Memorial High School - Reata Yearbook (Houston, TX)

Page 179 text:

0 ,THOUGH MR. MIKE WRIGHT TAUGHT ONLY GOVERNMENT CLASSES he and Eng- lish ,Teacher Mrs. Morrow combined their efforts to present the first CLEP pro- gram during third and fourth periods. Mr. Wright lectured to the class during the tirnexallotted to Goveritment arg Ecgamics. Photo by Gala Holt : Q. ' I .- K 'ther than work. some students saw advantages to the curriculum itself. ere was more theory behind the government than just memorizing laws. Qre Joubert said. erhaps one of the largest disadvantages of the class was that it was only red third and fourth period. Many students. such as those participating in etics. choir. Journalism. and advanced foreign languages could not enroll IC class as their other class coincided during those periods. according to lWright. l future years. lVlr. Wright hopes to have an additional class fifth and lt period for such students who are interested in the 'special' class. it that the class was 'special,' as it lured 55 seniors into a very non-obvious sroom. lnsidc. instructors gave them insight into not only English and ernment. hut showed them how to use the failures in the history of Eng- government and for their own success. - 30 - l tudent-induced explosions, fires, and acid burns characterized the more eventful laboratory experiments conducted throughout the year. Although not as instantaneous as mixing known or unknown chemicals is to a chemistry student, dissecting dead fetal pigs is just as fascinating to the strong-stomached Biology II student. Examining seawater, among other things, supplied Oceanography students with labs and psychology students study groups of people . . . Oh well, whatever. Physical Science, Biology, Physics, and even some lnaguages, to name a few, experiment with the unknown, some- times create the bizarre, or disappointingly 'sail in the backwaters' when no exciting lab is in order. - 30 - CLEP ' l73

Page 178 text:

DURING THE ENGLISH PORTION OF THE CLEP PROGRAM, seniors lis- ten to speaker Tom Kennedy. Mrs. Eliza- beth Morrow taught English, while Mr. Mike Wright offered Govern- ment and Economics. WHILE HER STUDENTS STUDY ON THEIR OWN, Mrs. Morrow works at her desk. The two period class, Mrs. Morrow said, was designed not only to prepare students for the college level exam in Government, but to serve and an enriched social studies course. Photo by Gala Holt. 172 Special Report, CLEP. . . Combined classes combined hours C.I..R.P. By Marjianne Nelson V ,rom the appearance, A-32 did not seem too special. It had a plain aqua door as the A implied and upon entrance one found about 60 marked up desks for students as well as a few for teachers. Decorated with posters and typical student projects, the room seemed normal enough. It didn't have much to live up to, as only a few years back it was boistering with new freshmen in an American History class. Something, how- ever, made A-32 different, for it was the home of a very special class third and fourth period. The class was CLEP, taught by Mrs. Eliza- beth Morrow and Mr. Mike Wright. The class combined the facts of government and English while preparing the students for the CLEP fCol- lege Level Examination Programj test at col- lege. As Memorial was the only school to offer such a class, that made it perhaps even more special. Mr. Wright and Miss Morrow both began planning for the class long before it started August 23, however. We were approaching at the close of last school year, Mr. Mike Wright said, when they were approached by the counselors. We were brave enough to try CCLEPJW, Mr. Wright said, and with that began a summer of search looking for various innovative ways to teach the new class. As the class lasted two straight hours, some definite advantages could be seen. After we have a speaker for one hour, Mr. Wright explained, we can discuss it the next hour while it is still fresh on their minds. CLEP seemed interesting' to many as 55 seniors signed up for the course. There was one small catch, as Belinda Baird explained, however. Once you were in the class, you couldn't get out, she said. While in, however, students experienced a different sort of classroom envi- ronment. With such a large' class, dicsussions were quite open, and perhaps therefore better. Katy Bremer said, We really got into some hefty discus- sions. Timed writings could last two hours instead of the traditional one. '4Some- times they gave us two hours to work on a paper, Nancy Irvin said. Perhaps one of the more imique things about the papers was that they counted for two grades, in government and English, although the student was still required to write only one paper. ' Special projects, as in some other classes, were also tackled by the stu- dents, but Mr. Wright and Mrs. Morrow tried to make each project as differ- ent as possible. We graded different aspects for the different types of pro- jects, Mrs. Morrow said. A ' 5 One of the many projects assigned during the year was that of researching a mayoral candidate. Each student was required to choose a candidate, find literature about him, and finally make a prediction of his outcome in the race. I was lucky enough to get the Nazi Party, Julia Browning said. I called up this one phone number and they offered me S4000 for killing a Black, Catholic, or Jew. The tape was later discovered by Houston officials and dis- banded. Morrow and Wright strayed away from traditional projects, however, such as a research paper. They've done a research paper, they know how to do it, . . . let's do something new now, Mrs. Morrow explained. Only 'K' students were allowed to participate in the program, and for some that was also a definite advantage. I knew I would be in with a selective group of people, Deidre Happe said. Although the teachers did not request 'K' credited students, that is the current standing, according to Mr. Wright. Although the course was named CLEP,'preparing for the college examina- tion was not the sole objective of the course. '6Enrichment is what we're look- ing for, lVh'. Wright said. ' We think the students themselves added a great deal to the course, Mrs. Morrow concluded, to try the course, they became that way too. The stu- dents opinions about the course seemed to reflect IVIrs. Morrow's statement. They said it would reduce the work load,'i John Murphy commented, and it definitely did.

