Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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had taken up his studies at Hebron Academy in Maine. For every loss there is a gain, however, and thus we welcomed into Mrs. Lord ' s homeroom Suzette Chrimes, who hailed from Watertown. Bruce Quint, who was des- tined to become one of our star pupils and class leaders, also joined our realms, transferring from Beverly High. This year seemed to be the year of fads among the girls: Ann Kelleher introduced her famous red and white check bow tie, and shortly afterwards dog collars appeared around the ankles of several of our girls. We really didn ' t quite know what to expect next in the line of unusual accessories. On the night of December 1 8 the Latin Club held its first meeting in the high school cafeteria. After Mrs. Lord corrected our translations of Caesar, which were out of this world, we held several relay races and to our amazement discovered several outstanding track stars and one-legged hoppers among us. We attended our Valentine Dance on February 16 at which everyone had a wonderful time and particularly enjoyed choosing the king and queen for this gala occa- sion. Barbara Gilman and Eddie Sweeney, an upperclass- man, upon whom the honors were bestowed, waltzed to a tune played just for them. Of course, there was the profit of $18.22 for our class coffer which helped make this time more memorable toa. It was now after years of patient waiting that many of us turned sixteen and so were allowed to try for our automobile licenses. Two of the very first to christen the highways were Tanya Vlahos and Jimmy Sheppard. June came upon us very quickly that year and as we marched into last chapel to take our places in the seats of the outgoing juniors, our thoughts leaped ahead to the days of the two most wonderful, exciting years of our high school careers. We had reached the mid-point in our journey toward our goal, high school graduation. Early fall found us back at Ipswich High fully prepared to take on our increasing activities with a new dignity — for we were now officially proclaimed upper-classmen of I. H. S. As there was much to be done this year, we quickly got down to business and held our first class meeting, electing John Killam to the office of president; Robert Dort to that of vice-president; Patsy Cogswell, secretary; and Bruce Quint began his duties as treasurer, replacing Eddie Sklarz. As September drew to a close, our most prized and much longed for possessions arrived. Yes, with the co- operation of Miss Blodgett and the conscientious work done by Ann Lombard, our class rings were finally pre- sented to us, and everyone seemed well satisfied. Now the hands were eagerly raised to answer all questions asked by the teachers, and it was quite a while before we could refrain from displaying our shiny, new rings before the envious eyes of the lower classmen. Ta our regret we found Jimmy Sheppard and John Pollard, two very active classmates, were last to Beverly T rode. As the football season rolled around that year, we found our own Art Higgins, a short but tricky defensive player, worming his way through the line to reach the top as our 1953 football captain and to win a starring position on the North Shore All-Star Team — quite an honor for a junior player. The football uniforms were soon packed away in moth- balls, and the basketball season got under way. As juniors we were particularly proud of Edjue Sklarz, our class athlete, who became high scorer in the Cape Ann League competition. Shortly afterwards he was chosen captain of the 1953 basketball team. Not to be outdone by the boys, however, the junior Tigresses also proved their worth in the sports world that year by balding an undefeated record for the girls ' junior varsity basket- ball team. Many of our more industrious classmates found them- selves part-time jobs to occupy their leisure time as the year progressed. Perhaps the most notable of these was Tanya Vlahos, who joined her father and became pra- prietor of her own Shoe Shoppe ond thus provided a meeting place for her many friends. Two very successful socials held in our junior year are not to be forgotten. Our class funds were swelled by the sum of $33.46 netted from the Christmas Dance. Then April brought our long awaited Prom. Oh! the preparations that were made for that! We girls, treking through the many stores, finally to find just the right gown and accessories; the fellows digging down deep into their pockets to meet expenses for that gala occa- sion — all made this, our first formal, one of our most treasured memories. Our parents will have pleasant mem- ories, also, of seeing their offspring grow up to formal affairs, and we will show to our grandchildren with a glint of pride in our eyes the pictures taken on this memorable night. As a Memorial Day project our class undertook to present to the student body a one-act play entitled Flowers Aren ' t Enough With the necessary props and many rehearsals, the cast, consisting of Betty Nelson, Barbara Gilman, Ann Kelleher, Jimmy Perley, and Chris- tine Chionopoulas, gave a very fine performance, even though several in the cast had slight cases of nerves and amateur stage fright. Summer vacation was drawing near as we chose our representative ta Girls ' State, Ann Kelleher, a student wholly deserving of this high honor. The year was not complete, however, until we had elected just one more committee whose function it was to decorate the auditorium for the graduation of the outgoing seniors. We performed this task with great pride and thought ahead to the day just a year away when we would watch a