Austin High School - Comet Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Bill Glover, along with Tom Wllley and Del Moberg, was Laura Witt, Courtney Parsons, and Tina Thomas dance named Outstanding Teacher of the Year . at the Senior Talent Show. -. ' Wa t Michael Quiroz won the Senior Tal- ent Show with hlsTlna Turner imper- sonation. as a whole. She said students could organize the celebration and participate in its ac- tivities. Over the years. Spring Thing hosted tug-o- wars, chili cook-offs, car shows, various bands, Softball tournaments, mud wrestling, lots of food booths, and the Red Dragon ' s annual Spring Follies. Although Spring Thing was praised by students, teachers and ad- ministators. House Bill 72 managed lo subtract another great asset to a school spirit only found at Austin High. Editor ' s note: Editaitwn is more than the application of books, time and discipline. Beyond that, education is what is learned from experietKe, from others and from our own insights. It seemed that the Legislature was supposed to improve our educa- tion with its house bills, not try to replace educational experience and achievement with restrictions and repetitious school days. As a growing tradition, Spring Thing was a celebration that not only gave the student body a change in the every day ho- hum but it presented an oppor- tunity for creative and devoted students to coordinate festivities. It was a SFA learning experience for those who challenged to pro- duce it and an enjoyment for those who partiscipated in it. The celeb- ration itself characterized that special maroon spirit that made Austin High exceptional. How could it have been de- scribed as unnecessary interrup- tion of class time? Only good memories from the experience re- main. I believe when something receives nothing but positive criticism, it should be necessary to a school environment. Ground Zero takes off to USSR The world geography classes of Alice Davis and Cathy Martin launched a first strike of friendship to- wards the Soviet Union dur- ing their final six week period. Classes participated in a nationwide program called The Ground Zero Pairing Pro- ject, which sought to establish linkages between American and Soviet cities. These lin- kages were intended to form an educational and communi- cations bridge between the American people and the people of the Soviet Union. Austin High was been paired with School No. 1 in the Soviet city of Dzhambul, which is, like Austin, a capital city on a river, in the Soviet republic of Kazakh. The exchange of ideas among students in the US and USSR was designed to im- prove communications be- tween the two countries, and to possibly avoid the likeli- hood of future wars and dis- agreements. The classes contacted their sister school and assembled an idea exchange package for peace which included 250 student letters describing daily life and expressing stu- dent goals for peace, and mat- erials designed to give a por- trait of the school and commu- nity, such as newspaper and magazine clippings, a cassette of rock music, a map, magazines, drawings, bubble gum, and pictures of the school, teachers, and stu- dents. A cover letter, which was translated into Russian by Michael Katz, Chairman of the Department of Slavic Lan- guages at UT, was sent ahead of the package to School No. 1, explaining the ideas behind the project and requesting a reply from Soviet students. Regarding the possibilitv of interception of the materials

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Editor s Journal gone up in smoke but they (students) love me so much that it makes teaching worth- while. Although each of the three had decided to retire before House bill 72, they all agree that this is not a bad time to leave. It (HB 72) gave me a boost to get out of the field, admit- ted Dumas, who had been thinking about retiring for a couple of years. HB 72 has probably done education more harm than anything that has come out of the legisla- ture. After contributing their tal- ents to public education for many years, each of the retir- ing teachers planned to either develop a private business or perhaps relax in the coming years. Funding for MX passed Two votes by members of the U. S. House of Represen- tatives were the ones needed for the House to approve President Reagan ' s MX mis- sile funding plans. Appa- rently, the two legislators reacted to the president ' s in- sistence to use the MX as a negotiating wedge at future arms talks in Geneva. This sort of congressional reinforcement for the peace through strength image was attacked by the Soviets. Al- ready the Soviets had reiter- ated during Geneva talks in March that there could be no agreement to limit offensive nuclear weapons until the Star Wars missile defense scheme was halted. In addi- tion, since the gaining legisla- tive support on the MX be- came more apparent, foreign relations advisors saw future negotiations between the superpowers in further jeopardy. After the April vote, 219- 213 in favor of releasing $11.5 billion for 21 more MX misiles, the support behind the MX was clear. Consequently, those opposing the MX plans explained their intentions of putting a lid on the deploy- ment of more MX missiles. Their goal was to limit the number of MX missiles to 40 rather than the President ' s proposed 100. Although the administra- tion battled over the MX de- ployment and production, the superpowers