Anita High School - Spartan Yearbook (Anita, IA)

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effect the quality of education stu- dents receive After several long de- bates and late school board meetings. It was decided by the board to reduce the number of teachers by 2 75 full time teaching equivalents — two 5 English. 5 art. 5 VoAg. 5 computers, and 25 vocal music 4 Local News N efi AN . AN! 2VA In an effort to raise money to finish construction on the BandsheH. the first annual Apple Blossom Festival was held May 10 In spite of rainy weather condi- tions. the Festival was a success A craft show featuring over forty exhibitors was held in the firehaH Biuegrass music contin- ued all day with such bands as 'Pride of the Prairie ' “Willow Slough.” “Prairie Dog Town Council. and Bob Everhart per- forming in Vais Auction House instead of the Bandshell due to rain. The Apple Blossom Festival raised a total of $ 1020.10 and brought in other donations. Bandshell Restoration Project Reaches Completion School Board Faces Changes Apple Blossom Festival Aids Bandshell Project The beginning of the school year saw the completion of the Bandshell Renovation Project Volunteers worked through the summer months and by early July, the Bandshell was back on its foundation and work on the stage was completed A concrete slab was laid in front of the Bandshell on July 20. followed soon after by As students raced through football season toward Homecoming and State Playoffs, a race of a different kmd was challenging members of the community. School board elections were held Sep- tember 10 with three positions up for grabs in District No 1 a three-year term was vied for by James J. Barnes and incumbent and winner Jerry Wessels Also in that cfcstrict. Randy Larson ran unoppo- sed for a one year term vacated by Dick Nelsen Ray Zellmer arose victorious in the race for a three-year term m District No. 2. overcoming Ralph Simmons and incum- bent Ned Stork, The new members soon found them- selves embroiled in controversy. It be- came necessary for the school board to make cuts m the 1986-87 budget after being dealt massive cuts in state aid Although a variety of solutions were considered, a reduction of the teaching staff was chosen. Many citizens were concerned, however, that this would the addition of steps to the stage Stucco was applied to the outside of the BandsheH. completing the project by early fal Already the restored Bandshell has been used for several community events, including the annual Firemen's dance and a Jazz Band concert held May 4

