Memorial High School - Reata Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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C onlinued on page 163 meetings, said Nelson, Secretary of the club. President. Senior Jane Berryhill said. Both of our parties were worthwhile. The students from Clear Creek made the second party great. The food we all prepared was dif- ferent but fun, said Freshman Sophie Magnier. Dreaming of being a spy someday. Sophomore Jamie Turner said, We liked to get rowdy sometimes at the parties. during meetings and especially in class. But Russian teacher Mrs. Szyfman had ways to subdue her. stu- dents. Give them a difficult test. it's easy to control. Mrs. Szyfman said. GERMAN The German volunteer program con- sisted of a group of German speaking nothers who spent an hour each in :onversation with one of the schools German classes. This program originated as German .eacher Mrs. Mary Fox was confronted fvith a steady decline of students enroll- ng in foreign languages. She set out to 'ind a suitable solution to the problem. It became increasingly clear to me s foreign families moved to our com- unity that we have a wealth of untap- ed resources in the form of women whose native tongue is German. said Mrs. Fox. Benefits were plentiful in this volun- teer program. Most important. stu- dents see the foreign language as a liv- ing tool for communication. said Mrs. Fox. Not only did Mrs. Fox feel the pro- gram was helpful, but German students did also. I can become more familiar with the language and its usage. said Sophomore John Payne. Women who were in the volunteer program shared their talents in a sec- ond Ianguage by expressing a variety of subjects. In their fthe volunteersj con- versations with the students, the volun- teers brought first hand knowledge of customs and events in their native countries. said Mrs. Fox. Strong feelings about the value of taking a foreign language were shared by both Mrs. Fox and the students. Being aware of your own language and culture while learning about another country's language and cul- ture. broadens your horizons. Mrs. Fox said. German student Susan Schomburg agreed. It's good to have a second Ian- guage. I am also planning to go to Europe sometime, she said. - 30 - - FfL'll'lIL'I' Ellieredge, Cum Heii'elL Dclvlrit' l.un.i'dnii'nc'. Vera Rtissii-in'm. Eilene Wvlxlz I . FRENCH HONOR SOCIETY, BOTTOM: Ellen Bartell, John Murphy, Vera Russwurm, Eddie Burke, Mercedes Malek. TOP: Barbara Kuchar- sky, Michelle Pikar, Kathy Confor, Sponsor Mrs. Judy Deaton, Marsha Webber, Susie Prince, Lily Talish, Kate Kucharsky, Debbie Amerso, George Caflisch, Jean Leifeste, Kira Obolensky, Kate Mueller, Micheal Carlson, Joariie Weiner, Donna Marshall. Photo by Trent Rosenthal. CONTRIBUTING HIS IDEAS to the group, Ger- man ll student Senior Mike McCulloch explains to Freshmen Tanya Grubich, Dana McDougal, and Laura Groppe how to make their skit, The Dating Game, work. Photo by Kathy Epps. c .v 3 f E FRENCH DRAMATISTS NEVER HAD SUCH WILLING ACTORS as Seniors Kris Tita, John Murphy, and Evan Davis. These and other French IV students as well performed for their class as part of the course which stressed the French way of life. Photo by Trent Rosenthal. Languages ' 163

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NATIONAL SPANISH HONOR SOCIETYVMEM- BERS, BOTTOM: Susan Hollo, Sponsor Winifred Cotenllo, Deidre Hoppe, Carrie Bratton, Miguel Baldwin, Tina Woodharns, Karen Provonzano, Bob Mclean, Linda Hood, Elizabeth Isenseo. TOP: Patti Robbins, Tracy Cole, Dede Ingram, Stacy lkard, Karl Flivas, Diana Kokernot, Vera Flusswurm, Hal Waughtal, Paul Tucker, Bronwyn Campbell, Emily Anderson. Photo by Kathy Epps. FOREIG LAN UAGE Blood weat and tear Foreign languages teach uriderstanding FRENCH Opportunity to find out the best cook among French students came during the French club dinner last fall. Teachers and students from all French classes enjoyed everything from hors d'oeuvre to dessert - crepes. eclaires. fondue. vichyssoise. and crois- sants. President. Senior Eddie Burke. said. Everyone brought enough food and it was really very successful. It was also a very good chance to get to know each other. Vice President Ellen Bartell said. We used French recipes and served all regular French food - at least what we thought was regular. The French club didn't have regular meetings and was very informal. It was not rigidly structured because many times it was difficult to dedicate your time. Burke explained. Senior Katharina Kucharsky said. Sometimes we saw a film or attended a play. but it was reallyjust a kind of social thing. The reason that many students chose French was because of the language itself. Freshman Barbara Cannon said. I like the sound and the style of the lan- guage better than that of German or Spanish. Sophomore Ed Wakil thought that French was more popular than any ENGLISH. SPANISH. AND Portu- guese were not .fi .. -iw,-WW'1fa ir 5 enough for sophomore A George Caf- lisch. He ' f wanted to know a fourth language - French. his class LIILIIIAI Being the best