Rickards High School - Anumpa Yearbook (Tallahassee, FL)

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The school year 1967-1968 was a year of many firsts for RHS. There were more students than ever before giving the school stronger spirit and more pride, but also causing an overflow of the new facilities. Portable classrooms were built apart from the school for the overabundance of students, often making it difficult for them to get to classes in rough weather. New traditions were started, new honors were claimed by our students, new clubs were formed, and our sports teams set many new records. Recognition by the people of Tallahassee was won as our students and organizations won honors and performed in various civic activities. District conventions were held at the school. New teachers and students ioined the sea of faces and many became outstanding. Rickards reached a high form of maturity this year as many set goals were reached and accomplished. It was a year of expansion, change, and even revo- lution. Our own little revolutions .... First there was the problem of integration. This year the population of RHS was 22'Ma Negroes. Along with them came the expected tension and problems. As the year progressed many of these problems were solved, not always to the satisfaction of the individuals involved but almost always to the benefit of the student body as a whole. The teacher walkout was a crisis for the students of RHS. In the many weeks the teachers were out school spirit, attitudes, conduct, and student participation suffered severely. The teachers left the classes for the overpopulated school they had grown to care for and love. A lack of materials, overcrowding, and poor conditions were among the reasons stated which led up to the event that was to last much too long. During the walkout students were torn between two loyalties, the school and former teachers. It was mass confusion as substitutes strived to fill in as replacements. Letters to the Democrat poured in from students either backing, ridiculing, or begging the teachers to come back. Many got permission to go to the FEA meetings for a better understanding of the situation. There wasn't anyone who wasn't concerned or unharmed by the crisis. Things were only roughly ironed out. Our sports teams put out a tremendous effort this year having their best seasons ever. The football season was one for all students and alumni to be proud. It was a successful season with seven wins out of nine games. The Homecoming game was one of the high- lights of the year as we beat the Perry Bulldogs 21-6, with seniors Charles Hall and Wanda West reigning as Rickards third Home- coming King and Queen. The basketball season was one cheered on by the faithful cheerleaders and fans. Both the Varsity and Junior Varsity had winning seasons, the Varsity with a 19-5 and the Junior Varsity a 22-2. A seventh and eighth grade basketball team was organized, complete with their own cheerleaders. Track season turned out to be iust as good as football and basketball. The Rickards track team won more meets in the 1968 season than in all other three years combined. Baseball season ended with a 5-10 record. Traditions were established ..... A Miss Anumpa pageant, to be sponsored annually by the Anumpa staff, will choose a senior girl to represent our school. Her attendants will consist of one girl form each grade level. The Business Education Department chose to elect students of the month and a Miss Secretary for a yearly tradition. Traditions among senior students were set all through the year. Open lunch was one of the first and one of the most important. It had a good start and will hopefully be continued. Others were the senior parking lot, senior take-over day fseniors conduct the schooll, and other privileges. There were many special money-making projects sponsored by the various clubs and organizations. Some of these were dances, rummage sales, bake sales, candy sales, carwashes, sock sales, spirit boosters, as well as many more. The Student Council, often the backbone of the school, organized a program to raise 51,000 to build a school for the unfortunate youngsters in another country, under the sponsorship of the Peace Corps. The 1968 Anumpa is the largest annual Rickards has ever had. The staff worked many long hard hours striving for an All-American rating. Journalism students attended conventions and clinics trying to broaden their knowledge on the latest trends and styles. The school newspaper provided both news and entertainment for the students. It offered an opportunity for the students to express their views, both the pros and the cons. The newspaper, the proiects, the dances, the work, all these helped to build school spirit and an attitude toward Rickards that is in- describable. All these make up the most important thing in a school-unity. Without unity all the work in the world will amount to noth- ing, no matter how many honors gained, how many records broken, how much money raised. Without this factor, unity, it amounts to little. The joys and sorrows of the year were marked by all the occasions and events taking place. Many were long awaited and some were unexpected. The coming end of the year's events was finished by the Junior-Senior Prom. The prom provided a unique and spe- cial atmosphere for this long awaited for occasion. As graduation neared the eventful night placed fears and anticipation in the minds of many. This year's graduating class proved to be the largest in the history of Rickards. Relief was an emotion that all seniors experienced as they realized the end of the year was approaching. But with this relief came many other emotions, with doubt and fear being the most prominent. The years of hectic activi- ty, long hours of hard work, the tears for a lost game, and the smiles for a victory were over. The end of the year released to the world many young adults with high hopes, qualifications, and expectations. No longer will the work and the activity have an assured end, there will be no guarantee of success. Questions fill the minds of the seniors. Will I fail? Will I succeed? What shall I do with myself? The impact of the year, the emotions, the memories will affect all who attended Rickards. Who can ever forget the masses scurrying between classes? The soaked seventh graders running to the portables? The hush in assemblies? The vibrant crowds at games? The stu- dents working on various activities after school-and sometimes on Saturday and Sundays? The hopes-whether for a nomination to an office, acceptance to a club, or for an A in a course? The foreboding when your name is called over the intercom? The feeling of tri- umph during the first days of open lunch? The freezing days without heat? Walking through the open halls in stormy weather? The loy- al friends gained? The first football game of the season? The long awaited holidays? The charged atmosphere during the teacher walk-out? The tears streaming down the faces of those graduating? The disappointments? The victories? The tragedies, the ioys, the fears? All these moments, these and many more, will be yours forever, all stored, to be held and taken out next week, next year, or even a decade from now, when they may have to be dusted off to bring them all back.

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