Q Qggg . -as , . 1 L, ,Sfm- A Robert F. Reagan Upfront Principal Although Mr. Robert Reagan assumes the great responsibilities of the principal at the huge Brockton High School complex, he always seems to take the time to make himself readily avail- able to the students as well as to the faculty. The many compliments given by visitors to Brockton High School can, in part, be attributed to the efforts of this outstanding administrator. lvlr. Rea- gan is proud of the school he represents. He feels the school system is modern and well organized. . .. set a goal and strive to reach it Seeing few basic differences between the school system of today and the one in which he taught in the late 50's, Mr. Reagan explains, Pressures on the students and faculty exist to- day in the same respect as twenty years ago. However, he observes a new trend in education. Principal Reagan feels that parents are becom- ing more and more helpful, influential, and un- derstanding toward today's education. The parents' involvement in their children's schooling is a positive influence in the community. He notes that parents are participating more with community School programs, school functions, and the school committee. Because of this the parents are more aware of the problems faced by the administration, students, and teachers. Principal Reagan wishes all students good health and success. He advises the graduating seniors to set a goal and strive to reach it. Identify short comings, turn them around and make them goals. 80 Linda Stetson