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

Page 30 text:

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

Page 29 text:

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

Page 31 text:

banishment to the Yeshiva. Eventually, the cul- prit was apprehended, a victim of his own con- science. At the same time in the Teachers Institute's counterpart, the Yeshiva, a small group of young physicists had arranged, on one circuit, a collec- tion of bells and buzzers. The purpose of this experiment was to determine how much stimulus, Water plus Sodium . . . in the form of loud, gangling noises, a man aged about forty could stand before going off his proverbial rocker. At eight Hfty-Hve the circuit was attached and placed in the teacher's drawer, which was then locked. At nine-thirty the signal was given, and as the teacher explained the crux of the learning matter of that session, a faint click was heard. XVhen the bells began ringing and the buzzer buzzing, it was rumored that the teacher jumped a full two feet off his chair. Af- ter discovering that the bells were in his locked drawer, he tried to pry it open with an insignifi- cant door key, whose snap was hardly audible above the sounds of howling laughter from the class. After exactly three and one-seventh min- utes and two snapped keys the experiment was concluded as a raving, broken teacher ran from his class and cried on the headmastefs shoulder. The end of the day was soon to come. They had just one period to go. Their program card read 6th period, History, Room 206. The Juniors in the year 1952, just as the Juniors in the year 1923, met one of the most popular and beloved teachers, the measles of the faculty fthe teacher you have to getl, Dr. Shapiro, the teacher you know better as Doc, who delighted the class with his sharp wit and his interesting tales of life in Paris. Doc taught History in an in- imitable and indescribable manner. An' there I was in the middle of the Rhine, surrounded by twenty frauleins, but it's too bad . . . Mister, you have now become the proud father of a bouncing baby 'U '.,' Okay, boys, next questionf, Question 273-What events led to the Cri- mean War? Now, boys, it is very important for you to know the treaty of Kutchuk-Ku-narjif, 'KKutchuk who?--Can you spell that, 'Doc'? 'K' as in 'kronkeitf 'U' as in ulcer. Stop that noisell Look up the rest in your book. BRINCCC . . . Okay, boys. Test tomorrow on questions 162-2871 all notes included. The days became wanner. VVorries of Regents and finals approached. The T.I. boys went through their Shavuos night ordeal in prepara- tion for their Talmud exam. Yeshiva boys calcu- lated the probability of receiving the next piece of Commorah in the 'iBccl1inr1.,' There seemed to be nothing different-Tests, worries. anticipations of summer-and yet, they did feel different. They proceeded to write away to colleges. As they Wrote, they could still picture the little Freshmen that climbed the stairs that autumn morning in 1950. The Senior functions got under way with the election of the Senior Council. The editors of the ELCHANITE were chosen. Hopes rose. The Dr. Shapiro following term was looked forward to in anticipa- tion. The realization that the coming term would be the last made them nostalgic. As they left school for the summer vacation, they looked back at the building and realized that they were sorry to leave. Then, they felt that their final year in T.A. would be their finest. Soon they would be Seniors. 27