Woodward High School - Treasures Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

Page 25 text:

I EUGENE We're going to have a few little disturbances . . ., but these help Settle the coffee- grounds. First of all you hepe to accom plish the primary thing that we've set up which is for the best education of the youngsters in the eiassroom. Hhink we have an ali- inciusive cover aim, which is primariiy to iaeiiitate the development of the demod cratic spirit in out schoei, so that we here at WoooLward in sort of a mini-way achieve the true iundamemal precepts of. democracy, something that the adults in our outer world obiviousiy aren't achieving.- - My basic responsibilities are as nu- memus as we have teachers and stu- dents and custodians and parents. it ecvers the gamut of ail types of human reiz'tt'mns. T0 me the primary function of a principzi of a iarge schooi such as ' Woodward is to bring it aii together, to sun at unify the drive toward the goal and to help the total situatian, but can the mhe! hand to be so flexible ihai you can deal with minutia as long as it deais . with the human being and the human spirit and the human dream. The pressing probiem in education May is to 'tnnsfet to the young people of 0m satiety a firm belief in . . . the great American tdiream, which is based upcm the precepts of our forefathers: iibe'rty and emaiity and justice and un- derstanding and all these other things which give a human being dignity and a sense at 'wpnh and a sense of impor. tance, which i think is finite t0 aii of em human drives. If an individual can't feei that he is contributing to society, and if he doesnit feel that he is an important perseni not oniy for himself but for what he is doing for other people, then I don't think we can achieve too much here. I think what we have to do is to try to instiii in our youngsters and all the p-eepie associated with working with our youngsters a feeling not only for them- selves but for their responsibility for helping their fellow man within the con- text of education. The iarge public schools of our coun- try are feeiing the frustrations and the .. . pressures of what I choose to call a social revoiution in America. Weire in the middle of a revolution, a revolution of the spirit, of philosophy, of attitudes, of relationships, which is bringing about tremendous change. The problems Of our society , . , spiil over into the school. i think ow teachers. . , . as well as many administrators are basiceiiy conservative in their attitudes and they aren't tooled to deal with revoi'ution, to dreai'with the change in the point of view. So this is frustrating to many of them and many do leave the proiessien. Weodward right now is limited by the fact that we just have too many bodies walking around. Innovation. is limited by the mere physical piant that we are working in. But next year when we move the iunior high to the new buiiding we are iooking forward to doing many t things. I think the most exciting thing is the organization of Woodward com- munities into a sub-system in which we evoive a curricuium that we hope is .more relevant. Woodward becomes the center of about 15 ieeder schools, and we experiment with all sorts of t things from team teaching to the urn ' graded ciassroom. were lacking for- ward to Woodward being knovin na- tionwide . . . as the center for educa- tional innovation. .

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I think the big advantage of being a student at Woodward is being able, in our community, to mix with all facets of America. I think if therels anything to the American dream it is that all people from all walks of life ... can live as one body, respect the worth of the other in- dividual, and prove that democracy can work, and that if it works here we can carry over to when we go to the outside world and in some way contribute to helping it work there. I think anybody in this business is in it primarily because he likes to work with young people, and l ... feel that this is my forte, that I work well with young peOple. I like to be with them. I think l understand them. i feel, in fact, that i probably feel more comfortable around them than I do my fellow adults. 50 i would say that's the most rewarding thing, to be with the young people, full of their vibrations, full of their anticipa- tions, full of their hopes, full of their dreams. It's good to be with people who have dreams. A In many ways we've seen the worst of the turmoil in the schools, but on the other hand I think we haven't seen the best of it yet. We have a long way to go. We're going to have a few little disturb- ances that might shake us to our bones, but these help settle the coffee grounds. If I had an unlimited choice .t. and i could drive 300 miles it'd be down in the Smoky Mountains walking the trail with my 'kids and wife with our lunch boxes in our hands and keepin' a wary eye out for the bears and just enjoying the nature and the fog and the fast streams and avoiding people. Thomas jefferson is the one individual I most admire for his fundamental belief in the democratic spirit and the worth of the individual, for his concern for the belief that all men, not only the wealthy or the educated, can contribute to democracy. , My wife knows very well this amazing fondness which does my stomach no ' good. I love my wife's home-cooked bean soup Not only do Ilove bean soup, but i like to eat a loafof bread with bean soup and this causes me infinite misery. But it's worth it. My favorite player ofthe Reds of the last twenty years has been Ted Kluszewskiu Ted Kluszewski to me personifies a sort of dignity of action, a man of obvious physical strength, who didn't get excited in a crisis, who didn't flip his lid like some ballplayers do when they have the decision go against them. If i was a young person, I'd probably wear bell bottoms, and I'd probably have my hair a little longer than my par- ents would want. I remember when I went to school if you didn't have a tan cashmere sweater that you wore over a t-shirt you just Weren't with it. Everybody wore the Little Abner shoes and the girls wore anklets. The thing to do with your hair . . . was to cut it in a butch. Fashions, like life, change, and each individual and each age expresses its individuality and I'm for individuality.