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

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Attendance, discipline, fees ami obligations all come with their own forms of paperwork and memos, which Eleventh and Twelfth Grade Assistant Principal Charles Gorin has covering his walls and desk almost constantly. (Far left) Good-naXira SiSi nt Principal ChArlc Gorio climbs down from high abovr ihe gym aficr being hit in the face wiib a pie at a pep rally skil, tLeft) Audtaml Prm- ctpa i Esiella Vilb and Jack Louis pauie lo chat during a vheo studenir iren ' i pounding on iheir doors. (Above) AISD Board »f Trm ttti. Ed Small. Jerry Nugent. Manuel Navarro. Will DaOs. Nan Clayioo. Steve Ferguson. Dr. Peter Vemer. and Dr. John Ellis (supenDlendent). Joe Leonard Jack Louis Estella Wills Charles Gorin I Principal Ninth Grade Principal Tenth Grade Principal Elevenib Twelfib 3 -4- ■■■• o 125

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c o ■4- 0) C 1 -o m M tm tl€lL tO t£|gkp - ' Q ' The goal of all the principals this year was to raise Reagan ' s scores on the STEP tests, and to increase attendance. Mr. Jimmy Viranontes, principal, explained how these were part of a long-range plan: We have one-year and five-year goals. The five-year goal is to improve academics and make Reagan at or above national norms on the STEP tests. To do this, we adopted a new attendance policy; we had teachers give progress reports to all students (where previously only failing students received progress reports); and, instead of just basic classes (Social Studies, Math, English, Science) giving finals, all classes were required to give (written) final exams. Besides trying to improve Reagan academical- ly, the principals had everyday duties to deal with. For example. Assistant Principal Oscar Kellner had the job of issu ing school ID cards, while Assistant Principal Joe Leonard had to worry about teaching civil defense. Mr. Viramontes had to deal with payroll and leaves of absence. Then there was the everyday problem of discipline that all the principals were involved with. Luckily, this year, it wasn ' t so bad. We ' ve had real good students this year, Mr. Viramontes said. No serious problems at all. As 1 said on the announcements, the Senior Class was superb. Each year the students are improv- ing, and I hope it continues. Reagan ' s three deans became assistant prin- cipals this year, making the school ' s total number of principals this year six (one principal and five assistant principals). The other three assistant principals were Mr. Jack Louis, Mr. Charles Gorin and Ms. Estella Wills. We had consulted with the superintendent of (Right): Budgets, payrolls, curriculums. bulleiins and announcements, honors and awards were just some of the things that demanded Principal Jimmy Viramontes ' attention during the day. (Far right): Not only did Assistant Principal Joe Leonard oversee building maintenance, but he also managed to keep track of textbooks, lockers, and insurance forms, among other duties. schools for years to get the title changed. All the other schools except for Austin and LBJ have the assistant principals. It was more for it to just have the title than anything else. Nothing really changed, said Mr. Viramontes. Assistant Principal Gorin agreed, It hadn ' t changed my job at all. It was just a title change, to make the schools consistent. The best part of his job. Assistant Prin- cipal Gorin said, was seeing a change. Well, you know, we work with discipline, and when you see someone with a behavior problem and causing trouble, change, that ' s the best aspect of the job — when you see some results. You know, we don ' t get a thrill from suspension and detention. But we have to do it sometimes to see a change. Scheduling student activities and fund-raisers were just a few ' of the many duties that kept Assistant Principal Oscar Kellner busy throughout the year. At the annual tree-planting ceremony. Principal Jimmy Viramontes congratulates Mr. Intramural , Health teacher Lawrence Britton on his retirement. Vhen she wasn ' t in the student parking lot checking parking spaces. Tenth grade Assistant Principal Estella Wills was in her office dealing with sophomores ' problems. 124

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CO C 5 O- j, tiu mlE: Helping students with any problems that come up during their progress through high school was the job of the counselors, as Ms. Laurel Otnes put it. This covered things like dealing with alcoholic parents and pregnancy, to class choice and career decisions. Along with helping students, the counselors worked with committees on Special Education, had brainstorming ses- sions with Principal Jimmy Viramontes on the problems of Reagan, helped plan the master schedule, and worked with teachers and assistant principals on problem students. In addition, the counselors set up group therapy for any problems that arose with students. For example, Ms. Mildred Rucker had a drug awareness program this year. We always are working with small groups. They may last five or six weeks, and then we ' ll change. They come up with the needs of the students, explained Ms. Otnes. The goal of the counselors this year was to help implement the new attendance policy and to help students achieve higher scores on the STEP tests, said Ms. Otnes. This went hand-in-hand with the Reagan AIM (Academic Improvement through Motivation). We mainly tried to achieve that (motivation) through individual counsel- ing. Bui the counselors did go to individual classes and talk, Ms. Otnes said. You have to want to do well and the rest follows along, she added. Xhen asked what the most rewarding experience of being a counselor was, Ms. Otnes replied, I think being a counselor is a lot like painting a picture. You do a lot of things and don ' t get immediate feedback; you ' re not aware of the effect until a few- years later. Sometimes you may never know, if that person isn ' t able to express the effect you made. Of course, sometimes you know you had a big effect on somebody ' s life. They ' ll come by the next day and say, Gee thanks, you really helped, and that ' s very gratifying. But usually, you have to wait a little bit. When asked what the main problems were that students faced this year, Ms. Otnes replied, We do have the drug pro- blem on campus, but the student body as a whole was improved. They were more con- cerned about doing well, and they had more respect for their education. For those students who didn ' t do so well, the counselors were often called in to help. We work a lot with teachers having problems with students and vice versa, ex- plained Ms. Otnes. It usually becomes a three-way conference between the teacher, the student, and the parents. We also work with the deans to help students with any problems, she added. The deans will notify us of any truancy or discipline problems. Ms. Otnes said the counselors themselves had no problems or setbacks this year. We ' ve had a very successful year, replied Ms. Otnes. I ' m very pleased. .1 ;A Junior St iiur firum M ihe new Hyall Regern. Hotel. -Senior (Counselor Laurel Oines greets studcni ai the door while clapping to the beat of the music he ing played inside. Tenth Grtuie Coumelar Mildred Rucker checks students ' grades in order to help them plan their future class schedules. A man of many hats, Permanent Substitute Glen Birdwell took the places of teachers, monitors or librarians who were absent. V ocationat Counselor Ruth Hodge helps a student choose courses that will lead to employment. Her philosophy was lacked to the wall near her desk. ReaJing and writing letters helped me survive this job for two years, said Study Hall teacher Gary Carlson. 126