Reading Memorial High School - Pioneer Yearbook (Reading, MA)

Page 7 text:

Fellow classmates, Four years of high school are over. For some of us, they have been the best years of our lives; for others, they have been the worst. One thing, however, that we can say for each member of the Class of ' B-4 is that these years were nothing like the warn¬ ing George Orwell gave in 1984 . In fact, no where in the world do we see Orwell’s society, one comprised solely of brain-washed individuals controlled by a few. The opposite is particularly true of RMHS in the sense that we neither fulfilled George Orwell’s fears nor did we follow the precedents of past classes. The Class of ' 84 showed tremendous initiative and determination in altering old pat¬ terns. Our Junior Prom was the first in Reading’s history to be held outside of the high school. In addition, we staged two particularly successful fundraisers, the Shaw Brothers’ Con¬ cert and the Magic Show. In the following pages, the editors of Pioneer S 4 have aspired to portray the individualism of our class. We hope that these pages will serve as a reminder of Orwell’s warning, and as an illustration of comparable hope. Sincerely, Martha Dustin, Bill Herzog

Page 6 text:

Editor-in-Chief Martha Dustin Literary Co-editors Lisa George Susan Luther Senior Profiles Co-editors Cindy Hoyle Lea Anne Plourde Photography Co-editors Rob Gollari Jeff Wagner Art Layout Co-editors Kim Beede Sandy Brietzke Asst. Editor-in-Chief Bill Herzog Business Manager Diane DiGiovanni Asst. Business Manager Bill Bartosch Advisor James Chetwynd Special Thanks Terry Bleiler Dick Gillis Guy Garron Dur Staffs 3

Page 8 text:

Lisa Cummings Patrice McNeil Lisa Thompson Michele Rhoades Our junior year in high school — a time for fun, laugh¬ ter, friendship — and a time for growth. In the span of those few short months, we lost four friends in tragedies over which we had no control. Suddenly our class was forced to look at death from a new perspec¬ tive — not as something that happens to older people, but as something that can happen to teenagers as well. When Lisa Thompson died in November of 1 982, feelings of shock, anger, frustration and depression gripped the students and faculty of RMHS. It was im¬ possible to understand how a person our own age could suddenly be taken from us. Three months later when another freak accident claimed the lives of Michele Rhoades, Patrice McNeil, and Lisa Cummings, we began to realize the extent of our own vulnerability. No longer was death a far away stranger — we had begun to grow up. During the months following these tragedies, the reality of death drew us together and strengthened many friendships. We realized that people may die at any age; therefore, we came to value to a greater extent those around us. In our four years at Reading Memorial High School we have met many outstanding faculty members who have helped us prepare for the future in different ways. But the death of four friends has bonded our class together and left an impression that will never be for¬ gotten. Because their deaths have so deeply affected our class, we dedicate Pioneer ' 84 to the memory of Lisa, Michele, Patrice, and Lisa. We love you. A