Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP QUALIFYING TEST Somerville High is proud to call attention to the four seniors who have been honored for their high performance on the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test which was given last spring. Gerard Cavanaugh, Allan Howe, and An- drew D'Agostino each received a formal Letter of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, for their high scores. In addition to the three Letters of Com- mendation, Somerville High also had one student Benjamin Levy in the semi-finals. We are all proud of these four seniors who have brought credit to S.H.S. THE NATIONAL CONVENTION OF STUDENT COUNCILS The National Convention of Student Coun- cils is held as an effort to unite the individual Student Councils into a closer bond. We at Somerville High School are proud to think that Ricky Lepore, president of our own Stu- dent Council, was able to attend such an en- joyable and educational affair through his office as President of the Student Councils of Eastern Massachusetts. As luck would have it, Rick did not have to travel far, for this year’s convention was held in Bangor, Maine. The date of departure was Sunday, June 28. By mid-afternoon he had registered at the Municipal Auditorium in Bangor and was on his way to the home of Dr. Wadsworth, his host for five days. To end a hectic first day, Rick, along with his three roommates from Texas, Virginia and Staten Island attended a cook-out. By Monday morning the Convention had gotten into full swing. In the Memorial Gym at the University of Maine, five-hundred dele- gates gathered for the first General Session. These delegates, comprised chiefly of district officers from all fifty states, Mexico and England, were cordially greeted by Gov. John II. Reed’s introductory speech. After this hour and a half “ice-breaking” cere- mony, the delegates emerged as friends, not as strangers. At Tuesday’s General Session an impres- sive speech was delivered by Count Adle- mann, the head of N.A.T.O. The delegates were then divided into discussion groups which discussed ways of improving Student Council relations. This was followed by a pleasurable bus trip to Bar Harbor, Maine and that night, a cook-out and dance were held for the delegates. F. C. Stukenbroken, agent of the F.B.I., was the guest speaker at Wednesday’s Session. Again there were discussion groups but the topic was evaluating the role of the Student Council and ways to improve school and council spirit. As an added attraction, Bangor High School put on its “Talent Show” featuring a segment of “Alice in Wonder- land” which was the same act that had been highly praised at the World’s Fair. The president of the student councils of Maine opened the fourth and final General Session on Thursday. At this meeting it was announced that next year’s National Con- vention would be held in Kentucky and the following year’s in the state of Washington. At the conclusion of the meeting, everybody crossed and joined hands in a “friendship circle” signifying a union, strength, and wealth that money does not give. Twelve

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DISASTER DRILL Dale Triber ’65 There we were scattered around the floor of 149, “Please, make sure you tell them I’m back here. Remember I’m supposed to be in shock, and I can’t speak! If I just lie here without making a sound they’re sure to pass over me.” “So what, you think you’ve troubles! My whole left hand is radioactively burned and it’s sweating buckets from the moulage. I forgot all those method acting tricks, and I’m finding it very difficult to come out with any really convincing screams.” “Will you please start screaming so they’ll be sure to find us, and please DON’T forget to tell them I’m back here in shock.” This may sound rather comical but it was serious business on October the eighth. There were scenes like this throughout the east building of the High School. On that day Somerville High School participated in a city- wide civil defense alert. Fifty-five students had been chosen to act as casualties in a simulated plane crash at the High School. The whole student body, excluding these fifty-five, was evacuated from the building shortly after 10:00 o’clock. Within minutes after the alert was sounded fire engines, police cars, and ambulances had rushed to the campus. The fire department was assigned to locate and extricate the fifty-five “injured” pupils. Each one of these students supposedly had a specific injury. Some wore moulages, plastic coverings that look like real injuries, while others were painted up with lipstick to look as though they had bad cuts and lacerations. The firemen found the students, and got them out of the building according to the seriousness of their injury. Those who had leg injuries or were very seriously hurt, such as my pal at the back of the room who was in shock, were taken out on stretchers, while others were helped out by the firemen. The students were placed in ambulances and rushed to the two Somerville hospitals. Each hospital had a special disaster area set up with all the necessary medical instru- ments and preparations to take care of the wounded. Doctors had been called in as if for an actual emergency. The staffs examined, diagnosed, and prescribed