Highland High School - Iris Yearbook (Highland, IL)

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—s Hush Over the Crowd A spotlight shined on an empty theater in ’84, as HHS faced no spring musical. No curtains opening. No spotlights or musical numbers. No leading actor or actress or even a supporting cast. No applause or standing ovation from the audi- ence. When it gets right down to it, it all means no school musical. For 16 years the musical has been an annual event at HHS, dating back to 1967 with “Bye, Bye Birdie.” In the years that fol- lowed, the musical gained immense popularity with the stu- Mini Mag 8 Falls dents and community. Yet, in the 83-84 school year, a change was made; this was the year there would be no musical. According to principal Mr. Fred Singleton, several reasons brought about the decision for no musical. With the leaving of Mrs. Sue Hill, drama teacher, two years ago, the problem of finding someone “in house” or in the school, to do the directing arose. Faced with this problem in the 1An empty theater faces the set from the 1983 musical titled “The King and |,” but in '84, the empty theater will face an empty stage. 82-83 school year, the school looked to the outside for help. Graciously stepping in to take the reins of directing was Mrs, Shirley Schaeffer, who did an ex- cellent job,” stated Singleton. Yet, problems became noticable during the 6-8 weeks of getting ready for opening night. The largest problem seemed to be filling the gaps, between the students, director, and the school system. Singleton worked to close those gaps, but due to health problems in '84, he was unable to take on the responsiblities that accompanied working with an outside director. A low rate of enthusiasm also played a large part in cutting the musical this year. In '83, the school was forced to have more tryouts then expected due to lack of participation from the stu- dents. This lack of enthusiasm could play a large part in the coming years. Singleton stated, “We'll give it a shot next year and if we can’t get a full cast, we may go to every other year.” For years the musical has pro- vided an outlet for students not involved in sports, band or any other form of activity. It gave these students a chance to show their talents to the public. Junior Kyle Schumacher stated his opinion on the issue. “I was really mad that there wasn’t one. It gave people something to do in the spring when things are dwin- dling down. It serves as an out- let.” Singleton stated, “The public is amazed at the talents students have. Outside people see students in a different light, | enjoy that.”

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Goodbye Fun and Games It's changing before our eyes. The world is now saying goodbye to the era of video games and moving on to the more serious side of the computer industry. Principal Fred Singleton stated, “We're no more in an industrial society. Now 65% of the world is an information society. School's are trying to pass this on to stu- dents for help in future jobs.” The students at HHS began grabbing hold of the help offered by the school. The jump from 89 students taking computer classes in 1983 to 135 in 1984, showed the growing importance in academic instruction. Junior Tammy Imboden, data processing student, stated, ‘“Com- puters are taking over everything. If you know how to use them, you'll have a better chance at getting a job. They make things a lot easier, and with people being so lazy...” The importance not only affect- ed those who are planning to further their education in a busi- ness field, but was also seen in the agriculture department as stu- dents worked to raise money for their own computer. “Learning the basics here can give you a better advantage against others in your job field. What we're trying to do here is teach those basics,” stated Single- ton. The basics were taught in classes such as data processing, computer literacy and advance programming by Ms. Cheryl Swafford and carried over into Stumped by one of the school’s computers, junior Gordon Rogier dwells deep in his mind for the answer. Rogier is one of the fortunate students who owns his own computer. the math department through the interest of Mr. John Hester and Mrs. Jeanne Probst. The question of how the school could manage to finance the growing field of computers is one that was often asked. Faced with the problem of the computers be- coming out-dated, the school wrote for grants and used part of the student activity fund to pur- chase new equipment. Education Plus also helped in any way they could by supplying softwear. The computer has also begun playing a large part in the smooth operation at HHS. Moving from a semi-computer system in 1983, the school converted to their own in house computer system, to speed up averaging grades and distribut- ing report cards. Mini Mag 7

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49 953 ad The year re-introduced the book, “1984,” as well as the Olympic games. As the old Year of '83 flew by and the cork of a champagne bot- tle was released, it was time to begin the year with the title 1984. Some people decided that this book 1984. In 1948 an Englishman named Eric Blain, under the pen name of George Orwell, wrote a novel about the future. He then titled the book 1984. Since that time the novel has appeared in many high schools across the country. The interest in this clas- sic became enormously high this year as many readers rexamined Orwell's predictions. The book, though, does not capture the reality in which our society and government operates today. It does, however, touch upon current issues such as politi- cal cover-up and nuclear war. Kim Kaminski, who read the book for a composition report commented, “I think everyone should read this book. It is so in- teresting to read. | really learned a lot from it.” Ironically, the book discusses nuclear war in one section and growing concern over the chance of nuclear holocaust, led to a T.V. movie titled “The Day After.” It was a television show that forced the viewers to experience the effects of a nuclear war. It reveals the average American go- ing about their day, when in the background a half-heard T.V. bul- letin reports on nuclear weapons. Then comes some of the most horrifying footage ever shown on a network TV. Mrs. Highlander, the school librarian, remarked, “I think that it was an outstanding footage on nuclear war. | learned a lot in just those two hours. | think ABC’s footage on it was really interesting, but | do hope that it never ever happens.” Also making headlines, were the winter and summer games of the 1984 olympic games. Continous snowfall delayed ski- ing events of the winter olympics in Yugoslavia, but when it was time to begin, the U.S. was ready. American skier Bill Johnson earned the ULS. its first gold med- al in the downhill. Debbie Arm- strong also brought home a gold medal in the women’s giant sla- lom. Figure skater Scott Hamilton brought home a gold for the U.S. In the women’s figure skating competition, Rosalynn Summers, the U.S.’s leading women skater, narrowly lost to Germany’s Katarina Witt. Following the victorious U.S. hockey team of the I980 olympic games, the 1984 U.S. hockey team had a lot to match up to. Unfortunately they didn’t match the record as they finished 2-2-2 for a seventh-place finish, the lowest ever. And finally in the men’s slalom, three-time overall World Cup champion, Phil Mahre, brought home a gold med- al just ahead of his twin brother Steve Mahre, who took a respective second. In the end, the u.S. team brought home a total of eight medals, four gold. The summer Olympic games were held in Los Angeles, California, and before the games even began, the Russians already shocked the world by pulling out of the summer competition. Mini Mag 9