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

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LAST MINUTE CRAM Carrie Moring and Julie Barron finish up some fifth period home work during lunch. Lunch Time 19

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In spite of serious over crowding, the extended lunch shift gives extra time. It’s like Having your cake and eating it, too. B y the time most students reach school age, they stop playing their childhood games like hide-and-go-seek, tag, or red light, green light. Unfortunately, with the ad¬ vent of the seven period day last year, the lunch schedule had to be arranged in such a way that it forced most stu¬ dents to start playing a child hood game all over again — musical chairs. But this was a much more adult ver¬ sion of the age old game. Instead of dashing for a few chairs in a circle when the music stopped, the CCHS “big kid” version started with the sounding of a bell and a 200 yard dash up stairs and down twisting halls to get to the cafeteria where the real game began. The goal? To be among the 380 students on a lunch shift who would get a seat in the cafeteria. The competition: Over 500 students each shift. The aggressive players put their hearts into winning. They were out of their seats and out the classroom doors before the bell stopped. “You could always tell the new tenth grad¬ ers,” said Jon Lohr. “They’re the ones who hit the hallway at a dead run —and kept on going!” For, after all, the first ones in the lunch lines had a better chance at getting a seat. Those students of a more compro¬ mising nature packed their lunches or just took their time getting to the line. Some even worked out a time-sharing deal with the early eaters, but, if they got a seat, fine. If not, fine too. Then there were those who refused to play the game at all. They just went without lunch and used the time for other things. But in spite of the hassles, most en¬ joyed the fact that they had 35 min¬ utes for lunch. Some used the time to play the musical chairs game, eat lunch, and talk to their friends. Others congregated in the halls, sitting on the floor, occassionally sneaking a piece of fruit or a bag of chips. (Eating in the halls was not allowed, but unless some¬ one laid out a full course banquet, not much was said about it.) Others braved the elements for that all important nicotine fix and went out¬ side to the smoking lounge. The li¬ brary also provided a favorite place to spend the 35 minute time studying. And a few found teachers who would let them spend lunch in their rooms working. It could be a hassle. Nobody really wanted to play games like musical chairs again. And yet, in spite of the drawbacks, most liked the extra time. “ I couldn’t believe it,” said Jason Judd. “To go from 19 minutes for lunch at the junior high to 35 here was great. I could eat lunch if I wanted to and still have time to get a few things done. The only full time winners of the game were the seniors who had a short lunch line and guaranteed seating at the senior table or in the courtyard when the weather was nice. ♦ LUNCHTIME CHAT Tracy Eisenman and Patri¬ cia Brown talk about the latest gossip during lunch. IN THE SHADE Wendy Hays, donning her way¬ farers, hams it up during lunch. 18 Lunch Time

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Modified big blocks, Stock six cylinders, and Four round wheels to roll. C ars and transportation played an important part in the lives of students. In a county school situation with no public transportation except for the school buses, figuring out who was driving when and if they could give you a ride became very important. “It’s really hard to get places with¬ out your license,” Melanie Doyal said. “You have to depend on your parents or friends for rides everywhere.” Hav¬ ing a license — and a car to go with it — became the students’ best and most obvious symbol of independence. However, students quickly found out that independence had its price, usually in the form of gas and insur¬ ance bills, with repairs and general maintenance thrown in. Cars were a lot of fun, but a lot of money, too. But for many young drivers, the main reason for having a car was not for easy acess to school or school ac¬ tivities, but for the social freedom it granted them on weekends. To many students, cruising town quickly be¬ came a weekend way of life. Cruisers are a special class that come from almost all groups. Cruising was a way to see who was around town and be seen by everyone else, and seeing the cruisers parked at the restaurants and shopping centers on the north end of town, or just driving through, was not an unusual sight. They spent their time talking to friends and looking for parties — cruisers are notoriously hard partiers. So, who cares if owning a car and paying for it was a very large head¬ ache at times, it more than makes up for it with pride and independence it gave back. - Russel Walker WATCH THE GAS Willy Grammer might be driving his father’s truck, but it is his money putting gas in it, so he’s keeping a close eye on the price. 4 READY TO ROLL Billy Wise checks out his truck to make sure he hasn’t forgot¬ ten anything. Four wheel drive trucks were very popular, right down to the mud bogs on Sundays at the south end of the county. 10