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

Page 20 text:

Lights, camera, action, says Mr. Bob Dris- coll as he focuses lights on a folk singer. Baton raised, Mr. Wray Herring directs the stage band through another performance. Describing the goals of the basketball team, Coach Woolum talks shop with a reporter. Technical complications are left upon John Bright as he sets controls for radio show. Discussing current activities and projects, club members chant in an afternoon meeting. Involvement in many school activities often keeps junior Ellen Bryant late afternoons. Male chorus members demonstrate the in- tense concentration necessary for a great show. 16

Page 19 text:

HEW not only forced students into new situations, but students were also compelled to use their own minds to distinguish truth from myths passed down by their par- ents. Whites found that the rebel myth, All Niggers look alike, was as ignorant as it sounds. Through association, Blacks realized all Whites are not totally prejudiced. The frantic search of des- perate eyes for familiar faces was pacified with faces of new friends. Cultural differences, both Black and White, stimulated interest. Not even half of the how ' s or why ' s were answered, but that interest — that aroused interest — is what will prompt Mariners to continue Reassembling the fragments t i 15

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Unfamiliar faces, new classrooms, and a variety of organizations and cultures opened the school year — one week later than origin- ally scheduled — at Ferguson. Student-to-student communi- cation was hampered, for past school ties dominated student associations; but in time the conflicting identities were dissolved. No longer could one be recognized as a Viking, Trojan, Typhoon, Farmer or Monarch; instead, each came to realize his new Mariner status. Within classrooms and clubs, goals varied; within the different cultures, con- trasting ideals were present. Teachers and administrators also faced change. Half of the facu lty was new to Ferguson; but it was a new Ferguson even to those who knew the building. Every- one had to adjust to a whole new ball game,” a new principal told them, as well as to temporarily frozen salaries (with retroactive pay finally coming in January) and to the absence of eighth and ninth graders. But while people searched for a possible method linking the assortment of aspirations, the development of new and reorganization of old clubs aided in weaving a closer relationship, unifying the goals and Diminishing the Diversity 17