Donora High School - Dragon Yearbook (Donora, PA)

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SENIIDB CLASS IIISTUBY The number twelve has no large numerical value. but to every Senior it represents a circle in which life long friends. habits and interests have been formed. True. every cirele must have a eenter. Hur center has been school with each of the twelve years serving as an are in the never to be forgotten era known as school days. As the last a1'c slips into place we glance back to check over all problems of days gone by. To us the first assignment was the most difficult, For the first time responsibility took its place beside the carefree days of childhood. New friends were yet to be made. vaccinations were given and daily health inspection had to be endured. Our feeling's found expression in the oper- ettas given by each primary school during music week. Don llornbeck made a wonderful l'eter Rabbit and even at that early age Ilarold liieber was developing talents in oratory. At Sixth Street and Uastuer School mental development ran parallel to physical develop- ment. lYe were given weekly library periods in which each pupil read books suited to his taste and games of all sorts furnished outlets for the ample supply of energy most ol' us possessed. By now musical plays we1'e nothing new to usg but who will ever forget the thrill of put- ting on the puppet play 'A-lack and the Beanstalk under Miss l'harleton's supervision? The first. six ares in the ci1'cle had now been formed but they were only a foundation for what was to come. The third assignment loomed ahead-Junior High School. In order to cope with future problems the radius of our ci1'cle had to be enlarged so that we might include social functions along with school wo1'k. Dancing lessons were offered to all and the boys became conspicuous by their absence. liater. upon becoming the upper-classmen of Junior Iligh. we were fortunate in having tea danees frequently and the boys g1'adually lost their shyness. ltlxtra-curricular activities produce many benefits. l'erhaps some of the best were fostered in the ping-pong 1'oom which was open from four to five o'elock. liesides being a complete change l:1'0l1l the six hours of school work this added hour did much to overcome the awkwardness which was so common in boys and girls of our age. Organizations such as the leather work. foreign etlrrespondence. checkers, dress designing. nature study and dramatic clubs p1'ovided places where all who had common interests gathered. The privilege of membership in the .lunior Honor Society served as a major incentive for doing superior work. As a reward for obtaining this goal Adele lllod and Albert Zido were given the American liegion Awards at the ninth g'rade graduation. Aly. we felt proud that promotion day and even went so far as to imagine ourselves sophisticated young ladies and gentlemen! Any stranger who mig'ht have seen our ninth grade party could have told us otherwise. YVe were just young' people so full of pep it almost announced itself. The party was a huge success and it, along with the promotion exercises. might serve as parentheses to enclose three happy years. NVith three-fourths of the circle already completed we ente1'ed Senior Ilig'h School. To this day no one has decided if it was a relief or secretly a disappointment that we weren't called ,, - vw greenies' . Already a large class. we were increased even more when mid-semester promotions were abandoned and thosc pupils previously in tenth grade joined us. So far the Juniors and Seniors appeared to be blissfully ignorant of our existence. This soon changed when the first team of the basketball squad was composed ol' Sophomore boys who continued to hold these positions through their remaining two yea1's of school. Xvith spring' came the -lunior-Senior Prom and. for the first time. Sophoinores were in- 330

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.i WILMA URBANIK-Commereialq Room 108, Junior Chamber of Commerce .i. Slim + athletic - loudness : 'fWim . JOHN JEROME VINCE -General: Room 1015 Band: County Musim- Uontest. Handsome + smooth dancer + outstanding musical ability : 't.lolinny . ESTHER WALTON--Generalg Room 204. A-,ross fl. to 1-.1 Qlfoinedienne + sweater girlb + Qpoetess + slang expertj Z Esther, Roll 1- I KATHRYN WAR!-IOLICW-General, Room 106. 3'v.vHliLiIi:iiiil: Slenderness + nice clothes + tomboy qualities + a winning smile : Kurs . IE' Vwzilfgglic ANNE WASKO -Uommereialg Room 108, Yearbook Staff 4. A: Waskn Witty -4- blonde - quiet : Anne. A. Weinberger ALVIN WEIBERGER-Academic: Room 106. Extremely quiet X serious 4. amiable : t'Ziek . , THOMAS WHITE-Avadeinieg Room l0l. Attractive smile + low rolling voice - an unpleasant word : HBomber ' '. HELEN RUTH WILKINS-Connm-rvial5 Room 1083 Varsity Dragon Staff 3, 4: Year- R V n book Staff 3, 4. il '- Tall Qgraeej 4. smiling appearanve Jr fflevei-ness : Rutl1 . llEC'l Cheerleaders ANTONETTE WISCIUS-fl0lll1ll9l't'illlQ Room 108: Yearbook Staff -1. T, white Medium build + Qaverage seholastie attainmentQ+Cenjoyinent of dana-ingjz' l'oni . R, Wilkilis A. Wiseins FLORENCE WITLINSKY -Connnereialg Room 108. F. Witlinsky Qlilondo hair + blue eyesj - ehanging hair styles + gay disposition : H Flo' '. GENEVIEVE LUCILLE WROBLESKI -General, Room 108. Aftl'3,CtlV9-+-flII'0W'l1 eyes - HdiSll!V1lt0I' blonde hairj+flare for danvingz''Jenny' '. WALTER JOSEPH WYDER -General: Room 106. Easy smile + friendly eyes Qvery modestb : WValter. PAUL YAVORSKY-Academic, Room 201. Ruw J- Scientific mind + interest in skiing - interest in girls : Paul. G, wmbyeski JANE ZEFFIRO -Aeademieg Room 2015 Varsity Dragon Staff 3, -13 Junior Classic-al W. Wbfdel' League 2, 3, 43 Yearbook Staff 3, 45 Mama 's Baby Boy , Ever Sinee Eve . if Zfggjfkf Aetiveness + tasteful dresser + striking appearance Qfranknessj Z 1'Zeff . geanski' ANNA ZELINSKY -Connnerc'ialg Room 108. ' Neatness -5- tact + good heart : Anna. ALBERT zIDOfAl'2ill9llllC'1 Room 2013 Debate Club 3, 4: .Iunior Clussival League 2, 3, 43 Yearbook Staff 35 t'Mama's Baby Boy g Ever Since lCve g Ghostly Quarantine ' ', Fluent speaker + intelligenue -4- ambition - Ucurlv., numerous activities - 4 A ' DOLORES ZONTEK-General, Room 106, Majorette 3, 4. Pnlehritude X popularity + exvellent taste - serious moments + tall boy friend I HD011yf'. R.,-,V 4- LAURINA zUCCARINIfACild6Illll1Q Room 2015 Varsity Dragon Staff 3, 4: Junior D Zomek Classical League 2, 3, 4, Yearbook Staff 4. Lf zm,f-ariui .Xutiveness fSlllHllll6!SSj + ready smile + interest in studies Cneatnessj : Zuke . 2 v SENIIIRS IN ADVANCED EllULATl0lN COLl.El'iE Chester :xlll2li2lllgCl0 ......,. University of Pittsburgh Harold Lieber .... ...., T 'niversity of Pittsburgh Gabriel De Medio. . . ,.,. Vniversity of Pittsburgh 'Theodore Smider. .. .... Pennsylvania State College VOCA'l'l0NAL Helen Pidaniv Margaret Radivh Irene Karnis Irene Malaski Margaret Mora vee Ann Zelinsky Anna Adamek Mary Alvarez Maxine Horton Betty Sagul Pauline Syrko HAIIIO Donald Hornbeek Chester Kowalezyk Enrico Rongaus George Binnie VVilliam Sabo Raymond Di Natale John Vince 29