junior class do the same for us. While united into one big family, in perhaps one of the best and busiest years of our lives, our senior year at Ipswich High, we came to know each other more inti- mately, and together we enjoyed the happy hours of hard work put into our many activities. No matter how big the job may have seemed, we were determined to get it done satisfactorily. Keeping this in mind at all times, we set out on our first task of electing our class leaders for this most important year. We voted Eddie Sklarz into the head office of president, replacing John Killam who had done a fine job throughout our preceding three years. Robert Dort received the vice-presidency, with Patsy Cogswell and Bruce Quint holding the offices of- secretary and treasurer respectively. To aid them in their tremendous task, we also voted in a Steering Committee to organize the various activities for the year 1952-53. It was now our turn to giggle at the eighth graders who had to climb over to the right side of the Study Hall chairs, but after our introduction to Miss Allen ' s row attendance system, we gave that pastime up to concentrate on our own encounter with the Study Hall chairs. Eighth grader or senior, it seems you ' re never at rest in Ipswich High. [28|

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ClASS HISTORY by ELEANOR BLAIR As we seniors sit upon this stage today, eagerly looking forward to our graduation, let us turn back the pages of time to review the many memorable experiences of our high school careers. We will go bock first to that bright, sunny morning of September, 1948, when we arrived to take our respective places in the ranks of students at Ipswich High, leaving behind our childhood days in the various grammar schools. This transition, however, was not easily accomplished, for to our amazement we were canfronted with innumerable complexities to which it seemed impossible to become accustomed. During our first few days in this new at- mosphere, we felt so strange and nervous that we jumped every time a bell rang, and between classes we hurriedly produced our little schedule slips and dejectedly asked, Where do we go from here? Of course, the seniors in turn had an hilarious time giggling when we unknowingly opproached the Study Hall chairs from the wrong angle, then, blushing furiously, made that endless journey down the aisle for a left turn to our seats. Having pity on us, however, were the teachers who cordially welcomed us by piling on homework the like of which we hod never seen before. They also made us feel quite grown up by addressing us by our last names. In time we were slowly but surely familiarized with the complicated ways of high school life. To prove this fact and keep up with tradition, we held our eighth grade social, which was successful even though the boys lined up on one side of the auditorium and the girls on the other. Came the spring of 1949, when our spirits were lifted to a high degree as many of our eighth grade boys signed up for baseball and proceeded to win their first game, defeating Manchester 13-6. Speaking of baseball, Mrs. Lord was very well equipped to join the team that year, os she came into possession of one of our boys ' gloves. Strange nobody ever claimed it! Thus we turned one page in our book of memories at Ipswich High and left the school to enjoy a hard-earned summer vacation. When we returned the following September, our pride swelled as we took our rightful places in Ipswich High as full-fledged freshmen. We found, upon arrival, that we had acquired many new classmates from Rowley and the parochial school, thus having the distinction of being the class with the highest enrollment for the year, 1949. Now that we were duly established members of the high school, our eagerness to participate in all extra- curricular activities increased as the year progressed. Our achievements in the sports world were particularly noteworthy, especially when we found one of our own classmates, Eddie Sklarz, starring on the junior varsity basketball team. With the first portion of the school year spent in a wild and merry mood, we finolly decided to get down to the more serious side of life, and with the aid of three teachers we were able to keep the class still long enough to hold our first class meeting at which we elected our class officers for the year: John Killam, president; Robert Lang, vice-president; Edward Sklarz, treasurer and Patsy Cogswell, secretary. At this point in the year we welcomed Donald Crowe as a member of our class. Donny made friends quickly and throughout his four years with us has always shown an ardent love for fun. With the coming of March also came our St. Patrick ' s Day dance, which will be remembered by all for the fine array of talent we presented. Shirley Horsman, accom- panied by our class musician, David Mullen, sang one of the song hits of the day, Dear Hearts And Gentle People . Following this fine performance, Tanya Vlahos appeared on the dance floor with her skillful interpreta- tion of a Spanish tango for which she received several encores. The night proved to be a huge success and $17.31 was dropped into our class treasury. We passed into the fourth quarter to find Mrs Lord still dangling her super-human key chain and relating more of her fascinoting tales about birds and her journeys up the mountains. When she produced her little yellow number cards, however, the knees started knacking, and all was back to normal again. Shall we ever forget how one day of this routine was more than enough for a few of our noted classmates? Even at this early date Flip Davis, our class clown, was up to his usual