John Adams High School - Clipper Yearbook (Ozone Park, NY)

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Qfffg 01701 cbs F 2-rbvpffffc. ,ji is nearly three years older than I and a sophomore in college. He started puttering around with the car when he wasn't even fifteen and had a junior license two weeks after his sixteenth birthday. It was unfair discrimination I complained. For once he agreed with me. Oh, for Pete's sake, he said, are you at it again? Why don't you give in. dad. you'll never win. Bill! Mom scolded, Don't talk to WV 0 :X D R I W7 Q!! your father like that. Even if you are 511 ff- My! 34 If ffriiht. have some respect for age. May- ccf -7144.11 My Q l ,wjbe your father's getting old and he's ff' 5 -1-fqffjff' afraid to take on such an added re- . I X ll mb llgd0lllS FOR SOME absurd reason my father dislikes women drivers. He had nothing to say when my mother got her license. but does everything possible to keep her away from the family car. I don't know why he objects to Mom's driv- ing. She's very careful and has never had an accident or even received a ticket. CUnless you count little insig- nificent things like over parkingl. How- ever, the sight of a steering wheel in feminine clutches is enough to send him dashing for cover. I suppose that is why he nearly hit the ceiling when I asked him to teach me how to drive. I was so careful to catch him in a good mood right after dinner when he was well stuffed and off guard. At first he ignored me and kept on read- ing his paper. Then he tumed almost fushia and in a patient voice thundered that he would not be responsible for placing the general public in such danger. Mother calmly told him he was insulting his own daughter and if I was a menace it was his fault. Dad retreated behind the sport's page while mother continued listing reasons why every girl should learn how to drive. She was just explaining the necessity of a car for shopping when Bill, my older brother came into the room. Bill sponsibility. Oh, Mom can be so clever when she wants to. Dad got up and growled like a wounded bear. I am not getting old and I am certainly not afraid of my own daughter! Nobody said you were dear. May- be Bill would teach her if you would give her permission? What! Bill exclaimed in surprise, I'm too young to die. Remember what happened last time I let her near the car? I just told her to check the oil and she nearly fell in the engine. Well, I'm not a mechanic. Whose side are you on anyway? I'm beginning to wonder. I think you're too stupid to learn how to drive. A person doesn't need much brains to drive, or you wou1dn't have gotten a license to even change a tire. Children, please, mother inter- rupted, you're only complicating things by arguing. Now, I think Kathy has every right to learn to drive. If no one else will teach her. I will. You'll what? Dad shouted. Two women in one car is too much. I won't hear of it. Kathy, I'll teach you and I won't take any backtalk. The matter is settled. Nothing you can say will change my mind. If you insist, Dad. I replied, there isn't much we can do about it. Mom nodded in agreement, and if she winked I'm sure it was only some- thing in her eye. Seven

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INSIDE STORY Patricia Butler LATELY THE American public has become increasingly aware of what seems to be a degeneration of the American teen-age population. Is it possible, they ask, for all teen-agers to be bad? But in the words of Father Flanagen of Boy's Town, There is no such thing as a bad boy . This may well have meant any young person needing guidance. For it is in the adolescent stage of life that a person needs understanding and help. more than any other time. Certainly some people have made the wrong turning in life but what of the majority of young people in the country? Let's stop for a moment and reflect on them. A certain high school Ut is not neces- sary to mention the name or the loca- tion of the schooll has greatly influ- enced the lives of its students. Iust what have they gained in their ser- ious efforts to find a place for them- selves? Their lives were in the hands of that school for four years and it had the power to reject them or raise them above their present standards. Six We will follow a student throughout her four years in that school, and she shall remain nameless. Entering the school as the proverbial freshman, she disliked the new life she was thrust into. Adjustment came hard to her and she began to take her school work for granted. She found herself not yet a part of the school and its activities and was greatly troubled by her apparent dis- interest in her education. Throughout her life she had one ambition: to be a teacher. Only this provided her with the determination to go on with her work. Suddenly she found herself in a peculiar position. She began to en- joy her other life for she had found a certain pride in being associated with that high school. Consequently her work improved and she found herself feeling proud when she was praised by a teacher. Oh, she was no student, for she didn't apply herself enough, but at least she was on the way to growing up. Then through the efforts of special courses and understanding teachers she found herself immersed in the activities of the school paper. The people there seemed to like her for her writing and for herself. She gained confidence and therein lies the crux of her uncertainties. Now she belonged. The paper afforded her the oppor- tunity to express herself and thereby discover her assets and her liabilities. She had something fine and wonderful in that narrow bit of print called a paper. Now you may ask, what has that to do with the increasing rates of juvenile delinquency? This girl could have been included in those rates if it hadn't been for her determination to succeed and the unfailing watchfullness of her par- ents and teachers. Is this example so different that it warrants telling? No, for it happens every year, in every city. And it will continue for years to come even unto the end of time.

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BEHIND THE SCENES Selma German Helen Kvstenbaum Eight IN THIS issue of the Clipper, We would like to introduce to you the people behind the school publications. Mr. E. I. Clarke, the faculty adviser of the Clipper, is the first on our list. Mr. Clarke was born in Brooklyn. He was graduated from St. Francis Prep and received his B.A. from St. Francis College and his M.A. from Fordham University. He got the idea that he wanted to be a teacher when he was in college. He taught at Bishop Lough- lin Memorial High School and Brooklyn College in both the evening and sum- mer sessions. In 1938. he came to Adams. Mr. Clarke enjoys good con- versation cmd good books of which he has read many. He is very fond of paintings especially in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Art Gallery in Washington. He likes every member of the Clipper staff past and present. His hobbies are raising his family, doing some painting, and writ- ing. Mr. C1arke's favorite performers are Helen Hayes, Katherine Cornell. Katherine Hepburn, Walter Hampden, Iose Ferrar, Greer Garson, and Debo- rah Kerr. His favorite foods include apple pie, rice pudding and home- made chocolate layer cake. 'Soccer and boxing are among his favorite sports. Mr. Clarke dislikes students who give lame duck excuses for not handing in their homework. He thinks that 3-D. Cinemascope and the other new in- ventions are too exaggerated and pro- vide an excuse for not giving much of a story. He feels that there is too much overemphasis on spectacles, tricks, and gadgets. Mr. Clarke still thinks that in a movie a good story is needed. His ambition is to play the piano better than he does at present. Mr. Clarke has three children, two girls and one boy. His older daughter is graduating next term from Queens College and is planning to be a high school English teacher. His other daughter is attend- ing Mary Louis Academy and his son is going to St. Iohns Prep. Mr. Clarke lives in Hollis and is interested in the possibilities of writing for television. He