Franklin K Lane High School - Senior Echoes Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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The dumb expression ol awe lhal I wore as I walked aboul Lane slowly wore oll as my Freshman year lurned inlo lhe Sophomore semesler. The memories I would cherish in laler lile began lo pile up. There was lhe suspense ol wailing lor lhe Regenls marks. lhe lerror ol making a speech in English. lhe work and worry I had in lrying lo copy lhe homework in lhe ollicial period, lhe lighling, pushing, and crooked school polilics used lo gel on lhe lunch line. All lhese lhings and many more are memories which will be cherished lhroughoul lile and will be called on lo help one in hard limes. Would I ever lorgel lhe lime lhal Jimmy, lhe class comic, was asked by lhe English leacher lo parlicipale in a class play. Jimmy was lhe bashlul lype and replied, I'm no aclor: l don'l wanl lo be in any play! You gel up and acl! lhe leacher replied slubbornly. Jimmy responded slowly: you could see il was painlul. His parl was lhal ol an old man. He was 'lo go oul inlo lhe hall and reenler al lhe proper momenl, as lhe old man. When Jimmy came in lhe door, lhe leacher jumped on him saying, Is lhal lhe way an old man would walk? Go oul and come in like an old man. Jimmy lurned around and wenl slowly oul. He reenlered, benl way over wilh one hand holding his back and lhe olher leeling his way. He had lhe allenlion ol lhe enlire room as he walked across. Hallway across he slopped. Wilh a loud creaking noise made wilh his moulh, he slrelched lirsl one leg and lhen lhe olher. lacililies as lhal ol Franklin K. Lane. Wilh lhis lo our advanlage, .' The class bursl oul laughing. The leacher had shown amazing sell-conlrol up lo ' ' o . . . . in in , , lhis poinl and wilh all seriousness asked, Whal was lhal lor? The old man had rheumalism. Jimmy answered wilh equal seriousness. Thal was loo much, even lor lhe leacher: we all laughed. School was like lhal lhroughoul. We had our bad limes, bul as I lhink back il seems lo me lhe laughs and iusl plain good limes greally exceed lhe sorrowlul momenls. Why lhere was lhe lime when- Hey! Snap oul ol ill Whal, where lhe-who? Oh! ll's you, Alice. Yes, il's me, and is lhis where you've been. Don'l you know everyone is looking lor you? Whal will you be doing nexl? Here you are sleeping all by yoursell on lhe porch, when you should be wilh lhe guesls. All righl, grandma: come on back lo lhe parly wilh me and please keep quiell Keep quiel, you say! Why one would lake il you lhoughl I was lalkalive. Why N I'll have you know-. Il you know whal's good lor you, you'll come wilh me, now! Grrrrrrrr: you know I'm a woll and il you don'l come, l'Il kiss yuh! I won'l move! LET'S SET AN EXAMPLE Al Carlson We are now engaged in a second World War. The lulure depends on us. lhe younger generalion. We are lhe ones who will lighl and even die We are lhe leaders ol lomorrow. Our skill and knowledge depend educalion. We have been lorlunale enough lo allend a school lor our counlry. mainly upon our wilh such greal we should have lhose allending olher schools. ll lhis be lrue, Iel's prove il by going oul inlo lhe world and selling line examples lor lhose who will lollow in our loolsleps. Edilh Wendling been able lo learn and develop our minds more lhoroughly lhan 22 SENIOR ECHOES

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TI-IE REELECTIONS OE A GRADUATE IT was dark excepT Tor The gIiTTering slim IighT Trom The sTreeT lamp a IiTTIe way up The block. The porch was a IiTTIe on The cold side, and I guessed ThaT Dad musT have shuT down The Turnace To conserve coal. The closed porch door somewhaT subdued The noise Trom The parTy inside. IT was a good parTy, and iT was Tor me. IT was held in ceIebraTion oT my graduaTion Trom high school and enIisTmenT in The Navy. Even Though iT was a good parTy, I wanTed To be alone. I was a IiTTIe heavy in The sTomach Trom Too many sandwiches, and my ThroaT was dry and raw from Too many cigareTTes: so I looked abouT To see ThaT no one was around IIT was more oT a habiT Than a necessiTyl and Then comTorTabIy raised my TeeT To The chair across Trom me. My TeeT on The TurniTure did iT no good, and I knew ThaT if my moTher could see me aT This momenT, The peace and quieT would be abrupfly broken. My virTuous ideals briefly ToughT wiTh This bad habiTg buT I was In no condiTion Tor a conTesT: so The Dr. Jekyl inTIuences IosT ouT To The Mr. I-Iyde, and I pushed These righTeous ThoughTs away. I cuddled up more comTorTabIy in The big chair using my suiT-coaT as a bIankeT, and Then reached Tor a cigareTTe. My ThroaT seemed To sense The inTenTion and sharply rebelled. I puT The cigareTTe down wishing I had never sTarTed smoking, and raised my cool, sooThing drink To my lips. The slim rays oT IighT