Page 180 text:

SCIENCE LABS Look like we made it From lollipops to gravity: labs key student learning through experiments t the end of a dimly-lit hall a short woman added chemicals to a bubbling concoction causing an explo- sion that rocked the lab. The result this time was not a monster. but a device to advance student interest. Mrs. Dorothy Rae among other Biol- ogy. Chemistry, and Physics teachers. used labs to make their science. courses exciting and to increase first-hand knowledge of the students. Sophomore Jimmy Mushalik said. In labs you could work with what you were learning about. Lectures got bor- ing. Mr. James Herman said. Stu- dents need a basic understanding of science and labs gave a more rounded view of Biology. Biology labs con- sisted of drawing. observing, and label- ing the animals and plants the students CAREFUL NOT TO SPILL any of the Hydrolic acid on her hands, Mary Welch watches the liq- uid as Stephanie Gross checks its measure- ments. Chemistry students took precautions with the use of aprons and goggles. Photo by Scott Waughtal. INIPFIOVISING THEIR TIME, Physics students Dias Lewis, Marjianne Nelson, Steve McGaugh, Greg King, Greg Stocks and Craig Keener study from a new sel -paced program. Termed pro- iect physics the plan allowed students to com- plete assignments in and out of class. Photo by Scott Waughtal. Sciences - Depth design bv Kergv Tlwrnliill studied. Junior Gene Sheils said, I d0n't get off to looking at Parmecium in Biology, but the Chemistry labs were great. We even made peanut brittle. The Chem- istry teachers showed their students how mixing ethers and sucrose could produce lollipops and peanut brittle. Not only did Chemistry students' mouths water. but their brains worked. Miss Paula Kosclskey said. I've taught chemistry for 20 years and still don't know a single fact. That's hard for stu- dents to understand. Mrs. Rae said. Labs help in a subject that is based on theory. they explain a concept by see- ing the actual result. Chemistry labs involved learning procedures. mixing chemicals. and accurately recording results. Senior Biology Il student Charlie Stern said, Labs really stuff it into you. It's hard. but I really learned something. Junior Karl Rivas said. Labs gave students more than a one-dimensional view of physics and Biology. They strength- ened my view of the importance of sci- ence in the everyday world. Physics labs used several instruments for view- ing motion. gravity. and momentum in actual life. Along with class labs stu- dents had a project every few weeks that they chose. In physics labs you learned things first-hand that go on everyday around you and never knew why they hap- pened, said Junior Scot Kreiger. 30 -- ilfllflivlc Bfjrdnn and Elise Cnlemmi lee .. Q7 I X l ,gi . an ,a..,.,.. I I . X . 1 6 6-.