Culpeper County High School - Colonnade Yearbook (Culpeper, VA)

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Students watch Jimmy Carter’s inauguration during school in the library. Election year ‘76 was a year of scep- ticism and confusion, a year of bicen- tennial fever and presidential cam- paigning. President Gerald Ford, con- servative incumbent Republican can- didate, found himself up against Democrat Jimmy Carter of Georgia, a man of promises and dreams for the country. Carter rose from a virtual un- known to become 39th President of the United States. How were the students affected by the election? During the election much class time was spent informally discussing the candidates and their political standings. However, if ac- tions speak louder than words, the students were not affected compared to the high national voter turnout. Ac- Two elderly men exercise their voting privilege at the high school on election day. As Ford people look at Carter from a different angle, they perhaps begin to see him in a more favorable light. 16

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OVER FOR THE DAY? Sandra Myers, while working on Colonnade, expresses her annoyance with Mike Jackson. Mike shows his better side in this picture. 3:10. Mass chaos and pandenioniinn. The mad rush to he the first out of the parking lot and beat the line of buses. Many students lied the school like they were running for their lives or at least for their sanity. Other students stayed after 3:10 to fulfill their extra- curricular responsibilities and obliga- tions. Forensic drilling, Colonnade laboring, sports practicing were all examples of after school pursuits. Some students even sacrificed their weeknights and weekends to perform school activities. Perhaps it could be said that at times the minds of some people never left school and its com- plications. Varsity cheerleaders Beth Broman and Winnie Bernard, discuss the upcoming pep rally with Miss Mann, cheerleader sponsor. 15

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cording to a poll taken by Colonnade, of approximately eighty-seven stu- dents eligible to vote, forty-four regis- tered and thirty-seven voted. There was a variety of reasons given by the students as to why all eighty-seven did not register and did not vote. Many said that they did not have time or that they did not care. Others were more specific: “because I don’t care what happens to the country just as long as it does not get taken over by communists”; “because it was raining and I didn’t want to walk in the rain.” According to the results of Election ‘76, the country looked to Carter for the leadership necessary to hold the nation together. COUNTRY COUNTS ON CARTER On election day, the high school is used as a voting precinct. Mrs. Donald Kite helps in checking whether the perspective voters have registered. 17