Pembroke Hill High School - Raider Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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But not only the seniors were in- volved in this year of firsts. Every- one at Pem-Day experienced them. Some students found it just as difficult to maintain their physical balance while going to class as to uphold their aca- demic equilibrium when they got there. The sounds at Pem-Day this year were not all academic in origin. Above the cacophony of snarling bulldozers, pounding hammers, and pneumatic knocks, students struggled to isolate the individual sounds which would con- tribute to their learning. As one made his way among the paint pails, piles of bricks, rolls of carpet, strips of wall- paper and the thousand other construc- tion items, he found it difficult to vis- ualize how all of these would fall into place and form the new Pem-Day. Eventually they did. The paint dried, the mortar hardened, carpeting flowed over concrete floors, and the hanging of the wallpaper added a fin- ishing touch. When the last drapes were hung, school life returned to nor- mal and piles of books soon filled the spaces where building materials used to sit. XX7ith the old landmarks gone, students looked around and felt the need to establish points of personal reference from which they might re- store old traditions to a new environ- ment. It has been said that The long- est journey starts with a single step. One may paraphrase this adage by say- ing that it starts with the first,, step. No one class can take the first step by itself, however, the Class of 1968 as- sumed the responsibility to provide the impetus for the other classes to follow.

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i The Class of 1968 provided a year of firsts. Its members were the first to occupy the senior carrels. They were the first to move to music instead of bells, as classes changed. They were the first to realize that the library is more than a stagnant collection of books, but is in truth, a dynamic center for learn- ing. They were the first to establish new heights of academic excellence. And the Class of 1968 was the Hrst to make waves. They dared to take an introspective look at their Pem-Day-and to report what they saw. Their purpose was to create discussion, not dissension. Some reacted positively, some reacted negative- ly, but all reacted. This was the year of firsts. On the following pages the Rclicfefstaff will attempt to portray some of these firsts, as they watched the phasing out of some elements of the old Pem-Day and the phasing in of the new.

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