Northampton Area High School - Amptennian Yearbook (Northampton, PA)

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Spnnsurs Gallierf-rl ahout a reacting tahic in the lihrary during a regular session are rnemloers ut the hoard ot education. Reading Clock- wisc, they are Ray S. Santee, president ttar rightig Claude E. Vlqroxc-il, secretary: Dr. Clayton V. Spangler, treasurer: Dr. George A. Eichler, superintcmlc-nt: Howard G. Rauheniiold, R ussei S. lVioyer, vice president: Charles H. Newliarcl and Ralph E. BRl'iil0i0T'llCXY. When seated in the concert hall, drinicing in the celestial strains ot heautiiul harmony which come pouring forth from strings and hells of instruments, one never thinks ot the symphony orchestra as heing highly organized husiness enterprise. Yet, precisely, that is what it is. Tours and concerts must he arranged lrom a standpoint of financial teasiloilityg musicians, arrangers, copyists and other employees of the organization must he paid, and music and other supplies and equipment must he pur- chased and maintained. Responsihility for all these vital Hhehind the scenesy' details rests in the hands of the sym- phony sponsors, or hoard of trustees, and it is to this ioody that we lilcen the hoard oi educa- tion. These are the men, then, who are charged with the Financial solvency of the school dis- trict, the purchase, repair and maintenance ol supplies and equipment, and with estahlishing not only the policies within the schools them- selves, lout also with relation to the school and the community. ' These are also the men, who, realizing the tremendous universal influence of music, lent it their support hy providing for a program ol instrumental training which reaches down to the iourth grade, supplementing the vocal pro- gram heginning in the kindergarten, elztective this year. VVith an eye constantly tixed on progress and the tulure, the hoard, heeding the initial trickle of advance intormation on a coming statewide emphasis on safety and driver edu- cation, has already concluded details for in- clusion ot this subject in next term's curriculum. Among a score ot other accomplishments, the directorate is in the mild-planning stage of a longarange program designed to anticipate tu- turc educational needs. Page 15 V r

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lla liapu Cadenzas in triads are sounded hy Helen Cummings and John G. Koch fcenter and rightj, who chat with Ira L. Sheafferflettb, following a pululic testimonial honoring tl-rem on their retirement from the teaching profession. Speaker at the affair was Mr. Sl-ieatfer, retired high school principal. The musical term, Da Capo, which captions this page, has a meaning that infers, when seen on a musical composition, a return to the beginning. Having come to the Da Capo sign, therefore, we turn haclc the pages of time to note the 89-year song of service sung hy a duo of he- loved educators and to pay tribute to them. Close coworlcers and colleagues for many years, for hoth taught in the George Wolf elementary school, John G. Koch and Helen Cummings retired from the teaching profession in June ot 1947 with a combined total of 89 years in service. The tremendous iniiuence they played on the lives of countless children can- not he ignored. Rather, it is with a thrill of respect and admiration, deep within us, that we recognize their achievement, aiong with the grateful townsfolic who gathered together last Decemher to honor them at a puhiic testi- monial dinner. Only one day, his soie ahsence from school in forty years of service, did Mr. Koch fail to conduct his ,daily music classes, during which many were the days that the students sang his favorite seiection, UAuid Lang Synef, A gradu- ate of Keystone State Normal school, Kutz- town, he came to Northampton in 1915 to he- Page 14 come principal of the new Governor George Wolf school, still his position at retirement, hut spent a short time at the Central school awaiting completion of the huilding. Prior to that he had taught at the Geryville, Buclcs county, school, hut left the profession to he- come associated with the cement industry. Both lovers of the open road, he and Mrs. Koch, the former Goldie Biery, are often seen taking in the heauty of the Keystone state. A lover of grand opera, of which Puccini's La Boheme is her favorite, Miss Cummings taught twenty of her forty-nine years in North- ampton. A veteran of a yearis teaching prior to attending Millersville State Teachers college, she taught at Media for tive years upon gradu- ation. Then came a year at Siegfried, now a part of Northampton, and twenty-four years at Cementon hefore her stay at Northampton, where she taught first to third grades in the Washington and Vvoif huildings. She con- tinued her education with graduate worlc in Columbia university and is a devotee of read- ing, hridge and painting in her spare time. To hoth we say, ulVIay the years of your lite he pleasant, may your heautifui dreams come true, And in all that you plan and practice, may lolessings descend on youf,

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Ennllulztnr 1 DR. GEORGE A. EICIZILER . Superintendent , The conductor of a symphony has a clual responsibility. First of all, it is his duty, through interpretive genius and the meclium of his expressive baton, to thrill his audience by ei awing the maximum of beauty out of the musicians before him. His other phase of responsibility, which is just as important, if not more so, than the first, is to carry out and aclminister the policies of the symphony sponsors. This often calls for assistance even in establishing policy, for the concluctor is usually more familiar with details than anyone else. The administration of a school system such Page 10 as this one can, in many respects, be said to parallel closely the difficult taslc of the sym- phony conoluctor, anol, We find in Dr. Eichler, a man who has been successfully and capably shoulciering the enormous responsibilities which the office oi superintendent entails. Although not a musician, he is a music lover, and is especially ioncl of the semi-classics ancl light opera. Highly progressive, he is clecicleclly in favor oi the 'expancleci school music program: in fact, he is ciecicietily in favor of anything for the benefit of the schools or the community in general, in Whose service most of his out of school hours are spent.