Northwest High School - Vanguard Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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laj Miss Elizabeth Brayton seems satisfied as she listens to her French students recite in the foreign language lab. lbj Intent on accuracy, chem- istry students Bonnis Martin and Yvonne Morton, juniors, try to determine a compound by noting its characteristics. Q fr 1 m y ,. 5: I ,. 1, gc 74 A sl 'l A .K LJ. f . , A-S! sta HY .Q -- g L, 5?:i. fu:f ' -- - , fs- sf' s-sq: lc, Striving to become a multi- media center, the library at- tracts many students during study halls for research or leisurely reading. ldj Encouraged by Race the clock on the wall, students make ready for a timed read- ing in a new course, speed reading, initiated for college- bound seniors. as gi- 'S if ' S4 s 1 S ess., gitiiifiz :i:s-Wi'-2 1 f 14 . Z.. g. . s ,S W 1 Cl-IUUL IIUF'iF'l.lE'LlLLI!Ill A JUST 16

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kk 'ZH- .::..iwfsf3f j Qsyiggff, j, Q ' f.. was W Q 'mf 2 qw E sv' L, Ham-,jQ' 11,. . M -mfg -we if ' if-sg ff -5 'K-:.53:.:552g,f'1r f 1 J 'L QQ- lik ,-,e f -. . . i 5 575' . . . 355, w x K .V -. .. :gf ' .Wfff The North Central Association of Colleges and Second- ary schools, a regional accrediting agency which oper- ates in nine midwestern states, evaluated Northwest for the second time in the school's history. The purpose of the evaluation, which occurs every seven years, was to determine if the curriculum, the fac- ulty, and the educational program as a whole met the high quality standards set by NCA. The curriculum was iudged on the basis of whether or not it met the individ- ual needs of the students. The community's position in relation to the school's philosophy was taken into con- sideration, and the administration and faculty teaching methods were also appraised. Another responsibility of NCA was to determine if there was a wide enough vari- ety of extra-curricular activities in which students could participate. The entire evaluation consisted of three phases. The first phase was a self-evaluation of the faculty and classroom procedures. A team of administrators, teach- ers, and college officials completed the second phase in March when they visited and made an objective rating of Northwest. The final phase consisted of a study of the changes made as a result of the NCA evaluation. Various committees were formed to aid in the fac- ulty's self evaluation. Until his move to the principalship of Greenwood High school in January, Harold Craw- ford, vice-principal, acted as chairman of the steering committee. Principal Kenneth Smartz assumed Mr. Crawford's duties as chairman and director of guidance. The steering committee included: Mrs. Doris Bradford, English teacher, Peter Davis, guidance counselor, Mrs. Alice Hauss, physical education teacher, and Mrs. Judy Hinshaw, business education teacher. Other members of the committee were: James Poals- ton, physical education department chairman, James Ray, English teacher and director of publications, Jo- seph Reynolds, art department chairman, and Mrs. Be- verly Robinson, English teacher. 15

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To provide Northwest students with the most com- prehensive education possible, several depart- ments added new courses to the curriculum and employed new equipment as well as updated teaching methods. Northwest's curriculum, which included 307 courses, was planned with the students' individual needs and interests in mind. Some courses were added to the curriculum by the request of the par- ents, for example, ROTC was initiated by the par- ents in l968. Parents also suggested a course in automobile mechanics, but due to lack of sufficient automobile facilities, it was questionable if this course would become reality. The English department, which assigned students to classes on the basis of teacher recommenda- tions, reading test scores and IQ scores, concen- trated its efforts on improved reading and spelling. English classes were given routine spelling and vo- cabulary tests and new reading machines were also used to increase reading speed and com- prehension. ln the spring, the English department organized mini-courses which lasted lO days and were concerned with subjects including astrology, sports literature, creative writing, debate and im- promtu speaking. These courses required no tests or homework and grades were based on the passffail system. The mini-courses helped students develop reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. In keeping with this improved reading policy, students enrolled in French 9 read the full-length French novel,L'Etranger while Spanish students made in-depth studies of lessons offered in their textbooks. lcontinued, p. l8l Research papers for English classes involved a great deal of work for teacher and student alike. After the student has taken notes, outlined, written and rewritten, the teacher must evaluate each paper individ- ually, checking for content, form and grammar. Mrs. Doris Bradford tabulated the number of grammar errors committed by her English 7 classes, with the following results: punctuation errors 2,221 spelling errors 819 incorrect use of pronoun 363 dangling modifiers 262 shifts in tense of verb 223 faulty paralleism 207 faulty diction l 39 misplaced modifiers l 25 sentence fragments 87 run-on sentences 68 K .J