Mount Hebron High School - Valhalla Yearbook (Ellicott City, MD)

Page 8 text:

BELOW: The February Dance Marathon collected funds for the Howard County Association of Retarded Citizens. With the natural gas shortage, many participants such as Ric Ryder and Jessica Masten feared a mandatory closing of schools on weekends might be necessary. Luckily the shortage was never that severe. BOTTOM RIGHT: A January snowstorm not only caused a 1:30 dismissal from school, but also gave students something to talk about during their lunch break in the smoking area Snow was responsible for several delayed starts early dismissals and closings of school during the year RIGHT Although Gerald Ford lost the presidential sweepstakes to Jimmy Carter he was the two-to-one victor in a mock election coordinated by the Social Studies Department. Students such as Dana Belden were given the opportunity to operate voting machines. 4 PROLOGUE :fr-g.:..-fr

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The way if will be Transition. A move from the frigid, tense gray floors and glare of the classroom to the congenial carpeted chambers of the newly completed English wing. Switching from antiquated , bureaucratic , manual scheduling to sleek computer scheduling. A different set of graduation requirements greeted the classes of '79 and '80 and the academic departments expanded to enable students to meet them . A Maryland state law mandated that all courses would be offered co-educationally for the first time. The reins of authority were loosened when students were granted freedom through a daily ten minute break period and weekly advisory groups. There were new social ventures. The Thanksgiving Dance and Dance Marathon raised dollars not for school organizations , but for community charities. There was also a new administrative assistant and the addition of Girls JV softball and volleyball. Seniors anticipated being catapulted into the world and freshmen and sophomores who lived south of Route 40 and west of Route 29 prepared the initiation rites for Centennial High School's maiden year. It was a year of preparation and adjustment. It was transition. Ne fi ,Z . I, X, PROLOGUE 3

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The way if was The stately tall ships of Operation Sail and the gleam of bombarding fireworks dominated summer skies and the nation's bicentennial birthday bash. At the XXI games of the Summer Olympiad in Montreal, Canada, Comaneci was perfect, although the games themselves were in trouble. The Viking spacecrafts pf if landed on Mars and the swine flu immunization program was suspended amid controversy. A peanut farmer named Jimmy Carter made Plains, Georgia a landmark. After defeating President Ford in November's election, Prezdent Carter really had something to smile about. Transition dominated the news as plans were made for selecting new cabinet members and constructing a tree house on White House grounds. Locally, plans for the Burleigh Manor landfill were dumped and Governor Mandel's trial ended in a mistrial. Raw, glacial, sub- freezing temperatures and snow made the winter the coldest in years. A natural gas shortage developed and local and national businesses were forced to lay off workers. School officials lowered the building temperature in their effort to conserve energy. President Carter chatted by the fire and declared a war on energy. The eight episodes of Roots made television history. The U. S . cried out for human rights throughout the world and Gary Gilmore's execution stirred the capital punishment debate. Howard County's measle epidemic forced every student to be vaccinated or suspended. Richard Nixon reminisced of Watergate days with David Frost, Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown and the U.S. played baseball diplomacy with Cuba. PROLOGUE 5