Meadowbrook High School - Sceptre Yearbook (Richmond, VA)

Page 14 text:

Natural Fibers. A guest speaker from Nigeria talks about the clothes of his homeland to Matt Davis and Jeff Hare in Mrs. Michele Gittens’ class. Cobblestone streets and wooden shoes. Reporting on Holland, Heather Boggs, is dressed in native costume, while she shows pictures of the countryside. A quarter inch bit please. Paul Murray carefully drills a hole into a piece of pine for a table leg. 10 Classroom Activities

Page 13 text:

“All in a Day’s Work” he bell rings and ev- eryone runs to class to find teachers waiting with a deten- tion pad in their hands. The classroom grows quiet as con- versations come to a halt. The teachers check the roll and be- gin their planned lessons. Not all students are con- sumed with being attentive. Some take notes. Others write letters to friends, do other homework, daydream or go to sleep. These things are all part of an average school day. To avoid the day to day rou- tine, teachers brought in guest speakers or varied activities to give students a different look. The Family Living class under the guidance of Mrs. Donna Taylor, prepared a Mock Wed- ding. It included invitations, a ceremony and the reception. The Food Management class learned the art of cake decorat- ing and supplied the cake for the Mock Wedding. The Architectural Drawing and Engineering classes com- pleted projects such as building houses and constructing bridges out of toothpicks, being careful not to use over 150 toothpicks and Elmer’s glue. Students also chose classes that emphasized creativity such as art, shop, computer and music. Outside speakers not only educated students but drew from their interests. A disc jockey from XL-102, Rick Maybe talked to the Work Pro- gram Students on a career in i] broadcasting. The English Department in- vited several speakers to talk to their classes. Mrs. Dolly Apes- sos invited Michael Parent, a professional storyteller, who amused as well as informed stu- dents about the trauma of being a teenager. Mrs. Alice Harding invited a sports writer, Tim Pearrell, from the Richmond News Leader who talked to her English classes and to the Sceptre staff about effective sports writing. The Social Studies Depart- ment invited many speakers from other countries. Mrs. Bar- bara Winston invited speakers from Bolivia, Australia, Africa, Israel, a dancer from Poland, and a member of “Sing Out South’, Mrs. Thurston, who “See this” Mrs. Ruth Hodge, from Commonwealth College, shows Donna Massengill a work sheet on how people’s perceptions differ. Cheers! Before cutting the cake, Deron Jackson and Melinda Harvey drinks a toast to each others good health. Final touchs. Maria Thompson does some touch up work on the landscape before proceeding with the rest of her painting. Classroom Activities 9

Page 15 text:

talked about her visit to Russia: They spoke on the different cus- toms, government, food and languages of their countries. Mrs. Michelle Gittens of the Special Education Department also hosted speakers from Afri- ca who spoke on their countries’ people and customs. The Business Department in- vited many speakers from local colleges including VCU Busi- ness Department and Kee Busi- ness College. Mrs. Moore, own- er of Imp Pedler, also came to talk about job interviews and managing a business. Mrs. Donna Taylor of Home Economics invited three speak- ers, one from a local bank, Ms. Donna Waldrin from Casual Corner and Lin Pack, a local restauranteur, spoke on seafood cookery. Another method teachers used to break up the humdrum of everyday school life was field trips. The Media Club visited the Library of Congress and the science classes toured the Sci- ence Museum and the Balti- more Harbor National Aquar- ium. The physical education department coordinated a raft trip down the James River. Some students did not go on any field trips but did leave the school grounds for their class activities. These students at- tended the Chesterfield Techni- cal Center and had a “hands- on” type of learning. They also enjoyed “Free Days”, planned fun activities, which were peri- odic breaks from classwork. Other classroom activities in- cluded some unpleasant sur- prises in the form of pop quizzes Hi, Mickey! Kathy Ruckart masters the art of cake decorating in the Food Man- agement Course. oe All Ina Day’s Work (cont’d) and tests. There were also “dog days” when the teachers as- signed term papers or essays that required a great deal of outside work. Still, if students took a Study Hall they could work on their homework or catch up on studying so there would be time to do things after school. Some school days were rep- etitious, but the effort made by many teachers to plan trips and activities provided stimulating experiences. Five minutes left in class. Restless students start packing up their books, drumming their pencils and shifting around in their seats. Eyeing the clock, curious minds wonder when that bell will ring and what surprises await them in their next class. Enter Data ... In Mr. Jim Taylor’s Computer class, Tracy Kirk and Lorena Hensley “‘punch in” a code to compute their data. People, Government and Customs. Ray Thompson speaks to Mrs. Barbara Winston’s World Geography class about his homeland of Panama. Classroom Activities 11