for each of the fifty-five “casualties.” The pupils were taken care of according to the gravity of their injury. Those who had only small injuries were given first aid and discharged, while the more serious casualties were admitted to the hospital and put in wards. After everyone had been patched up, the students congregated to have lunch at the two hospitals. Somerville is one Greater Boston city that has a complete and efficient disaster plan. This drill was carried out to see just how effectively the community’s emergency facil- ities could operate in case of such an emergency. For those of us who actually took part in this mock disaster it was an exciting and informative experience. The entire school has been commended by the press and T.V. for their maturity in the face of so serious a drill. Some of us even got a chance to watch ourselves on television because all three Boston networks had film coverage of the drill. Everyone certainly wants to take their hats off to the firemen, policemen, and the doctors and nurses of the Somerville and Central Hospitals who did such a magnificent job in making the drill realistic and success- ful. Thanks also to the hospital dieticians who made those delicious, unlikely, hospital meals, such as spaghetti, and submarine sandwiches. Eleven

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BOYS’ STATE —1964 Benjamin N. Levy ’65 Massachusetts Boys’ State of 196-4 was held from Friday, June 19, to Saturday, June 27. Its purpose, as stated in the Americanism Manual of The American Legion, was “to educate our youth in the duties, rights, and responsibilities of American citizenship.” To effect this end, the local American Legion posts sponsored Salvatore Trapani, Gerard Cavanaugh, Kent Solberg, and Benjamin Levy to attend this 18th session at the Am- herst campus of the University of Massachu- setts. We were struck upon our arrival in Am- herst by the massiveness of the campus, so big and so green. And in the week to come this huge size impressed us even more as we hiked all over it in the oppressive 100 heat. This did not deter us, however, from gaining much knowledge about the law and govern- ment in the Commonwealth. On the first evening, Senator and former Secretary of State Joseph Ward administered the pledge to the Boys’ Staters. On subse- quent evenings we heard then Department Commander of the A. L., Thomas Abely; State Commissioner cf Education, Owen B. Kiernan; Chairman of the Auburn School Committee, Robert LeBaire; the late State Auditor, Thomas Buckley; Tufts University Dean Richard A. Kelley; a West Point cadet; and then Registrar of Motor Vehicles, James Lawton. All the fellows were divided into cities or towns and counties. The quartet from S.H.S. found themselves in Eisenhower and Mac- Arthur Counties and the Cities of Aisne, Bel- leau, and Normandy. The first order of busi- ness was a division of the entire group into two political parties, the Federalists and the Nationalists. Then came the election of city officials, followed by the formation of the county and state governments. Emotion reached a i cak at the party nominating con- ventions, which were held coincidentally on the same day as the Massachusetts Demo- cratic Convention in Pittsfield, a short dis- tance away. Somerville did fine,with Sal’s be- coming a Governor’s Councillor, Gerry’s elec- tion as Mayor of Belleau, Kent’s nomination as city party chairman, and Ben’s becoming layout editor of the daily Boys’ State news- paper. High point of the week was the visit of the Governor of Girls’ State, which had been held the week before. Our governor pinned a corsage on her, as a gift from all the boys. She received a standing ovation and gave us a very informative talk on patriotism. This event occasioned much preparation, includ- ing the washing of several hundred Boys' State T-shirts!! The 1964 Boys’ State was an excellent opportunity for us to learn much about our state and local governments and about our privileges under the law and responsibilities as citizens. It is really too bad that more bays could not have attended. We would like to thank the Legion posts who sponsored us and express our hope that they will be able to send many more boys in the future. MASSACHUSETTS GIRLS’ STATE Dianne Clark ’65 Massachusetts Girls’ State is sponsored annually by The American Legion Auxiliary. A high school junior from each city or town is sent by the local Auxiliary Unit. It is held each year at the campus of Bridgewater Teachers’ College for one week in June. “Learn by Doing” is the motto and the girls certainly had a busy schedule of things to do. Governments were formed on the town or city, county, and state levels. Each girl was assigned a city, a county, and as a member of one of the parties. I was assigned to the City of Tolerance, County of Understanding and I was a member of the Federal Party. In the city elections held the second day I was de- feated for the office of Mayor, but appointed the Chief of Police by a very gracious op- ponent. After that election was over, we had t) elect party officials. Then we had to elect our state officials. Judy Broder of South- bridge was elected governor in a campaign that the Republicans and Democrats would have had to try hard to beat. When rallies and Thirteen