Forest Hills High School - Forester Yearbook (Sidman, PA)

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Language Arts Department Initiates Mini-course Program Spurred by the weakness of the traditional approach to language arts, the English department, after extensive research and revision, initiated a mini-course program. Flexibility in scheduling, freedom in selection of materials, and teacher preference in staffing characterized the program. In the mini-course structure the students experienced more freedom. The number and variety of courses offered increased to as many as twenty-five and varied from Seman- tics to Broadway Musicals. Once the students satisfied a limited number of requirements, he was free to select courses of his own interest taught by a teacher who chose to teach them. In short, the program matched student interest and ability with teacher preference. For the first time seniors, juniors and sophomores were put together in a classroom. There were those who felt the sophomores could not compete with the upperclassmen, but others felt differently. “Stu- dent performance is independently achieved; it doesn’t make a signifi- cant difference in the long run. (Mr. Henry Polasko) In a survey it was found that most students felt the change was for the better. The change of teachers every six weeks was perhaps the greatest reason for liking the mini- courses. “It was great not to be stuck with the same teacher all year—this could be quite a drag. (John Moore) At open house David Knepper explains the basic concepts of the English mini-course program in talking to a concerned parent. Mrs. June Seese. 20

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Joanne Smay. Joanna Met . Don Salsgivcr, and Ia rena Penrod work on an arts and crafts Christmas project, which is a Christmas tree plaque made from eg}? cartons This project, begun in class, was completed during free time. Stressing the pre-vocational aspect of special education. Richard Pasierb explains to his class the importance of proper procedure in job application. Individuality Stressed In the special education department the program is basically the same as other departments. It is geared to each person s ability and background and is covered in a slow, non-pressured pace to insure that suf- ficient time is available for each student to receive enough attention and help to meet his needs. “In their program, students are presented a ‘prevocational curriculum designed to give them the basic tools to attend vocational and occupational programs at Portage (boys) and Ebensburg (girls).’ (Mr. Richard Pasierb) 19

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Left: In an Oral Communications class Fran Matvay suggests valuable tips for a more emphatic speech to sophomore Donald Paxton. Besides supervising the Radio Club, she also assists with the Ski Club Above Albert Keller [mints out a grammatical error in Jamie Johnson's first draft of a book report in her Youth Generation Novel mini-course Left: During a free period. Paul Yuhas corrects a composition for his Expo II class He also helps coach the Scholastic Qui team 21