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SENIUII CLASS lllS'l'0liY vited to attend this most important social function of the year. There is no need to tell you what that did for our morale. Our -Iuuior year started ofli with the election of officers and cheerleaders. Next. under the direction of Mr. MeDunn, we presented the play 'ABIHIHHQS Baby Hoy . lt was quite amus- ing' to see Teddy Smider. by no means a little boy. running around with abbreviated pants, a bow tie. and a changeable voiceq while Albert Zido's pride and joy was a rubber ball and a piece of st ring. Not since Junior High School days had our whole class been together. so it was with un- bounded entliusiasni that we awaited the Junior Ulass Party. The day. March tenth. finally came and the ball was set rolling' hy a truth or consequences contest followed by games in the grymnasium. A new form of golf was invented-driviiig' the balloon into a wastepaper basket with a grolt' elub, lt took quite a while to master the technique. Then the girls had a shaving race with the poor boys as victims. Since there were no real razors. just plenty of soap, the boys seemed content and smiled at their pretty barbers. They say a little bad must come with every good. Ours came when they announced that the -lunior-Senior Prom had been canceled. Of course it was a shock but didn't we have next year in which to carry out our plans? Thirty days times three and presto we were back in school for the last time. Even in peace- ful times a comparatively small uuinber of students go on to higher education. Now oui' country was at war and it was evident that this small number must be decreased still more. The motto ot' every Senior. even though he may not have realized it. became Make the best of what you have while you still have it. This was difficult at first for there were many faculty vacancies. but soon we learned to like the new teachers as well as the old. One of our number, Paul Yavorsky. brought. honor and glory to his class and school by earning' Honorable Mention in the Second Annual Science Talent Search for the YVestingrhouse Science Scholarships sponsored by Science Service. He was one of three hundred chosen from fif- teen thousand entries. The class play Ever Since Eve was so written as to be exceptionally well suited to a young' group ol' amateurs. Johnny, the seventeen year old boy, had all his plans foiled by the young: lady next door. Susan. the young' lady. had an amazing' imagination and she decided that Johnny was to be the man in her life. For the tea dance. held the following day. the price of admission was the stub from a play ticket. So that those people who did not usually dance might enjoy themselves there was a Square Dance and a Virginia Reel in which everyone could take part. Then Daisy Mae, played by Bob Nea, chased liittle Abner, played by Gabriel Dealedio. around the gym. Any resemblance between liob and Daisy Mae was purely coincidental. XVithout a doubt the Senior Dance was different. lt was informal. there were no corsagres. most of the eouples walked. and after the dance they went to various houses and had a grand time in spite ot' gas rationing. Spring was ,just around the corner and with it came the full realization that we could actually count the remaining' days of school, Surprisingly, that did not make us happy. Quite a few boys had ,joined the service. enrolled in colleges. or had gone to radio school. This left a smaller but more unified graduatingr class. -lust as we attended the Prom and the Senior Iianquet in a gray mood. we went to bacca- laureate and commencement in deep thought. Now the last arc has slipped into place. As we look at our circle some of us wish that it niight have been larger or more compact. Nevertheless it is made with the joys outweighingr thc regrrets and in years to eome we will look back and see only the joys. 31