Weldon E Howitt High School - Hi Life Yearbook (Farmingdale, NY)

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High School Traced Back to 1912 Right: A tunnel view of the courtyard Far Right: Boys Gym Far Left: Reflections on pool windows Center: Front view of the school Below: Smoking area by bus circle Most people who have walked the busy halls of Farmingdale High School each day have taken no notice of the overwhelming amount of space it encompasses. But when the build- ing is empty, one can easily see what a massive structure it is. Our school is the largest single ses- sion school in Nassau County, but it has come a long way from being a large tract of swamp land. It now boasts one straight hallway that runs the length of three football fields. These walls of stone and brick also stretch up three floors in height. The relatively unknown third floor, a space set aside for a planetarium, was never completed due to a lack of funds. Farmingdale High School wasn't al- ways the large, modern building that now bears it name. Nor did it always hold a graduating class the size of this year’s — 975. As early as 1912, Farmingdale High School was located at the site of the old Main Street School building and remained there 20

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Students Search For Alternative To Studying work by using either Cliff notes, bor- rowed notes or crib notes. A desper- ate student can also confront a friend on the bus and ask what happens in the final chapter of the book. Some even try studying by osmosis with their notes under their pillows at night, or just hoping that the gods are smiling down upon them on the day of the big test. But the fact remains that there is nothing like reading the entire book or studying all the notes to get a good mark. There is also nothing like that confident feeling one gets after the teacher hands out the test and the hours of studying pay off. Most students have come to this con- clusion. However, there are still some die-hards searching for the ultimate method to avoid studying. Left: Scott Amsler Right: Robin Budd 19

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through additions and revisions. In 1953, the school started its sessions of seventh to twelfth grade classes at the site of Weldon E. Howitt Junior High, continuing there until 1961. It was then that Farmingdale High School as we know it today came into being, and there it has remained for 17 years. This building has not gone without change, however. In 1969, an entire reconstruction took place con- sisting of cafeterias, the snack bar, the business hallway, the Girl’s Gym, the rear hallway, the Commons, the pool and the consolidation of 12 bath- rooms into two. At one point, senior enrollment reached its highest at 1047 graduates in 1972. The smallest group to graduate from this building was 345 seniors in 1963. But there was also a year when graduation day turned only two seniors out into the world. This was the first graduating class from the old Farmingdale High School in 1917.