North Mesquite High School - Trailblazer Yearbook (Mesquite, TX)

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honorin the hallenging homework, double grade points and learning how to pace and organize oneself comes with taking an honors class. Taking an honors class means more stress and anxiety, but one must learn to organize his time in order to do the homework and projects that are assigned, Quang Nguyen said. Homework in honors classes is considerably different, and takes up a lot of your time. Sophomore Honors English teacher Gay Ben- net and Honors History teacher Bob McCarty really pile on the work, said Ryan Page, It's like they think that it is your only class. Honors dasses rise above basic recall and comprehension to analysis, synthesis, and application of the material. You do more analytical things and a lot more abstract work, said Christie Sparrow, The composi- tions are also more in-depth. Homework consists of outside projects, oral reports and presen- tations. Many of the students enjoy the projects and some even have a favorite. I like the extra projects because they provide a chance to have a more complete study of the smaller aspects that I find particularly in- teresting about a given subject, john Hoggaid said. H0722 Qaxses mg s ng IS The income tax returns that I did were my favorite, said Kari jackson, It gave me a chance to help others and learn more about the process. Some of the students in the hon- ors program at North Mesquite feel that academics is a high priority among high school students. Academics is my top priority in life at this point because I realize that success in life depends heavily upon a person's performance in school, said Aaron Workman, Without academic work I would never be able to excel in anything that I did. Twenty-seven honors classes are offered at NM. Among them are Debate 2, Advanced Reading, An- alytic Geometry and Accounting 2. Students take courses that will help educate them in a career that they have chosen ro pursue. Tonya Youngman is one of the students who is taking classes that will help her with her goals. She is taking Accounting 2, and wants to be an accountant or a bookkeeper. I started to educate myself in high school for the career I chose, so that when I graduate I will be able to get a job working in ac- counting and go to school at the same time, Tonya said. Quietly reviewing her library book, Shirley Cherian takes a few notes. Research papers required 40-50 notecards in honors English classes. Photo by Kyle Herron f 0 ...awww

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1 Overall, this team was better because we were solid instead of some talented people and some just along for the ride. - Layne Trosper everal points here . . . some there . . . Academic De- cathlon had several scores that were only points away from a bronze medal. We all wanted to medal in at least one area so it was disappoint- ing not to place. We were so close and yet so far away from the top three, Matt Wolfgang said. Placing 12th in the overall com- petition held at Plano East High School, the Aca Deca team did better than they have ever done before. In the Superquiz, the team earned 6th place on the same day, january 30. During the Superquiz I was ecstatic when they got answers cor- rect. When they got them wrong and I knew we had discussed the material during practice, I was sick! coach Karen Allen said. Preparing for the january 30th competition required after school meetings on Mondays and Thurs- days, often until 6:00 p.m. On December 8 the team took a day off from school to tour the flight Museum at the University of Texas Beth Patrick and Clara Austin review questions during an Aca Deca meeting. Meetings were spiced up with guest speak- ers such as Dr. john Kelly and Art teacher Cathey Bradley. Pham by Kyle Herron. at Dallas and the Meadows Mu- seum of Art on the SMU campus. I was especially interested by the material in the flight museum because someday I want to be a pilot, Clara Austin said. Dedication is not only needed by the team members but also by the team coaches. Coaching Aca Deca has been one of the most satisfying activities of my career. We are in the busi- ness of academics and shaping young people through discipline and care, said coach Roger Frith. I see everything we are trying to achieve distilled into this single competition. In appreciation for their hard work and dedication, all nine Ac- ademic Decathlon members re- ceived school letter jackets. Rec- ognition is slowly coming to Academic Decathlon. Aca Deca was fun, but many people don't even know what it is! It needs more publicity and a lot more support! Cindy Kilpatrick said. Tense about the upcoming competition, john Renner, Matt Wolfgang, and Alex Martin eye their competitors they were fac- ing. In the all-around score, the Aca Deca team placed twelfth. Pham by Karen Allen. - u ...L i rf

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With his calculator handy, john Dalton begins an assignment in Trig. Calculators were an essential tool in Vicki Glenn's class. Pholo hy Kyle Herron, Waiting on the homework to be passed up, Vicki Glenn organizes her thoughts about the way she is going to teach the new material about the cone, Photo hy Kyle Her- ron, t L L l 'YJ '. Q sw '. fr' N - If-4 K za' Xe G K., i ff l ff X . , I X , v I. t X A ' Qi! . f gr' Ryan Page raises his hand with an answer to one of Gay Bennet's questions in honors English class, The big project for Sophomore honors was the reading and analyzing of Shakespeare's juliuf Caemr. Photo by Kyle Herron, C Checking his answers to his Analytic Ge- ometry test, joseph Monroy works the prob- lems again to make sure he has the correct answer, The test given by Vicki Glenn was over relations between rectangular and polar coordinates. Photo hy Kyle Herron. Going over the day's lesson plans with her honors Spanish 5 and 4 class, Gloria Bena- vides prepares them for their homework assignment. Her class load was only twenty- one students, allowing for more individual help. Photo hy Kyle Herron.