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New Space Age Era Explodes First Teacher and Six Others Lost Americans had soared into space 55 times over 25 years, and their safe return came to be taken for granted However, on January 28. 1986 all this would end with a fiery nightmare striking the nation The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger joined Americans in mourning their common loss. In 73 seconds, a new era in space travel saw a school teacher and six astronauts disappear in an orange and white fireball nine miles above the Atlantic Ocean Christa McAuliffe was the pioneer and vibrant symbol of the new era in space travel She was to be the first ordinary citizen shot into space Also aboard the Challenger were Com- mander Dick Scobee. Piot Micheal Smith. Judith Resmk, an electrical engineer. Ronald McNair, a physicist. Ellison Onizuka. an aero- space engineer, and Gregory Jarvis, an electrical engineer The preparation for Challenger's tenth journey into space had been extremely careful, and for its crew, agonizingly slow It was truly an All-American group two wom- en. a black, a Hawaiian of Japanese de- scent. and three white men The mission had originally been sched- uled for January 20 from NASA's Pad 39-B. The date slipped to the 28th due to resche- duled missions, odverse weather conditions, and small technical problems However, when the day for lift-off arrived, reporters, photographers. McAuliffe's 18 third graders, family, and other spectators cheered the countdown At take-off. the Challenger arose from an awesome explosion, it was just as it was supposed to look. In less than two minutes, the crowd had witnessed a new era of space travel explode After three months of training. McAuliffe and her more experienced crewmates were ready for their multiple mission McAu- liffe's task was to conduct two 15-mmute classes m space as millions of school children watched via closed-circuit TV. The other crew members were scheduled to conduct an experiment on the development of instruments that would measure the ultravi- olet spectrum of HaHey's Comet Another was to sample radiation within the space- craft at various orbit points All this vanished. But it was the loss of the seven humans, the realization that shuttle flights involve much more than a wondrous display of mechanical and electronic wiz- ardry. that set off spontaneous expressions of grief across the U S. The disaster raised numerous questions The mam one being What went wrong? The cause of the accident may never be known for certam Attentions were drawn to a possible burn-through of the casing on one of the shuttle's two solid fuel booster rock- ets Technicians believe the right solid-fuel booster had recorded a pressure drop that could have caused a burnthrough The disaster is a major setback for the space program and raises basic questions about the future of manned space explora- tion For the friends and family of the courageous crew, it leaves unanswered questions that, unfortunately, may never have a solution ADS — An Unanswered Social Problem Five years ago most doctors, let alone the public, had never heard of AIDS — Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Today information and false myths about the disease have started an epidemic of fear. Society is beginning to ask questions that may take the rest of the decade or longer to answer The severity and acknowledgment of AOS struck public awareness when Holly- wood's Rock Hudson died October 2 as the result of the AIDS disease AIDS has struck almost 16.000 Ameri- cans since 1979 and is expected to strike another 16.000 next year alone The jump in public awareness was soon demonstrated by protests and near hysteria displayed m some cities with the opening of school m September The A0S conflict and controversy kept students out of school because of parental fear of their children's exposure to victims of the disease Scientific developments in AIDS re- search have made it possible to detect AIDS antibodies in blood This allows the virus to be traced before virus carriers become sick enough to be diagnosed with AIDS Doctors and researchers will continue to explore the complexity of a disease striking victims at a rate equal to the paralytic polio epidemic during the 1950‘s. It may take years to contain and develop a cure for the syndrome i HAPPY M i ooth BIRTHDAY National News 3

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A Serious Note to AHS Assemblies Throughout the year the student body was entertained and informed by numerous school assemblies Two of the assemblies were presented by other high school stu- dents. Bob Power, former Anita student presently drama director at St Joseph High school in Omaha, brought The Quiet Place” production to Anita The one-act play concerned a teenage girl whose boyfriend died at a party from an overdose of alcohol and pills. The octors hoped the production would be of value to students who feel pressured by alcohol and drugs (Pic. 1). The Walnut High School Swing Choir and (Pic 2). Jazz Works enlightened AHS with their musical talents and award-winning performance Grant's 6th Year Presents Peru Warren Grant ogam visited AHS. speak- ing of his adventures in Peru During the program. Grant modeled the latest Peru- vian men's fashions (Pic 4). Grant spent 32 days in Peru during May of 1985. Grant visited Lima. Pucalpa. and other jungle surround villages He spoke about the cul- tures. dress, and food This was Grant's sixth year of travel programs He has presented 280 programs in Iowa this year. Other places formerly presented to Anita students include Thai- land. Morocco, and New Guinea Grant travels alone and does al of his own filming He left April 28th for Indonesia, where he wtf spend 35 days This will be the topic of Grant's presentations next year Britt Small and FESTIVAL Bring Patriotic Tribute to AHS Also providing musical entertainment was the group FESTIVAL. The group played all types of music with their central theme honoring the Vietnam veteran FESTIVAL gave two performances in Anita Britt Smal. the band leader, and the band gave an hour presentation for elementary and high school students in the afternoon FESTIVAL performed that evening for a large public crowd This program was also sponsored by the Music Boosters Festival Family Enterprises Ltd. is a Missouri corporation including a management com- pany. a transportation company, two music publishing companies, and a recording label company. The family is an extended group of professional musicians, entertainers, techni- cal staff, and their families When Britt Smal returned from Vietnam in 1970. his dream was to put his life back together and to form a band While m college, he began forming his band, and in June. 1973. he hit the road with a seven-piece band, which quickly grew to the twelve piece All-American Showband known everywhere as FESTIVAL School News 5