Homer L Ferguson High School - Mariner Yearbook (Newport News, VA)

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finally come about. Even thou the students will have adjust- ments to make, they now wil receive an equal education; at the same time, through direct association, students, both black and white, rich and poor will learn about e ach other and how to accept people. ' h Gathered around Coach Wade Williams, dif- ferent Varsity team players are announced. SCA vice-presidential hopeful Gail Bacon captivates her audience of possible voters. Cheerleaders, turned waitresses, serve varsity football players a special lunch. Two nail-biters exhibit characteristic methods of curing pre-basketball game nerves. 1 1

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. Jr, Parents reject “My apprehension is because of the increase in harassments and thievery which seems to be occur- ing within or near the schools. Enough of these incidents have happened to kids I know to con- vince me that both the actual physical safety of the students as well as the learning environ- ment are being compromised. Soup-snitcher Mr. Christian Smith talks to Mrs. Rolande Malval at the French banquet. Soloist performer, Debra Perry, sings her Christmas melody during a music assembly. Vandals burned Mr. Wayne Begor ' s office and several exam papers in late January. Huddled in a private corner, annual staff members alphabetize and identify pictures. 10

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Have you asked your neighbor, mother aunt, milkman, or anyone to become a member of SONS? Busing controversy started before school did in cities far from Newport News. Parents in Pontiac, Michigan, bodily blocked buses from moving. Nearer home, in Richmond, Judge Robert Merhige ' s January decision to consolidate the capital city ' s school system with those of neighboring counties re-ignited the debate. Busing became a national campaign issue; the local Save Our Neighborhood Schools group organized protest rallies. SONS found an expression of their point of view in Sen. Henry M. Jack- son ' s (D-Wash.) statement: I oppose massive busing of children solely for the purpose of satisfying some arbitary mix of students on the basis of race or religion or heritage. It ' s high time we moved be- yond the busing controversy to the challenge of educational quality. I would rather go in the direction of the California State Supreme Court decision which says, in effect, that the wealth of a school district should not be permitted to determine the quality of education. If that decision were implemented at the state and federal levels, then no child could be bused to an inferior school or be forced to attend an inferior school. What we desperately need is not massive busing, but a massive commitment of talent and resources to achieve equality of educational opportunity.