William A Wirt High School - Sandscript Yearbook (Gary, IN)

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'r?‘W ?7 dy'uz {a zte Satire Tassels turned, class ring crests faced outward, and the twenty-fifth graduating class of 122 students brought to an end their high school days at Wirt School on June 4 at Memorial Auditorium. At this time, two seniors, Janice Fox and Richard Maize, shared the graduation spotlight as top academic scholars. Coming from Edgerton, Wisconsin, Janice Fox has made quite a name for herself in her five years at Wirt, not only as co-valedictorian, but also as an unusual and talented personality. Music in general and hymnology in particular form a favorite avocation which she uses to advantage while accompanying the Marquette Methodist Church Choir on both piano and organ and playing the organ at Methodist Hospital. Despite her activities as president of the sub-district Methodist Youth Fellowship and as president of the Wirt Science Club for two years, Janice still has time to spend with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. James E Fox of 721 North Wells Street, and her three sisters, Joyce, Jean, and Judy. During the summers, the Fox family goes to usual places in unusual ways. For example, last year they took an eighty-five mile hike along Lake Michigan. Receiver of a National Merit Letter of Commendation and a member of a National Honor Society for excellence in academic areas, this young lady also managed to achieve superior rating in all of Wirt's accelerated math, science, and English courses. With very serious thinking toward the future, Janice has been accepted at Northwestern University where she plans to study medicine and theology in hopes of becoming a medical missionary. The co-valedictory address fell to Marion, Indiana, born Righard Maize, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Mize of 317 South Hancock Street, who, coming to Wirt in the seventh grade, was in the first graduating class at Nobel Elementary School. Rich is a modern jazz fiend who improvises his own melodies on the drums. Fictional novels are a favorite of his along with oil painting and pencil sketching. Rich has been an active member of the Science Club and last year held the imposing job of its program co-ordinator. Junior year merits for Rich came in the forms of selection for Joe Berg Advanced Mathematics Seminar Program for which he wrote an essay on architecture which was accepted for the National Essay Association Anthology, of membership in the National Honor Society, and of finalist ranking in the National Merit Scholarship Examination. Walks in Chicago offer Rich examples of buildings consisting of various architectural designs, and post-graduation plans include his studying this same architecture development at Colombia University.

