Greenville High School - Hi Life Yearbook (Greenville, MI)

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A Rural Life Farm students experience demanding life Most students work seasonal or part time jobs, and go to school only part of each year. But those who live on an active farm work additional hours all seasons of the year because of that type of rural lifestyle. Only a few students at GHS center their lifestyle on farming. Senior Doug DeVries has lived and worked on a farm for all his life. He commented that he plans to farm for the rest of his life.” “Its tough and expects alot out of you, but I enjoy the A typical day for a farmer starts early; there is no time to “sleep in”. challenge,” he said. Between Doug’s grandparents farm and the one at home he farms 200 acres plus raises livestock. A typical day for a farmer starts early; there is no time to “sleep in”. On some farms there are fewer things to do than on others but all seasons are full of plenty of work. Doug enjoys the summer most because it brings warm weather and plenty of work in the fields. Tom Carlson another student at GHS dislikes getting up early but on his farm milking cows has to be done. He enjoys springtime because of planting time. Many things are required during the warm weather. Harvesting crops, chopping, bailing and hauling hay have to be done. Many don’t realize how hot it really gets when 50 lb. bales of hay have to picked up in an open field, put on a truck, and then unloaded in a barn and count- ed. Some days it is hard to see with all the dust and hay particles blowing through the air. Doug commented that his allergies really get him down but there is just too much work to be done to stop and let it sit. Mike Schmiedicke (11) has some different outlook on farming than Doug. He has many tasks to perform, as Doug, but many different ones too. He said he does not plan on being a farmer for the rest of his life. Mike does enjoy working with the baby pigs “they’re neat”. Fall brings preparation of the land for the following season and sounds easier than it actually is, depending on the crop you decide to plant. With wheat or rye you have to plow, put fertilizer on the land, then plant the seed. Some farmers however let the land lay idle for the winter. Winter comes along and cutting wood has to be done regularly to keep the house warm. Cleaning animal pens has to be done at least once a month but more often if they need it. This involves pitching the manure on the spreader and spreading it on the fields. Then spreading straw out on the ground inside the barn is necessary. Chris Wilson, (11) deals mostly with horses, cows and goats. Unlike most young farmers, the thing Chris enjoys most of all is cleaning the Cleaning animal pens has to be done at least once a month but more often if they need it. Working with heavy equipment is a necessity of farm ready to start the tractor they have on the Devires life. Of all the equipment on a typical farm, the farm, tractor is probably most essential. Doug Devries gets 6

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Differing backgrounds, experiences provide interesting combination at GH did not come through a student exchange program as Anna did. Julia’s mother came to Greenville and stayed with the Sorenson family as an exchange student some twenty-three years ago, and she had always wanted Julia to do the same. Julia Klussendorf Although the girls see many similarities between American customs and those of their homelands, there are still some vast differences that they had to adjust to. Adjusting to the language was the hardest. After learning British English in school they soon discovered American English to be very different, and they agree that American slang is worst of all. They both feel that the school systems are almost completely different. In both countries everyday they have a different schedule, somewhat like the colleges and universities, one day you might go to school for 3 hours and others you might go 8 hours depending on your classes for that particular day. They both seemed to have adapted to the American way of life and the American food but Julia finds it hard to believe that Americans actually like to eat white bread. Julia and Anna also feel that the social activities and dating customs are similar, except that they usually walk to where ever they intend to go for the evening. As to what time they are to be in each night; Julia says her curfew is the same here as it is in Germany. Anna says that as long as her folks knew where she was it didn’t matter what time she got in, but while she was staying in Greenville she had to be home between 12:00-1:00a.m. Anna and Julia enjoyed going to school at GHS where they both were enrolled as Seniors. While enjoying all that there is to learn from a year in a strange country, these students also came with much to share. It’s Friday night, the air is still, and voices can be heard inside of Greenville High. All of a sudden the doors are flung open. People come pouring out of the entrances. Green- A City Life Convenience in abundance ville’s spirit is high after witnessing the triumph of Boy’s Varsity Basketball game over Lake view. The streets are full tonight as teenagers cruise up and down Laya-fette shouting to friends about the victory. French Fries are being munched hungrily while others are putting away pizza, and concentrating on video games, but there is always work behind all these places and activities which all of us enjoy. The majority of businesses in Greenville have teenage employees and most of these people have found the advantages and disadvantages of living in town. Junior Dan Dempsey finds he not only saves gas money by living in town, in commuting to work, but he also says, “I’m able to walk to stores to buy things and it doesn’t cost as much because I don’t have to pay for gas.” Dempsey says another advantage to living in town is “I don’t have to ride the bus or have people pick me up too frequently. I can easily walk where I want to go, within a short distance of course.” But as the old saying goes To gain something is to give up something.’ Senior Jerry Remelts, who works for Ceasar’s Pizza, dislikes the crowdedness of town, but he enjoys living in town because he’s so near work and local activities. Dempsey also recalls a few disadvantages to living in town, “There’s a lot of burglaries. Like if you leave your bike on the porch most likely it’ll be gone the next morning.” He also stated “There’s more noise in town. Especially if you live on a busy street.” Even though living in town has its advantages, like being easier to commute to work or saving gas, there are also the disadvantages, such as noise and being crowded, but I think you’d all agree when Dempsey says, “There’s no place like town business.” Junior Dan Dempsey spent part of the year llvlnq in town. One of the more obvious advantages of doing so is being able to walk to school. 5

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Farm students . . . . barn but dislikes getting up early. Traditional tillage in the spring means working the fields four or five times to prepare a “clean” seed bed. Some modern farmers use conservation tillage. This method leaves crop residue on the field to prevent erosion and to conserve moisture. A necessary part of the program is to use herbicides to control weeds. Working the fields a fewer number of times saves labor, fuel cost, and machinery cost. Doug said when he finishes high school that he would drive a milk truck with his dad. They now own a truck that holds 5,200 gallons of milk. Doug has participated in FFA and 4-H. He is the vice-president of Regardless of the season, weather, or temperature, cattle and livestock need to be attended to regularly. the FFA. He won second place in done many things in the 4-H club. As the tractor driving contest and also a member he has shown rabbits and took second in crop judging at the pigs and would like to show pigs FFA state convention. He has also again in the future. New kid in school New sophomore cites school differences Did you ever wonder what it was like to be the new kid in school? As of December 17th, Mike Corwin became the newest member of the Sophomore class at Greenville High. Having moved from Grand Rapids, where he attended Creston High with a student population of nearly 2,000, Mike had a lot of adjusting to do. Mike claimed that one of the biggest differences between his previous school and Greenville is class size. “The classes here have fewer people and it allows for more individual teacher-student help. At Mike’s former school the ratio of blacks fo whites was about 50 50; he was surprised to find that was not the case here. When asked how it felt to be a first year high school student as a Sophomore in Greenville when at Creston freshmen were the youngest class. Mike’s reply was, “it’s not fair, I’m getting treated bad twice! But at least 1 missed initiations here.” One of the best ways of making friends in a new school is by involve- ment in extracurricular activities such as sports and dances. Mike noticed that here there seems to be bigger turnouts and more enthusi- asm at Greenville basketball games. Also that school spirit is great, such as the numerous dress up days. He said he really enjoyed watching several teachers make fools of themselves dressed as reindeer in the Christmas assembly. Mike believed that the disadvantages of moving and changing high schools will be far outweighed by all the pluses Greenville has to offer. His reply when asked what he thought of Greenville Senior High was, “I like it.” He really enjoyed watching several teachers make fools of themselves dressed as reindeer in the Christmas assembly. 7