Classical High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

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As Easy As 1,2,3? nce a year every Classical student must choose a math (( e course for the following year. Most found this a tedious and very confusing job. Some students believed that one needed a college degree just to decipher the codes. Math 3, 4rc, 1-c-2, 4x, 4rt, 3x, consumer math, 4, 2, 4s, and computer math- what did all these mean? After much effort, they discovered that Classical had many useful options for them. Once the required classes of math 1, 2, and 3(known to many as algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2) were finished, Classical’s students could take specialized courses. These were designed to give students a taste of many different aspects of math. Students who were going to major in a math related field could take trigonometry (math 4) and eventually calculus (4s). For others Mr. Daniel Meder - Social Mr. James O’Donnell - Science Mrs. Mary Mushok - Math 22 TACULTY who needed to review maths 1 through 3, there were math 4rt and 4rc. In math 4rt, trigonmetry was taught as well as the reviewing. Math 4rc brought a new aspect to math-consumer math, which could also be taken alone. Consumer math helped students learn a kind of math that they would need long after high school. Learning how to do income tax forms, and how to balance a budget were only a few of the things. Students also learned that buying a car was more expen- sive than it looked. Consumer math prepared students for the future. If a student was considering a career dealing with computers, he could take computer math. This course was designed as an introduction to computers. It helped students to see if they would like to major in a related field. No matter what the interest of a student, Classical had a math class for him. Dr. Philip Miller - Language Mr. Allan Peck - Math Mr. Richard Pervonga - English

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Mr. Stephen LeClair - Social Mr. Raymond Lussier - Language - Mr. Arnold Matz - Language The Way It Was =| lue and White interviewed a few teachers who were former graduates of Classical. The purpose was to find ¥ the differences at Classical then compared to now. The teachers interviewed were Dr. Donald D’Amato, Ms. Patri- cia Keenan, and Mr. Richard Pervonga. Each had different opin- ions on the changes but they did agree on one thing, that the discipline at Classical years ago was much stricter. Smoking was not permitted on school grounds at all. There was also a dress code where the girls had to wear dresses and skirts. Jeans and tee shirts could not be worn and sneakers could only be worn in gym class. Imagine not being able to wear Levis to school! If a student did not follow the dress code he was sent home. Mr. Richard Pervonga was sent home for wearing the red suspenders he had gotten for Christmas. ry rit Mr. Michael Ligarski - Math Mr. Edward Lundrigan - Science Clauces Mr. David Macomber - Language MELAAAL IV) ) = a) Mrs. Maria Mazzei - Language When asked if they thought there was more school spirit then or now, they differed in opinion. Ms. Keenan felt there is more school spirit now. Mr. Pervonga thought that students had more school spirit when he was in Classical because they were more proud of being Classical students. Dr. D’Amato believed that school spirit is about the same. However, he does think that Classical has more school spirit than the other high schools. One saw more students wearing Classical jackets outside of school than Commerce or Technical for example. When asked about the quality of education, Ms. Keenan said the quality of education is still very high but it seemed like there was more academic pressure and competition then. Dr. D’Amato however differed slightly by saying that the kids try just as hard as before and have maintained Classical’s tradition. He also said he enjoyed working with Classical students because they were well- mannered. FACULTY 21

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Mr. James Phaneuf - Math Mrs. Laurie Pieterse - English Mr. Richard Ricci - Science Mr. James Podworski - English Miss Theresa Regina - English Mr. Paul Rieker - English Gretchen Dubbs knows that practice makes perfect. Mr. Paul Robbins - Music Minor Subjects: A Major Undertaking hat student hasn’t experienced a boring study, when those fifty minutes seem to be fifty hours? Sitting there and sitting there, watching clock hands that don’t move, the student suddenly wishes he had work to do, no matter how insane the thought is. Well, some students opted not to waste periods twiddling their thumbs, by signing up for elective courses. An elective course is a course that is not required to be taken, and is not a full-credit course. Courses, such as band, met four periods a week all year, twice a week all year, such as typing, or Miss Linda Rozzi - Math four periods a week for half the year, such as psychology I. A student may have signed up for an elective course for any number of reasons. Avoiding unnecessary studies or a genuine interest in the class were common reasons, but a need to accumu- late course credits for graduation helped fill classrooms too! When a student enrolled, he could not expect to breeze through the year with the teacher entertaining him. A minor subject had to be taken as seriously as a major, and sometimes students discovered that their half-credit course was more stimu- lating and challenging than a full-credit course! Time and effort were required to succeed in such a class, but the satisfaction which resulted usually proved quite worth the extra effort. If asked about their elective courses, any student was likely to exclaim, ‘“‘Minor subjects are a major undertaking!”’ FACULTY 23