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CtycU In the beginning of a new season, we took our first faltering steps toward separation from old ways and took a first try at the acceptance of the new. We were members of the Freshman Class, that relative mark of prestige that is at the same time the symbol of novelty and scorn. High school—at last! was the thought which crossed our minds that first hot September day when we took up our unused roles as the squirts, the scum, the yearlings. While struggling through typically freshman subjects—our first tangle with equations, trying our best to understand Dickens' Great Expectations, or the beginnings of parlez vous francais? and habla usted espanol? —we looked around us and saw that the world that we had waited so long to be a part of was not really so huge and frightening as we had imagined. Led by officer JjteaiisMills, president; Jim Schneider, vice-president; Charlene Isaacson, secretary; and Carol Schneidewind, treasurer; we began to fake Into our own hands the workings of class unity and more specifically, our first class float, Sto flRePanthers, Go You Troopers. Alt l t won no prizes, it was the tangible symbol of the work and worry |( planning and preoccupation that had been ours class. Our first actual high school social activity, Jinx Fantasy, a.; foss dance, required of us the boundless energy which was ours ftjen and which we so freely gave. For the first time in our iyjjKwe could choose the groups in which we were the interest and our members could be found in such varied organizations as GAA, French Club, and the newlyformed Caduceus rClub. In peeping with high school responsibilities, we studied w'th 8 will, joined this club and that, went out for track, ahd socialized v tth other members of our For us, the years end meant a change—nS longer would we be the tyros —but it also meant a continuance of studies, jft ndships, and good times Gorie was the green year, and straight ahead lay the year ol texpansion—we were We found rarselves acclimating to the routine of high school life even more in the passing days of our cond year, and we noticed Jr at going from Mr. Morris' English class and Julius Caesar to biology and insects with Mr. Hamr' ik to geometry and compares with Mr. Dunleavy became a well-remembered and well-liked habit. We burned midnight oils overat Silas Mar-ner exan K r sweated over Latin declensions, but found also we had time for an occasional social event—either planed and executed bm sophs, or in connection with the rest of the school. Our so Hdance was the result of co-operation work on the parlwof all members, but especially on the part of officers Jim Schneider, president; Don Rogers, vice-president; Carqfc Williams, secretare and Charlene Isaacson, treasurer. Clast unity once again reared its head in the thousands of red and white panr flowers, the vMc, the cardboard, and the efforts of .flHHBEthat went into the construction of our grand prize-winning Wat, For WhonBthe Bell Tolls. The long hours at Schneider's had paid off—our class had become the first in Wirt's history toyj vin the Gran Float Prize as sophomores! Our classmates bega£ to be seen in sporting competition, as Mike Jacobs made the varWY ball fcuad and Dave Nash and Bill Hanna the varsity roundball team. We ordered ourkclass rings in the spring, and w®i them feeli® strangely heavy on our maturing fingers, faced the challenge and delightful prospect of upperclassmanship and the year of a«omplishment—we were juniors. NW established as high schoolers and having no doubts about the things that know, we attacked our studies andJ socials with even greater enthusiasm. After putting ture book and noting an important fact for our term papers, handing in our day's algebra I Goinftfe' history questions, we cheered on the ever-increasing number of our meitl irs | baskemall, and track teams. Float committee meetings took up the time of classmates ew freshmen were just beginning to ay Miss Otterbacher's Americas litera-|work, and taking that last look at Mr. swelled the ranks of the football, of our officers, President Don Rogers, Vice-p»idenf Jim Forney, Secretary Barbara ¥Dolata, and Treasurer Connie Martin, and on pprade night we sadly watched our pains-takinolMriolded hopes, in the form of a 'huge white swan (with that notorious broken neck), round the cinder traefcf to take a back teat to that other creature. A rpfal reason to cheer was the appearance of our two lovely representatives n he homecoming een's court, junioi attendants, larbara Dolata and Carol Schneidewind. Towar f spring. King and Queen Da£fc£e prepara- ... i t i e : c ... I. i Senior Sovereignty, the result of these elected fifteen juniors to its raHKS, and after ers, the junior-sponsored Senior farewell Dance, jr Boys' Staters, and Barbara' Dolata attended look back upon, we closed another page in our , the year of the hello to new aspects and the event- tions begflf to get -under ay and to take even more of the time we found time-consuming plans, sho Sd our diligence in its all-around success. Honor inductions, awards Day, jnd commencement for which twenty juniors serve Senior Swansong, dominated thoughts. Dave Nash and Richard Maize Girls' State. With many happenings to look forward to as well a many four-year book dtkexperie resT and focused our attention on the comi ual goodbye to e thing high schoolish —we were seniors. With an anticipation for the new experiences that awaited us, we embarked on our final phase of high, school, realizing that this year would be our last chance for grades, our last time for float-builaing, our last Snow Ball—and we were ready to make the most of every moment of «fe. jAs a fitting beginning to our year, we watched the crowning of Carol Schneidewind as Football- O-Rama Queen, and then theclobbering of rival Gary Edison abd the posting of a new scoring record for the annual event. Class rank became our motivation for Study, and advanced courses of various kinds made up cg curriculum study. We found the sol- ubility product of silver chloride in affianced chemistry, explored the mysteries of circles and learned the relationship of the hypot-enues to the side opposite in analytical gomefry.- idtrigonometry, and delved into Shakespeare's tragedies under the tutelage of advanced English teacher, Mr. Morris. Mr. Simmons pointed out economic and social problems, providing food for future thought. Senior committees, football practice, and club activities found their way into our already homework-filled schedule, as did early preparations for homecoming and the float. Out of a field of good ideas came the suggestion of Victory—We Planet, consisting of a huge revolving flying saucer complete with sound effects and lights. Work began in earnest, and our pains were rewarded as our mushroom was awarded the Grand Float Prize trophy. Barbara Dolata reigned as 1962 Homecoming Queen, with Shirlee Bode and Connie Martin as her attendants. Our team, boasting quite a number of our members, suffered a defeat at homecoming, but persistence paid off as we posted a second conquest of Edison, regaining the coveted Victory Bell. The second annual Snow Ball highlighted Christmas vacation, and we returned to face second semester toil refreshed by the short reprieve. February found us attending the Camera Club Capers to see the coronating of senior Kathy Fisher as this year's Miss Photogenic and Carol Schneidewind as runner-up. March saw the coming and going of the long-awaited King and Queen Dance. Officers, President Jim Forney, Vice-president Tom Hill, Secretary Charlene Isaacson, Treasurer Judy Anderson, and Historian Wendy Pettit, led us in our hectic, but enjoyable, plans for the prom, banquet, and other exclusively senior activities. The twenty-fifth Anniversary Commencement came all too soon, on June 4, and we realized with a start that we were now Wirt alumni. As tassels turned, our four-year book of experiences closed along with the book of our class minutes, but we knew that we would need no book to remember our years—they would be forever engraved on our minds and in our hearts, for ours had been years exclusively like no others . . . exclusively those of the Class of '63. (c£e tta ot en. I 95

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HONOR GRADUATES Barbara Delate Terrie Grady Charlene Isaacson Carol Schneidewind Nancy Meyerson Judith Anderson Richard Melton Eugene Sargent Frank Wagner On the night of June 4, Paul Weislogel, son of Mr. and Mrs. M. L. Weisloge! of 151 Huntington Court, stepped to the microphone and delivered the opening commencement speech not only as a member of Wirt's twenty-fifth graduating class but also as its second ranking student. Paul has served Wirt for four years as a scholar, musician, and leader. Showing early promise, Paul led all other freshman contestants in a city-wide essay contest lauding Gary's strategic location. Paul found in his junior year that his advanced math and science courses, Joe Berg Seminar, and Science Club helped him to receive a National Merit Letter of Commendation and to become a member of National Honor Society. He has brought musical respect to Wirt through his fine performances with the Wirt High School Orchestra and the Gary Symphony Orchestra. A senior year which found Paul a member of a radio panel, a director of the Talent Show, and co-chairman of the Commencement and Baccalaureate Committee left him little time to review his mastery of his home organ or his highly polished cello or to finish building his harpsichord. Through determination, hard work, and endless hours of practice, Paul has left a fine high school record not only in this manuscript but in the annals of Wirt. SfrotCc At at s4 t tive't40'Uf @o tune(tce«He«tt