Stuyvesant High School - Indicator Yearbook (New York, NY)

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0 Cllflllle A gffnef No man's life is limited to one endeavour. All men extend their efforts to more than one activity, and in Dr. Samuel Ellner's case this is especially true. Those who know him cannot think of him in but one light, but are influenced by him in a number of respects. He cannot be considered merely as a student and teacher, or only as an athlete or coach, or solely as a friend. Each of these is but a component part of his character. All his life every fiber of him has been bent toward the execution of his activities and has developed a spirit that has bound him firmly in the memory of those who have known him. Doc, as Samuel Ellner is affectionately known to all, is firm-willed and energetic, a fact that evidenced itself while he was still young. His driving ambition carried him from public school to Townsend Harris High School and subsequently to City College, Columbia, The State College of Teachers at Albany and New York University. Because of his excellent work he has gained several degrees, one of them qualifying him to practice law Cwhich he manages to do in his meagre spare timel. His boundless vigor did not allow him to remain static, and he entered the teaching field. As a teacher, he has imparted to his students not only the banal, everyday subject matter, but the will and vigor to consummate their ambitions. When Doc Ellner came to Stuyvesant High School to teach, he unselfishly pitched into the extra-curricular work which plays such an important part in the school life of the students. Before taking charge of the basketball squad, he coached the cross-country team and the track team. There are many highly rated ball players with national reputations who have been developed by him. As a coach, Doc does not demand that all of his players be experts. He only asks that they devote all their energy to the competition in which they are engaged. lt is not the excellent training that his players received that has endeared Doctor Ellner to them. lt is the spirit of fair play and clean living which he has imbued in them, that stands as a monument to his work. For years, Doc has spent countless afternoons and Saturdays to inculcate in his players the spirit that motivated him in his remarkably active career. He is more than a teacher or a coach. He is a true friend, not a transient one, but one in whom all can find solace and advice. lt is in the capacity of friend and confidant that we like to think of Doctor Ellner. He has achieved and influenced others to realize the happy medium of scholarship and athletics. His mail is full of letters of appreciation from the hundreds of students whom he has befriended, and to whom he remains a friend. Indeed, Doc must find satisfaction in what he has done. He does not need the praise and laudation accorded him, to spur him further in his unceasing efforts to aid those who stand in need of it. What he has accomplished may well become the goal of all students, and his character stands as a model for our generation. It is, therefore, a sincere pleasure to dedicate this issue of the Indicator to a teacher, a coach, and above all, a friend, Doctor Samuel Harrison Ellner. INDICATOR Seven

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SAMUEL H ELLNER STUYVESANT

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30 lA? C1055 0 Clfllflaldg In the long chain of friendships it has been my good fortune to experience, there have been many linksfesome steel, some silver, some goldusome as delicate as a breath. All, however, have brought me the deep satisfaction which only real friendship affords. It is as a friend that I like to feel I am regarded by many generations of Stuyvesant men. Teacher, coach, friendf-chemistry, basketball, devotion: these are not wholly unrelated. Chemistry may have its ninety-two elements: basketball may have its countless complexities, friendship is a simple thing for all who hold it dear. Sports and studies tap the same resources in menecourage, cooperation, understanding, endurance, enthusiasm. Athlete and student are both judged by the thoroughness with which they shoulder their responsibilities and work out their results. As your friend, may I earnestly try to impress upon you that youkand we here at Stuyvesant-will be judged by our accomplishments. You may erect towers which the world will admire or bridges which the world will use, you may dig into the mysteries of the laboratory, or, through literature, of the human mind. Yet your building will eventually be torn down: your bridges wrecked, perhapsy your experiments disprovedg your book forgotten in the dust of library shelves. Why then should you study? Why plan? Why train for the gridiron or court, the drafting-table or the transit, the consulting room or office? All this you do for your innermost self. All this you do for a sound mind in a sound body. You do it all for the satisfaction of doing it well. There is as much of a thrill in knowing the right answer to a question as in dropping a ball neatly through a basket, in knowing the best way of solving a real problem as in piercing the defense of an opposing team, in securing your own unspoken approbation as in earning the cheers of a gallery. Out of both your studies and your sports should come a sound way of thinking and a sound way of feeling called sportsmanship. Out of your contacts with faculty and fellow-students should emerge the realization that among them-sharing your experiences and your growth-are true friends. Come back to Stuyvesant from time to time to renew your friendships. It will be a warming experience for you-- as it is to us--to greet the faculty, not as teachers, but as individuals who are sincerely your well-wishers. You will find former classmates grown to new stature, as you meet them in the halls where you once shared your good times. Come back to show us that you still have the spirit of Stuyvesant in your hearts, the spirit that o'er-leaps obstacles as it reaches from the stars. Your friend, Qigiit STUYVESANT