James Madison High School - Log Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

Page 9 text:

To the boys and girls of the Class of June, 1959: A trip to the countries of the Far East imparts a new perspective upon the most commonplace aspects of American life. One of these aspects is education. To you, education is as ordinary a thing as bread and water that is fit to drink. You have had it gratis from your earliest years. You have accepted it casually as your due, sometimes with considerable reluctance, some- times with complacence. The notion that it may be a rare commodity for which millions of people elsewhere hunger has probably seldom occurred to you. Our American tradition, secure behind ramparts of established law and order, guarantees to each boy and girl the opportunity for self-development and improvement at public expense. Asian countries too have accepted the ideal of betterment of the lot of the masses, both economically and educationally. But the obstacles to be overcome before universal education is a fact are enormous. When the bare necessities of life are obtained only by perpetual toil, schools tend to be regarded as luxuries. Thus, in Hong Kong where a half-million penniless refugees live in congestion and squalor we were told that requiring school attendance would be impossible. Since so many children spend all their lives on boats said one official, how could we possibly round them up? My mentioning these under-privileged peoples is not intended to saddle you with a feeling of responsibility for them. My purpose is to have you re-appraise the importance and value of all that Madison has tried to do for you. Have you gotten out of your course-work a substantial share of the ideas and knowledge placed before you? Have you developed socially so that you can count on a circle of friends to which you will belong? Have you emerged with a fairly clear idea of your plans for the future? lf your answer to these questions is in the affirmative, society's expenditure for you has been worthwhile. Max Newfield Principal

Page 8 text:

W. wg Qi 1 .L if 1 , , M- Q: 'Q- Wi iv .. z 7 nw ,rr ,. , W? , N K 4? f -N 1 ' 4 4 rx, Q A was , Mr. Newfield, Principal 'tuli- r. Brook, Acting Principal

Page 10 text:

Dear Seniors, For the past year, l've been general handyman to you. l've alphe- betized you, collected your money down to the last dime, measured you for gowns, sold you prom tickets, distributed your senior hats and buttons, rehearsed your panel discussion and helped get you ready to march down the aisle-for graduation, of course, You've been my headache, and yet the kind of headache that's fun and sometimes a satisfaction. Now it is time for me to say good-bye. Usu- ally, at this point, l wish you luck. However, now l'm not going to, l'm going to tell you that you carry your own luck. . .good or bad, with you. Someone once said that character is fate. By that he meant that your personality iwhat you aret determines your future lwhat you be- comel. Of course, what you have learned and will learn . . .the spe- cial skills, the subject matter and the facts will help determine your career, and how well you do in that career, and how well you do in the much more important career of life depends on what you have learned about yourself and other people, for what else is character but the way we relate ourselves to our neighbors, friends and even enemies? So, good-bye, and here's wishing you. . .luck? No. Make your Own! Sincerely, JMMEU :N ff lb g , if ' l , li, fy fl! i l N g X ,F If fl, fe! of ! of , if c b, f x ' J I f ff 'tt il K ,f if ill I i X ff, ' Q if r ' X ' s lf? l ,J lucvillwst f