Yeshiva University High School For Boys - Elchanite Yearbook (New York, NY)

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Q Mr. Horn The following period, we were overwhelmed by the realistic. objective. and progressive way Dr. Charles taught the romance languages. Dr. Charles would captivate the budding minds of the students of his Spanish class with his excel- lent rendition of Spanish poetiy. His French class seemed to cover much groundg they waited impatiently for the lesson on the subjunctive of savoir. Some of the French students encountered Mr. Fried. They learned such interesting topics as Mr. Friedis first foxhole in France and his ex- periences with the chicanery of French pushcart peddlers. Both Dr. Charles and Mr. Fried proved their capabilities by the high marks their stu- dents achieved on the language Regents. The transition from one foreign tongue to another took the Yeshiva students thirty-five sec- l Mr. Fried onds. XVhile their T.l. counterparts lounged in soft easy chairs of the study hall ftrying to get their names off the absentee listk, the Yeshiya boys were introduced to the professor of Biblical languages, Dr. Brayer. Dr. Brayer conducted his classes with such orderliness that even the office was surprised. This he accomplished by adopting his students as relatives. Frequently, you could hear him af- fectionately speaking to one of them saying, you're in real trouble, Brudderf, Vootkin, Chur- bin, and Frucher were his pet relatives. He liked them so much that he used to correspond with their parents and often wanted to meet them. However, Vootkin, Churbin, and Frucher, being very modest, did not desire their parents to meet the Big Brudderf' And so, Dr. Brayer was very much offended. Dr. Breyer Toward the middle of the term. another stu- dent was admitted to the class. XVhitey Car- tenberg made his entrance in March and at once became a full-fledged 'ibrudder . Such a rapid ac- ceptance into the family has established a new record in T.A. Spring came and the thoughts of the boys in Room 103 turned to girls, especially those that passed by from Ceorge XVashington. Every day at three-thirty you could see all the boys sitting near the windows frantically waying their hands. and in the background, Dr. Brayer would he religiously marking dots in his roll hook. Dr. Brayer had the habit of giying dots for good marks and had marks alike. Since he could not tell the difference. and wanting to play it safe he flunked the entire class. It seems that the administration had enough 25

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,i- ff 6444! fe n Qh - llllll- Sv 5 '24 Z2 gift? l l max 77 dl l l 3-'ti X he tit 2 X r- f 2 r- QUUJ s. i W 5 Wi' ci- ,527 ,f ,,. --- be ttf? ,ff X E Z: 7' S: lll'lflOl' QU I' CHAPTER FOUR: s My new coat of paint dried. the class of X5-1 entered the assembly hall. They looked with arrogance upon the Fresh- man and Sophomore classes. but with envy upon the Seniors. Two down and two to go. They received their program cards with a grim look of determination upon their faces. lt would be their most difficult year. Their program was filled with many subjects and far too many teachers. Some of the weaker students privately resolved to study this year. while others with in- domitable spirit. adamantly clung to their princi- ple of 'no studyf The assembly broke up. and the students returned home with the intention of get- ting a good nights sleep so that in the morning their wits would be able to match those of their teachers. The next day another term began officially with morning sessions. They had not changed much since last year except for a few teachers and rabbis here and there. However. the T.I. boys were disappointed when they found that Dr. B. Hoenig would not be with them for the first semester. It seemed that Dr. Hoenig con- sidered it more important for him to learn He- brew than to teach it. and so he decided to visit Israel. Their disappointment was soon forgotten 24 when Dr. Agus introduced himself. Dr. Agus eloquently expressed some very controversial opinions, which provoked argument after argu- ment. Dr. Agus. being progressive. always al- lowed his students to express their thoughts. Mishnah was learned to the accompaniment of the brisk marching music of the Song of the Pllfllllllfll much to the consternation of the teacher. XVhen the one o'clock bell rang, the students gulped down their lunch and were in their first period room well before one-forty. And thus began their junior year. To quote jimmy Durante's words. YVe gotta start off each day with a song. And that they did. led by the brass section of the English Department. Mr. Horn. Amid cheek pinching and TV listings. in which Mr. Horn showed artistic tendencies. they also managed to learn some English. Among his many traits was his unique marking system. Students found it difficult to evaluate their mark from the platitudes which Mr. Horn had writ- ten on their compositions. It was difficult to differentiate between very good and very. very good. But when the report cards were distrib- uted the dilemma was solved-both meant TS.

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compassion on the juniors to give them one period of respite in the long school day. Mr. Cohen's Math 5 class followed on the program. The Juniors strolled into Room 202 with a sense of security. They admired and respected Mr. Cohen for his continuously pleasant disposition and they had perfect faith in his excellent teach- ing methods. XVhile they leaned comfortably back in their chairs, Mr. Cohen would gently Mr. Cohen guide them through the complexities of Inter- mediate Algebra. As the Regents approached, the Juniors began to feel a tinge of nervousness. They were informed that Lichty had been re- viewing for the last two months. Mr. Cohen, it seems, clung to the outmoded method of teach- ing a subject before reviewing. Mr. Lichtenbergis methods proved equally successful as his boys achieved excellent marks. But the math class was but the calm before the storm. It was in Chemistry that the storm broke bringing with it precipitation from the ceiling. The Chemistry class that started off with a bang fthe hydrogen generator explodedj be- gan to shrink as one after another of the more studious boys dropped the course. Maxie, as we lovingly called our Chemistry professor, con- tinued unfazed amid this sign of popularity. We finished the first term's work during the first week of December and the rest of the time was spent in what Maxie laughingly referred to as review. While he answered the questions of some studious pupils and tried to keep order by pound- ing a battery on the laboratory desk, the mis- chievous Juniors chased the crickets around the room. When the crickets became too annoying, Eric Lustig, not heeding the admonition of Matt Weisenberg, proceeded to kill the rats. The 26 final examination which greeted us in january was, in the words of E. S. L., a killerf' There were some questions on heavy water that even Urey couldn't answer. No one has heard from Maxie since he marked the end terms. After Maxie was gone, the students felt pangs of remorse. They now realize that the little man with the lines of sorrow etched in his face at- tempted to aid them to a better understanding of the subject. Youth, through its ignorance, is sometimes very cruel. In january, they welcomed their new Chem- istry professor, Mr. Berger, with temporary re- lief. Mr. Berger proved to the delight of the class that the Regents in Chemistry was made up of half wits who gave the answers in what he called the official ucribsf' His various systems of how to beat the Regents proved highly success- ful. The scientific methodn taught to all students of T.A. was put into practice, not once, but twice, during the Junior year of the class of '54. The inquisitive Chemistry students wanted to find the effects of four ounces of sodium, pilfered from the storage cabinet, on a quart of water in the rear of the Hebrew Literature class. Even the most optimistic were astounded at the re- sults. A flame two feet high, which illuminated the entire room with an eerie light, was followed M 1.1 Mr. Berger by an explosion which rocked the very founda- tion of the building. As the flames rose higher, Mr. Leaf's ire reached the boiling point. The re- sult of the disaster was a series of purges. Pro- testing students who had long criminal records in T.I. were dragged down to the ofhce where various interrogators questioned them at great length and threatened them with expulsion or