Bishop Amat High School - Tusitala Yearbook (La Puente, CA)

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New Teachers Learn The Ropes eaching Spanish in the Home Economics room, lr. Joseph Lovano pauses to answer a question. ew teachers often felt like displaced persons loving from room to room each period. Miss Barbara Caballero English r. Marita Brys ligion, Yearbook believe that matters of th and the feelings of refs are both too serious joke about. To be ghed at for either one of :se principles is found to devastating. Nhat is There were a few new faces around campus, but they did not belong to freshman. These newcomers were more mature looking, carried a briefcase, had a distinct walk and style, and they didnlt wear baggy clothes. This meant only one thing-new faculty members. As the new guys on the block, they defi- nitely had some learning of their own to do. Twelve new teachers were added to the staff and the administration wasted no time putting them to work-placing them in all academic departments, as well as sports, music, and counseling. The Religion Department acquired the most new faculty members. Fr. Jim Anguiano, Mr. Michael Ehreth, Sr. Madeleine, Mr. Brian Mathews, and Mr. Cameron Troxell were given the job of guiding students into a closer rela- tionship with God, not an easy task for a new teacher by any means. Being a new teacher meant a lot of hard work and little sleep, said Mr. Mathews. English and Foreign Languages also welcomed three new teachers. Mr. Jo- seph Lovano and Miss Diana Olivera brought their bilingual skills into play by teaching Spanish. Former college lit- erature instructor Miss Barbara Cabal- lero meanwhile taught junior and sen- ior English. For her, high school teach- ing was worlds apart from college life. Mrs. Kathleen Chavez Adm., Girls' Dean, Social T Studies Mrs. Jean Castruita English Nothing That is concern- ing me anyway. l believe we have to have a sense of humor about most things in life. It's challenging, if anything, com- mented Miss Caballero, who also mo- derates the Fantasi Club, High school can really be somewhat chaotic. she added. Other new faculty members included Sr. Mary Grace, who instructed seniors in U.S. Government, and Mr. Fred Var- tanian, who was probably the busiest new faculty member of all. He taught three separate subjects and also coached Boys Cross Country. It was difficult at first teaching three different subjects in classrooms scattered across the campus , but I believe it was worth it. The new Performing Arts coordina- tor, Mr. Victor Rodriguez, who lead the band at all the football games, and Sr. Mary Sulko, the Counseling Depart- rnent's newest guidance counselor com- pleted the list of new teachers. For new teachers, just becoming fa- miliar with the campus was a difficult enough task, not to mention the erratic bell schedules and no-warning mini- mum days caused by the intense Sep- tember heat. Nevertheless, the new fac- ulty members eventually became accus- tomed to the school, and the strange- ness they felt soon wore off. Within a few weeks, these teachers were not con- sidered new anymore, and were seen as essential members of the Amat Family. Sr. Colette, 0.3.8. Religion D.C. Rev. Msgr. John Cremins Chaplain .. the loss ol a dear friend: the handicapped, disfigured, senile, agedg peoples' inabilities and shortcomings: offenses against God: one's personal relationship with God. . . God and His plan for our eternal salvation, too serious to be joked about? English!New Teachers 135

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With the help of a friend, Fr. Jim Anguiano lectures the seniors in his religion class. His job was to make sure that the students understood how to apply Christian philosophy to everyday life. Freshmen listen to Miss Diana Oli- vera as she teaches Spanish. Their casual dress often confused new teachers who were not yet familiar with dress code. 134 Academics .ala IVlore Than Knowing Grammar The English department attempted to bring students into the world of drama and literature. In the past, the ususal emphasis was on learning how to use punctua- tion marks or the memoriza- tion of hundreds of vocabu- lary Words. These aspects of the subject were still present in the curriculum, but the emergence of increased read- ing was also characteristic of the total program. The curriculum included a wider scope of reading mate- rial. Reading lists were es- tablished at all levels to in- sure proper preparation for learning. Masterpieces such as The Scarlet Letter and Huckleberry Finn were specific books read by stu- dents. There was a concen- tration on writing skills. All grade levels were taught to express themselves with pen and paper. Each student be- came an individual with the tools to insure proper com- munication with the world around him or her. Participation in out-of- school activities also wi- dened the students' horizons. There was no better way to open new doors of learning than through drama. The de- partment therefore orga- nized outings to attend plays and literature in action. In the month of December, 40 students and three teachers went to an educational the- ater production of five classic short stories held at UCLA. During the latter part of the school year, the classic King Lear was viewed in Los An- geles. Sophomores and sen- iors were shown video pro- ductions of Shakespearean works such as Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. Stu- dents realized that there was more to the English language than simple sentence con- struction. Of course, the main objec- tive of the English depart- ment was to teach the lan- guage at the appropriate lev- el to each individual. The foundation of the program was not changed drastically because it followed specific standards. Mrs. Maria Gover, the department chairperson stated, The de- partment objectives c0uldn't be taught much differently from the norm. Basic Eng- lish does not change in a matter of a few years. This fact applied to both the cur- riculum and the practical us- age. What the department members did was make the learning more interesting to as many students as possible. The increased reading re- quirements and the educa- tional outings contributed to the modified and improved curriculum.

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Sr. Francette receives help rewind- ing a film from seniors Tom Arnold and Bill Sanchez. Short movies and slide shows were a part of many retreats. Nodding in approval Mrs. June Harker agrees with a response while senior Kim Courtemarche lis- tens attentively. Moderators helped to keep the table discussions going. 136 Academics Catching The Wave It's not an unknown fact that computers are the wave of the future. In light of this phenomenon, the depart- ment underwent many changes. It was renamed the Computer Science Depart- ment whereas it was pre- viously termed the Data Pro- cessing Department. This change was to prevent any confusion with the Data Pro- cessing Administration, which dealt with the new computer system on campus. To accomodate this up- coming field, space in the new building was set aside for computer classes. The new building also brought additional changes within the department. There were many proposals as to the new type of personal computers the students would be using and the kind of applications to be taught. The decisions depended upon the comput- er system that was finally chosen. Three different courses were offered: Computer Fun- damentals, Introduction to Data Processing, Program- ming in BASIC. Word Pro- cessing was offered during the summer. Taking one of these courses satisfied an ad- ditional requirement in the curriculum, computer aware- ness. Beginning with the class of 1988, students were required to take a computer class. Students on campus were heard complaining, Why do we need to take a computer class? I'll never encounter them in my life. To the con- trary, computers exist in al- most every aspect of the modern world, and every- body will be confronted with them at one time or another. Mr. Anthony Victoria felt that many students were in- timidated by computers. He hoped that by offering these classes, students would feel more comfortable with them. He stated, Students need to realize that the computer is a 5-...Q Knowing that practice is the best teacher, junior Kimberly Hein works on the computer. Hands-on training lessened her apprehension. tool, and it can help them achieve maximal benefits. The innovative changes within the department al- lowed students to have hands-on experience with computers. Computer ,sci- ence became a major piece of the puzzle of education. X,