Ben Davis High School - Keyhole Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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SMA IL IL i lmw-eili Departments take small steps to make 'good' programs 'better' So that students could be better prepared and 'Amore realistically trained for their future, four depart- ments made a number of changes. Home Economics students were re- maining in classes for entire semesters instead of just nine weeks and the for- eign language department empha- sized speaking more to better prepare students for college. Radio and TV changes revolved around a music format change for WBDG-FM radio and a possible cable TV set up for TV production class. HOME EC CHANGED THEIR nine week classes to semester classes be- cause students weren't learning what they needed to learn in a nine weeks time, said Mrs. Sue Jent, home eco- nomics. Mrs. Jent went on to say nine week classes were becoming over-crowded because students didn't like to take semester classes. l really liked the change, said Mary Shinn, sophomore. It really made choosing classes a lot easier because you didn't have to mess around with filling your schedule out with a bunch of nine week classes. MOST FOREIGN LANGUAGE stu- dents noticed the teachers stressed the actual speaking of the language. Foreign language teachers were putting more stress on speaking be- cause colleges, such as lU and Pur- due, were giving more tests on pro- nunciation, said Mrs. lna Hyde, Foreign Language Department chair- person. WBDG format change from disco to rock and roll occurred because of the lack of interest in disco music. The board of student directors de- cided to change the music format from disco to rock and roll to increase lis- teners. In addition to the format change, WBDG began operating through total involvement of students. All the students were contributing to the station, said Mike Blyth, senior, before the directors did all the work at the station. Although some replacements and additions were made in radio, Mr. Gregg and Mr. Mark Judy, communi- cations, both agreed that there wasn't much need to change anything at WBDG. Mr. Gregg said, You don't need to change a good thing when you've got one going. ANOTHER EXPECTED CHANGE in the electronic media involved Televi- sion production. Students looked for- ward to having cable TV by fall of 1981 and anticipated telecasting all sport- ing events and activities such as, foot- ball, baseball, basketball and wrestling which currently were being broad- casted by WBDG. Ben Davis wasn't able to get cable- TV in spring of '81, said Mr. Bob Berry Communications Department chairperson. Listening to a cassette in French class, Greg Fla- senboro, junior, tests a new system set up to teach students how to speak a foreign language more flu- ently. Speaking was emphasized in foreign lan- guages because colleges were cracking down on oral speaking on the tests. Teaching two preschool-playschool children, April Scott and Stacey Thompson, both five-years old, Katrina Stevens, junior, keeps a watchful eye while the two decide how to decorate their bird feeder.

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Congressman Dave Evans visited Govern- ment classes at BD in February 1981. He talked about the importance of a good background in government for high school students and explained his role as a representative to the classes. 4 Pefzdo1eaK f Z MM ' 804 ' any schools play clown academics. So do many yearbooks, for that matter. Who wants to hear about boring English? Well, nobody'--if English is boring. ' Somehow, though, we couldn't say that about this year. Take Mr. fBobl Hughes's Senior Literature class for an example. Any teacher can talk about the stereotypes in Canterbury Tales, but he made them come alive by having his students find stereotypes here at BD. Writing about 'Susie Snob' or 'Carla Conformist' was crazy, but it helped me understand what we were studying, said Charles Franklin, senior. Senior Lit was my favorite class---I fit in there. English wasn't the only subject that strived to be interesting to students. The Vocational Department, with more than a dozen classes, offered training in everything from heating and air conditioning to construction trades. BD certainly wasn't a place you had to be brain in the Three R's in order to fit in. In fact, one out of every four BD students took a vocational class, and many of those 700 planned to make a career out of their training. There was a ''put-your-scrutfy-clothes-on-and-get-comfortable'' air prevailing in classes. Science students played radios while working in the lab, then held Upartiesi' at Doc lJackl Voris's house to prepare leaf and bug collections. We even allowed a little pride to seep into our academic accomplishments. Every choir that participated in the solo contest brought home awards. Band captured second in state for marching. Even art students branched out, displaying their talents in One Man Art Show displays. All in all, class was a place we could be at home with. AC E?5i'E'll?S I 1 7

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W ' V'-4. ,. Y .Tl Lisa Holly, iunior, helps Billy Rike, a five-year old preschool-playschool child build a bird feeder. Pre- school-playschool changed from a nine week class to a semester class so students could have more time to learn what was needed. Engineering a newscast in Television Productions class, Jennifer Berry, junior, had the job of watching over the camera monitors and checking the micro- phones to make sure everything was running smoothly. -J I Patty Arens, senior, and Scott Gust junior snow off WBDG-FM student-operated station's newly dec- orated wall. WBDG's wall was among the many that were redecorated at Ben Davis. The walls were re- decorated to add a little color to the school, COMMUNICATIONS HOMEG, at FOREIGN LANGUAGE f 1 9