Venango Christian High School - Saga Yearbook (Oil City, PA)

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TOMORROW’S TRADITIONS Members of the senior class of Venango Christian have placed their orders, and soon will have their school rings. They will be the first of a succession of senior classes who will cherish, live with, and abide by the unwritten rule of the ring. The right flank is a replica of the school’s coat of arms. The shield is tierced in pairle or and sable (divided in three equal parts). The central or chief portion is a maltese cross and stole borrowed from the crest of John Mark Gannon, Archbishop, Bishop of Erie. This is also representative of the Bene- dictine Sisters who have served the community for over ninety years. The stole, a symbol of the Dioce- san Priesthood, encloses the crown to acknowledge the diocesan char- acter of the school whose develop- ment was part of a master plan which includes five high schools and St. Mark’s Seminary. It is em- blazoned with six roundels which are symbolic of the six parishes represented at Venango Christian: St. Joseph, St. Stephen, Help of Christians, Assumption, St. Ven- antius, and St. Patrick. Environment The derrick dexter represents the communities of Franklin and Oil City, the immediate circle of in- fluence upon which Venango Chris- tian education will have its effect. The mountains indicate the source from which the school draws its youth, while the river winding its way through the mountains depicts the common link among the chain of parishes under whose patronage the institution evolved. The plowshare reminds the stu- dent of his obligation to his federal, state, and local governments. This symbol is adopted from the coat of arms of the Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania. The sinister side of the field, the V-bark sailing onward, represents the Venango Christian High School student (the ship is a figure often used to denote the search for wis- dom). The sails are inflated by the breath of the Holy Spirit, the store- house of all understanding. On the sail, a simple star symbolizing Mary, Star of the Sea, Stella Maris” sheds its guiding light on the bark. This star is displayed on the shield of His Excellency, the Most Reverend Bishop Edward Peter McManaman, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Erie, who has chos- en Mary, the constant aid of spir- itual mariners, as his special pa- troness. Return To God The inscription Reddite Deo” (return to God) is taken from the scriptural passage Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and to God that which is God’s.” The crown of Mary, Queen of Saints, is a reminder of the promise that he who directs his talents and activities to the will of God in his life will return to God sanctified. The chief tinctures of the shield- black and gold—are the school colors. The left flank of the ring pic- tures the torch of wisdom surround- ed by the American and Papal flags. This is the symbol of the student’s adult life which includes learning to live, the democracy of living, and the spiritual life of a Christian. The book and mortarboard resting on the olive branch signify the achievements of the Venango grad- uate. An onyx stone inserted in a gold setting carries out the school color theme. The stone itself has been left uncovered so that it can be seen in its entirety. Seniors expect to receive their rings around Christmastime. EITHER, OR Are extra-curriculum activities advantageous or detrimental to a student?” Judy Fitzgerald, a junior, has ex- pressed her opinions by saying, Extra-curriculum activities not only give you greater knowledge of great books and important mate- rial, but also give a school spirit. The students are then working to- gether and aiming for one goal, the betterment of themselves and their school.” Yet, Pat Henry, a junior, dis- agreed with everything previously stated. She believes, School ac- tivities take too much time from our essential studies and after we leave school, it is of little value. Many others have found a sub- stantial life without the use of forensic activities, etc. I feel it is really detrimental, for it detracts from study periods, the valuable time needed in order to be a good student.” Continued on page 15

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VENANGO CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL Vol. 1, No. 1 Oil City, Pennsylvania Fall 1962 OF SENATES AND SENATORS To the Student Council is dele- gated the task of carrying to the faculty the problems of the stu- dents, and vice versa. Along with this main job is a score of other smaller duties that the Council must juggle into some kind of equi- librium. So, after two months of dubious operation, our Student Council has demonstrated admir- able progress in smoothing out the COUNCIL PRESIDENT CALLAHAN . . . and where does responsibility end? rough details of many student routines. The October magazine drive was begun to provide extra funds to de- fray costs of certain school neces- sities, such as audio-visual aids. The drive started very poorly, how- ever, and by the end of half the time period, the results were very disheartening—few subscriptions and fewer active salesmen. After the emergency Council meeting, action began to happen fast. It was decided that more life and vim were needed in the school, so Connie Rinaldo volunteered to spearhead publicity. Extra time was granted in the morning before classes to allow students to make returns. Before long, the beefed-up organi- zation of the drive began to tell, and five days later, at its end, the school had gone $1,000 over its quota, to nearly $3,600 in sales. Since then the Council has oc- cupied its limited time by sweeping up minor problems, such as the sale of school supplies in the Book Store, and the raising and lowering of the American flag in front of the school each morning. Fine cooper- ation by members quickly dispensed with these difficulties. Class Officers and Litterbugs Next came a tricky decision that called for some thought. The elec- tion of individual class officers was discussed, and the Council concluded that the class president would be chosen from the class’ Council representation and the sec- retary-treasurer from the class at large. Reference was made to the fact that a class president could be either a boy or a girl, and that the students should consider ability only. Most recently decided upon by the Council was a littering problem that created an unsightly area out- side the A exit. This is the door area open to students during the noon hour, where they may eat candy, ice cream, etc. Thus the area is subject to quite a bit of rubbish and led to a general eye- sore. Upon Council recommenda- tion a trash bucket was placed at the A door and has greatly im- proved the situation. The Council paid tribute to the students who recognized a true need and con- scientiously disposed of waste paper in the bucket rather than around the campus. The Council has shown that it is ready to tackle any VC problem and fight it out. 2

