John Piersol McCaskey High School - Echo Yearbook (Lancaster, PA)

Page 11 text:

Trustworthy Citizens Contribute Time and Service O. H. AURAND B.S., A.M., Ed.D., Columbia University Superintendent Raymond H. Aierstock Mrs. Mary E. Fischer A. Hugh Forster John M. Gordon Roland A. Loeb 'William A. Schaeffer Oliver J. Smith, Jr. James G. Trost John C, Truxal Elected for a term of six years, nine responsible citi- zens, interested in public-school problems, meet at least once every month. Five standing committees - advisory, finance, property, cafeteria and physical education, and recreation - are appointed by the president, Mr. A. Hugh Forster. Mrs. Mary E. Fischer, vice-president, is the first woman officer in Lancaster school-board history. Newly-elected members are John C. Truxal, Dr, William A. Schaeffer, and David K. Shertzer. Mr. Shertzer left Lan- caster shortly after his election and was replaced by Oliver J. Smith, former president of the school board. Clay M. Ryan, a school director for twenty years, did not run for reelection. Mr. Ryan was on the school board when McCaskey High School was dedicated on May 3, 1938, and served until November, 1957. Clay M. Ryan

Page 10 text:

A Family Looks Backward . . . and Forward The McCaskey Family, consisfing of faculfy members, sTudenTs, cusfodians, and cafeferia em- ployees, was designafed as such by Dr. Benjamin B. Herr, The firsT principal. When John Piersol McCaskey High School, The home of The family, was opened in February, 1938, There was a goldleaf ceiling in The million-dollar high school, a sfadium seafing 6100 people, an insTrucTiona1 capacify of 2500 pupils, a swimming pool, an audiforium seafing 1800, a driver-Training course, and Training for vocafional skills. Many of These were unheard of aT ThaT Time in public schools. Since McCaskey has offered These and various oTher modern facilifies from iTs beginning, iT has needed fewer changes Than mosT schools. IT is inTeresTing To noTe ThaT even SpuTnik has had less influence upon The curriculum here Than elsewhere. SpuTnik is a man-made saTelliTe placed in The sky by Russia, The firsT naTion To achieve This disTincTion in The lnTernaTional Geophysical Year. IGY, a greaf scienfific hunT for knowledge, runs from July, 1957, Through December, 1958. 10,000 scien- TisTs from 67 nafions are concenfrafing Their efforfs on The earTh, iTs seas, iTs aTmosphere, and iTs sun. IGY indirecTly sTarTlecl America inTo reappraising iTs educaTional sysTem. Affer Russia's Triumph, al- mosT overnighT new scholarships were offered, graduafion sfandards raised, The school curriculum discussed. Schools sTarTed To add more science and languages, provide sTrong incenTives for academic achievemenf, and devofe less efforf To The pursuif of happiness and The glorifying of sporTs. Upon close inquiry in various fields of educaTion, iT was discovered half The naTion's high schools Taughf no modern foreign language aT all, many lacked courses in chemisfry and physics, a Too-small percenfage Taughf advanced maThemaTics. McCaskey has had and sTill offers Three years' insTrucTion in each of Three languages, Two years in anofher, and This year added Spanish. Also Three years of science and Three years of maThemaTics may be sTudied. Many changes have occurred around The school since 1938. Trees and bushes have grown, sfyles of cars have changed, hair and cloThing fashions have gone Through various sTages, shop and office machinery have been improved. BuT basically The spiriT and high sTandards of McCaskey have remained. The feeling of loyalTy among The members of The family and Toward The building iTself has grown sfeadily. ForTy-six employees who were parT of The sTaff in 1938 remain Today and are evidence of The hearf and TradiTion of a school ThaT will confinue To serve The cifizens of The com- munify Through proper insTrucTion and guidance. ln The words of a poeT in The senior class, More Than a building sTands in honor of Those gone before. .'.1sii'E xr X 49' W. 1 E . l l l QT . Table of Contents Leaders Through The Years .... . Page l-lighlighfs of The PresenT .,.,... .,... P age Developmenf in AcTiviTies ...,. Page Progress in Sporfs ........,.,.. . Page Fufure of McCaskey .,... . Page Adverfisers .......,...... ..... P age Page 4

Page 12 text:

Cherished Memories Serve as Lingering Reminder Those first few days are best remembered as a time when McCaskey High School was iust so many corridors and room numbers, nameless faces and faceless names. But we managed to hang on fairly well that first year . . . the year when cross country found a seat on The McCaskey sports roster in its first season since World War 2 . . . when a paratyphoid epidemic gripped The city, and all McCaskey swimming classes were closed for two months . . . when Lancaster playgoers were delighted with such fare as Time Out for Ginger and Mr. Barry's Etchings , and the lilting melodies of 'iBrigadoon were featured in the annual presentation of McCaskey's glee club and orchestra. We were well in step with this fast-paced world by the time our junior year arrived. This year the traffic situation was blessed with a teachers' parking lot, and the Tornado swimming team was blessed with the title of Second in the State . . . when once again our dramatics and music departments came through in traditional style - Seven Sisters and Sight Unseen were the plays, while the highlight ofthe spring concert consisted of excerpts from Carousel . . . when twenty of our classmates were chosen members of the National Honor Society, and the class met for the first time as a body to elect these officers: President Robert Metzger, Vice-president Douglas Weidman, Secretary Joyce Reynolds, Treasurer George Machlan, Historian John Hambright. Who can forget our senior year? The 20th year of McCaskey history. The year when the Tor- nado of Lancaster rose to become the leading fig ure in Central Penn football, capturing the cham- pionship from Williamsport on that memorable Thanksgiving afternoon in l957, and John McFalls and Barry Butzer popped up on everybody's list of top athletes . . . when John Hambright took the Pennsylvania State championship in the American Legion Ora- torical Contest, and Harvey Bricker, Frederick Mumma, and Ilse Thierne received recognition in the top group of the National Merit Scholarship awards . . . when McCaskey's freestyle relay team swam away with first honors in State competition, and Carl Shaar splashed home to a State second in the l5O-yard individual medley . . . when a veteran cross-country team outran all comers for the league championship . . . when the dramatics group broke away from comedy with a well-received drama, Night of January lo, and the glee club and orchestra tackled a full musical production of the Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan . . . when the school curriculum expanded to include instruction in Latin and French for three years and the first year of Spanish . . . when McCaskey was evaluated for the Third time in its history by the Commission on Second- ary Schools in order to compare and rate the school with other Pennsylvania schools . . . and-oh, yes . . . this was the year of vacations, expected and unexpected - three days for i6 inches of February snow, two more for 20 inches in March, two for E-l-B Day and Schoolmen's Day in October, a half-day to honor that championship victory over Williamsport, and, for many, several midwinter days in deference to the Asian Flu bug. These are the recollections of one class out of many - our class of 1958. May they serve not only as the final written record of our high school days, but also as a ready suggestion to our remem- bering in the years to come. lSignedl John Hambright, Historian Page 6