From Masten Park High School to City Honors:- Table of Contents
Preface | 1973-74
| 1975-76 | 1976
| 1975-80 | 1980-95
| 1995-98 | Staff
1975-80: The Alessi Era
The cover of the first CHS yearbook in 1977-78. The 1979-80 Directory cover featured a drawing by student
David Saiia that would be the model for future depictions of Chiron the Centaur,
our school mascot. The program for "Hair: A Cut and Washed
version" in 1977.
Succeeding Shamber was Angelo Gianturco. Because of a car accident that
resulted in Gianturco’s absence, the acting principal became Curriculum Coordinator
Sam Alessi whose educational philosophy (based on John Dewey’s theories) and
personable leadership shaped the first five years of the program, beginning at Bennett.
The next September, in 1977, City Honors was assigned its own principal, Elmer
Shamber. His impact, however, was minimal in that he was assigned to Performing
Arts after only one year at CHS.
Alessi emphasized the cooperative nature of the program and fostered multi-day activities
like fine arts festivals and workshops on City Honors as an Ideal Community.
He was one of the teachers who team taught an interdisciplinary course, in cooperation
with UB architectural design professors and students, with the interesting title
of Garbage Picking in Nickel City.
Extremely popular among students, Alessi was affectionately pictured as Big
Brother in flyers for 1984 Day, orchestrated by students in Dinny Rochford's
1978 junior English class who were studying the acclaimed George Orwell novel. Unsuspecting
high school students were accosted by "Thought Police" who confiscated
their lunches as they entered the school in the morning. For lunch, students were
served cabbage soup; discipline was extreme: they were not allowed to speak during
classes, and "uncooperative" or "unruly" students were hauled
off to a "detention center" to be badgered by Thought Police. By mid-afternoon,
the student body had organized and revolted — the day was a success!
For the high school, the location at Main and Delavan was important and involved
freedom associated with an "open campus," i.e., students were free
to leave the building when they did not have classes. Imitating colleges, there were
no bells between classes. Students took swimming at the Canisius College
Koessler Center across the street, took science labs at Canisius at Main and
Jefferson, ate lunch at Canisius or Sears Roebuck (now the Blue Cross building),
and browsed happily next door at Record Theater. In good weather, Forest
Lawn Cemetery, also across the street, was the scene for science classes (especially
at the Scajaquada Creek), history classes (studying historically important monuments),
English classes (creative writing under the trees), and a favorite site for yearbook
pictures.
The psychological break from Bennett took a few years but was given impetus when
high school students voted Chiron the Centaur
as its school mascot, and chose cardinal red and silver as the school colors.
The first yearbook was produced in 1977-78.
The first school newspaper ("The Orion") was mimeographed in 1978-79.
The first high school directory was printed in 1978-79.
The school alma mater was composed by students Curtis Williams and
Derek Baker in 1978-79.
The first musical, a "cut and washed" version of "Hair,"
was produced in the McKinley H.S. auditorium.
City Honors Alma Mater
Born from a dream of the mind
Nurtured by pat--tience and time
We have no limit it seems
Filled with promise and dreams
City Honors
Proud and strong whose will keeps living on
To you we give our hearts
In progress we all are a part
True be we may
To the red and the gray
City Honors
proud and strong whose will keeps living on
Today we hold the best
Keeping in all our in-ter-est
We own our tomorrows
Fulfilling our highest goals
City Honors
Proud and strong whose will keeps living on
Proud and strong whose will keeps living on
In an attempt to recruit more boys (the program has always had more girls), high
school teacher/coach Willie Evans was recruited to start varsity teams. Up
till this point, CHS students played on Bennett's teams (just as CHS football players
still play today on other public school teams). In the early years, our sports teams
were mocked because of stereotypes associated with honors students. After a few years,
however, because of Evans’ coaching skills and because our students have always been
highly coachable, the teams developed winning habits – and attracted more males to
the school.
Conflict
Tensions between the middle school and high school culminated in the spring of 1978
in a proposal to house the high school in the vacated Cardinal Doughtery building
on Hertel Avenue, while keeping the middle school at Main and Delavan. At a well attended meeting, Superintendent Gene Reville and Associate Superintendent
Joe Murray, who were both present, listened carefully.
At the end of the next school year, 1980, CHS was moved, after a four-year stay at
Main and Delavan, to the vacated Fosdick-Masten Girls Vocational School
building. Fosdick-Masten had graduated its last class of girls in June of 1979. The
building was then stripped and used as a warehouse for a year. It was scheduled for
demolition, to be replaced with more housing for the Pilgrim Village. Instead, miraculously
some say, the building was ready for City Honors occupancy, more or less, by September
1980.