Weaver High School - Portal Yearbook (Hartford, CT)

Page 11 text:

F oreword Every year the editors of The Portal search for some under¬ lying ' ' motif ' ' that they may use as the seed from which their finished production must grow. Having passed through the widespread celebration of Connecticut ' s Tercentenary, it was not strange that we selected as a theme an interpretation of modern school life with particular emphasis upon both curricula and extra-curricula activities. The unusual sectional pages which make this edition so pleasing were designed by the Art Depart¬ ment with this purpose in mind. The true test of the popularity and merit of this book will not wholly be determined at the present reception it finds, but at the reception accorded it a decade hence when the reader fondly turns its leaves and rejoices in the memories of his class. The editors gratefully acknowledge the invaluable assistance of their advisers, Mr. Larrabee and Mr. Cunningham, the former our literary inspiration and the latter our business guide, in compiling the 1936A Portal. W. J. W. [ 5 ]

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Frank H. Burke Our class is the first to graduate since Mr. Burke was formally made prin¬ cipal of Weaver High School. One might infer from this statement that we have experienced a radical change during our course at Weaver. However, this is not so. The total absence of a marked change, the complete lack of disturbing confusion, and the perfect scarcity of conflicting opinions have powerfully convinced everyone of Mr. Burke ' s praiseworthy qualities of administrative leadership and dependability. We who have in reality regarded Mr. Burke as principal during our four years have become intimately acquainted with his character. We have not found him an exponent of abstract theories in education, but a practical humanist capable of weighing, evaluating, and assimilating both the heritage of the old and the outgrowth of the new in the field of creative education. We have found him a true friend, desirous of helping with impartiality every member of our class. His exuberant, youthful personality has enabled him to understand our problems, to examine them from our point of view, and to render a constructive decision from the wealth of his practical and cultural training. One of his distinguishing traits is the ease with which a student may approach him to ask advice. Neither must we overlook the creditable co-operation which he enjoys from our faculty and which enables him to hold the primacy in an assembly of kings. His friendly and sympathetic attitude toward his helpers explains this unusual concurrence. We regretfully bid Mr. Burke farewell, but our sorrow on leaving is partly counterbalanced by our realization of a great overpowering debt which in the future we shall feel toward him as we recall our pleasant and profitable life at Weaver under his guidance. [ 7 ]