Class
HISTORY
The autumn of 1967 brought our frightened and confused numbers to the doors of Jonathan Law. There we stood, awaiting the firs day of that dreaded entity, HIGH SCHOOL, searching out familiar faces from grammar school with the telltale fears that clouded our own countenances. Soon, however, the initial shock was over and we were officially introduced to the rights and privileges of the upperclassmen. (For instance: “Freshmen do not sit at senior tables!”) A year of hard study, bonding new friendships and getting involved was about to begin. The seniors welcomed us with a Freshman Welcome Dance, for which we chose Pat Broderick and Rick Delaney as the Ideal Freshman Couple. In May, elections were upon us and in our first real show of unity, we seated our sophomore class officers. Mark Allen was president, Debi Miller was vice president, Pam Snyder was secretary, and Diane Danner was treasurer. Having survived an inevitable but terrifying experience, final exams; we welcomed our summer vacation to renew our strength for a busy sophomore year.
Miraculously, we were sophomores the next fall – and didn’t we think we were something! In our turn, we taunted the “scrubs”, put our share of dissected frogs in the drinking fountains and all in all, truly lived up to the title of “wise fools”, which, though we were the last ones to admit it, we indeed were. The year was quite a challenging one, but we weathered it like old pros. In March we held our first moneymaking project, our Sophomore Dance that we called “Happiness Is . . .” The dance was a financial success, but more than that, it gave us a chance to work together for a common goal and to really get involved. After a great deal of careful campaigning and speech making, our junior class officers were elected. We named John Palmer as president, Norman Cogswell as vice president, re-elected Pam Snyder as secretary and named Joan Bakunas treasurer. Again, we faced the dreaded final exams and left school happily with plans for a great summer.
That fall, we returned as lower-upperclassmen, but even that was better than being a sophomore. Many of us soon realized that scholastically and financially, our junior year was to be our most important. It was the year that we became aware of the world beyond high school and we began to lay the groundwork for our future plans. We received our Junior Rings as a symbol of our seniority over the underclassmen (but the seniors were quick to remind us that we hadn’t reached the top – YET!)
After much prodding by the student senates of Law and Milford High, and a strike held by some members of the student body, the Board of Education finally abolished the out-dated dress and grooming code that had plagued us for so long.
Though our Junior Dance and Junior Ways and Means projects were carried out effectively, everyone’s thoughts were directed upon the final junior event, the Junior Prom. In May we chose our senior class officers – Tim Dugan was president, Greg Altieri was vice president, Bonnie Bradford was secretary, and Diane Danner was treasurer. Then, lo and behold June arrived and we presented “Land of the Rising Sun”, our prom. Pam Snyder was crowned Queen and Tim Dugan was honored as King. A great deal of work was reflected by the decorations, which included a fluorescent wall mural of a dragon, a Japanese Rock Garden and a pagoda made of flowers. Feeling very proud and fulfilled, we again gratefully accepted the rest offered by our summer vacation.
At last our senior year was upon us! Or so we thought. To our surprise, the teachers were on strike and the opening of school was delayed for about a week. Once the strike was resolved however, our senior year hit us with full force. Our last year at Law brought with it many changes. Students with notes from their parents were allowed to leave seventh period study, office detention was abolished, and plastic trays were no longer in use in the cafeteria. Not yet even fully re-accustomed to school, we began our Senior Magazine Drive, through which we netted a sizable profit. Top salesmen for the drive were Kris Wachter, Rick Goodsell, Pam Snyder and Charlene Fancher. It was now our turn to welcome the frosh and we did so by sponsoring the traditional Freshman Welcome Dance. At the Football Hop that year, football captains Joe Cileno and Gary Hungerford crowned Queen Bonnie Bradford.
In keeping with our fantastic (?) stroke of luck it was during our reign as seniors that the Board of Education decided to require mid-term exams of all students. Not a class to accept this type of injustice quietly, we immediately began our retaliation. Through the efforts of our class officers and the student senate (along with a lot of griping on our part), we managed to obtain some type of solution though it turned out to be a rather half-baked one at that. The Administration left giving exams to seniors up to the “teacher’s discretion”, so of course, many of our teachers went merrily on their way and gave us midterm “tests” anyway. At least we tried.
In January, we presented “Arsenic and Old Lace”, our senior play, and though the play had been previous “don to death” a fantastic acting job sent a new and interesting light to the production. In sports, after a 42 game losing streak by the Basketball team, the guys finally pulled through and won 5 games during the season. This unexpected happening was cause for much excitement among the members of the entire student body, as well as among team members and sports fans.
Soon, many of us began to receive our college acceptances and around March that familiar disease known as “senior slump” settled heavily upon us. Still, our class spirit was not dampened and we set about to revise the format of the senior prom. We abolished the prom at school and instead, staged a “formal” at Pine Crest Country Club, which was appropriately entitled “Only The Beginning”. This title reflected the fact that our class was the very first to attempt such a change and also expressed the hope that classes succeeding us would follow the new tradition we hoped we had begun.
Unbelievably, June 1971 was here. We busied ourselves with the assorted year-end activities that lead up to the end of our high school years. And finally, graduation, too, was over. As we gathered up our past memories and pieced together the fragments of our future dreams, we could not help but hope that we’d left a little part of ourselves behind in someone or through something we did during our four years at Law. Thus, we the Class of 1971, packed up and left Jonathan Law, ending one vital chapter in our lives and fully prepared and anxious to begin a new one.