Trom The sTreeT lamp bounced Trom The glass To my eyes, as I had learned in Physics. I looked aT The haIT- filled glass wiTh The meITing ice cubes, and sTarTed To Think. A wave of IaughTer came Trom The inner rooms and reTurned me To reaIizaTion. I began To hope ThaT They wouIdn'T Tind me or miss me Tor awhile. BuT in my hearT I knew I hadn'T long To myseIT. Alice, The dear girl, would soon come looking Tor me. I began To Think oT Alice. I could noT deny she was preTTy and I did Think oT her quiTe oTTen buT she was buT a sophomore, a mere child as compared To Agnes. There was a girll Ahhh, ThaT prom! Would I ever TorgeT iT: Agnes was by Tar The preTTiesT girl. I wanTed To dance wiTh her all nighT, buT I had To be saTisTied wiTh buT Tour dances. ATTer all, I couIdn'T be rude. IT is cusTomary To change parTners and give The sTag line a chance. Well, I did Take her home and ThaT was besT oT all. I-I don'T Think l'm so keen on This graduaTing idea. OT course I'm iusT crazy abouT going inTo The Navy: iT will be a wonderTuI experience and will undoubTedIy make a man ouT oT me and help me overcome The bashTuIness I experienced. Even wiTh This consoIaTion I am aTraid I am going To miss The old school. OT course I'lI never miss ThaT-well, I won'T menTion any names buT whoever gave her The idea she could Teach--. I.eT's see, iT was in SepTember l94I ThaT I TirsT walked up ThaT long concreTe lane To The whaT Then seemed To be huge TronT doors oT Franklin K. Lane. I was a IiTTIe early, an hour and a haIT To be exacT. IT was hoT, and my STITT collar was Too TighT7 so I looked Tor a place where I could be inconspicuous and sTiII observe. ATTer a search I came To The briIIian+ conclusion ThaT There was no place on The campus where a Erosh could be inconspicuous. Some upper-class girls were observing my TuTiIe search and sTarTed whisTIing. I insulTed Them, and They wenT on Their way. Encouraged, I raised my head high, and conTinued on my inquisiTive invesTigaTion. JUNE I945 2I

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SCHOOL SPIRIT IT Tinally happened! The Lane basIceTball Team. aTTer a very exciTing season, quaIiTied Tor The CiTy Championship pIayoTTs aT Madison 'Square Garden. The sTudenTs really rose To The occasion.. They hadlgiven The Team wonderful -supporT all season, buT now They wenT all ouT. I I I Over sevenTeen huhdred LaneiTes slowly TiITered inTo The Garden and assembled in The balcony behind The wesTern basIceT. They draped a large banner over The side oT The balcony wiTh The name 'LANE prinTed in huge black IeTTers. Then The big momenT arrived, The momenT we LaneiTes had'awaiTed Tor Tour long years. The Lane Team came running ouT on The Garden Tloor. SevenTeen hundred LaneiTes all rose as one, and cheered! The voices oT These LaneiTes Thundered abouT The Garden Tilling every corner. The Lane Team Then knew They weren'T alone. They realized They weren'T iusT Tive boys playing a game oT ball. They were Tive symbols-symbols oT The compeTiTive spiriT oT Franklin K. Lane High School. Playing wiTh Them on ThaT courT were The hearTs oT sevenTeen hundred LaneiTes. WiTh every poinT The opposing Team scored, every LaneiTe's hearT TeIT heavier. The game progressed and Lane Tell behind: iT seemed as if Lane couIdn'T geT sTarTed. The sTudenTs Trom The oTher school were having a greaT Time, buT Lane was noT beaTen. The Lane sTudenTs again rose wiTh a sTrong cheer: FighT, Team, TighTI FighT, Team. TighT! As if in answer To The pleas oT Their Tellow sTudenTs, The Lane Five closed The gap beTween The Two Teams. The Lane sTudenTs rose in unison wiTh The cry: - We goTTa cheer, We goTTa yell, We goT a Team ThaT TighTs like-, I won'T say iT! The game conTinued. The score was always very close, buT Lane was Three poinTs behind wiTh less Than a minuTe To play! The sTudenTs couIdn'T cheer now: They could only waTch, wiTh a prayer on Their lips, The rapid evenTs on The courT below. A baskeT! A hoarse cheer rose Trom The LaneiTes: we were only one poinT behind. Time! Time was The imporTanT eIemenT now. Could we score ThaT needed poinT in The seconds remaining? Every LaneiTe sTrained Torward. They were dry and hoarse and aImosT as Tired as The players on The courT. Then iT was over! We had IosT! We were beaTen. IT Toolc The sTunned supporTers a Tew momenTs To IeT The Tull reaIizaTioh'oTiThe siTuaTion'sinlc in. IT didn'T seem possible ThaT we could Iose,' buT iT had 'happened We had inTended To sTay Tor The oTher games, buT now we didn'T Teel like iT. We only TeIT like geTTing ouT oT'Th'ere. We 'sTarTed To leave. SevenTeen hundred supporTers oT The losing Team Tiled slowly, siIenTIy Toward The exiTs. The opposing supporTers were jubilanT. They commenced various chanTs. Lane is a sissy, Lane is a sissyf ' ' We wanT Those bann'ers! We wanT Lane's bahnerslm' JUNE I945 23