From Dick Lester                                                                                                                        Daytona Beach, FL

In the spring of 1963, we prepared for the early adulthood experiences that await each year's high school graduates. The world was a very different place back then.

It seemed like a relatively peaceful time in our community as well as the nation. There were no computers back then because Bill Gates had not dropped out of college yet and gone on to create Microsoft. John F. Kennedy's assassination was about five months into the future and the peak of the Viet Nam War was still about five years into that future. In Chatham, our lives were tranquil and our thoughts were mainly centered around heading off to college and saying good-bye to our high school friends.

Most of my time outside of class was spent performing in Community Theater with the Chatham Players, or volunteering with the Chatham Fire-Rescue Squad. The one extra-curricular activity I do recall participating in was the senior play, directed by our iconic drama teacher, Bill Kushner. While he taught me much about acting and theater, which would become my college major, he taught me a far more important lesson about life which I have remembered for almost half a century.

Faced with receiving the first low grade of my high school career, a "D" in physics, my first instinct was to quit and take a drama class instead. I can still see Mr. Kushner in my mind today, taking me aside, and in his quiet way with his ever-ready smile, explaining to me that quitting should not be an option. As much as he would have liked me in that drama class, he knew it was more important that I not cave in at the first sign of academic difficulty in another class.

I deeply respected Bill Kushner, so it was not difficult for me to heed his advice and accept whatever would happen in physics. In the end, I believe, I eked out a "C', went on to college, and graduated despite future academic challenges. I believe I succeeded in college because I had learned that successful people persevere. Quitters don't cross any of life's finish lines (Bill Gates being the one major exception).

This was the lesson of a lifetime, and it was beautifully taught by Bill Kushner.

Years later, I would need to impart that same lesson to a son who struggled with a learning disability in reading. Those teachers who most affected us at CHS, also had an impact on the welfare of our own children years later. What a wonderful legacy!

Today, I am still working in public education, hoping to also impact lives the way Bill Kushner does (I believe he continues to be a positive force for good).

Retirement is not an option! (I don't golf!).

I have the perfect family consisting of a loving wife, and two beautiful grown children. The household also consists of a little Chihuahua, two cats, and a lovebird -- all who consider themselves fuzzy little people.

My heartfelt thoughts and best wishes go out to everyone who is able to attend the reunion, as well as my classmates, like myself, who are unable to be there. Our days at CHS were a great time in our lives, and their memory will be us always.