Longmeadow High School - Masacksic Yearbook (Longmeadow, MA)

Page 17 text:

■ 1. Ann Meder 2. David Ostrander 3. Wil- liam Whittaker 4. Roger Morin 5. Robert Potvin 6. Carol Rahkonen 7. Dennis Pike 8 Emile Kahan 9. Kenneth Justin 10. Ray- mond Villeneuve 1 1 . Nancy Dudley 1 2. Mi- chael McCarthy 13. Vito Riccio 13

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During his sabattical year, Mr. Villeneuve lived with his family in France for the 1975-1976 season. He noticed many differences between the academic structures in France and those in the United States. One of the major points is that high school students in the United States are more college oriented, while a large percentage of French students choose some type of competitive vocational school instead. Other young people begin on-the-job training in direct preparation for their future careers. Those students going from high school to vocational school are limited in number because of the few schools offered and the inconvenience of their locations. France, in trying to alleviate this situation, is building more high schools to better educate the young people. Mr. Villeneuve feels that this will only cause more problems, because using the money to build high schools limits the funds available for the construction of voca- tional schools, which would be more profitable to the students. France is working to abolish this situation, Mr. Villeneuve says, but it will be a long, slow struggle. 12

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One of the best courses designed to prepare students for the SAT ' s was the Senior Math pro- gram. As a quarter course it was offered during the fall quarter of each year and was a good review of the mathematics learned in high school. The majority of the students who enrolled in this program had not scored as well on the SAT ' s as they would have liked. After taking the course, however, the students had a great deal more confidence in themselves, and they performed much better than before the class. A study of the course was taken by Mr. McCarthy who found that the students enrolled in Senior Math A did indeed improve their scores more than students not enrolling. Timed tests were frequently given for practice. They helped to improve the students ' skill in nar- rowing down answers and deciding when it was more profitable to guess rather than leave the answer blank. Most people enjoyed the course, because the pass-fail option lessened the normal pressures of a classroom. Personal improvement, the goal of Senior Math, was met successfully. 14