McCluer North High School - Polaris Yearbook (Florissant, MO)

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Squinting in an effort to increase her powers of observation, Kris Pool, junior, looks at a slide during her Anatomy class. Outstanding Chemistry Teacher Kathy Dombrink smiles amid her chemicals as she prepares for her class. Staff makes “Systematic knowledge of the physical or material world, systematic knowledge of any kind” was science according to the folks at Random House. But students here didn’t just sit submissively and ab- sorb facts of the physical and material world: they also experimented and went into the field. In short, McCluer North students cooperated to take the drudg- ery out of accumulating knowledge. But they never could have done it without the teachers. This year, students and faculty had reason to cheer when it was announced that Ms. Kathleen Dombrink had been chosen as the Outstanding Chemistry Teacher in the St. Louis area. How did this come about? Surely someone just didn’t pull her name out of a hat. Ms. Dombrink explained that Mrs. Mary Krieg “was the one who was really responsible for the whole thing.” The American Chemical Society branch in St. Louis sent letters asking for nominations and Mrs. Krieg took it from there. She asked peo- Carefully dropping a chemical into a beaker, Jenny Huddleston, junior, keeps a steady hand. good grades ple, including former students, to second the nomination and had Ms. Dombrink fill out some forms. Then the only thing to do was wait. When Kristin Pool, junior, heard about the good news, she commented, “She deserves it!” It seemed to be the general opinion of most students that science was an impor- tant subject to take. Mr. Duane Lang, sci- ence department chairman, said, “More “They do a good job of explaining what you're supposed to do.” - Kurt Haefner and more, science is becoming important to people. I think they’re becoming aware of science and technology and the need to become aware of the world around them.” Labs, lectures, dissection and film strips were all structural tools many teachers used to help their students learn the basic and not-so-basic facts. Those -tools helped make McCluer North’s Sci- ence Department and its science teach- ers so popular with so many students. Science 2ll

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210 Science Concentrating hard on the solution he is preparing, while carefully keeping his fingers out of the way is Jeff Ablen, senior. Smiling with new-found admiration, Teresa Hediger and Diane Corson, juniors, enjoy making a new friend. Relaxing during her advisory time, Neta Pope, sci- ence teacher, takes a break from class and the pressures of the day. ey

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While working on Social Studies work, Kathy Roh- fling, sophomore, glances at the camara. Workig diligently on questions, Ted Hindes, junior, searches for an answer. Social Studies suits all Growing coffee beans in Brazil, social- istic governments, and rationalization had some thing in common. These were just some of the various subjects studied in McCluer North’s Social Studies Depart- ment. For the regular diploma, three credits of Social Studies were required to gra- duate, but many students took more. When asked what Social Studies classes he liked best during his three years, Ran- dy Ray, senior, said, ‘My favorite classes were Colonial America and American Studies because | had two really neat teachers, Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Marsh. They could take dull boring subjects and make them fun and interesting.” I used to not like Social Studies, but now the advanced social studies enters into topics that are easily related to the world around me.” Doug Wynd With the addition of the freshman class, many changes had to be made in the Social Studies Department. A new se- mester class, American Government, was added to the curriculum as a required class. All students had to pass this class 212 Social Studies before graduation. The department also added a new general level quarter course which studied recent history. This class was Called U.S. History: 1945 to Present. “With the updating of the curriculum, the Social Studies Department decided to drop Cold War and is also planning to phase out the general classes Colonial America and w Nations,” stated Mr. Chamberlain, department head. ‘Some- thing that is giving us problems are all the single section classes. Because of the de- cline in enrollment, and so many seniors leaving in second semester, we are hav- ing a difficult time scheduling students in them,” added Mr. Chamberlain. The variety of classes that one could take was what was really impressive to most newcomers. A student could study anything from psychology to Japan, the I920’s, the 50’s, or ancient civilizations. For most students, getting their three credits of Social Studies credits was the easy part. The hard part came when de- ciding what classes to take. “In Social Studies, if you like the sub- ject you’re studying you are more likely to learn more,” said Chris Vachalek, sophomore. But no matter what subject a student liked, he could always sign up for a subject he liked at McCluer North. Evaluating an essay by Dave Hance, junior, Ted Lotz, social studies teacher, checks historical accuracy. Se ot Cana a eee eee