McCallum High School - Knight Yearbook (Austin, TX)

Page 21 text:

ock ot Spirit Promotes Apothy Far lett: Kenis McGough ioins other avid supporters as she cheers the team during a pep rally. Top: Chargel rises trom Mads perpetually spirited band. Left: Ms. Margaret Dawson eyes her Blue Brigade section. Above: Leah Tun- nell shows her true Mac colors as she cheers tor victory at the Reagan pep rally. Spifnfw

Page 20 text:

SpiriT!I6 School spiriT is a feeling or a way in which each individual expresses himself Toward an evenT or happening. BuT can you define whaT school spiriT is To you? AT firsT glance, one is compelled To Think of TooTball and pep rallies. SpiriT is parTicipaTion in acTiviTies cenTered around sporTs. ln essence, This is The de'FiniTion of school spiriT. Schools are raTed as spiriTed if They confinuously have fanTasTic reacTions in backing aThleTic Teams. According To This basic inheriTed idea, McCallum would come under The caTegory of spiriTed. Where does This leave The academic-minded sTudenTs? Now walk ouTside of The heaTed, boisTerous gym. On a Typical fall pep rally day, bodies and books could be seen for yards sTrewn on The grass. The afmosphere was dramaTically calm, and a fainT echo of The school song drifTed from The direcTion of The gym. A group of black sTudenTs could be seen gafhered around a porTable Tape deck moving wiTh The moods. Cars drove by wiTh familiar faces of sTudenTs laughing and Talking. Smi'Hie's KnighT-a- Burger produced smells of hamburgers frying. AT McCallum, This was noT an odd scene. Some of These sTudenTs were honor sTudenTs and rank near The Top in Their classes. True, There are people who have noThing To do wiTh sporTs because iT does noT inTeresT Them. They find spiriT in anoTher field. Was This The so-called apaThy applied To McCallum, or anoTher sTudenT's inTer- preTaTion of spiriT ? The definiTion of school spiriT depends on The individual. WhaT was apaTheTic To one, mighT, noT be To anofher, and vice versa. ideas of school spiriT in every defini- Tion were as differenT and as changing as The views which are Taughf here Today. Challenge of spiriT versus apafhy produces a vague buT firm conclusion in ThaT sTudenTs Today are individuals, wiTh individual inTeresTs. McCallum became an illusTraTion of ThaT conclusion.

Page 22 text:

l l Homecoming ExciTemenT: Spirit Abounds This is The greaTesT Thing I've ever seen aT Mac, said Coach Jim Acker. His sTaTemenT ended one oT The mosT spiriT Tilled pep rallies ever held Tor a McCallum-Reagan TooTball game. As Homecoming Week and The evenT- Tul Reagan game approached, spiriT mounTed. Blue and grey sTreamers hung Trom The lighTs, while Reagan Who? signs and We Back Mac! paper plaTes plasTered The halls. BeaT Reagan candles burned in all classrooms, including The oTTice, where a large blue candle burned conTinuously The enTire week. ParenTs were given a chance To ioin in wiTh The sTudenT body in compeTiTion cheers, and help build spiriT Tor The regu- YeT These ouTward signs oT spiriT couli noT maTch The hopes and enThusiasm To a vicTory over Reagan. Members oT The BoosTer Club spon sored a Pancake Supper and TeaTurei The choir as enTerTainmenT. ln aTTen ance were The Blue Brigade, BrigadeTTe band and pare Ts, who joined in The nighT pep rally hich Tollowed The sup per. Coach Acker recognized The senioi TooTball players during The pep rally, a: well as Thanking all Those responsible To promoTing spiriT aT McCallum. Regina Rawson read a leTTer Trom 4 senior sTudenT, which broughT To minc memories of lasT years' deTeaT, anc emphasized The single wish of The senio t., isa lar dayTime rally planned Tor The Third period. Tension and exciTemenT ran Through The air like elecTric currenT as McCallum's TwenTieTh anniversary and Homecoming acTiviTies began. The public address sysTem blasTed The TighT song beTween classes, as sTudenTs and Teachers alike Tound iT hard To con- cenTraTe on academic subiecTs. Earlier ThaT morning, The cheerleaders had Transformed The gym inTo a gallery oT 'BeaT Reagan' spiriT signs. Balloons adorned The Toofball players' secTion, while lasT minuTe KnighT noTes were mailed. BuT as The Band and Blue Brigade marched Through The hall Tor The lasT Time, The once silenT gym was Tilled To overTlowing'wiTh screaming KnighT sup- porTers. Fire crackers and cow bells added To The cheers, as boTh The rocking bleachers and sTudenTs responded To The cry - WhaT's The good word? BeaT Reagan! The band blasTed ouT one song aTTer anoTher unTil special ceremonies gave everyone a chance To recover Their losT voice. STudenT Council disTribuTed mums To all The Teachers who had TaughT aT McCallum for TwenTy years, and a skiT was presenTed which TeaTured The uni- Torms and TradiTions oT The early l96O's.