Richmond High School - Shield Yearbook (Richmond, CA)

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we dedicate the shield Some people come especially equipped to deal with human- ity. Their nerves are iron; they burst with good will, vigilance, audacity, common-sense, humor and energy. They are, in short, dynamos with savvy. Our Dean of girls, Mrs. Dee Merritt, is such a dynamo. She never runs down, is everywhere at once, end- lessly listens, rarely collapses, never gives up. If we stop to think, Mrs. Merritt has one of the two toughest jobs in the school. She presides over the health, behavior and welfare of Richmond High’s female population. The mere thought staggers the imagi- nation. But not Mrs. Merritt. She knows when to hand out the candy and when the suspensions. That she does so with kind- ness and dash is very plain. Girls sidle up to her for small talk or to seek approval or to get a warm smile and big hello. What is more, she knows all of them by their right names. Her assistants, too, and co-workers praise her to the skies. Richmond got a real cool deal in this doll. No doubt some of Mrs. Merritt’s genius in handling teen-age girls comes from helping one of her own survive the trauma of growing up. This is Dana, now twenty, who attends U.C. at Santa Cruz. (Mom also knows plenty about boys. Her surviving son, Greg, is thirteen, and conquering the world in junior high). In- deed, Mrs. Merritt demonstrates that there is nothing like a mother’s heart to penetrate the motives of the young. Every girl, 4 who has ever been dealt with by our Dean, comes away knowing i that, generation gap or not, matters have been rightly under- Stood and straightened out. , Mrs. Merritt descended upon Richmond High with a rich and variegated background. Missouri born-and-bred, she came to Berkeley in her teens, had a by-line in the Berkeley Gazette, and graduated from Berkeley High School. Back in Missouri again, she spent three years at the university studying journalism and writing, only to quit and marry. Returning to California, she bore : her first two children and completed her education, getting an s A.B. in English from U.C., and an MA. in Psychology from Cal State in Hayward. For a while she lived in a housing project for i college students. After Practice-teaching at Harry Ells Junior q High, she taught in Red Bluff, where she put out the yearbook | for five years, and had her third child. Her next stop was College : Park High School in Concord, where she was Chairman of the English Department, and after that, Pittsburg High School, where she was Dean of Girls. Four years ago she became Dean of Girls of our North Campus. . Lest it be thought that Mrs. Merritt does nothing but pereg- rinate, we flatly declare that she is a homebody whose children ) have always stood first in her heart and commanded her bouna- less attention and care. She is quite noticeably mad about Greg, her banjo-playing son, taking him to his banjo lessons and jam sessions two nights a week. Her happy household in Concord runs like clockwork and her garden, in which she works like a beaver, is a sight to behold. The whole place is overrun by pets; two dogs, two cats, and tropical fish. We know that since her birth she has never been without a Snoopy of some kind. Books, too, abound, since she reads two and three a week, chiefly his- torical. She is always mucking around old towns and rooting through county courthouse records. Rather unexpectedly, she is a virtuoso with knitting and crochet needles, and only recently arrayed her daughter in two Merritt creations. We have it on good authority, however, that all these activities get done while she is on the telephone, for she seldom appears to be off it. Which means that Mrs. Merritt communicates. And we, the Shield Staff, get the message. So impressed are we and delighted, that we have chosen this less direct way of communicating to Mrs. Merritt our utter admiration, appreciation and love. Accept, dear Dean, this Shield. It is dedicated to you.

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of 1970-71 school year table of contents Highlights of ’70-’71 Dedication Foreword Administration Faculty Retiring Teachers Government Seniors Activities Underclassmen Juniors Sophomores Freshmen Activities Organizations Athletics Advertisements. Index Faculty Seniors Juniors Sophomores Freshmen Autographs 144 154 156 180 214 248 292 316 360 375 375 376 382 384 387 389

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to our dynamic dean BM arriving in Kansas City, Missouri, our honored one’s Koning warming smile is first portrayed at the age of six ly Uday] months. dich ales 3 0S ge Came ete, an lism aN . me As She boy yi a ee etting i from (a! ject fo | Junio | yearbool $ Collen an of th Ol, wher Nof Girk ut perea childret | a bound} | Out Greo and ja Concott Ks lei] When twelve years old, she becomes a musician. by pet since 1, Books iefly his d rodtt edly, st rece ave it 0! me Wht As an active two-year-old, Tiny Dee k h If b i - : a ie Pee ee anes She becomes accustomed to tricycle ; riding at the ripe old age of four. During her attendance at Garfield Junior High in Berkeley, she wears her formal. LEFT: Tap dancing and curls be- come part of her. Now our Dean is in high school. One of her dogs has a litter of puppies. Proud grandparents hold Dana and Doug, as Mama looks on.