Richard Montgomery High School - Rocket Yearbook (Rockville, MD)

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Your Year ♦ ♦ Echoes Progress Years ago, a school such as Richard Montgomery would have seemed an unattainable dream, but now, through the efforts of thinking men, it is no longer a dream, but a reality. The growth of the American school system has gone hand in hand with the progress of our nation since its foundation. Without the existence of education open to all it could never have become the world leader it is today. In our own school, the year 1952-53 has been one of aims achieved. The opening of the new gym and classrooms was the greatest event in the school’s history since it was built in 1940. Other things have marked the onward and upward march of progress. The public address system, greater enrollment, new clubs, a printed newspaper, band uniforms—all these reflect our growth and our ability to appreciate our schools and the free nation in which they are possible. Many advantages which have shown the progress of our way of life are often taken for granted. Our freedoms to choose our own course of study, to have the students advise regulations and punishments, to take recreational courses such as gym and glee club, to have free discussion and choice of opinion are privileges which have existed for a comparatively short time in public schools. Such benefits as these would have seemed miraculous but a few hundred years ago and still would appear beyond belief in those countries where only a slight education is possible or where every aspect of teaching is dictated by the state. In the pages of this book, the 1953 ROCKET staff attempts to record some of the progress that this year has shown in Richard Montgomery. We hope that they will always help you to remember the events which made this year a memorable one. 2

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ROCKET 1953 Published by the Students of Richard Montgomery High School Rockville, Maryland

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0 A Friend 0 A Scholar 0 A Leader Behind every building is a hammer, and behind that hammer is a man. Behind every machine is power, and behind the harnessing of that power is a man. Behind all progress is a plan, And behind all plan is a man— mentally and physically. That man in the Richard Montgomery school community is Mr. J. J. Tarallo, our principal. Mr. Tarallo came to our school in 1943 as a commercial teacher. Serving his country during the war years as a Naval Lieutenant, he returned to become Vice-Principal at Mont- gomery Blair. Accepting the principalship of Richard Montgomery in 1947 meant a dream come true, but more, it was the initial phase of a long, hard task of converting ideas and ideals to reality. With the completion of the addition, 1952-53 marked a definite milestone in the Richard Montgomery highway of progress. With honor we dedicate the ROCKET that features the progress of our school to one of the men responsible for that progress—Mr. J. J. Tarallo. 3