John Marshall High School - Marshallite Yearbook (Richmond, VA)

Page 14 text:

jayem ... a vibrant little world so special and unique yet so ordinary . . . housed in a massive structure of steel concrete and glass . . . a playground of to- morrow’s einsteins and shakespeares . . . a melting pot of so many things . . . differences fusing to create a united whole jayem ... six periods a day . . . one class right after another . . . one minute a sense of accomplishment ... the next a feeling of despair . . . inviting windows to stare through . . . hearing only snatches of the p-a notices . . . daydreams shattered by those blasted bells .. . long empty halls . . . then three-minute periods of bustling life . . . the traffic jam at 213. . . pushing and shoving ... getting nowhere . . . mischievous hands twirling a row of locker knobs . . . lugging all those books around . . . elbowing through the crowd to reach the fountain . .. a quick gulp of water . . . warm smiles and anxious frowns . . . lunchroom chatter . . . creamy cold slaw .. . elephant and grape jokes . . . seagulls on the athletic field . . . collecting school posters for private art galleries . . . overdue books . . . fire drills .. . trying to make one book do for three teachers . . . frantic cramming for exams . . . panic the week before grades come out . . . pushed to the point of exhaustion also jayem .. . fridays and monocles . . . shoney’s after a game... pizza or barbecue . . . big parties and small get-togethers . . . dances at the mosque and elsewhere ... doing the bird for hours . . . guitars everywhere . impromptu hootenannies and songfests . . . the kingston trio. . . dave brubeck . . . peter paul and mary ... the beatles . . . talking incessantly on the phone ... arguing over 1984 and catcher in the rye . . . blaring radios . . . decals on a thousand cars serious jayem .. . silence and pride while the flag ts lowered . . . self-discipline justice honor . . . a gradual growth and maturity . . . a talk with a counselor that makes all the difference . . . last minute decisions that may affect a lifetime . . . school rings . . . college boards and the long awaited admissions letter . . . sadness and tears at graduation . . . the numerous friendships that may soon be forgotten . . . the precious few that will last forever —all this is jayem ... glimpses of it anyway this is the jayem we have hated and the jayem we have loved .. . this is 1964 with its atmosphere changing as we change inside . . . but what makes this school and this year somehow different from all others . . . the Spirit of the Students . . . so intangible in itself . . . yet depicted here in a tangible form . . . to this indomit- able Spirit we dedicate the 1964 marshallite