still made a point of propaganda and pressure toward negotiations. The Soviets were angered by the support for the MX but they were led to believe that domestic and Western pres- sures would lead Reagan away from the increase in the MX and the Star Wars plans. And Americans saw that the Soviet economy falling to the extremes of nuclear negotiations. The danger was if both nations were wrong the only yield from Geneva would be terms, as in weapons to human lives, for bargaining devices. Day extended at school Beginning next fall, AISD high school students will be experiencing a sch ool day ex- tended ten minutes longer than the current day. The cur- rent official dismissal time of 3:55 p.m. will be extended next year to 4:05 p.m., but classes will still begin at 8:55 a.m. The longer high school day is a result of an extension of the AISD elementary school day, which was too short to meet the state requirement of seven hours. Extension of the elementary day made an ad- justment of the busing schedule necessary, thus af- fecting the length of the sec- ondary school day. High schoolswill have to in- dividually decide how to han- dle the extra time, and SFA Principal Jacquelyn McGee said she planned to brainstorm with a teacher council in order to make the decision. Possible ideas con- cerning distribution of the ten minute extension include ad- ding time to the passing period (time between classes), extra lunch time, and ex- tended periods. But McGee not be good use of the time. McGee said the only major affect of an extended day will be adjusting the schedule. She does not expect it to affect school rules, alter the quality of the educaton students re- ceive, or result in the hiring of more faculty. Nor will there be any personnel expense or budget cuts for SFA as a result of the extended day. Supreme Court defeats school prayer Ever since the U.S Supreme Court prohibited public, re- cited prayer in public schools in 1963, efforts to put God back in the classroom only resulted in controversial de- bates. After the narrow defeat of a voluntary prayer constitu- tional amendment in April, 1984, the pro-school prayer campaign undoubtedly resur- faced upon the re-election of President Ronald Reagan, a strong supporter of school prayer. Reagan said in an ad- dress to the House of Repre- sentatives, I believe that the God who blessed this land of ours never deserved to be ex- pelled from our schools in the first place. In January, some members of Congress proposed an amendment that would per- mit a time of prayer during the school day for those who wish to participate. Public polls indicated that a lop- sided majority of Americans favored such a constitutional amendment to add a tone of morality within public school. Critics said that voluntary school prayer could embar- rass those who did not partici- pate. Principal Jacquelyn McGee said she believed in the constitutional wall separating church and state, and she feared that the amendment could be greatly abused. She added that stu- dents who desired to pray in school have always had their own individual freedom to do so. Critics argue that the First Amendment protects the free exercise of religion by saying ' Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, ' meaning the gov- ernment cannot favor or persecute religion. Therefore, the government should not take action in religious areas. No spring thing The short-lived Spring Thing tradition was cancelled this year. Since House Bill 72 strickly Robert Nicholson and Whitney Ayres con- tribute to the Fine Arts Fest Weeic . Counselor Gaylord Humberger and Mar- cos Meacham Speak against HB 72 at a student forum in May. hmited the number of school day interruptions. Principal Jacquelyn McGee decided to discontinue the SFA spring celebration that previously took place on a single day dur- ing school hours. According to Brian Schenk, social studies teacher and Student Council sponsor. Spring Thing evolved from a Senior Carni- val held during sixth period in 1977. In 1979, the idea be- came the school-wide Spring Thing, held during fifth and sixth periods, under the spon- sorship of Student Council. Within the next five years, students became so involved with the celebration that Spring Thing was considered a tradition similar to Home- coming and Dedication Day. McGee always supported the idea of getting students in- volved, and Spring Thing pro- vided a wide variety of ac- tivities for the student body u s h

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Editor s Journal | by the Soviet government, Davis and Martin feel that, al- though the package would probably be checked by the government and a few items may be removed, the mater- ials would eventually get through. They did note, how- ever, that it is possible that they would never receive a reply from the Soviet school. Senior Talent Show Despite the many changes in the school calendar due to House Bill 72, the Senior Tal- ent Show remained a Maroon tradition. For a while, seniors were unsure whether the show would be produced because of the new anti-assembly policy outlawing class inter- ruptions. However, the show appeared as planned, after Senior Class President Paul Ceding convinced a teachers committee to allow the show to go on. The show was cut down from an hour or more to half an hour. And in order to in- sure that the acts only take up 30 minutes, tryouts were held weeks in advance