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

Page 24 text:

1. ,Q ,Mk wi K4 g X J 'V 1 it ga, ,,v, 4 ?2!J4f , W A 4- ffv 4 F1 2? z fs ff f 2 ' 'vp-A -1,?f1Af'VV44 ,, A 6 - ,, f iff 07? gf ,,ff,- ' fu ,V 1 ,i jf, ' Q , 4 'mn f, -,D fi . , ,hy i 4, flff 5 ,MM ,V ,, . , Q , V wffi V, I . ' X lf f WJ, 1 , 'z 'f V 'f y if ZTE, ' ,I ' .,,,, - f . M 1 -g w we W . 1 ' ' M- 1, , if f J V f Q f 1' ' W P - V iwgfrygg, Y A ' V141 f 1' ' ' , K ,, if 1 'f if M10 ,Lf 2 A If ' f 5 M i fn! if M f I ,,7w,, K , 4 , A, , , 2 ,zlgfgl ,,, 1' 4 'Z ,,,.'25C V, ,fy ' L Vi f 7 f f J . A V M 4 fl ll ' fl 5255 2 Z 'f A , 4 ' In I VA V- V' 5 A? ,iflf 4, 7 , I If 1-jf! ,V A I M .1 1 in .f 1 1 0 f21,f+f ff ' , ' f fvfwf, 1 N X mix, 'W an -,' A. 'Th' ,,.Vv.'fm ' V ' '5 , tw, div ,ax I , gswggff, Z QV, I 'N gi f A! A, X w-fM..,.,,mM yyw ,, , 13 ,' 4 ,I 1 f 1' A. 1 'f7 4'9rwrfii,.4z4W22k,'Qf ,4Qw2f,,3f?f 220 y. 4? if fa 2 S 5 5' ' ' ' ,'f1 77'm, 74,54 Vg ,4,, j, ' f 4 ' W JW, ' , ' f Q f ff idgz Q 'f '5Vdf 0 f fffif, ,A .Q af, Z 4550 0 fa? fi J ' ' W 'f fm Q ,4 , 1 ,, 11,4 I, I-I . ,V VA ,ah , Aw Q ,wiv A272795 7 ,, I' 7 If V 6 I Y ,X S ' , Y f I 7 f 5 V ,V ,dd Q, Z ,K X WM ' f ,A ' ' ,wf 7 k' 1 2, , VV? Z A, M W fi' yxgf 1 11 ,I f , , V, 'if' 47 5 X S 1

Page 23 text:

GDLII' ilinrmal 'i humtiun ' When most of you enter the new worldof college, you will believe that you have lost all contact with Madison. You have only to come across your old, dishevelled edition of Huckleberry Finn, with thumb-prints, in the corner and scribbling in the margins, to realize that while former ideals and opinions might have become unworthy of you, the source from which you drew-those forty weeks, hve periods a week that you printed on yearly Regents cards-will always be a part of you. Although you experienced emotional crises and political and personal successes, these are probably a closed chapter whose dusty pages you will rarely reopen. That paper-bound book, however, can never grow stale for youg it can be interpreted in various ways, and therefore its ideas can never be lost to your past. Your formal education of reading, writing, listening, and discussing was, then, the most important influence on you. During these years, there has been such diversification of courses that there has been no everyman's education. Our nostalgia can flow back to the same source, however, when we are speaking of books. We have all weighed the nobility of Brutus' ideals against the craftiness of the murder, and hoped that Betsey Trotwood would adopt David Copperfield. Our hearts have beat in sympathy with those of Romeo and Juliet, and our eyes have lighted with sadistic joy upon the unwanted copies of the Saturday Review Reader in the crooks of sorrowful elbows. One has only to look at the bookshelf to remember the ties that bind , there lies Huck Finn upon Wuthering Heights, with Moby Dick nearby. Beth Pessen

Page 25 text:

GBLII' Elnfnrmal 3 huratiun Knowledge which is acquired under com- pulsion has no hold on the mind. Therefore do not use compulsion, but let early education be rather a sort of amusementg this will better enable you t.o find out the natural bent of the child. -Plato Although Plato's concept of education may be more desirable than that which is practiced today, it is not as easily applicable. Plato lived in a relatively simple era in which life was not a constantly competitive strug- gle for technological and sociological improvement. Time and money were not of the essence. People had time to think, to learn, to do as they pleased, when they pleased. Today the continual advances in the sciences, government, industry and human relations cannot afford the time required for totally individual pursuits. Progress is very rapid. It tramples anyone who cannot keep pace with it, or stay ahead of it. Thus the present educational program is designed to promote the intellectual development not only of those who want it, but of those who need it. While some cynics may agree with St. Augustine, who said, Who is so stupidly curious as to send his son to school in order that he may learn what the teacher thinks? other students will remember that not all edu- cation is a product of formal training. The art of learning is the art of discovery, just as the art of teaching is the art of helping discovery to take place. While there is a skill in formal teaching, there is also, as St. Thomas Aquinas noted, a skill in discovery, and it is our own discoveries that encourage our quest for knowledge. A good deal of our informal education is derived from personal experi- ences at home, with friends, on jobs, with books. Each presents to us a variety of views, places and concepts which influence our values and decisions. Plays, concerts and trips to museums enhance our cultural background. All of these are voluntary activities. Radio and television, as Well as newspapers, are other media which provide an unofficial education. How much the individual learns from these associations and experiences depends upon his alertness, his awareness, and his appreciation of the sig- nificance of the educational opportunities to which he is exposed. Informal education is best acquired by a mind which is unfettered and uncompelled, but free to seek and select, reject and absorb. Barbara Limberg