Nichols School - Verdian Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

Page 21 text:

There is question in some circles, I understand, as to why thereis need for science in the Junior School now that we have Batman and Lost in Space. I rejected the question, but I get the point, and as a schoolmaster I am concemed. Aside from some little differences about reality and accuracy of detail, there is the matter of degree of difficulty, or rather of easiness. I am concerned about the present tendency to feel that the easiest way is alway the best way, but even more I am concerned about how frequently we are offered the illusion of a trip to the moon in six easy lessons. There is so much excitement in the air in so many facets of life, and as such well- trained spectators, it is almost literally dithcult for us to keep our feet on the ground. The small, steady day-to-day disciplines are less appealing than ever before. In such an atmosphere it is difficult for students to muster and retain the patience necessary to do a thorough scholarly job on their academic courses. It is to the credit of this current generation of students that many of them are doing splendid work. Nothing could be more important for them. To the rest of them who are lost in space I would say, Get your feet on the ground and go to work before it is too late. Pliny H. Hayes, III PLINY H. HAYES, III 13 ASSOCIATE HEADMASTER

Page 20 text:

Even though I have been at the job of Headmaster- ing for some time, I continue to derive great satisfac- tion in comparing our students today with my com- panions and myself when we were in school. Take for instance this Verdian and compare it with those of old. This edition tells the story of the school year incomparably better. The activities are interesting, the photography better, the writing pertinent and less trite. The editorship of the Verdian has never been easy and always time-consuming, but the work that goes into the modern volume must be at least twice that of the old. The very financing is a revelation- many boys participate and the volume always operates in the black. Moreover it frequently is a prize-winner in competition with yearbooks of other local schools. The Nichols News is a joy to behold as well. No longer is the fare of the paper a rehash of athletic encounters that have lapsed into oblivion. The News carries in a telling way the story of a very vital school. Its pages are now interesting to parents, to alumni, and to outsiders whose only connection with the school is one of sympathetic curiosity. Considerable growth has taken place in the News under Mr. Fox and then Mr. Williams. The editorials, the interviews with prominent Buffalonians, the Faculty Pipe Bowl, etc., are showing a breadth of interest as well as some very fine report- ing. In other ways the modern Nichols senior seems to surpass his counterpart of the past. He is more knowl- edgeable-he is challenged academically to much great- er degree-he is reaching for the ultimate more inten- sively. His poise is greater-he reads before the whole student body and conducts himself like a seasoned veteran. In the days of my contemporaries, any boy who had the courage to speak before the entire school was most unusual. This generation of Nichols boys is indeed an impres- sive one and I salute them. Philip M. B. Boocock PHILIP M. B. BOOCOCK HEADMASTER E l l 12

Page 22 text:

EDWARD A. WILLIAMS B.A., Princeton MRS. WILLIAM I. SHAPIRO A.B., Mills 14 AUSTIN MCC. FOX, Chairman B.A., Union: M.A., Harvard 11 JOSEPH C. MANCUSO B.A., BuHaIo