Germantown High School * Philadelphia, PA. * Class of 1957

Linda Gitterman

Memories of GHS

---My most vivid recollections of GHS center on social life; academic life is sketchy. I remember more days at the Sub Shop in Ventnor than in the classroom. ---I remember the little gray-haired ballet teacher who always wore a black gym outfit and carried a yard stick or some other lethal weapon. I was truly a klutz, but I danced in a performance at an all-Philadelphia school event. I was terrified and did more nervous shaking than dancing, but I didn’t dare refuse to perform because that little lady was not to be messed with. ---Working on the Cliveden Clipper and the yearbook were high points for me. Norman Kline’s guidance and encouragement remain with me. I don’t remember much about history classes at GHS7, although I know I was in the Mr..Wagner fan club. ---I loved grammar--puzzle pieces fitting together. English was my favorite class...creative writing...Shakespeare. Though I don’t remember any of the English teachers’ names--except Norman Kline--I am grateful to them for sending me off from GHS with an excellent vocabulary, a solid grammar base, good writing skills, an appreciation of the classics, and a love of reading. ---Was there a math department? Did I ever take a math class? I cannot remember anything about it. Was I in a calculus class? Something about bathtubs and displacing water? I remember drawing a tub with splashing water in my notebook. Or was all of that a nightmare? ---My Spanish teachers believed in drill, drill, drill, and while it was not appreciated at the time, it’s probably why I remember as much as I do. ---Looking back on my four years at Germantown High, I have wonderful, positive feelings: the faculty was supportive; the class was close and caring; the atmosphere was upbeat and fun. ---Taking a hard look back solely on my academic life at Germantown, I’m not as positive. The shortcomings were partly mine, partly the curriculum, partly the faculty. I realize that I knew how to get good grades, and to do that didn’t require exploring or questioning or straying from the curriculum. I accomplished my young, short-sighted goal of being on the Honor Roll, and I was satisfied, until... ---There were few classes that piqued my curiosity or excited or challenged me until I enrolled in an American Studies course at Temple, based on the inter-connectedness of life, not on an isolated topic, like history. For me, that was the impetus for understanding how thrilling and how much fun learning can be.