Northwest High School - Vanguard Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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iff. Sports s ectacles are relaxing... The Northwest school calender was dotted with dates on which large numbers of students congregated in the stadium or the gym for an athletic event. Aside from the game itself, other aspects of these activities were impor- tant to the high school community. As a part of the so- cial life, they provided students with a chance to escape the pressures of school. Two of the occasions, Home- coming and Little 500, featured the selection of a queen and a court, a custom in high school for many decades. The school also benefited by retaining the gate receipts. How important football or basketball games were so- cially depended a great deal on attendence, which, some felt depended on how well the teams were doing. 54 In recent years, attendence at football games was fain to poor, during the T971 season, in which the tearr gained a 2-8 record, many of the stadium benches were empty. Basketball, however, was a different story. Witl winning seasons and back-to-back sectional titles, the basketball team attracted near-capacity crowds for al. home games. Evidence of the varsity squad's drawingj power was seen at the Attucks game, when the stand. were filled and spectators stood at courtside to watcl the action, and the Ritter game, which was changed from the Ritter gym to the Northwest gym to accom odate the crowd. t After certain games, the school sponsored dances il the cafeteria for Northwest students. Admission varied according to whether there was live or recorded music as did the attendence. The first indoor dance of l97l was after the basketball game with Manual, with live. music by Stonewall, a Northwest band, the dance though it did not reap overshelming profits, was success

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W - e try to prepare a wide variety of foods, said Mrs. Roberta Smith, head dietitian. But if Mr. Smartz had his way, we would serve chili every day. Of the various foods offered in the cafeteria, chili, hamburgers, and hot dogs rated high in popularity. When ham- burgers were included on the menu, students consumed 2,218 of them. On days when fish and chips were served, 522 pounds of french fries were prepared. Cooks baked an average of 125 pies daily and proudly claimed that there were usually none left at the end of the day. Since school was converted to a nine period day, lunch was served only during periods four through seven. This made it harder on the cafeteria staff, ex- plained Mrs. Smith. Lunch lines were longer and there was less time for counters to be set up. Cafeteria personnel consisted of 34 cooks, a custo- dian who emptied trash, and a student employed to mop 63:6 the floor each evening. For each lunch period, two or three students were hired for 52.68 a week to stack trays. After establishing just how much food was prepared each day in the cafeteria, it was understandable why between 54,400 and 55,000 was spent monthly on food supplies. The cafeteria was operated on a totally non-profit basis. In 1971, the government organized a plate lunch program for students in need of financial aid. Students were given the opportunity to purchase meal tickets for 52.25. A choice of two set meals was then provided each day for a week. The government also continued the special student milk rate which was five and a half cents. For convenience, five cents was charged the first semester and six cents the next. Be- cause of President Richard Nixon's wage-price freeze that lasted until November, cafeteria food prices were temporarily prevented from rising. Students often wondered why the purchase of iced tea was restricted to members of the faculty. Lack of the proper ice facilities to serve 2,339 students kept tea from the students. The cafeteria also provided students with an ideal place for playing pranks on each other. Tripping fresh- men as they made their way to the lunch lines or slipp- ing a spoon or knife into an unsuspecting classmate's pocket were stunts that frequently occured. For a price, students purposely tripped with their lunch trays in hand, their efforts were always greeted with uproarious applause. The prank of the year was students returning their trays to clean-up all at the same time. 53

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5 Q 1 ful by providing an activity for students. However, the number of dances sponsored declined each year as dis- turbances with students from other schools increased. Two well-attended events, the Homecoming football game in the fall and the Little 500 in May, marked spe- cial occasions for Northwest students. Weeks in ad- vance, the Student Council built up interest through posters and homeroom announcements done by the School Spirit Committee. The Future Teachers of Amer- ica club sponsored a contest between homerooms for Homecoming which involved displays outside of each homerom to promote school spirit. Ribbons were awarded to the best displays from each class. During the week preceeding Homecoming and Little 500, stu- dents nominated candidates for queen. The senior class chose six senior girls as Homecoming queen candidates, for Little 500, each class selected the nominees from their own classes. Both queens were voted on the day of the event, during halftime at Homecoming and between races at Little 500, the winner was announced and toured the cinder track in front of the stadium. The T971 Little 500 queen Mary Huber, '71, and her court Alison Kemery, senior, Amelia Potenza and Terry Swit- zer, iuniors, and Pam Dalton and Gail Hinderliter, soph- omores, rode in official Indianapolis 500 pace cars do- nated for the occasion by local car dealers. Corvettes loaned by the Indianapolis Corvette Club carried 1971 Homecoming queen Sue Pearson and the other candi- dates-Sandra Conner, Lauretta Cork, Pat Scudder, Sandy Smith, and Debbie Waldron. icontinuedl .B In wil?-' o 5-Ki, at Q Y I lal Sophomore Wanda Johnson leads her enthu- siastic friends in vocally spurring on the Northwest basketball team against Manual. lbl Her face beaming with excitement, Little 500 queen Mary Huber, '77, accepts a bouquet of roses with T970 queen Debbie Hopton, '70, Gail Hinderli- ter, sophomore, and Terry Swizer, junior. lcl Anxiously anticipating the announcement of the winner, Homecoming queen candidate, and eventually queen, senior Sue Pearson and her escort Dick Beuke, senior, walk to the infield platform for the halftime Homecoming ceremonies. 55