Caddo Magnet High School - Odyssey Yearbook (Shreveport, LA)

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flbb IN fl SLQW DflY Tuesday, April 12, 1988. 8:00 A.M. Please stand for the pledge.” As the school pauses to listen to Mrs. Ascension Smith lead the pledges of allegiance, naive yearbook reporters stumble into the office. We halt abruptly, realizing the procedure. Those thirty seconds would probably be the longest time we’d spend stand- ing stili ali day. ... For ali those abiding here.” Wham! Push around the comer to her office. Better keep on your toes,” she says. We glance at each other, shrug and follow. AII of us enter Mrs. Smith ' s office. Not sure exactly where to sit, we try to blend in with the atmosphere and soak in the scene. Mustang pictures ali over the walls, curriculum guides on a shelf containing several trophies, building pians for ROTC buildings, a calligra- phic Ode to the Principal” hanging majestically behind a scattered desk. After consoling a distressed rally participant and sagely advising an ili Mrs. Sanders, Principal Smith beck- ons us into the teachers ' lounge, where Dr. James, Mrs. Bradford and Mrs. Sanders sit. We cohorts slink to the back of the room but are quickly invited to join the discussion of the day.” The topic is Pentathlon, a recur- ring theme for the day. The adminis- tration is particularly proud of this first year’s competition, and everyone is talking about it. Shortly, we return to the office and talk to Mrs. Bradford while Mrs. Smith conducts a parent conference, in pri¬ vate. The secretary seems terribly busy in her small cubicle, but she says it’s a slow day. SECOND HOUR finds Mrs. Smith on the phone and a repairman working with a new computer. Mrs. Smith ap- pears cheerful, in between fielding phone calls and writing notes for the day in her big blue notebook, which she won ' t need after the computer is installed. And she jokes with the com¬ puter man. Mrs. Bradford soon hands her a re- quest form for a field trip to McDon¬ ald . Well, what are they going to do there?” she asks. Resolving to let Mr. Price handle the form, she looks up to see media specialist Mr. Bryan peering in. They speak about Pentathlon and the creation of a video tape about the event. I won ' t let you go until it’s done,” she chuckles. Mrs. Smith’s commanding ap- proach to problems gradually be- comes more obvious to us. She stirs within us the urge to sit up straight and be extremely proper. (This may sound siliy, but we don’t get these vibes often.) Then we dash off to see Mrs. Schildt, for each teacher must be observed and only the principal can write an evalua- tion. Asked how many evaluations she has left to do, Mrs. Smith beams, Oh, l’m so proud of myself! Because of the Pentathlon, I got most of them done early.” Several interruptions later, we arrive at the art room, where Mrs. Schildt quietly hands Mrs. Smith les- son pians and explains what the class is doing. Admiring the art displays, Mrs. Smith advises the girls on their assignment, a self-expressive abstract, Portray your innerself. Some things never leave you — feelings, soul, dreams and Vision. People without dreams die. To make the world better, first you must become knowledgeable; second, do what you can for others. Thirdly, do these with a positive atti- tude.” ACTIVITY PERIOD. After visiting the choir room, we enter the cafeteria. Beautiful!” she proclaims upon see- ing the new mural. They wanted to paint that whole area black and now look at it. With a little imagination beautiful!” Inside the kitchen, steam rises from fresh blueberry muffins. Mrs. Smith takes some and shares them. Thank- ing the workers for their Services dur- ing Pentathlon, she assures them of their pay. Finally en route to the office, Mrs. Smith first checks the freshmen test- ing. In her office at last, she returns several phone calls and explains, Ev- ery time l’m gone, I have four or five phone messages.” Mr. Price enters and the two discuss the McDonald ' $ field trip and a mysterious S.N.A.P. poster. She writes more in her big blue no¬ tebook, sets up an interview for a pro¬ spective teacher, and glances at Mr. Kennedy, who now is working on her computer. We comment her on her do¬ ing three things at once, whereupon she replies, You can’t let anything get you under. You have to keep up with it all.” She admits that this has been a slow day and that she had first mused that we would think she did nothing! THIRD HOUR. Mrs. Smith observes Mrs. Schoeder ' s geography class, teaches a mini-lesson in Spanish for Mrs. Penuel, and discusses views on the Panama crisis in yet another class. She also stops to visit” with several about the upcoming Decathlon in San Antonio. FOURTH HOUR. More phone calls, conferences, notes. Suddenly it’s 11:40, time to meet Mrs. Simpkins, the teacher from New York. Glancing over the credentials, Mrs. Smith is de- lighted to learn that Mrs. Simpkins has

