Weequahic High School - Legend Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

Page 11 text:

First order of the day is the reading of five verses of the Bible; then serene, abstruse mumblings of the Lord's prayer, consecration for the tasks of the weary day ahead. The flag salute follows: ritually, half-heartedly, thoughtlessly performed. The purposefulness and utility of these exercises may be doubted, but the habit is irrevocably formed. The stimulating daily announcements follow. Students monitor them with one ear, listening for pertinent ones, jumbling them in their minds. Sometimes last-minute activity is cut short by clerical matters that must be handled, sometimes by an assembly, sometimes the usual ten minutes fortunately lengthened into a study period. But usually this is the routine — the few final moments of motion, then resolution to face the day bravely, though slightly bowed. 7

Page 10 text:

 Our formal clay begins at 8:30, but by this time activity has reached fever pitch. Morning is the time for things better done yesterday or last night: the finishing touches on homework, hurried guidance appointments the vital homeroom nap — these for the early riser. For the less heroically inclined, the late-sleeper and the slow walker, the morning scene is slightly different. He has no time for the leisurely stroll through half-empty halls. All is forgotten in the violent rush to the locker and through the mobbed corridors to the homeroom. The sole question in his mind is whether his valiant efforts will be requited with a triumphant last-second entrance or exasperating near-miss and more detention. One way or another, agitation ceases with the 8:30 alarm, signal for morning exercises to begin.

Page 12 text:

Students of Weequahic, anticipating an escape from the usual routine, look forward to scheduled assemblies with great expectation. When the bell rings, students snap their books closed and line up to leave their homerooms. The converging lines clamor down the stairs and through the halls. These are the times when: ... the talkative boy marches into the empty sagamore’s chair, and then is hit smack in the stomach by an enormous, swinging, fashionable handbag . . . . . . one tries to stay away from opening doors but still manages to have a few close calls when the door of the girls’ room pops open unexpectedly, or the cafeteria door is swung open by an impatient student taking a shortcut from one side of the building to another . . . . . . one holds his breath while passing the chcm lab, yet at the same time, gives an I don't smell a thing” smile to Mrs. Yellin . . . . . . one takes a drink from the already gum-loaded, warm, water fountain. The students eventually reach the auditorium and, knowing that they have the next hour to relax, settle back in their seats and wait for the program to commence. Mr. Epstein, our principal, rises from his seat at the side of the platform and moves toward the lectern, King James Bible in hand. Without preamble he launches into a few timely verses from some handy psalm. Mr. Epstein has been principal of Weequahic High School since the beginning of the September, 1961 school year. During the last four years, he was preceded by Mr. Julius 8