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Sportorama AN OBITUARY By Mike Yaeger Losing five football games is a mighty tough pill for Venango Chris- tian High School to swallow, es- pecially since they wanted so badly to set a fine precedent for the new school, But such is the way of fickle fate sometimes, and we can still learn a lesson from adversity: how to be good losers, how to tight- en our belts and keep on fighting; how to ignore discouragement. Looking back over the score- boards, it seems we might have won a couple of those games. The 13-13 tie with Cambridge Springs and the 12-6 takeover by Green- ville's Irishmen” were losses that could have been victories. We timed our drives wrong for the Cambridge Springs game. Two winning touch- downs might have come out of some push deep into enemy territory, but halftime halted one and the end of the game another. For the season's opener we had to settle for a tie. The second game Venango played was with Randolph-East Mead High School. This was the first game away from home and maybe the team felt a little strange. Randolph had the edge on us for weight, and we played the first half like we played the second, that 13-6 loss might have been reversed. We Might Hove The Greenville fray on September 22 was a close one. St. Mike's ac- complished all its scoring in the first quarter. We didn't warm up quickly enough. Once we did, how- ever, we kept their defense jumping. We plunged deep into their territory, made it to the 5-yard line once, to the 6-yard line another time. We needed so little, but whatever it was, we didn't get it. Down 12-6. So we had the spark plugs cleaned for the Kanty Prep game on Sept. 29. For the first th ee quarters we held them to a 6-0 lead. Again we came near paydirt several times. We hit their 5-yard line, and we missed. The fourth quarter killed us. A fourth-down pass in the end zone, a 55-yard scoring play and a 49-yard running play dazzled our gridders. When the fog lifted, Ven- ango Christian's black and gold were left behind to contemplate a 25-0 loss. Bradford's St. Bernard's team set us down most decisively October 6 when they romped away with the ball game to the tune of 42-0, on their own field. Venango just couldn't hold them. They say you have to crawl be- fore you can run, but Venango is tired of crawling. Some one of these years, we're going to paste two good halves together and come up with a win. BANDAGE BRIGADE To find the real competitive spirit in Venango Christian High School, sit in on a few gym classes. Under Mr. Zagorski's guidance, the fresh- men teams, eight sophomore teams, 6 junior teams, and 6 senior teams have completed the first phase of an intensive physical training program, basketball. Two freshmen teams, the Flush- ers” and the Falcons,” share the VENANGO MOVES Let him go; he deserves another try championship in their division. Led by Bill Tipping, the victorious Flush- ers are R. Schiffer, J. Streczywilk, J. Voloshin, and T. Koziara. The Falcons are Captain Jerry Beich- ner, T. Barr, P. Bouquin, T. Tarr, J. Serafin, A real battle souped up the soph- omore contests. The Zephers” with big scorer Tony Schill led most of the season and were heavily favored. However, Dave Henderson's Commanches” fought like their namesakes, came up from behind, and succeeded in tying the taller teams. The playoff battle proved disasterous for the Zephers as the winners romped off with a 10-8 victory. Commanche team members are J. Frawley, W. Hill, T. Alter, M. Horos, and D. Faller. The Kollar Collars” are, at present, the junior class basketball representatives. Led by Dan Drozdo, they compiled a respectable 6-2 record. They led the entire season with timely wins and evidently in- significant losses. These juniors are a rugged bunch, and you can bet it wasn't easy playing basketball with football tactics. Members of the winning team are: J. Williams, J. Gilland, R. Brezezenski, H. He- her, E. Combs, and S. Malene. COACH COUNSELED, CUDGELED, AND CONSOLED- But they only allowed eleven men on the field 4