Perry Meridian High School - Passages Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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They Mind Their Own Business The business department at Perry provided many opportunities for students. The department had four major purposes. Its first purpose was to provide students with opportunity to develop skills that enabled him to obtain meaningful employment. Secondly, it provided adequate knowledge of subjects for personal use and further education. It provided an understanding of business prac- tices and economic concepts that were important to him as a citizen and consumer. The business depart- ment ' s last purpose was to provide opportunity to develop sound, social, and economic viewpoints that en- abled him to adjust to the society in which he lived. Over fifty percent of all workers were involved with some type of business-related occupation. This fact proved the need for the business department and the courses offered in its curriculum. The business department went through many changes dvuing the 1983 school year. New equipment had made changes to better the department. The school purchased 27 Smith-Corona electric typewriters with programmed margins and seli- correcting keys which eliminated the need to white out mistakes. Mrs. Mary Shambaugh, business depart- ment chairman, said, These new typewriters are faster and save much time. Also new this year was text- book adoption, which occurs every six years when all new books are pur- chared to keep up with the times. Other improvements which were made this year include taste tests on new products performed by the marketing classes. Mrs. Linda Burdine, typing and marketing 136 BUSINESS

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do with stunmer, spring, school, or a hohday. Jolie submitted her creation of a colored-chalk figtire drawing. She made her rough draft and then did her final in chalk. She tried to pick colors that resembled the picture. Esther ' s entry was a chalked abstract drawing of a seashell. Laurel created a crayon abstract drawing of two copper, silver, and gold colored flowers with a black backgroimd. Some drawing class projects were optical illusions, murals, papier- maches, and game boards. In jewelry, Mr. Frank Walraven, jewelry, sculpture, and ceramics teacher, commented, We made pretty, custom-designed, individual, creative, one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. Commercial art students learned how to letter and about packaging to catch the customers ' eyes. The art department always helped out in musiceds and plays by designing, building, painting, and decorating the sets. The art gallery, where the students ' artworks were displayed, was like a school year-long art exhibit for the entire school population. They ex- hibited murals, sculptures, paintings, rugs, and other works of art. Walking through the gallery made people feel as if they were in a magical world. There were seasonal items, special event recognitions, ceramics, and enamels in the entrance to the art department. Julie Taylor ' 85, a future art major, stated, It was easier to express my thoughts on paper than to say them in words. She was able to work with all colors of the prism, express her own ideas, and design her own projects in- stead of having to be forced to do a certain assignment. Some interesting courses were ; basic art, ceramics, crafts, design- textiles, and drawing. This showed that there were a wide variety of popular courses included in the art curriculum. Basic art was a popular coiu-se because it was a beginning art course. Many students took it to ex- pose themselves to art. It was a general introduction for students who wanted to find out what art was about. It contained a little of every other art course. Ceramics, which was probably the most-liked course in the art department, worked with clay structures. Mr. Walraven said. In cutting out a shape for a jewelry project, David Hastings ' 85 shows interest in his work. It was fun and messy. Textiles was designed for the student to learn about rug-making, the technical skills of macrame, fabric dying, weaving and hooked rugs. Drawing was in- teresting to some art students because it worked with proportions, balance, mediimis, figiure drawings, portraits, stiU-lifes, animals, homes and landscapes. The art depa rtment wanted to see a gifted program in art. Mr. Malasics, print making, advanced art (water- color), basic art, and commercial art teacher, said, This would have been for students who will have taken art as a profession. Also wanted were cabinets, shelves, window shades to block out the sxm and have less shadows, and individual art desks. Mr. Hearin said, This would have cut down on wasted time because everything the student would have needed would have been right inside his desk. The enrollment of art courses were averaged about the same; few went up, many went down, and some stayed the same. Mrs. Coimie Win- niger, basic art and crafts designs- textiles teacher, explained, The students had become more academi- cally-orientated during the past few years. ART 135

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teacher, originated an idea to incor- porate couponing and reftinding value books into her teaching. In this pro- ject, students learned how to save from five to twenty dollars on their grocery bill and how to send in refund offers to get money on products. It would be good for students who are going to college because they wiU need to learn to save money, said Mrs. Burdine. Future improvements in the business department included purchasing com- puters for the accoimting classes. Mrs. Shambaugh stated, We want computers in order to keep the students up with the business world. Without them, our department won ' t be as modem as some businesses are. She also indicated that the department is hopeful of starting a new class. We want a course ceiUed business communications which would teach the students all kinds of commimications that go on in the business world. Lisa Williams ' 83 was named loc al winner of the Busjness Career Development Program. This program was sponsored by Executive Women International, in cooperation with Lanier Business Products, Inc. It was designed to assist, motivate, and encourage high school students con- sidering a career in business. Lisa received a cash award and a 8250 donation for the school plus a por- table dictation machine for Mr. James Head, principal. Lisa also advanced to the district competition. This year brought new hght to the faces of many business teachers as they saw upturns in the enrollment and in the number of passing students in their courses. Even though the population for the whole school had leveled off, more students reahzed the importance of including business classes in their curriculum. Some popular courses included Typing I-II, which dealt with fim- damental typing skills. General business, the only business course offered to freshmen, helped each stu- dent to imderstand and solve every- day business problems. Accounting classes studied the systematic re- cording of business transactions. Business law dealt with the study of basic commom laws pertaining to business and everday Ufe. The business department is one of the better and larger departments because everyone helps each other out and works their hardest at doing their jobs, said Mrs. Biu-dine. Marketing classes performed a simulated board game from Proctor and Gamble where the class divided up into smaller groups and formed a company. The companies competed in creating a successful product. Another project was the study of the courses. We have also done new advertising where the students would look through magazines and pick out different types of advertising copy. Some ads were emotional and some appealed to the senses. All beginning typing students were able to use elec- tric typewriters instead of the ob- solete manual ones. We saw an im- provement in speed from past years. We were also using practice sets in Ike Wyant ' 84 writes down some notes on a lecture in advanced business. Mrs. Lennyce Powers answers a question about shorthand from one of her students. importance of packaging; they used the Tylenol case as an example. The business department saw new changes and new improvements boimd to create some P M H S students that will be minding their own businesses in the future. Mr. Gary Raker, general business typing teacher, said, We are going to get word-processing equipment which will be used in the secretarial general business. Mrs. Sharon Keith, office procedures, business machines, and typing teacher, remarked, We were getting money from the school board and the state to purchase the word processors. We were positive that we were going to get them, but we didn ' t know when. We wotdd also use them for instruc- tional purposes. •BUSINESS 137 iHIIH