Portsmouth High School - Legend Yearbook (Portsmouth, RI)

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20th Anniversary. Has it really been that long? It seems like only yesterday that Louis Sousa was knocking on my door telling me that the President had been shot. 1 re- member my first day at Portsmouth vividly because of that terrible tragedy. It was a beautiful November day. The river was flat calm. Society wasn't however. We were just beginning the turbulent 60’s. When I first started teaching, conformity was the rule. The sixties changed all that. Dress codes went. Curricula were challenged. These were exciting and difficult years. Because of those years, Portsmouth High School is a much different place than the one I started teaching at. I think we have emerged a bet- ter school as a result. We have tried all kinds of innovations throughout the years — some good, some bad. What we have gained from all of this, I think, is a better grasp of what is necessary for students to do well. Hopefully we can take some of the lessons from the last 20 years, and make Portsmouth an even better place in the future. Bob Pimentel Social Studies Mr Sousa Dept Head Mr Sullivan Mr Masse Pres John F Kennedy (May 29. 1917 Nov 22. 1963) Mr Dwyer Mr Pimentel Mr St. Laurent Mr Richards

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DMS And Resource Teachers u J Porter Mr Mello Dept Head Mrs Cherry Mrs Kehoe Mrs. Brown Mrs Cassese Mrs Hansen Mr Affonso Mrs DeCosta Mrs Ponte This year also marks 20 years of service for me as a teacher at Portsmouth High School Over the years. I have found that the faculty and staff are dedicated and committed to the most mean- ingful education and support services possible for the students whom we serve. They have demonstrated their commitment as people who take their jobs seriously, but not themselves. They are fine human beings dedicated to the proper development of the whole person - the student, the citizen, the worker, and the consu mer - who will face a variety of human exper- iences and challenges The present administration has done an excel- lent job of setting a positive tone for a school that was. at one time, lacking goals, direction and leadership to a school that “says what it means and means what it says. ' The overwhelming majority of the students that we serve and have served make our efforts very rewarding in terms of professional fulfillment, job satisfaction, and a sense of personal accom plishment Joseph L. Lagarto, Jr. Mrs Poniatowski Mrs Mitchell Ms. Raftery Mrs. Sisson 27

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Business Mrs Maloney Mr Sullivan Modern Language Mr. Thibault September, 1965 —June, 1984 Actually my early years at P.H.S. have a lot in common with the prut several years — in a very positive way. Times have never been better. However, the open-campus of the seventies — which included food fights, van- dalism both inside and outside of the build- ing, motorcycles in the halls, half the student body at Nadeau's and crippling budget cut- s — is a period of time I would just as soon forget. The changes in business education have been phenomenal. We went from mechani- cal data processing, manual and mechanical type writers, 10 key mechanical adding ma- chines, rotary calculators and comptometers to very sophisticated office equipment. To- day we have 18 computer terminals, 12 word-processors and several electronic cal- culators and typewriters —and more changes are coming tomorrow! At the risk of sounding a little corny. I'll say that the most enjoyable part of the job is the students. I have met a lot of nice people here over the years. I still run into many of them and really feel great when they say, “Boy, you haven't changed a bit!” Now maybe they are putting me on. . . but it‘s a nice thing to say anyway. Bob LaFrance