Memorial High School - Reata Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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Dr. H. M. Landrum gives information about the new superin- tendent, Dr, Leo Bradley, to studentpress members. 222 is Si Sk SEQ QS SVT .E 55- Q ff? sa me Egg it seg iii? is it iii, 135 Qi gi? -55 is if 229 EEE EEE ii 4232 Q22 rf? iv sf? its 555 Lis ES iii L52 tg, Si 635 gi? 5252 ist it 522 is it 2555 122 :ex az E8 SVS 35 its? ga at its E, Q is xiii is 5325 3225 53? its its ii is E Q55 tt sz fx aa 223 is: SSE W 152 iss QQ? sri EY LES? is Z! E22 Wi A La ES? fig ig: xg Q? S55 Si? 45 ti '52 gi ggi fxgx iii? 2,354 45 .L as Ak gs is Iii 5 t its 3515 is- SQ? 536 is ga? aa as 3? W, is 2? gs QS 525 is is ig E. S2 is 5222 Sgt LHS? E25 si At a press Conference held for all the SBISD sfhools, Dr. H. M. Landrum and Coordinator for Information Services Mary Kay Coleman, explain the details of his resignation to stu- Retiring superintendent Dr. H. M. Landrum reminisces about his 34 years spent as head ofthe district, Left: After a hard search led by School Board President Arthur Leblanc, Dr, Leo Bradley signs a Contract as new superintendent. SPECIAL ESSAY - SUPERINTENDENTS -

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Shake up produces Bradle A startling change in the administrative level of the school district resulted in many questions concerning the SBlSD's future. Dr. H. M. Landrum, the first General Superintendent of the Spring Branch Independent School District, had suddenly announced his resignation in june of 1975 after 34 years of service, and the School Board of Trustees was searching for a qualified successor. Landrum stayed on the job until December 1,1975 when Dr. Leo Bradley, the superintendent of the Grand Prairie Independent School District, resumed the post. Bradley, a former teacher, counselor and principal, became the second superintendent in the district's history. Landrum became the Executive Officer to the Board of Trustees and will probably stay in that position until his expected retirement in 1979 or1980. As Executive officer, Landrum has more influence in the development of educational programs in the district, allowing him to work more with the students' needs than he has in the past. Landrum has proudly watched the tremendous growth of the school district over the past three decades with his work interrupted only once for a period of four years for military service. What is today considered the entire SBISD, started out in 1941 with only an elementary school and a junior high school with an enrollment of about 400 students and twelve teachers. Now, there are 42,000 students, 1900 teachers, 6 high schools, 8 junior high schools, 23 elementary schools and a Career Center which is designed to offer special methods and opportunities in the different branches of education. Perhaps more important, Landrum has seen a change in the students of the district. ln his opinion, the students of the 1940's and 1950's were not very educationally oriented because society did not demand that of them. In the 1960's, he feels, young people became more aware of current events and adults started to recognize their rights because of the Cold War and the war in Vietnam. Today, it is his belief that students are more sincere, more dedicated and far more advanced than he has ever known them. Landrum has seen the school district emerge from practically nothing and has contributed a great portion of his life toward its success. During the past year, it was difficultto realize that the district would continue normally without him. - BY IEFF ROBERTS 18 SPECIALESSAY SUPERINTENDENTS

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Dope dog hound abusers Headlinewise, it was a three-dog year. For Memorial High and the surrounding community the biggest running news story involved the efforts of the Hedwig Village Police Department to employ a dog to sniff out marijuana. First came Romel, a German Shepherd pot hound for whose purchase and training a parent-sponsored group calling itself Community Drug Detection and Control, Inc., had put up Sl0,000. The idea was that Romel, under the could track fugitives, control crowds, ferret out burglars and disarm pistoleros - provided he got the proper commands in Spanish. Then along came the C.D.D.C. with its interesting project and the Academy set out to add pot-sniffing to Romel's list of skills. While Romel was being programmed for marijuana detection, The Anvil interviewed Billy Smith, the Academy's general manager and chief trainer, and found him cautiously optimistic that the dog's higher education would prove a success. The reason for his optimism, he said, Uwas that next to eating, the thing a dog likes to do best is sniff around - especially if the sniffing involves a playful game. lf a dog is going to pursue a career in drug detection, said Smith in the manner of a high school senior counselor, he must Presentation ofthe anti-drug program led by Student Council President Hank Duke with Village Police Captain loe Shultea and Officer Charles Bra wner, the dog's trainer, interested all students. guiding leash of Village Police Officer C. A. Brawner, would prowl the corridors and parking areas of junior and senior high schools of the Spring Branch Independent School District with a nose finely tuned to detect the presence of grass As things turned out, Romel was a huge bust- but not the kind of bust the C.D.D.C. had intended. The problem was that no matter how hard his trainers tried to educate him, Romel didn't know his grass from a hole in the ground. Basically the difficulty had to do with teaching an old dog new tricks. Originally trained as an attack guard at Houston's Southwestern Police Dog Academy, for use by the Mexican Government in police work south of the border, Romel was a self- contained four-legged S.W.A.T. team. He 20 SPECIAL ESSAY- ROMEL have the desire to sniff, and he must love to have fun. We cultivate the dog's natural instincts and if he doesn't enjoy this kind of work, I don't believe in force-training him. Billy Smith twho personally prefers gentle Labrador Retrievers for drug detectionj said that any dog could be taught to find pot. He proved this by teaching the skill to a tiny chihuahua and his personal German Shepherd Heidi. Alas, the chihuahua passed on - Heidi ate him. Meanwhile, Officer Brawner was in training also, learning how to be Romel's friend, companion and confidante. Since the dog's notion of good clean fun was tearing people's arms off at the socket, Brawner was concentrating mainly on not being eaten alive. He too was optimistic about the pot project.