JOHN DEWEY HIGH SCHOOL

A NNIVERSAR Y

CELEBRA TION A ND REUNION

Sunday, October 9,

Grand Prospect Hall

Brooklyn, Nc-w York

WELCOMEto the

Celelbrai t ioin / Reumi loinin honor of the

25thANNIVERSARY

of

JOHN DEWEYHIGH SCHOOL

The John Dewey AlumniAssociation Executive Boardthanks the reunion organizing

committee:

Liz Bommarito

Denise Scioscia Swindell

Toni Gerardi-Wofse

Debbie Bijou

Mary Boccadifuoco

Larry Ubell

Alan Siegel, Faculty Advisor

THIS IS THE DEWEY YOU REMEMBER!

September 1969 brought to the New York City educationalcommunity a new and radically different high school. Basedon the beliefs of educator and philosopher John Dewey, thisunique school challenged students to try new courses andeven to participate in their development and preparation!Set apart form neighboring schools by its extended day,relaxed atmosphere and expansive campus, John Dewey HighSchool opened to both cheers and jeers. In the early days,our school was subjected to daily visits by national andinternational educators who wanted to know whether or notthis experimental school could succeed. Having beencreated during a ten-day workshop in Hershey, Pennsylvaniain the Spring of 1963, this newly designed school wasdedicated to innovation and meeting the needs of a newgeneration of high school students. And so, a new vocabularywas developed to explain some to the highlights of that whichwould come to be known as "The Dewey Experience."

Other-than-Deweyites, we believed, would never understandour language. No longer were there terms; we had cycles.Our day had no periods; we had bands. (Some of these metat the strangest times on alternating days. And then therewere mods, whose number changed depending on the bandand the day.) Passing grades would no longer begin at 65;we had MC's, M's, ME's, and Mi's, (interestingly, these werethe grades that students always "got"; the dreaded "R" wasalways something "the teacher gave me.") And then we hadD.I. S. K.s. These were something to be passed, not thrown orlistened to. And to this very day the rumor still persists that thestatue was placed on its pedestal rather than providing theschool with air conditioning. (They didn't really do that, didthey?) Locker bays were for sitting in, lockers were fordecorating. Sesame Street was for playing handball, the musicpractice rooms were for practice, sometimes even music, andthe auditorium lobby and stage and even the cafeteria werefirst graced with our annual Sights and Sounds presentations.The auditorium stage became the platform for Major MusicalProductions which were both major and musical. It became

the platform from which many exciting dreams were launchedand realized. Later we experienced Dewey or Don't We,which always did! And what about those Dewey Days? Notjust the ones at the end of the cycle: to all of us who lived theDewey experience, every day was a Dewey Day. We are allbetter for the experience we gained during each of them.

Memories are those things which get us through the toughtimes. We rely on them to remind ourselves of the simpler timeswhen we had fewer responsibilities and a greater amount oftime to use as we wished. At Dewey, we used this time toorganize and participate in the first Earth Day activities; toargue with Emma, who always warned us to get to class ontime; to take part in the Save Our School Walk-Out at theBoard of Education building on Livingston Street; to rememberthe 5 students who made up our first "graduating class" in1971. And then came American Dream, and all of the specialactivities that went along with it. ISGA presentations whichallowed us to participate in discussions with invited guestswere held all around the building. The 4N1 program whichallowed students to pursue career goals during one full dayduring an out-of-school experience. This program fed into theExecutive Internship Program which then allowed somestudents to spend and entire school term in a formal,professional setting. And then came the Parlour, a source ofrefreshment and energy at any time during the day.

How many specifics have been forgotten? Surely there aresome that you find important. Share them with us; bring themwith you when you return to visit the school at any time. Keepin touch with us; you are important to us. We hope that JohnDewey High School is still important to you. Spread the word.Let other know what you think of your alma mater. We needyou. We appreciate you. We welcome you back to Dewey.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU

The milestone in the history ofJohn Dewey High School

which we celebrate todaycould not have been reached

without the tireless efforts ofour special guests.

Please join us in thanking

JACOB B.ZACKand

PETER GIANESINI

CHARLES D. UBELL '74

LAWRENCE J. UBELL 77

ANNAS. UBELL '80

John Dewey High School helped usexpand our horizons into areas wenever dreamed of. With supportiveteachers and staff we were able torealize our potential.

THANK YOU!

°r * ^t-X i ^^? -ox <7

or/.

To the Alumni, Students,Teachers & Staff of

John Dewey High School

from

ACCURATEBUILDINGINSPECTORS,

1860 Bath Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11214(718)265-8191

"Dedicated To Quality & Safety InHousing & Construction"

In Memoriam:

LAURENCE CHOROROSClass of 1974

Partner in the design firm of Smith/Chororos.Recipient of national and international awards for

furniture design.Twice winner of the prestigious ROSCO award.

His designs have been exhibited in the NationalBuilding Museum, Washington, D.C. and

Cooper Hewitt Museum in NYC.

IN MEMORY OF ALL OF THE MEMBERS OFTHE DEWEY FAMILY WHO ARE NO

LONGER WITH US.

WE REMEMBER THEM FONDLY ANDACKNOWLEDGE THEIR CONTRIBUTIONSTO THE SUCCESS OF JOHN DEWEY H.S.

THE SIX LANTNER CHILDREN:

Nancy Lantner-Hoffman 75Rita Lantner-Tarrash 77Howard Lantner 79Betsy Lantner (Mitchell) '81Stewart (Stew) Lantner '84Murray Lantner '86

We want to thank the teachers, staff andfriends for an amazing high school experience andfor the high quality of our education. We wish wecould do it all over again. With our 24 years ofcumulative Dewey High School memories, we andour parents, Minna and Mel, are glad that you werethere for us and hope that Dewey will continue to bethere in the future.

CONGRATULATIONS FROM THEHARRIS PUBLISHING COMPANY

Keep in touch with your fellow alumniby means of the Dewey Alumni Directory.

Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company, Inc.Norfolk, VA 23502

PHILIP SALVATORE

MANAGEMENT CONSULTING GROUPING.

SPECIALISTS IN MANAGEMENT RECRUITING

Twenty One • Kilmer Drive • Morganville, N.J. 07751[908] 972-8800 • FAX (908) 972-6770

BRIAN R. W1LKOW R.P.A.-CCOORDINATOR. PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY

LUTHERAN MEDICAL CENTER(718) 630-7000 150 - 55TH STREET(718) 382-1325 RES. BROOKLYN, N.Y. 11220

Dorotea T. Episcopio, M.S., CCC/SLPSpeech-Language PathologistCONSULTATION • EVALUATION • TREATMENT

ADULTS & CHILDREN

By AppointmentNYS Ucented (718) 987-1061

H Y M A N B E C K

& C D M P A ^ *l Y I N C

INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

MICHELE ARLIA

PRUDENTIAL BUSINESS CAMPUS6 CAMPUS DRIVE, PAJRSIPPANY, NEW JERSEY 07054

TEL (201) 644 9300 FAX (201) 644-3366

INC.PROFESSIONAL DJ's

-MUSIC FOR ALL OCCASIONS-

-LIGHTSHOW- -VIDEO--BALLOONS- -INVITATIONS-

-PARTY HANDOUTS-

(718) 748-3306(718) 833-0118(201) 538-8018

"Praise the Lord"

Pia Campu

"Best Wishes"

Rhea Mermel

Names and Numbers

Thanks to all the faculty and staff who havehelped to maintain the quality of the Deweyexperience since the "early days". Youhelped to make us what we are today.