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FREEESHHH — Freshman officers Catherine Teague (President), Margaret Sale (Vice president), Ann Rogers (secretary), and Tiffany Chambliss (treasurer) take it easy as they look forward to their next four years. “We’re trying to be really good officers by putting our best foot forward,” Margaret Sale, vice-president, explains, “We want to get a lot of class spirit going.” Although Ann Rogers, secretary, agreed with Margaret, certain sources have found that Ann did not wear red to the Homecoming spirit rally. Margaret explained that the freshmen officers, who included president Catherine Teague and treasurer Tiffany Chambless, planned to promote spirit by having parties, dances, or something fun,” she continued, “just so everyone won’t think weTe unproductive and no fun. Surely there was a stigmatism put on the freshmen classes in the past but as president Catherine put it, “Freshmen are students that used to be upperclassmen.” The freshman class of ’88 have more to live up to, but they also have four more years to accomplish their goals and aspirations, while the juniors and the seniors have almost reached their height. TT

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Louisiana’s Principal of the Year, our own Mrs. Ascension Smith allowed Gina Hili, Stacey Feducia, and Penny Grigsby (the collective “we” in the lines below) to shad- ow her tor a day of investigative reporting. Here is their story — and hers. taught in Mexico. A flurry of Spanish immediately breaks out. The two en- joy each other’s company and part in a cheerful mood, a brochure about Mag- net in Mrs. Simpkins’s hand. FIFTH HOUR. A laid-back attitude per¬ vades the office area after lunch and we ease into chairs to wait for the prin¬ cipali return from the cafeteria. Fif- teen minutes later and back in her own area, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Brad- ford discuss upcoming appointments. Entering her private powder room, she says, AII principals have to look nice, men and women. Of course,” she winks, men principals don’t wear lip- stick.” After more phone calls and notetak- ing, Mrs. Smith turns her full atten- tion to Mr. Kennedy. The ever-patient Mr. Kennedy explains the set-up; she seems like a child content to play with a new toy. This toy” will save her a lot of trouble once she gets the hang of it. Off to run an errand, Mr. Kennedy ad- vises his new pupil to familiarize her- self with the computer. Upon his re¬ turn, she laughs, Oh, Mr. Kennedy, l ' ve been a bad student!” In reality, she was interrupted by more phone calls and another quick conference. SIXTH HOUR and all is quiet as Mr. Kennedy methodically works the in- structional program with Mrs. Smith. Eventually everything falis into place and she squeals, ' Tm so happy, I learned! Gosh!” It is a stroke of good timing because, at that instant, the 2:30 bell sounds. We don ' t know how much longer they are going to stay and work, but we are going horne. A little tired, but a lot more appreciative of Mrs. Smith. THIRD HOUR. Enhancing Mrs. PenueCs class with her knowledge of Spanish, Mrs. Smith has few teaching opportunities. She some- times misses teaching biology and Spanish. AFTERNOON DETAILS. After school, Mrs. Smith chats with students before they climb aboard the bus. She checks loading proce- dures and the flow of traffic. SMILE AND THE WORLD SMILES WITH YOU. Eng- lish teachers Mrs. Bell, Mrs. Boswell. Mrs. Ford and Miss Rounds are joined by Mrs. Smith on Saturday, April 9, as they grade the themes written by the middle school participants in Louisiana ' s first sane- tioned Academic Pentathlon, which was won by our major feeder school, Caddo Middle Magnet. PERSONALITIES