in give him any satisfaction before Caf- lisch skipped from the second to the fourth level. I took the test in August because if I had taken French III. I would haye wasted my time. What we were supposed to do in French Ill we were . doing in French IV anyway. he explained. The class was still doing some grammar but with more emphasis on the more subtle parts of it. It was not an easy class. but I didn't have to study IOO hard getting it into niy brain because it went in pretty easy. hc said. He also studied French culture and history and Caflisch was glad that his teacher. Mrs. Marilyn Benoit. read some short stories in class. Caflisch said he could understand the reading better than others because he spoke Italian fluently. another Roman language. and knew the Latin way ol' structuring sen- ICIICSS. Caflisch was born in Italy. where he liyed for eight years. Then his fam- ily moved to Nigeria and. after a cou- ple of years. to Angola. Two years later. he came to Pittsburgh where he I degged to take French as an elective. -- l'a'r'z1 Ri4.r.s'ii'1ir'rt1 I l other foreign language and his twin brother Joe said. I like discussing in French. French teacher Mrs. Karen Ivy tried to make her classes speaking rather than writing. We followed what we should. but we added a lot of living French and joked around in the language. she said. RUSSIAN The Russian club and Russian classes I and II studied the culture and language in hope of better understand- ing the Russian people. Someday we'll either be fighting or working and trading with the Russians. and I wanna be in on it. said Sopho- more Park Burrets. Russian is the second most impor- tant language in the world. for science. war, and diplomatic relations. English. ofcourse. is the first. said Sophomore Karl Wilson. Any American who can speak Russian has a guaranteed future in important affairs. he said. Junior Stuart Nelson said. Russian- English translators are the highest paid translators in the world. It's something to fall back on if you can't do anything else. Besides. Russia has an interesting culture as well as an unusual language. and that's really why I was in the Rus- sian club. Anyone could come to the club

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MATH Blood weat and tear Math-ster minds battle problems of numbers, variables and equations. ombinations of knowledge in Geometry. Algebra, and Calculus helped students to succeed in various tournaments and contests. Sopho- mores. juniors, and seniors. picked by their math teachers, competed against other high schools such as Dulles, Clear Creek. Jerse Village, Richardson in Dallas. and lilos Alamos in San Anto- nio. in tests of their mathematical abil- ity. t'You've got to be good in math and dedicated enough to wake up in the morning and waste your Saturday, said Sophomore George Calfisch, who participated in a number of math con- tests. Various high schools sent letters announcing contests to Mr. Bill Hill, math department chairman. and then math teachers were asked to pick one or two of their best students to send to the contest. I liked to participate in contests and also I liked to exercise my mind. Jun- ior David Ronn said as to why he went to math contests. I went because I'm a fool. But it looks good on your college applica- tions. Junior Andrea Vine said. Usually the math contests consist of various tests with so homores taking the geometry or algelijra parts. juniors the trigonometry test. and seniors the tests pertaining to calculus, according to Ca fisch. The scores of these various teams are added together to give a total score for one hi h school. The Clear Creek Math Contest. though. was a relay with sophomores. juniors, and seniors each working on a different part of the same math prob- lem. with the answers needed for the next groulp to continue on the problem. Memoria placed second and sixth in the contest with the senior team and second team of juniors and sopho- mores. ' It was fun because it was so hard. said Sophomore Janis Doan. It seemed li eIdidn't know an thing. but I was surprised at how well I did, , she commented in reference to -the Dulles competition. You see a little bit of the country- side on these trips to various math con- tests. Calfisch said. The school paid for the motel and bus ride for the contestants when they needed to travel outside of Houston. Numbers ANTS.ON A PERPETUAL CRAWL over a lattice moebruss strip exemplify apparently paradoxi- cal propertres to Freshman Holly Stroud's Geometry class. Geometry students spent most of the year bisecting ang es and planes. Photo by Kathy Epps. You couldn't party, though, because you had to concentrate on the test the next morning. Calfisch said. Sophomore Ed Wakil said he liked to participate in the contests because It's un. I guess. Besides. I like waking up early on Saturday morning. - 30 - - Roberta Diakum WITH THE HELP OF HER TEACHER Mrs. Marcia Waller, Freshman Lynn Mandel learns a concept of Algebra I. Students tackled the basics, such as equations of a line and factoring polynomi- als. Photo by Kathy Epps. s.ia--4