antics in the science lab. He tried an experiment to see how strong the hinges were on the door by jamming his fingers in it. The experiment proved the hinges to be strong enough to get the better of Flip ' s hands, which have never been the same since. A climax to a wonderful school year in the girls ' cook- ing class was a journey to Crane ' s Beach for a cook-out under the direction of Miss Whitney. The menu for the day was sandcakes, sandburgers, and sandy cocoa all of which were prepared over homemade stoves, a meal not to be forgotten. So ended our first year of high school life. We had put our fingers in many pies while making our climb towards the third floor of I. H. S. and, as we liked to think, the distinction of becoming upperclassmen, even though this title was not to be conferred upon us until we reached our junior year. Now we turn to the years 1950-51 for which our chosen leaders were John Killam, president; Rabert Dort, vice-president; Edward Sklarz, treasurer, and Patsy Cogs- well, secretary, all of whom did on excellent job in steer- ing our class on to success. Glancing about our homerooms this year, we find Peter Seakas had left us to work with his uncle, and Bill Hayes 127J

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Upon glancing about Study Hall last September, we found that Eddie Ernst, Jimmy Zervas, and George Bouz- ianis had left our fold. However, Jimmy and George did not leave us for long, as Jimmy came back for a short visit and George returned to his old alma mater to grad- uate with us. Smitty , a sparkplug on the basketball team and baseball diamond, also left later to return to Connecticut. To fill one of these vacancies, we welcomed Beverly Horton. Bev come to us from Hamilton and, as we found out later, had traveled the country extensively. Patsy and Ann became head cheerleaders this year, but were destined for competition when Ellis Hodgkins was caught modeling one of the new cheerleading uni- forms in the corridor outside Study Hall. He went through quite a few motions to get out of this garment, but wiggled in vain. The long zipper in the back prevented his escape until Miss Allen quickly came to his rescue. This year we found two new fascinating subjects added to our curriculum. Many students took advantage of the Driver ' s Education classes and received their licenses, while those who took Spanish continued to give Miss Blodgett increasing problems. Our Hallowe ' en dance, sponsored by the Booster ' s Club, was a grand success, the main attraction of the evening being Coach Roundy ' s original version of a square dance. The class meetings this year were packed with excite- ment with something to be discussed at all times. Blue and gold were voted as our class colors to appear on our year book, and it was also decided that Coring Studios would be our class photographer. At one of our meetings we chose our class celebrities and several months later cast ballots for those to receive class day parts. Shortly before that Mr. Whipple had announced that Betty Nelson, Ann Kelleher, and Bruce Quint would do the honors as graduation speakers. December was a busy month in these surroundings with Senior Day as the main event, and the French Club party presenting all the laughs. It seems anyone who had ever taken French was eligible to attend, but for every word spoken in English during the course of the party a penny was to be dropped into the French Club treasury. This means of raising money should have. been presented to the senior class — our financial worries would have been over. We were very proud and happy to learn that Betty Nelson had been chosen by vote of the class as our D. A. R. girl, and Bruce Quint, by vote of the entire school body, Ipswich High ' s representative on Good Government Day. These honors went to two very deserv- ing students. March found us up to our necks in preparations for the senior play, The Late Christopher Bean , which was presented to a large audience on the never-to-be-forgotten night of the 26th. After weeks of long rehearsals under the direction of Miss Allen and Miss Blodgett, we found a few of our would-be professional actors and actresses giving a most convincing performance. As spring came and April and May slowly slipped by, we realized that we were approaching the closing pages in our book of memories. We could not close these final pages, however, without expressing our sincerest thanks to our principal, Mr. Whipple, who will also be leaving Ipswich High this June after forty years of devoted service in the field of education. It was with great grat- itude and esteem that the senior class of 1 953 dedicates its year book to the man who has done the most for our class and for the entire school, Mr. Whipple. Another familiar face will also be missing as Sep- tember rolls around next year. Mrs. Lord, who has given thirty-five years to the education of Ipswich boys and girls, will, after the school year closes, spend much of her time working in her garden and tending to her many other household duties. We should like to wish both Mr. Whipple and Mrs. Lord many long years of happy retired life. They will both be missed at I. H. S. Tomorrow night we shall graduate, and the following night will bring our last social affair in these familiar halls. Thus we shall have terminated our five years at Ipswich High — years by which we have profited both in our educational and social life. Whatever the future may bring, our thoughts will always linger on the many memorable experiences, friendships, and truly sympathetic faculty who have contributed so much to the success and happiness of these five years. [29j