to choose only seven acts. Also, in years past the show was only for fun. This year, the acts com- peted to involve the entire student body. When the student body en- tered the gymnasium on April 25, students were given bal- lots with the seven acts listed. Seniors, Pete Moreno and Phillip Patterson of the band. The Matrix opened the show as students found their seats. After this hard-rock band music ceased. Red Jacket of- ficers, Courtney Parsons, Tina Thomas and Laura Witt danced to the music of Ynz. Many of the voters felt the girl ' s performance was so pro- fessional that the other acts could not meet the competi- tion. Following the officers ' dance was the Jackson Five act. Kenneth Black, Wayne Brum- ley, John Donovan, Rod Edens, Doug Ruby and Drew Tate played the well-known performers. Then, a large clan of mean, motorcycle mamas came out on the gym floor to dance to The Gap Band ' s Burn Rubber. The group of senior girls were: Amy Francis, Jennifer Williamson, Stacia Harris, Suzanne Schulze, Tami Johnson, Grace Benevides, Melanie DuPuy, Charlette Ro- gers, Nicole Tatum, Elizabeth Turley, Nancy Sanders and Maria Adams. The most unforgetable act was performed by Michael Quiroz. Not only did he lip- sync to Tina Turner ' s Better Be Good To Me but he dressed and moved like her. Some stu- dents said it was the mini- skirt and high heels that won the talent show for him, while others claimed it was his guts. The Stop-stops follwed Michael ' s act. These girls were have said to be the younger sisters of the Go-gos. Laura Williams sang, as Susan Skaggs accompanied with voice and tambourine, Becky Youman played the bass guitar, Michelle Ullman banged the drums and Susan Locke played the keyboard. The girls performed Head Oi ' er Heels. We Are the World was the most touching and final act. The entire talent show cast and crew joined in a multi- person lipsync act called AHS for AFRICA. Some of the most memorable performers were Earl Kinard as Stevie Wonder; Susan Skaggs as Cyndi Lauper; Clif Jenness as Willie Nelson; Becky Youman as Bruce Springsteen; Chuck Coffman as Kenny Rogers; and Eric Meizner as Daryll Hall. The act was particularly meaningful because it was de- dicated to all of the students and faculty who gave money in December to Africa. Many tears were shed by seniors and their teachers and spon- sors during and after the show, proving that the show was indeed a moving and memorable success. Calendar changes The proposed school calen- dar for the 1985-86 school year was announced at the end of the year, and it included some changes. The fall semester was to start after Labor Day, on Tues., Sept. 3, and school should be in session until a staff development day on Oct. 18. Winter vacation will start on Dec. 23 and classes should resume on Jan. 3. Three more staff development days in which the students will have the days off were proposed forJan.23and24, andFeb. 7, A one week spring break, March 24-28, which will in- clude Good Friday, will coin- cide with The University of Texas ' spring break. And fi- nally, school will be ending much later, with Tues., June 3, the last day for students, and Wed., June 4 as the last day for teachers. Prentice resigns During the first week of May, journalism advisor Tom Prentice called his editors and future editors of the SFA Ma- roon and Comet into his glass- walled office. He said he had some good news and some bad news. The good news was that he was offered a job with the Texas Daily Newspaper As- sociation (TDNA) which not only paid more, but was far away fromthe frustrations and bureaucratic hassles of the high school teaching pro- fession and its House Bills. The bad news was that after seven years of supervising yearbook and newspaper pro- duction, he was going to leave Austin High to accept the job offer in June. He was going to stop working with the kids he had grown accostumed to and cared for. ■Some of the students shed tears while others simply stared at Prentice with mixed feelings of congratulations, admiration and disappoint- ment. Well, what are you going to be doing in this other job while you are not here, hassl- ing us? asked one of the stu- dents. Prentice, who had origi- nally planned to teach for ten more years, smiled and said he would become the director of TDNA ' s publications and many other activities, such as a summer internship program for college level students. The students knew he would have a successful future because of the work he completed at Au- stin High. In the seven years that Prentice advised SFA ' s journalism department, its Wayne Brumley as Michael Jackson i 0 I i, lf ' Clif Henness lipsyncs Willie Nelson i senior class ' rendition of We Are -World . publications received a well- known professional reputa- tion. At the end of Prentice ' s an- nouncement, he asked the students to leave before he shed a few tears himself. Then the phone rang for the third interrupting time during the meeting. The students laughed. At least, I ' ll have a secret- ary to answer that %?! phone, judas priest! exclaimed Prentice. Graduation and finals This year ' s spring semester final schedule was the most bizarre ever recorded. Not only were seniors required to take all of their finals and at- tend classes after they took the exams, but the under- classmen final exam dates and times confused students and teachers alike. On Tues., May 21, seniors were required to take their Hu