Pleasantville High School - Green Quill Yearbook (Pleasantville, NY)

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Tradition cmcl Chou nge As we enter a new decade and leave the sixties behind, the concepts of tradition and change become even more important. Looking around us, we see tradition in the midst of change and innova- tion affecting accepted institutions. This year's edi- tors have tried to show the importance of tradition and change in our lives by using these concepts as the theme of the 26th volume of the Green Quill. Y g V ssscscrf yi! The community of Pleasantville is traditionally a commuting town, with the train station the focal point for many of its inhabitants. Styles of trains Old Station changeg the station gets a little older, a little more worng commuters retire and are replaced by younger businessmen, but the pattern continues and morning and evening still see a procession of overcoats and briefcases coming and going. Within the high school itself, change and tradi- tion are powerful forces. While the building remains the same with traditional architecture, methods of teaching and the content of courses vitalize the educational process and force an awareness of life outside the classroom. Although outwardly there seems to be a great number of changes in PHS, such as an eight period day and a more liberal dress code, the basic functions of the school remain the same. Que.. ,jug Rome Theater: 1928 2

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The Green Gazette still starts off the day despite the now brief homeroom period, and students con- tinue to gather for conversation or studying in the auditorium during the shortened lunch hour. Girls now wear slacks as casually as they wear skirts, and boys have almost forgotten the days when long hair was a rarity to be laughed atg but the students themselves, their problems and hopes, despair and happiness, continue to be the soul of PHS. There is no longer an NAC bonfire, but football and basket- ball and chorus concerts and Seniors' Day and countless other traditions still go on. Perhaps the biggest change is within the students themselves. It seems that within the past few years there has been growing a new awareness of life, an interest in things outside of our own small world. We still attend school, groan at homework, laugh at our private jokes, care most for the people closest to us, but we are concerned with other matters, too, like the needy in Appalachia and the plight of Biafra. We fought for a new dress code, but we also expressed our feelings about the war in Vietnam by participating in Moratorium demonstrations or wearing American flag armbands. We are concerned with each other and the roles we will play once we graduate and leave the safe shelter of high school life. Hopefully, apathy is slowly disappearing and being replaced by sincere interest and a sense of responsibility to more than ourselves and our immediate world. The security of tradition is making way for the uncertain results of change, but change is inevitable, and through it we can hope to find and express ourselves. l 3