Blackford High School - Reflections Yearbook (Hartford City, IN)

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Learning geography through puzzle-solving are Mrs. Tyler ' s students — Sherry Smith, Rhonda Youngblood, Connie Morehouse, Shari Sutton. If it ' s a problem, it lias a solution If school is a laboratory for life, then solving class problems should help in combatting more serious ones later in life. And problems to solve in the class- room were plenty. Besides the obvious math problems, there were the hypothetical financial ones in business and agribusiness classes; the dilemmas of government discussed in social studies courses; the more personal problems solved by guidance, health and the new home- living subjects. Even the agonizing income tax re- port problem was introduced in civics classes to those taxpayers of the next generation. 46 Learning By Problem-Solving

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With a little help from his friends (Ken Fuller and Mike Bryant), Marc Rench soon masters a gymnas- tics headstand. Examples did what words could not Imitation — it ' s the major way we learn to do things, whether done cor- rectly or wrongly. Students imitate the study habits of other students, sounds in foreign lan- guage, styles of painting and sculpture in art classes, and even the behavior of a favorite teacher or friend. Students of all grades at BHS had a chance to imitate great actors and ac- tresses. Freshmen listened to dramati- zations of, then read The Early Mar- riage, sophomores, Julius Caesar ; ju- niors, Our Town ; and seniors, Mac- beth . The cycle of teachers showing how. then students doing it the same way occurred every day, especially in such areas as labs, shops, physical education, basketball practice, editing, and home economics. Selecting ideal persons and then try- ing to follow their examples was also a part of learning by imitation. Lincoln, Washington, and Lee were historical examples. Pasteur, Edison, and Einstein were models for science students. Hemingway, Bacon, and Thoreau pro- vided students with models of style in writing. As one philosopher said, Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Imitation also brought a bit of humor to class routine. Jeff Custer aop) ofoes an imitation, until Mr. Coy (Below) looks up and catches him in the act and Jeff turns it into a yawn. Learning By imitating 45

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( takes some experimenting for Metals shop student Kevin Lex to find the trouble in a malfunctioning gasoline motor. The problem of how to vole inieliigently was dealt v ith in all-ichool TV programs featuring soc a stud- ies teachers before election. 1 B ' HnQH I Knowing how to find the facts was half the battle for term-paper writers such as Tammi Wentz, who solves her problem in library. Facing up to problem of developing self-con- cept, students in Mrs. Halley ' s home ec class mask their personalities. Learnine B Problem-Solving 47