Newton North High School - Newtonian Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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5 . 1 1 - EF O ,ff .V V 1 X U' S if :L - mi S fi '51-.Sf W i 66 99 Teenage Wasteland top left: Seniors Jill Benjoya, Suzanne Kogan. Jody Berkowitz, and Loretta Rossi take time out to smile for the camera. top right: Beth Klavens idlely laughs during class. middle left: Senior Irene Pan takes notes furiously C must be first semester J. middle right: Everyone does their own homework at Newton North. left: Breakdancing is becoming an everyday occurrence on Main Street. .J 0 A 4 ,.. . sl 'i '4 student life I7

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IV K' i N K 5 . 4 ,, . .95-11i.i',,.i 3' fi: at 4' ' V . 'Cf J I f sf w704... Long hair, bell-bottom pants and loud shirts characterized the students of NNHS in the early l970's. Many' had radical reactions to political events. The problems created in American life were directly reflected in people's attitudes at school, Social Studies teacher Don Crowley said. Post-Vietnam and post-Watergate was a time that was critical to everyone. - Students were very involved in social and political issues, Adams housemaster Norman Gaudet said. They were sensitive to the outside world. They got involved by marching at city hall and demonstrated for civil rights. The early '70's were the last politically active years, said social studies teacher Allan MacDougall. The stimulus of The students were also adjusting to a single building. ln 1973 the three buildings of Newton High School had been replaced by one buildingg N N HS. Guidance department head Peter Mackie described the architecture of the new building as neo-brutalismf' Students found new hang-outs: trees, benches, stairs, and the library. The new building provided a physical structure- a place for everyone- but many people expected it to form its own atmosphere. Students found creative ways to adapt to the school and politics, but as MacDougall said lt wasn't that those students were any more talented than the students today. I guess it was just something in the air. politics reached into writing. Rebecca Plante There were large numbers of volatile and creative writers. Zo Zh 902- Short, spiked hair combined with silver studs and leather, or Guess jeans with oversized sweaters are the latest trends on Main St. According to English teacher Burton Weiner, Kids today are a lot more pleasant: there's less .hostility. Maybe they see more opportunity for ff, themselves. Maybe it's because there's a lot'less disruption in society today. Kids have evolved from the buzz-off syndrome to the 3 C's: careful, conventional, and ze 6 , conservative,' said Social Studies teacher John Livingston. At the same time, they take care to be politically liberal, reflecting the feeling that'America is unsure of itselfff' Now students are more goal- directed. Riley housemaster Scott Guild said. They're A interested in getting out of high school and either working or going to college. There'scan, attitude of coming here, getting what they need, and getting out. The competitive atmostphere is back, English teacher Tom DePeter said. Students have less proclivity towards being creative. They're also incredibly anxious about S.A.T.'s. Students today are less exuberant and more serious about life in general according to Livingston. Guild said that students today worry too much about meeting the minimums and not extending themselves to the maximums. lt's harder to get student interest and mass participation, Guild explained. l'm not upset with the direction of the '80's, but I wish we could combine today's causes with the participation of the Seventies. ' -Rebecca Plante l r J - , rv..- lfl fvflnb' l ,I If . .4 A l at a 1 ,X