Longmeadow High School - Masacksic Yearbook (Longmeadow, MA)

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MR. HBRRSCHAFT, OUR SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, is now retiring after many years of devoted service. His plans and decisions have always been guided by his sincere interest in education and young people. HOWARD G. HERRSCHAFT Superintendent of Schools All the world's' a stage. Here is a theme for your year book that challenges the imagination! Each of us has thoughts peculiarly ours and, in this regard, I am no excep- tion. May I suggest that, as you read these words of mine and other material in this publication, you consider more than one aspect of your chosen theme. VVhile you consider your theme as developed by your editorial stall and by the mem- bers of tl1e Administration to whom you have granted the privilege of adding their con- tributions, may I ask you to pause long enough to reflect that if you mistakenly let this theme lead you to consider life 'only as a play to be acted, you will do yourselves an injustice. How true are many of the implications of this idea! We appear but briefly in the continuing flow of human activity. At times our individual contributions seem so unim- portant that we can easily consider ourselves cast in minor roles. This judgment lends emphasis to the point that I am trying to make: One is cast in a part in this play and only within well defined limits can one make much of a contribution. How much more does life hold? It is important to realize that while we are not necessarily wholly subject to the whims of forces outside of our control, we may, to a large degree, determine by ambition and wisdom what we may become. Insofar as we are self-determinant does life have meaning for us. The discontent so frequently seen among us probably is due to the fact that we have failed to assume our natural place in human activity that can in a real' sense be fully satisfying to us. May I make a special comment to the members of the class of 1960? You, and I, too, will be severing our connection with this Longmeadow School Department at about the same time. I trust that, as you leave, you will have many fond memories as I shall have. I trust that all of us many continue to look back at the work we have done here with satisfaction. If, through my efforts to do my work well, I have helped you to achieve richer and fuller lives, I shall be content. May God's rich blessing go with you as you go your individual ways. 7

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1 , , 5 316 HS an one s enure talents a stage 5 The past preparing for us 6

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You will be portraying yourself as you face audiences throughout life from your stage. You will be both author and actor of the various roles you will be playing. It will be your opportunity and your responsibility to determine your parts and to act them. These are precious rights made pos- sible for you by those who fought and died to establish and pass them on to you. They are yours to enjoy, but yours also to preserve and strengthen for those who are coming after you. Who will you be and how will you portray yourself as your life unfolds and you go from scene to scene? No better guide has been offered to youth with your cultural back- ground than that contained in Shakespeare's famous lines: This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must fol- low as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. QUENTIN REYNOLDS Chairman-Longmeadow School Committee Seated left to right: Mr. Robert Brigham, Mr. Henry Frisbie, Mr. Quentin Reynolds, Mrs. Kyle C. Whitefield, and Mr. Richard Holter There is an excitement and a challenge in the realization that we as individuals have a wide range of personal free- dom in selecting the roles we will play in life. However, Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken suggests to some of us the weight of responsibility which attends our choosing one course of action over others. Indeed it appears that as night follows day responsibility for our choices follows our free- dom to choose. To grant this sobering premise immediately raises the question as to how we can select more wisely the roles we will play. Must we conclude only that our reactions at a given time will depend upon the situation and that When in Rome, we will do as the Romans do ? Of course not! But yet, how do we make better decisions? To fail to choose is itself a type of choice, a decision to do nothing. This re- quires no courage, no faith. There are three fundamental steps in selecting our be- havior roles more intelligently. The first is to secure and evaluate fairly the facts in a given case. It is often more difficult to face the facts than to secure them. The second step is to formulate the reasonable alternative courses of action suggested by the facts. To overlook a meaningful solution to a problem can be as detrimental in decision making as to overlook factual data. The last step is to try to predict the consequences of each alternative role. Two basic questions come to 'mind as we weigh alterna- tive courses of action. What effect will our behavior have on persons around us, our associates, our friends, our loved ones? What will be the consequences of the action upon us as persons, will our action make us wiser, more tolerant, more loyal, i.e., better human beings? Our answers to these questions will inHuence greatly our final decision. W. HENRY CONE Assistant Superintendent of Schools