Marion High School - Hurricane Yearbook (Marion, VA)

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VIEWPOINTS EXPRESSED ON JERRY HICKS: “In 1976,1 hope we can rededicate ourselves to the enlightened spirit of our country’s founders. With this spirit, I hope all students and teachers can work to preserve our social values even though much in our school has changed. For the Bicentennial Celebration in whatever form it takes, let’s all work together to admire the strengths of our school, correct its faults, and parti¬ cipate effectively as good citizens.” Our school, community, and country are in the midst of celebrating our nation’s 200th birthday. It is the kind of celebration that one reads about a nd which makes one’s heart swell with pride. During the Bicen¬ tennial, many goals are set, knowledge is reached for and the need to change our present world to some¬ thing for the better is pursued. We, as members of this school community, have many viewpoints on how we believe that our school should become involved in this celebration. Viewpoints from all areas of the school have been selected as representative of the way we feel that we should become involved in the Bicentennial Celebra¬ tion. Dale Tiller Jerry Hicks DALE TILLER: “During the Bicentennial, nearly everyone is reminiscing about our nation’s past 200 years, and although that is an important method of involve¬ ment. We must not only restore the past, but prepare for the future. That job belongs to the students of MSHS as well as to every school in America. Our country, perhaps more than any other, has been entrapped in a swamp of apathy. It is the duty of youth and our students to reawaken the spirit of achievement by becoming involved in government and to act as mechanics, pre¬ paring the wheels of democracy for an even more glorious 200 years to come. Our job of involvement begins now. We must work to clean-up society as well as our parks, heritage, and country-side. We must become involved in pro¬ grams whose main purpose is to better ourselves and the country in which we LOOK WHAT WE FOUND! live. Perhaps most of all we must pray and strive to better ourselves as individu- Alan Franks als; for it is individuals, bonded together, which make a country lasting and bountiful.” 2

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HURRICANE MARION SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 848 STAGE STREET MARION, VIRGINIA 24354

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BICENTENNIAL INVOLVEMENT Helen Byrd HELEN BYRD: “Individually, everyone needs to do some soul searching and get our perspectives in order. God first, others sec¬ ond, and me last. If it were not for God who gave us everything, others who sacrificed life that I might live in a free country, we would not have anything to celebrate. The school, we need to bring to our attention in an assem¬ bly program the highlights that made our country great. A renew¬ al of our love for Country and Flag, sing together the songs that our ancestors were inspired to write about our great country, AMERICA. Some way, some how we need to get back the feeling of pride for our country and feel the fast heartbeat when OLD GLORY is raised sky ward, so we will want to build up—not tear down.” ALAN FRANKS. “First, it is necessary to place the Bicenten¬ nial in the proper perspective. It has already been over sensa¬ tionalized and over commercialized. We should first adopt the view that the Bicentennial is the celebration of American Inde¬ pendence, spirit, and life. We should hold a view similar to that of the men and women who fought for independence, and we should stand up for reform in our system. We must realize that our government, although the greatest this world has ever known, is not infallible because it is governed by human beings who can make errors. It is our job to help our nation improve for all. In working for this goal, the school should act as the town halls of Revolutionary America. It should try to stir up a patriotic fervor throughout the school, but it should be a pa¬ triotism that will form us into working cogs of the American system. In becoming a part of this system, we should not lose our individuality, because it is this individuality that has made America great. Where would we be if it was not for the indi¬ viduality of such men as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison?” SALLY WERTH: “We can celebrate our country’s Bicentennial with many worthwhile projects. We can decorate the bulletin board, plant a Bicentennial flower garden, fly a 1776 flag, or choose a 1776 Theme for our Homecoming activities. Any of these could be interesting proj¬ ects, and there are many others we could choose. A fitting Bicentennial Celebration for our school would be a recap¬ turing of the spirit of freedom and adventure that is an important part of our heritage and that is offered to us through education; a renewal of the feeling of love for and pride in our school, a feeling our ancestors had because they had to struggle to establish the educational opportuni¬ ties we take for granted; a reappraisal of our sense of responsibility for offering to our country our very best selves, attained through the high¬ est development of our mental, physical, and spiritual capabilities; and a reawakening of our feeling of thanksgiving for the educational rights and privileges we enjoy and of our willingness to assume the responsi¬ bilities that go with these rights and privileges. Thus from MSHS can go a stream of young men and women ready, willing, and able to do their part toward making our world a bet¬ ter world and bringing the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap¬ piness” to all mankind.” Sally Werth Kathy Arason KATHY ARASON: “There are a lot of things that we could do to celebrate the Bicentennial, and many community projects to get involved in. A very good way to celebrate the Bicen¬ tennial is to visit historical landmarks, parks, and build¬ ings in the area or else where. Let’s don’t get the Bicen¬ tennial lost in the constant commercialization. We should try and get in touch with what the Bicentennial really means, and what it took the early settlers to get this country starte d.” 3