Assumption High School - Assumption Yearbook (Davenport, IA)

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nca 101

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White glove test “The NCA accrediting and evaluation process directs a school to im- prove all phases of its programs.” Mrs. Michaela Van Dieren Students may have noticed some unfamiliar faces around cam- pus during September 30 to Oc- tober 2. Those people, sitting in the backs of classrooms and walking through halls, were evaluators from the NCA or North Central Associ- ation. The association was made up of a group of administrators and edu- cators from all over the state. Every seven years this group visited the schools who subscribed to the pro- gram and evaluated different depart- ments. Principal Tom Sunderbruch felt the evaluation went very well. Before the team left it gave a good response. He felt NCA was a good watchdog, be- cause it confirmed whether or not the self-evaluation was valid. Having evaluators from all over the state was an advantage of NCA, Sunderbruch said, because they can give a variety of suggestions. The steering committee, chairper- son, Mrs. Michaela VanDieren, said the association was good because without its visits a school may be- come stagnant. The process had three phases: a self study, the team evaluation, and the implementation of recommendations. The self study and the team evaluation contained about eight categories. These includ- ed students, faculty, and academics. Some students felt the evaluation put too much pressure on them. They said teachers asked them to be on their best behavior for a few days while the NCA team was here and the classes changed, also. Junior Beth Schebler said she felt the whole school changed while the evaluators were here, but some saw it as a chal- lenge. Mr. Dennis Duff said, We all need to examine ourselves at some time and the NCA process helps us to do that. The team's attitude was very posi- tive. Bob Larson, from Clinton Mater Dei said, “I think you have a good school here. Enjoying the NCA dinner served by Mercy Hos- pital, ore Karen Zeckser, Joan DeVries, C. Mil- ton Wilson, Fr. Paul Deyo, and Richard Schrad. Principal Tom Sunderbruch welcomes the eval- uating team at the NCA dinner, September 30. Discussing some of Assumption's programs are Michaela VanDieren and NCA evaluator Barbara Klein. 100 nca

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Wonder at Work “Computers are great because they make you think and anyone who is plan- ning to attend col- lege should take as many computer classes as they can. Every field of life de- mands computer lit- eracy or computer expertise.” Mr. Dave Wolfe % % ■ sn't it wonderful?! said I Miss Maureen O'Connor, ® Trigonometry and Alge- bra 2 teacher. She was, of course, talking about math. The math de- partment underwent a few minor changes. Two changes included Calculus being offered and Mr. John Erickson teaching the Prob- ability and Statistics course. He made up a lesson for probability called Discrete Mathematics, at a University of Iowa workshop dur- ing the summer, and was excited to share it with his students. Sister Laurent Nugent, who taught the newly offered Calculus course and Pre-Calculus, commented, They are challenging and interesting to teach. Students in these classes want to learn math and they work very hard to achieve success. The science department was equally as wonderful, even though it didn't have as many changes. The leaves were collected, the masses of chemicals were found, pigs' eyeballs were cut out, and the stiffs were seen at Palmer. The toothpick bridges were built, DNA was discussed, Bunsen Burners were flaming, goggles were worn, atom weights were figured out, cow intestines lined the length of the floors, and soft contacts couldn't be worn during some ex- periments. Mr. Dave Wolfe was busy be- cause of taking on the load of teaching all computer classes. He also taught a Consumer Math course. Algebra II is hard to learn, but it's easier when taught with a smile, as Miss Maureen O'Con- nor shows. During physics class, senior Katie Kearns gets assistance from Mrs. Michaelo VanDieren. Tuning in to the directions on how to build their crystal dial radio are seniors Ann Volz and Missy Mueller. 102 math, science, computer