North Side High School - Legend Yearbook (Fort Wayne, IN)

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iM... Homework gives us the blues Darkness had finally covered the city. Moms, dads and chil- dren were tucked away in their beds. Even Casper the cat set- tled himself down to sleep on someone ' s doormat. Several miles away, a glimmer of light streamed from a win- dow. Jane Redskin had not fin- ished her homework. The clock read 2 a.m., and with school being just six hours away, there seemed no way Jane could finish her homework and study for three tests. Unfortunately, many Reds- kins found themselves in the same position as Jane. Most knew that homework, and plen- ty of it, was a part of the reason that schools exist: Education. Fresh concepts of education came with the start of the 2002 program two years ago. Since then, North Side has expanded the building to include new sci- ence lab and computer areas. Teachers attended and partici- pated in summer workshops to add to their teaching skills. North Side ' s curriculum is more challenging, said Laurie McMillen. No matter how opinions on academics varied, one thing was sure: there came a point in every student ' s life when he or she was fed up with school work, tired of reading, research- ing, remembering. Jane felt this way, too. And as she sat pondering over her un- finished work, some words that she ' d seen on a poster in first period class flooded her mem- ory: I ' m too smart to stud y and too cute to care! And with that last thought, Jane turned off the light. SPEAKING before a group of people was preferred only fo death by most stu- dents. However, Sophomore Melacyn Turner shows her courage and eager- ness to give a speech. GROUP discussions helped students to express themselves as well as hear opin- ions of others. Linda Washington, Travi- cia Austin, Gayle Wilkerson and Deb Simms discuss a Human Development assignment. LATE NIGHTS

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Teacher stereotype discarded Gray haired. Stuffy. Beanie eyes hidden behind granny eyeglasses that slide down a narrow nose. Long, bony fin- gers constantly waving at some- one. And a look that says: Don ' t you dare do that! With such a sterotypical de- scription, it was easy to under- stand why many students thought teachers to be on the verge of being part human and part something else. Yet, out of this group of al- most people, came those teachers who, through their teaching techniques and con- cern for their students, sur- passed the subhuman mark and actually became a friend to stu- dents. The Bierbaums have good teaching styles. John Bierbaum has a quiet style, while Dave Bierbaum has a wild one, said Senior Mike Ruiz. Indeed, Mr. Dave Bierbaum ' s style was different. It was noth- ing out of the ordinary to hear his voice fill the math hall, to see him running, jumping about, or singing when lecturing, to see his classroom windows open in the middle of the winter be- cause students didn ' t answer his questions. Kids say I ' m crazy; but if kids can ' t have fun learning in a ' dry ' subject like geometry, then it ' s not going to be very easy to learn, said Dave Bierbaum, math teacher. He also took a personal inter- est in his students. His help went beyond solving math problems. Yet, he wanted his students to succeed, to learn in his class. Every student has a choice whether or not to learn. I just help my students make the right choice by showing the idiocy of not learning, said Dave Bier- baum. I expect my students to be somebody. Mr. Kip Ormerod, psychology and sociology teacher, also added a little craziness to his teaching style. Because his classes were mainly lectures, they needed to appeal to the students more. The 2003 program also con- tributed to holding the interest of students by doing exercises that were fun and allowed stu- dents to think on their own. Of course, candor and a good sense of humor certainly didn ' t hurt. Mr. Ormerod has a good sense of humor, not boring, said Kevin Deming. Kip Ormerod liked working and being with people. No- body said teaching would be easy, but I ' m here for them (the students), he said. Although the list could go on for unique teachers, there must definitely be a fine line drawn between those teachers with unique styles and those with ef- fective unique styles. Luckily, Mr. Dave Bierbaum and Mr. Kip Ormerod were only two such teachers of those at North Side who students thought were worthy of receiving this honor- able distinction. MR. Dale Doerffler ' s teaching style also appealed to many students. John Go- gos listens carefully as Mr. Doerffler ex- plains assignment. UNDERSTANDING the proofs behind theorems was not always easy. Howev- er, with a simple explanation from Mr. Dave Bierbaum, Jenny Hetrick and Scott Resac understand the problem. UNIQUE TEACHERS 25

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OH, NO! They lost again! Senior Jeff Johnson likes to start the morning right by finding out the scores from last night ' s game. ACADEMICS 27