Richmond High School - Shield Yearbook (Richmond, CA)

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The Class of 1962 leaves Richmond Union High School in the company of four unusually distinguished teachers, Mrs. Ruth Berger, Chairman of the Home- making Department, Mrs. Elvira Leam and Mrs. Alice Cooke, teachers of English, and Miss Nell Baggley, teacher of Commercial subjects. Each of these teachers See et A o ee Dedzcation of the § MRS. RUTH BERGER Mrs. Berger is a charter member of that rare breed, ‘‘the young in heart. ’ Even though she has been at R.U.H.S. for thirty-seven years, she still has all the bounce of a youngster. Rumor has it that she has never missed a school game or play or concert. Certainly she loves our old school with a passion, and is easily its most fervent booster. With her retirement (downright untimely and uncalled-for), R.U.H.S. will never be the same, and the flood of fine cookery that has spread over the world from her classroom will miserably subside. Although she is California to the bone, Mrs. Berger was born in Jefferson, lowa, grew up there with three sisters and a brother, and graduated from lowa State University. In her progress to California she taught school for a year in Little Rock, Arkansas, and shortly thereafter came to R.U.H.S. where she rooted herself, to everyone's delight. Now that she is going to uproot herself, no doubt she will continue to make Hawaii her favorite stamping-ground, and repeat her great journey of 1960 through Europe. It is also likely that her garden will grow, under her grass-green thumb, even more beautiful, that she will go on c ollecting old glass and China, engage in her usual philanthropic activities, and in general make the world a brighter place because of her warm and buoyant nature. In this connection it may be said that R.U.H.S. has performed a highly meritorious deed in giving up Mrs. Berger to the world at large. However, we have the feeling that the habits of thirty-seven years cannot be easily overcome, and that we shall often have occasion to rejoice at her rousing presence in our future rooting sections, and other such places, where the young in heart gather together. MRS. ALICE COOKE Mrs. Cooke is one of the gayest, kindest, and most happily serene people we know. Her friends unanimously avow that she is a prodigy of all that is gracious and good. For our own part, we have never heard her say an unkind word or seen her do an unkind deed. On the contrary, we have observed, her time and. again, temper justice with heedless mercy. From all this, it is clear that we admire Mrs. Cooke intensely, and find it hard to accept the fact that we are going to lose her. We loved studying and learning in the atmosphere of her sunny optimism and good will. Mrs. Cooke intends to embark almost immediately upon a career of high adventure. With Mr. Cooke, she will indulge her predilection for camping and the great out-of-doors, by taking to the road in a trailer, and zigzagging down to Florida tor an indefinite stay. Because she is full of fun, a marvellous organizer, extremely orderly (she can always find things), and fast moving, we wish that we could tag along and enjoy the good times. Certainly Mrs. Cooke is not unused to travelling. She was born in Palo Alto, and then lived successively in New Zealand, Chicago, Ohio, Toronto, and Vancouver. She went to school in Canada, and graduated from both the University of Columbia and the University of California. Before she taught school, she taught the violin, and in her palmy days was a fine and enthusiastic musician. She joined the faculty of R.U.H.S. in 1943. It is rumored that Mrs. Cooke is soon to be a grandmother. This seems fantastic to us, since we are of the opinion that Mrs. Cooke long ago discovered the fountain of youth. Whatever the case may be, we know that her journey to Florida will result in no search for nostrums, panaceas, and certainly no fountains. We know this because whatever the secret of a happy life may be, Mrs. Cooke obv iously carries it like a glowing light in her own heart. has the of s este Shie Q0 -+ - 3 nh 0O- TKI H+ oOo rnm OD = =F a uh

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MONIKA GERDA SACHSE . ANNA ROSA Berlin, West Germany Trento, Italy Berkeley High School Hayward High School JACKS TSALICOGOU EMILIO FERNANDO BARRIONUEVO Greece Cordoba, Argentina El Cerrito High School Berkeley High School MATILDE TARRONDA | CHRISTINE DARDEL Madrid, Spain Belgium Encinal High School El Cerrito High School

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he Shield of 1962 y of has worked long’ and faithfully, and each has made her influence felt in both yme- the day-to-day business of school and, more subtly, in the lives of the thousands lish, of students who have passed through her classes. To these teachers, with love, -hers esteem and appreciation, we, the Class of 1962, wholeheartedly dedicate our Shield. MRS. ELVIRA LEAM Everything about Mrs. Leam indicates that she loves people and loves | to have them around. She teaches in a sea of humanity and thrives; enter- i tains all the time and is happy; dotes on her husband, father and daughter and is deeply content. Indeed she feels thoroughly at home in the family t of man, and makes everyone else feel at home as well. Such a person { makes a fine teacher. In her there is no sharp impatience at the foibles of | the young, only understanding. This does not mean that Mrs. Leam is not the captain of her classroom. She is, but with such a delicate blend of courtesy and firmness that her students feel proper classroom decorum to be as right as rain. Most probably Mrs. Leam's unhurried perfectionism, love of neatness and order, gracious hospitality, effortless artistry as housewife and mother, and regard for the comfort of others, derive in part from her splendid Icelandic ancestry. Although she no longer speaks the Icelandic of her parents, she understands it perfectly. Nor has she forgotten the examples of parental strength and resourcefulness which fortified her childhood and youth in Minnesota where she was born and raised and from whose university she was graduated. Like the years of her youth, the eighteen years which Mrs. Leam has taught at R.U.H.S. hive been good and happy ones, but now a natural end has come to them. For, with the retirement of her husband from business, Mrs. Leam has decided to retire, too. They plan to leave the Richmond area, and live out their lives in their charming house on the shore of Lake Tahoe. Although we deeply regret that Mrs. Leam is leaving us and our community, we rejoice in the many cloudless years that await her and her husband in their home by the fabled lake. a (ee ee eae, ee Se ee MISS NELL BAGGLEY Miss Baggley is blessed with drive and a perfect sense of direction. Hence, her classes proceed with energy and purpose, and her students emerge with skills honed to the finest possible edge. Clearly, Miss Baggley puts over her subject, rather than herself. In a sense this is a pity, because she is such an astonishing person. Her wit and humor are a byword among her friends, and so are her passion for ideas, devotion to principle, depth of learning, and love of beauty. Two of the chief joys of her life are travelling and literature. Many times has she voyaged across the face of the earth and many times has she written her exquisite poems and had them published. Miss Baggley was born in England, raised in California, and educated at the University in Berkeley. Although her A.B. was in English literature, she chose to take her M.A. in Business, a subject she thought much less heart-breaking to teach. Miss Baggley taught in two high schools before she came to R.U.H.S. in 1943, bringing with her vigor, forthrightness, and truly superb teaching skills. In the ensuing years, despite periods of almost desperate ill-health, Miss Baggley went through each day as though nothing at all were the matter. Inde ed, she set up and brilliantly pioneered the course of Office Practice. Now, unfortunately for us, Miss Baggley has chosen to retire from the uneven battle, and pursue a more restful way of life. We have reason to believe that henceforward she will spend golden hours in her Japanese garden, whenever she is not immersed in the mysteries of poetic composition, or standing in the bow of some ship pointed toward her favorite land of Japan. ee, eS ee Se) ae SU eS —S ss fe oP Ww Vl