Portsmouth High School - Legend Yearbook (Portsmouth, RI)

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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

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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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When 1 first started teaching at P.H.S., a tradition” which had developed was the annual Faculty-Varsity Soccer game played in the fall. Male faculty took the field against the varsity soccer team for a full after school game. Most teachers in those days could go for a full game, and although we usually lost, we put up a fairly respectable showing. Ob- viously, few of the faculty could still do that today without risking a coronary, but most of us would still enjoy the chance to engage in activities of that kind. Many of us have slowed down physically, but few of us have lost the desire to work with kids. It’s still fun and still challenging. Raymond Masse The first official day of classes at PHS was on Nov. 22, 1963 and I remember it as an eventful and exciting day. PHS was still un- der construction and classes were conducted in the A wing only. Our happiness soon end- ed when we were informed, in our class- rooms, that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. Since that day I have witnessed PHS exper- ience its ups and downs, its graduates be- coming civic leaders, business and profes- sional people and its athletic teams win championships. After twenty years, I still believe that PHS can only be as good as the students at PHS want it to be. Ray Sullivan Mrs Chace Mr Reed