Atkinson High School - Tiger Yearbook (Atkinson, IL)

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Again As A Major Issue Top Left: Charlene Floming helps a grade schooler during her studvhall. Top Right: M rs. Hewitt and Mrs. Johnson catch up on the current gossip around the school. Middle I eft: Chris Fleming builds a project in the shop. Middle Right: Mrs. Kord is amazed with Drew Murphy’s amazing academic knowledge. Bottom Left: The freshmen study diligently for one of their daily quizzes in Science. Bottom Right: Clay Carmichael shows us the latest designer eyewear. 9

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Declining enrollment continued to plague Atkinson C.U.S.D. 233 in 1986-87. The official enrollment for the year was 80 in the high school, 181 in the middle and grade schools and 11 in special ed. While the state dropped its requirement for high schools to have 500 students, the consolidation process continued. Originally Atkinson entered into talks with Annawan, Manlius, Neponset and Buda-Western to form one large district. Both Neponset and Buda-Western dropped out early, each desiring to keep their high school no matter what. The Atkinson Board also entered into talks with Geneseo. The two methods of merger were consolidation (when all old districts cease and one new one is created) and annexation (when one district dissolved and the other takes over). By April, five options were presented to the community. First, raising taxes and running Atkinson “as is”; second, consolidation with Annawan and Manlius; third, consolidation with just Annawan, fourth, annexation to Geneseo; and fifth, deactivation of the high school and sending students to Annawan or Geneseo. A straw vote was held in May to give the Board an indication of what to put on the November ballot. As the year closed, it became increasing apparent that 1987-88 might be the last year for Atkinson High School. In spite of that prospect, the administration and staff continued to expand and develop the curriculum. English 101, a college credit fourse from Black Hawk East, was added for seniors. The sharing program with Geneseo and Annawan was continued. Trigonometry was reorganized and new learning objectives were implemented in various courses. It all seemed to pay off. Atkinson was “officially” recognized by the state during a visitation in April. S.R.A. test scores revealled that the sophomores were well ahead of their counterparts across the country. Out of 23 tests, 10 were in the 76-99 percentile (the highest category) while none were in the 1-25 percentile (the lowest). A.C.T. and S.A.T. scores were equally high. The teaching staff was quite stable this year, a change from the past. The only new teacher was Mrs. Peggy Kord in English. In April, Mrs. Kathy Johnson replaced Mrs. Karen Johnson as the part-time Home-Ec teacher. Mrs. Karen Johnson became the area vocational director. So inspite of low number, AHS students still found themselves receiving the highest quality education possible. Consolidation Rises Top: Wendi Sleaford brushes up on her word processing skills. Middle: Mike Stanek and Steve Buysse practive for their drama skit. Bottom: Kathy Gilbraith and Tri-cia Roman play tennis in P.E.

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Atkinson Right: Mr. Hepner in history class: First I voted for Ford, but then I got to vote for Reagan — twice!” Middle Left: Becky Fosdyck whips off another master program. Middle Right: Ty DeBrock does some torch work in shop class. Bottom Left: Robin Johnson takes a quick glance at her notes. Bottom Right: M iss Walls attempts to instill in Mike Sturtewagen a healthy respect for Math. Students Excel