Wabash High School - Sycamore Yearbook (Wabash, IN)

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HISTORY NOT BUM “When was the War of 1812 concluded?” History students at WHS might recognize this one of the many questions thrown at them, along with “Who is the director of the Peace Corps and what is his salary?” or “Discuss the Roman Empire.” Apaches marched through a string of wars and learned the provisions of as many peace treaties. They learned about money—how to make it, how to save it, and how to spend it—in economics. A study of major and minor political parties (from those advocating “down with Demon Rum” to the man running on a let’s-be-kind-to-spacemen platform) enlivened gov¬ ernment. Anything goes in the study of history. “And when a financial bill has passed in the House of Representatives, it moves to the Senate for action in that body—OHHH!” Mrs. Squires watches over her students as they trace the growth of the unions in the United States during history class. 24

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APACRES ATTEMPT BfUNGU4U£M SPAIN FOR THE SPANIARDS—and also for these schol¬ ars under the direction and guidance of that old Spaniard, Mr. Hunsberger. “Conjugate the verb to be.” Apaches heard this command more than once this year, and it seemed a simple chore—to conjugate the most irregular verb in the English language. But, the conjugating had to be done in an unfamiliar, foreign language (simple?). After Apaches had conquered their own mother tongue—or been conquered by it—they chose from French, Spanish, German, or Latin to satisfy their desire to talk all the time and to any¬ body. They learned not only about a language but also about the history, politics, customs, and people. The facilities of the language lab greatly aided the efforts of the Apaches struggling with a modern language despite the fact that it made them look as though they were grounded airplane pilots. Stu¬ dents memorized vocabulary, read aloud, and trans¬ lated in a vigorous attempt to master a foreign language and to appreciate its literature. If, at any time, it all became too much for an Apache, he simply joined the ancient Roman who said, as Rome fell about him, “Quid facio hie?” “Gaul really is divided into three parts.” Mrs. Lavengood Mr. Hunsberger advances his students’ knowledge of French instructs potential classicists in Roman civilization. from a book-cluttered table in an object-cluttered staff room. 23

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f! “Does anyone want to give examples of crustaceans, arachnids, chilopods, diplopods, and insects?” asks Mr. Elliot. ra5J UENTANVON ? The ominous sound of freshly broken test tubes, the rustle of those little slips of paper accusing some¬ one of breakage in chemistry lab, the horror pre¬ ceding a physics exam, the delightful smell of frogs pickled in formaldehyde—these sensations faced every Apache science student this year. Apaches were enlightened (and sometimes momentarily con¬ fused) in the region where the amoeba lives or the space within the nucleus of an atom where the nu¬ clear force is greater than the force of repulsion between like charges. They tried to understand the intricate mysteries of chemistry, physical science, biology, and physics. Sometimes understanding seemed to be an insurmountable task, but it almost always got done. Apaches pored over their books, converted to the metric system, and did their best to adapt to a world in which science is supreme. “The atomic number of an element is equal to the sum of the electrons and the protons—unless it’s just the protons.” “If you’re lucky, the glass will stop at the bone.” Mr. Horne demonstrates how not to insert a glass rod into rubber tubing. 25 4