Lexington High School - Lexington Yearbook (Lexington, MA)

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ead, fruit; 01 Vallance anak LHS Sparkles In Magazine By Scott Miller The many LHS students who are un- satisfied with their SAT scores and the school in general may now take heart. In an exclusive survey in the October issue of Boston Magazine Lexington is ranked third in combined SAT scores (1022), and tenth in per pupil expenditure ($3936), despite an error in the magazine which puts Lexington in first place. The study includes 114 city (including Boston), regional, and town public school districts bounded by Interstate 495 on the west and north and by routes 25 and 44 on the south. The most recent census sane d Hockey Wins pur ckworth f- season mark, the school girl's field Straight Sadeghpaour, and Reneé Fields) to carry most of the weight. The team has only six seniors hold incomes and parent educational lev- els had better attendance records than those in poorer communities with less- educated parents.’’ As indicated in LHS “Tapply Report” of two years ago, which, among other things, led to the formation of the school’s new attendance policy, stu- dents with better attendance consistent- ly receive better grades. These “wealthier communities’ are said to have ‘‘the greatest number of high school and college graduates...a higher percentage of seniors admitted to four- year colleges than the poorer communi- ties did...better (performances) on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.” These finding relating to the wealthier communities apply strongly to Lexing- ton, as the town’s median household in- come of $31,477 ranks ninth. In fact, the article cites Lexington spe- cifically as suffering very minimal effects from the 1980 passage of the tax-cutting measure Proposition 2-1 2. Lexington su- perintendant J. Geoffrey Pierson is quot- ed as saying, ‘“‘While Proposition 2 -1 2 has tended to depress building maintenance we have not experienced any reduction in instructional progams. In addition, the facts that 78 per cent of LHS seniors pursue a college education (tenth ranking) and that the SAT verbal and math averages are 491 (second) and 531 (third), respectively, were said to “reflect Lexington’s relative wealth.” In commenting on the study recently, Pierson stressed that the SAT averages are even more impressive than they ap- pear, saying that ‘“‘The average number of juniors who take the test in Mas- sachusetts is 60 per cent, and the more students who take the test, the lower the average scores usually are. Here (Lexing- ton) 90 percent take the test.” In fact, last year’s senior class at LHS was smaller than that of the year before, yet fifty more students took the SAT. Pierson attributed the increase to ‘‘more encouragement on our part for the stu- dents to take the test.” Although PSAT results were not indi- cated in the study, Pierson reported that Lexington is consistently the top public school in New England in the area of Na- has attained a 5-3-1 and, of the six, only three played rd, qualifyingthem —varsity last year. ate : ace in the Middlesex § Leah Hines, and M) eh will have to fill the Library Media Cerisr emaids are missing by graduation. Mich Lexinaton Hien Seat eo dl CUT 251 Watthan: Snost 15 Nat'l Minutemen open flood gates, larship lists g Test h school assachu- Ss semi- million ho took list sta- ust have | or sur- 8 to de- ynsisten- eceive a the prin- in essay ‘ipt, and personal said he is pleased for this year’s semifinalists and wishes them well in the future. He added that the impressive total of semi- finalists from LHS ‘‘continues to confirm my belief that we have a most able student body.”’ Waring cited the students’ own abilities and their ‘‘ ‘fami- lies’ emphasis on education” as the chief factors in the success of the semifinalists. Though Waring stressed the importance of the students’ personal back- grounds, he said he believes that LHS has had some influence on the achievements of a number of the semifinalists, particularly in mathematics. Ms. Joy Gilbert, a guidance counselor at LHS, agreed with Waring’s assessment. She cre- dited ‘Lexington citizens’ high priority on academic excellence”’ as the primary factor in the suc- cess of Lexington students. Lex- ington consistently ranks highly in the state with an average of 19 semifinalists over the last eight years. squash Red Rai By Scott Miller Those who stayed home to es- cape the rain last Saturday only to find that Boston College is now considered unworthy for live telecasts should have braved the elements at Lexington’s Har- old J. Crumb Memorial Field in- stead. They would have seen the la- test and best ‘‘edition’’ of the 1985 Lexington High School football squad boost its record to 3-2 (3-1 in league) by thrashing a supposedly tough Melrose club 27-0. The Minutemen operated like a finely tuned machine after a span of four weeks which saw them alternate between falling short in low scoring contests against strong teams and inject- ing relatively weak teams with an overdose of Bart Graf. “There’s no question that it was the best game we've played this year,” said coach Bill Tighe. “In fact, it was one of the better games Lexington has played, period. It was one of the best all around efforts I've seen.”’ Tighe stressed that many of the key plays were made deep in the trenches. “Our line really handled the Melrose line,” he said. “‘The main change I made i a. dd mak. 4 eek son mist have realized immedi- ately that he was in for a rough day when, on the game's first series of downs, Lexington senior Mike O’Shaugnessy stormed through a stunned Red Raider of- fensive line and gave the quarter- back a firm, face to face introduc- tion to the Harold J. Crumb turf. O’Shaugnessy’s sack not only forced Melrose to punt on fourth and 24, but it also seemed to set the tone for the day. A Graf reception at 4:52 of the first quarter left the Minutemen short of a first down to end their initial possession of the game, but they regained control of the football seconds later on a fum- ble recovery by junior Mike DiNapoli. Despite being called for an ille- gal motion penalty, Lexington used the strong running of Graf and senior quarterback Matt Theriault to drive 30 yards and score the only necessary points of the day on a 15-yard touch- down jaunt by the much im- proved signal caller. . Senior Andon Lucas’ extra point gave the Minutemen a 7-0 lead with 3:15 left in the first quarter. The fun had only just begun. Geniare Sean Green, Willie Pitt- ders, 27-0 Raider drive deep into Lexingtc territory was stopped by tt clock following two incomple passes close to the end zone. Melrose worked long and ha: on their possession of the secot half but came up empty hande The Red Raiders’ 33 yard dri included a series of short rush by. D’Agostino and Sewell, combined loss of 10 yards on t penalties, and two fumb! which they recovered the selves. Melrose lost the ball fourth and 10 at the Lexingt 11 yard line when a pass to 6’ Mark Ball was skillfully brok up thanks to a well-timed ju by the 5710” DiNapoli. The fourth quarter consis mainly of a 61-yard drive wh appeared to have been desig) specifically to showcase the ents of Graf, Luke, and Lucas series of Graf charges throug “red’’ sea of Melrose liner neatly parted by the Lexing offensive line and a 15-yard ception by Lucas were follo by an option play which finis off the drive in grand fash The entire crowd stood up on damp bleachers as one chee mass when Graf took a fF from Theriault and lofte: touchdown pass to Luke in yy: tet a -

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