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

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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

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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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Health Help hat one place did students turn to during the year when they needed medical help; and even when they didn’t? That’s right, the nurse’s office. Many times during the average day nurse Lydia Tutt heard the common cries, “I have a headache,” “‘My stomache hurts,’’ “‘Can you give me some aspi- rin?”’ and the usual “I’m sick - I want to go home.” Naturally, along with the sick students there were always a few wolf - cryers seeking a haven from tests and incomplete homework assign- ments. The nurse was left with weeding out the fakers from the rest, and sending them on their way. For those students who were ill enough to be sent home, Mrs. Tutt had to get in touch with Mr. Robert Smith - Science their parents - sometimes a difficult task - and inform them of the illness. Although this may have been a trying time for the sick student, it was all a very necessary procedure. While the school nurse was around mainly for the advantage of sick students, her job also entailed other duties. Besides working with the students, she was responsible for updating school health records and checking to see that everyone had been properly immunized. In the case of special immunization clinics such as the measles clinic and tuberculosis testing, the nurse aided in distribu- tion of shots and reading of results. The nurse’s job was very involved and students at Classical were very lucky to have her around when they weren’t feeling their best. Mr. Robert Stevens - Math Mr. David Stratton - Gym Mr. Stanley Stolarz - English 24 FACULTY Mrs. Audrey Szlachetka - Science Mrs. Andrea Tarczynski - Language