Chapel Hill High School - Hill Life Yearbook (Chapel Hill, NC)

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,..- .., i v -C N31 l M . -. I l l 1, F..........i. Wifi. Q 'ff 1 ft' ' 'J l T Tifffvt if 4 ? ,NX L rg L. t I I 3: g Jwrf- ff , 1 r A, 1 Egfr, tbl Vu K ,,.i...,. il -i , 1 'Q x f ' Q 5- ff ligl .Q es 'i nf l 1 gr, Y-L 5 lg W T T l il I 1 iff T 1f I Xi i ,Hi ii 5 I 1 X T l 1 i , , ,W ' N alfa 'i X l Q XX 1 ga., I L i V .. . 4 ,D , . i I -f f g .' ' M ' X -if C . 03, 53 W J a T i , sf 1. wsu. we EVER at WAT Bic: is fr-ff want we evra 'mm SMALL? M- Our 611155 flislary In September of 1952, a group of bewildered teen- agers met in the high school auditorium on what was known as Orientation Day. The group was the Fresh- man Class of that year, and we were being told about the traditions of Chapel Hill High School and shown about the new and what seemed to us almost over- whelmingly large building. Coleman Gentry, Presi- dent of the Student Council, and Iimmy Goodwin, Chief Iustice of the Honor Council, who were to lead the school for the rest of the year, talked to us that day. We weren't really the Class of 1956 theng we were just a lot of students from many different places who were assembled there. We soon became a class, though, through the many new experiences that we shared. The mad rush of changing classes, the masses, or so it seemed, of upperclassmen in the hallways, the impossible-to-open locks, all of these are things which traditionally baffle freshmen, and we were no exception. We enjoyed going to the ball games and were almost immediately proclaimed the Hyellingesti' class CI-IHS had ever produced. Our classes also played their part in helping us get to know each other. At class elections that year we chose Cookie Andrews for our president. We continued the tradition of having a freshman Sweetheart Queen when lean Hackney won that title, and Ka Smith added more glory for our class by her election as Maid of Honor. The awe-inspiring title of Senior Class seemed like something in the far-distant future, but we were already developing a great class spirit and felt that we were really a part of Chapel Hill High School. Eagerly, we went back to school in the fall of 1953, anxious to see what our sophomore year would bring us. We weren't the leaders of the school yet, though sometimes for the benefit of the freshmen we pre- tended that we felt a little bigger and wiser than we really did. We did, however, begin to participate in

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is Seniors

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more of the activities of the school and to hold offices and take responsibilities. Our stunt Iuvenile Iury won second prize at Stunt Night. That year, as during each of our first three years in high school, we worked very hard to try to beat the class of 1955 on Stunt Night. No matter how hard we tried, they always finished first, but our stunts were a lot of fun never- theless. Robert Blackwood was President of CHHS in 1953-54, and Mike Gallagher was Chief Iustice. Teddy Moore was the president of our class in our Sophomore year, the year that contained a little of the excitement about the newness of high school life that our Freshman year did and a little of the respon- sibility and work and fun of running the school activi- ties that our Iunior and Senior years did. 1954-55-our Iunior year, and the money we had been saving, and the plans we had been making, and the dreams we had been dreaming all came to a head, for the Iunior year is the time when one of the most ambitious undertakings of a class is carried out, the giving of a Iunior-Senior. Clarice Merritt and Martha Ann Cheek were President of the student body and Chief Iustice respectively, and Cookie An- drews again had the very important role of class presi- dent. Early in the fall we waged a magazine-selling campaign and were quite successful as salesmen, man- aging to make more money than any other Iunior Class before us. This was hardly completed before we launched into rehearsals for our Iunior Class Play, Hook, Line, and Sinkerf' It developed that many people in the Class of 1956 were really hams', at heart, and that fact coupled with many nights of practice made the production a howling success. Ka Smith reigned as Sweetheart Queen at the Sweetheart Ball in February. In March came the basketball tour- naments. We all went to Henderson to see our team take the District Championship and then down to Sanford to see them win the Consolation Champion- ship in the State AA tournament. Everybody yelled until he was hoarse, but we think maybe the Iuniors yelled just a little louder than anybody else. All year plans were made for the Iunior-Senior. It was to be held at the Hope Valley Country Club on May 13, and the theme was to be Under the Seaf, The weeks immediately preceding the banquet and dance were certainly hectic ones-fish had to be painted on dance programs, names had to be lettered on place cards, an octopus had to be constructed, and shells had to be lavishly sprinkled with silver glitter. The great day finally came, though true to Friday the 13, it was rainy. The rain stopped in the afternoon, how- ever, and as we danced that evening to the music of lim Crisp's band, we certainly felt repaid for all our hard work. Graduation that year made us a little sad because we realized that the next year it would be we who would be up there and then our high school days would be over. We didn't have time to be sad for very long, though, for elections had already given to members of our class the highest offices and re- sponsibilities in high school. September, 1955, and at last we were Seniors. We were determined to make every single minute of our last year in high school be one in which we were doing something, and we very nearly succeeded in this. Ronnie Lackey was President of Chapel Hill High School, and Teddy Moore filled the post of Chief Iustice, which had greater importance since the Honor System had been definitely voted in during the spring elections. Michael Alexander was chosen president of our class. We felt even more like Seniors when we received our class rings, and these were proudly displayed to many admiring underclassmen, students who probably wondered just as we had if they would ever attain the coveted title of Senior. As the year went along, our duties and activities seemed to gain momentum, and there were many prepara- tions for graduation: calling cards and invitations were ordered, and we were measured for our caps and gowns. Then came our Senior Play, and the Iunior-Senior, this year being given for us instead of by us. Before we had time to think about its com- ing, final examinations were over, and graduation had arrived. ln four years the members of the Class of 1956 had shared many wonderful experiences and had succeeded in developing a class spirit and loyalty which would never be forgotten.