J Sterling Morton West High School - Talon Yearbook (Berwyn, IL)

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Members of the junior-senior film class Qleftb watch their own film to see if any corrections are needed before the film is shown to their classmates. Ray Colello Qbelow, leftj chooses from the assortment of reading lab materials. The reading program became a part of the freshman English classes this year. Mr. F. Meyer Qbelowj instructs his theatre arts class on the construction of stage props used in the Drama Department's production of Fiddler on the Roof. t.......,,m at ' s. 1 , A Q is 3 ACADEMICS 29

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Freshman Classes Gain Reading, Writing Ability Marge Dunne fright! gestures to emphasize a part of her speech as she glances at her notes to refresh her memory concerning the contents in her speech elective course. West's English Department requires freshmen to own a grammar book. This year the teachers reinstated Warriner's English Grammar and Composition fbelowl. Playing Gulliver in a class performance of Gulliver's Travels, Mary Waitekus fbelow, rightl instructs a puppet to rise from the desk as Mrs. F. Satz's class observes. ...miiamss WM-fwfawvf Generally, the English Department found 1974-75 to be a year of evaluation for its courses. The department completely renovated the freshman curriculum to include a heavy emphasis on developing Writing skills as well as instruction in the reading lab once a week for each class. The assignment of five full-time reading teachers served to broaden the reading program. The department worked to revise the sophomore English curriculum for the 1975-76 year. It also entered its final proposal for the junior-senior elective program and a revision of those courses at the end of the year. This program expanded with the addition of the in- dividual in American literature, modern American literature, and literature of periodicals courses to its other electives.

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Pupils Publicize Value of Taking Foreign Language Throughout the year, the Foreign Language Department publicized the value of learning a foreign language. This publicity resulted from a drop in enrollment in all foreign language classes. No third or fourth year Italian classes existed this year. Mrs. M. Gamboa taught third and fourth year Spanish classes at the same time. To boost enrollment, foreign language students broadcasted the benefits of studying a foreign language with presentations to English classes, stressing that career possibilities were numerous for bilingual people. Mr. W. Ritis replaced Mr. J . Leckel, who left to concentrate his efforts on East's Language Arts, as depart- ment head of West's Language Arts. 30 ACADEMICS Mrs. M. Heinz Qabove, right! explains an important Czech assign- ment to Kathy Mach. Mrs. Heinz taught only one Czech class this year as enrollment in the foreign languages continued to drop. Third and fourth year language students learn the culture of the people whose language they study as well as the language itself. Fourth year French students Qabovel perform a dance. Oktoberfest performers Ann Harasek and Valerie Sakum Crightl enliven the happy occasion by singing a traditional German song to their audience to give them a taste of Germany's festive tunes. wiv-....,