John H Reagan High School - Spur Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Langham states reasons librai hould not be censored in a debate at Austin High. CO D O 3 CD

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t i ttii. iitLic:; tmmt 0) o 0) £L CO You can have a lot of great ideas, but if you can ' t communicate, the ideas aren ' t of any use, explained Doug Bryant on why students should become involved in Debate. It teaches you logical thinking; you learn how to make decisions while you ' re thinking and talking at the same time. These fast decisions helped the Debate team win honors in nine of the 10 competi- tions they attended. In their first meet, an area competition at Johnston High School, Linda Lindholm won third place in extemporaneous speak- ing. Next, in state-wide competition at LBJ H.S., Bryant advanced to semi-finals in ex- temp, speaking. Then, in another state-wide meet at San Antonio Churchill H.S., James Wright ad- vanced to finals, also in extemp. speaking. At still another state-wide meet at Austin H.S., Phil Manning won sixth overall in oration. Bryant won all four of his preliminaries and advanced to quarter- finals in Lincoln Douglas debates, and Carlos Contreras advanced to semi-finals in extemp. speaking. In an area meet at Belton H.S., Bryant won second overall in extemp. speaking and fifth overall in oratory. Yevette Clark advanced to semi-finals in extemp. speaking. At a meet at San Antonio Lee H.S., Bryant advanced to quarter-finals in Lin- coln Douglas debates and to semi-finals in oration. In district UIL competition, Bryant took first and Wright, second in persuasive speaking; Carol Cave won third, and Tanya Slayton, Jodie Rosell and Jimmy Penrod advanced to finals in informative speaking. We were the only school to have all six students make it to finals, boasted Bryant. In regional UIL competition, Bryant placed fifth in the region in persuasive speaking. The last competition of the year was a city-wide debate. Bryant was named Best Speaker of Austin in second year in a row. (Contrary to the 1981 Spur, Bryant, not Mark Board, was named Best Speaker last year as well.) We are probably the most active (academic) club at Reagan, commented Debate sponsor Ms. Gretchen Polnac, referring to the meets. But Ms. Polnac wanted it made clear that Debate was not all work: Students have the illusion that Debate is stuffy and high-brow. But we have lots of humor, she revealed. Jonathan Langham added, We take some cheap shots sometimes, but we let you have a couple of days here first. The difference between Speech and Debate was explained by Ms. Polnac: Speech is a basic speaking course; students learn to talk in front of groups. And, it ' s informative speech instead of competitive. Debate is persuasion: Students learn competitive speaking. They are usually more vocal than Speech students and are recognized as having analytical skills. You don ' t have as motivated students in Speech as in Debate. How does Ms. Polnac teach these classes? With Speech, she starts by mak ing people feel good about themselves. Then I teach them to branch outside themselves, and get up and talk for a little bit. As the semester passes, they stand up and talk for longer periods of time, ex- plained Ms. Polnac. With Debate, we spend two to three days preparing for an in-class debate, then two to three days debating, said Bryant. Why should students take Speech or Debate? Simple — according to humorist Carlos Contreras — It teaches you to talk goodly. Jotiit Roiell and Carol Cave prepare co debate the benefits of sex education at a meet at Austin High. (Left) Sup tng m Pon Ar mai after UIL speech com- petition in Corpus Chrisii in April, Ms. Gretchen Polna c lets Carol Cave convince her to take a splash in the waves. % Vr M Kith the style that beat his San An- tonio Lee opponent, Doug Bryant argues the benefits of genetic engineering research in Lin- coln Douglas debates at Austin H.S. (Below right): Ms. Gretchen Polnac, Speech teacher, helps San- dra Quintero with a speech in class. Regional Speech competitors James Wright. Phillip Manning flows ' Doug Bryant and Carol Cave take a ferry (takes notes on) his op- ride to Port Aransas. Paul Martinez came on the trip to Corpus Christi to compete in journalism. ponent ' s debate at Ausiir H.S.

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o E o c o o LU E o B tllL tin. B T If shopping for a wedding gown seems like years away, and bathing a baby is the farthest thing from your mind, then ob- viously you missed out on Home Economics activities this year. The department did many things to aid in the family learning process. The Child Development class saw On Golden Pond; the Family Living class went shopping for wedding rings; and the Family Finance class went apartment-hunting. In addition, the teachers of the Home Economics department (Cindy Agee, Rozelle Bezant, Frances Allen and Julia Krizak) used special activities to teach in class. For example, demonstrations on how to cook were used in the Foods class, and model dolls were used in the Child Development class. Another interesting teaching method was used by Mrs. Agee in Family Living. She would gather her class in a circle and they would role-play: one student would play the wife, and another the husband. Then, given a certain situation (say, the an- nouncement of pregnancy) the students would act out their parts. This taught the students how to react and how not to react (Right) Mrs. Agee ' s Homemaking class takes a look ai wedding announcemenis in Foley ' s department store. (Belou right) Trade Moore and Janet Nicholson cut snowflakes at the Jerry Clifton Center to show the children everyone is unique. (Belou jar right) Mrs. Cindy Agee picks out some pattern shells for students to tr ' on to get the right size. in family situations. When asked why she thought students should have a Home Economics class. Department Chairman Mrs. Krizak put it this way: It ' s preparing for life, learning life skills. Most families need to know how to get along with each other and their children. And besides, even professionals in careers have to eat and dress. Senior Michelle Zuniga fries sausage for her Foods class. .1 u 108