Hicksville High School - Comet Yearbook (Hicksville, NY)

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On the first day you stepped out of the September sun into the annoying task of being a sophomore, easy enough to survive, and while making new friends and copying their homework you suddenly emerged as a junior experienced in the ways of the world. But Fate had placed new obstacles in your path, terrifying, insurmountable. V Yet good triumphed over evil as you conquered college boards and learned how to deal with those notorious hall mothers and how to bluffhaving a pass when you really didn't and how to cut ahead on the lunch line inconspicuously. When the smoke had cleared from grades ten and eleven and thought you were getting a good education you became a senior, and now you came to know the great glories and privileges of our last year, hopefully, in the old school. A senior year was homework undone, sleep, impatience, graduation, then memories. calm- You children don't have any respect for us hall mothers. Standing majestically in the smoke of drag races along Division Avenue Hicksville Senior High School has braved weather, expansion, and a bitter taste of austerity in maintaining its well-earned position as educator of the masses, keeper of the faith, and defender of truth, justice, and the American way. Historically, the Catchatoree Indians, a now-extinct tribe who built their village on what is today a municipal parking lot, had a legend of an old squaw, who, while picking corn out near Hicksville Creek, heard the voice of the great white spirit: On this site you buildum heap big school When the tribe told the Dutch settlers of the legend, one farmer, who knew real estate, seized the tribe’s cornfields out by the spot of the legendary revelation. 22

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Yet, worried that history might not smile on him for confiscating the lands of the poor Indians, this Dutch farmer vowed, years later, to bequeath the land “for thepublick goode“ for education. Before he died, he marked the legendary spot with a boulder, inscribed in Latin, with the words. Semper Olet, his cherished family motto. Although he had no idea of the phrase's meaning, he thought it had a nice ring; and he hoped that it would one day provide inspiration for the founding of a center of learning. So, Hicksville High School endowed with a rich heritage, sets out to accomplish the task of education in academics, vocational, or the arts for college, business, and the outside world. Everyone, regardless of race, color, or creed is required to take English for his diploma, besides numerous electives. English is truly a many-faceted experience where the enterprising student learns, in the short span of a few years, most of the basic, and some of the finer points of topics related to the art of self-expression, with words written on paper, or spoken aloud. From the sciences of rhetoric, and grammar, the student is exposed to the intricacies of ancient and modern literature, from Sophocles to J. D. Salinger. The student is equipped to put modifiers in their place, rescue dangling participles, and begin to interpret, after discussion, a wide range of literature. Self-expression acquired in English courses is applied in discussion in other classes, especially History, which is offered in the World and American varieties. Half-year courses in government and economics are available to specializing seniors. In the study of history, more important than mere facts are the concepts evolved. All the minute details of the French Revolution of 1789 are unimportant compared with the broader concepts the student retains. I WE. don't HAVE. A TEACHER I Uk 0 DNT SHOW up. 23