Melrose High School - Log Yearbook (Melrose, MA)

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The European Connection Imagine that you ' re 4,000 miles from home living and attending school in a foreign country. Gro Bache and Wolf- gang Pieken enjoyed the excitement of this experience through the Youth for Understanding Program. Gro. a friend- ly 18-year old from Oslo. Norway, was a senior at Melrose High School during 1977-78. Wolfgang, an enthusiastic 16- year old from Bremen, Germany, was a member of the junior class. After a battery of applications and interviews, they were placed in homes in Melrose. Ya. I ' m hai ' ing a good time, too ' Wolfgang Pieken enjoys math with Dr. Rockwood. Henry Hughes John Hughes Social Studies Occupational Ed. Both students integrated into the school and the community, and shared with all of us an experience that was mutually rewarding. Wolfgang says that he “decided to spend a year in the U.S.A. because in many things, Europe, and especially Germany, is connected and dependent on the U.S.A. I want to learn about the mentality and the way of life in this important country.” Gro noticed a lot of differences between our school system and that of her homeland. “In Norway, the students stay together in one homeroom and the teachers do the moving around. They are not as strict about having passes or checking up on absences. Wolfgang commented that when German students have a free period, they can go into the city or do whatever they want. Both missed the longer breaks between classes in their native schools. Wolf- gang was impressed with the emphasis on occupational education. Lockers were a new idea for Gro, who was used to carrying all her books in a knapsack. Outside of school, the two have been busy with extracurricular activities. Wolfgang, who hopes to be a journalist, served on the Imprint staff. Gro played the trumpet in the Band and pitched in with their fund-raising activities. The new cultural experiences were naturally quite interesting. Big Ameri- can cars, commercialism, and fast-paced living were overwhelming. Drive-in movies and McDonald’s were firsts for them. The verdict on Me Donald’s food; “ Ja , I ' m having a good time! Gro settles into the classroom routine. fattening, greasy, and not very whole- some. Day trips and excursions to Boston, Gloucester, New York and other places helped them to capture the flavor of the country. Through this exchange program, Wolfgang and Gro had a chance to get acquainted with the lifestyle of high schoolers miles away from their own community. They learned from us, we learned from them! What a year for Wolfgang, Gro, and MHS! Thomas Humphreys Timothy Hurley Mathematics Guidance Clark Jenkins Janet Johnston Occupational Ed. Physical Education 18

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Dr. Jekyll Or Mr. Hyde? Were you a Dr. Jekyll or a Mr. Hyde? The Dr. Jekylls among us spent hours in laboratories mixing together diaboli- cal concoctions and peering joyfully through microscopes. Their speed, ef- fficiency, and confidence astounded the struggling onlookers. Oh yes, the Dr. Jekylls were amazing. They concealed their identity outside the lab. ..but once inside, they were suddenly transformed before your eyes. Costumed in goggles and aprons, they became mad scientists, hovering over a bubbling test tube with a blue sinister cloud hanging above it. Okay, I ' ll add nitroglycerin. Is the teacher looking? says Joe Russo to Tom Plouffe. A 98% error? This can ' t be right exclaims Jerry Boy son What then, you wonder, of the Mr. Hydes? Mr. Hydes of the Science Dept, were dazed and amazed. Baffled by periodic charts, stunned by molecular activity, confounded by the frog’s liver, they nonetheless plodded on with deter- mination. They filled their requirements and generally maintained their sanity. Most of us wavered in the middle: sometimes a Dr. Jekyll, sometimes a Mr. Hyde. When things were going well: only a 1% error, a frog with an easy digestive system, a focused micro- scope, fruit flies that had triplets, then we were Dr. Jekylls. But when we just had one of those days: test tubes broke, solutions boiled over, you sliced your finger- not the frog, your partner caught on fire, then we joined the ranks of Mr. Hydes. Yet, we not only survived, we had fun! So, Dr. Jekylls and Mr. Hydes, we salute you! Phyllis Greene Robert Gumbleton Resource Center Language Arts Arthur Harrington Language Arts Robert Hassett Science James Hodgkins JoanHooton Social Studies Occupational Ed. 17

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FRONT ROW: Mrs. Frank-Cords, Beate Reinhold, Gobi Otto, Monika Bentack, Heike Kramer, Gesrhild Weide, Barbara Kahn, Nils Oppermann, Juta Kuchen- meister. BACK ROW: Karsten Luchow, Torsten Sprick, Seven Erichesen, Christian Wolff, Thorsten von Stein, Jan Rosenkrane, Wolfram Roller. NOT PICTURED: Ruth Freier. No communication gap here! Ruth Freier has no problem conversing with her American hostess. “100% enthusiasm’’ - that was the spirit of the 36 German and American students who participated in the fall and spring exchange programs. Traffic had been regular between Melrose and Sasel, a suburb of Hamburg, West Germany, since the fall of 1976. By October, 1977, the whole school antici- pated the arrival of our German visitors. What a time for the 17 American hosts! Their guests truly became like “real members of the family.’’ The Germans tested their six years of English classes with no major commu- nication gaps. A busy citizens’ commit- tee rolled out the red carpet. A Mount Hood barbecue, expedition to Harvard and the Museum of Science, trip to Stur- bridge Village and reception in the high school kept our visitors (and MHS students) busy! After forming many friendships, MHS students were certainly excited about their upcoming stay in Germany. In April of 1978, it all came true. Twenty students, anxious for a terrific vacation and a chance to put three or four years of German in practice, departed for their one month visit. This trans-Atlantic spirit of sharing, learning, and befriending was a valuable experience for all involved! John Kappotis Science Gladys Katz Librarian Jennifer Kern Occupational Ed. Janet Kerrigan Science Alice Kramer Occupational Ed. Joan Leighton Foreign Language l 19