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

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Eiiglish Isn t Foreign Auymore The English department at Ferry Meridian tried to make English more familiar to those students who thought it was as hard to imderstand as if it were foreign. Some students thought that EngUsh was just a language, but at Perry, Enghsh was a way of life, a way of expressing oneself. The English department was in- volved with many projects. The dramatics classes had a professional actress, KatlmTi Walsh, come in and discuss her point of view on the Shakespearean play As You Like It , in which she acted. There were more activities associated with writing, such as participating in national and local writing contests. The social comment classes saw a Martin Luther King film and wrote essays for the Black history contest. The jour- ■ nalism classes wrote creative work on various topics, such as radio broadcasting. Students wrote a dialogue, recorded themselves, and played it back, and it seems like a real broadcast. New equipment was used to fur- ther develop the department. In- troductory speech classes videotaped 20 minute broadcasts with a videotape machine. The school pur- chased a 16nmi camera with which Mrs. Gloria Sam ' s and Mrs. Wanda Strange ' s film study students made a class film. Students in these two classes experienced what it was like to be on the set. Mr. Craig Potter goes over punctuation skills with Greg HoUen ' 86 on an English 3 composition concerning aspects of life in the United States. 142 ENGLISH

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Faleoiis Drive To vard Ftitiire Drivers ' education was a very im- portant and educational course for m4ny of the students enrolled. The course taught students many things from defensive driving and safety to insuring and maintenance. There were many benefits in taking this course. Drivers ' education has much influence on the future of our roads and highways, so it was very good for students. Even if they can drive, they should take it, said Mr. Ber- tram, one of the drivers ' education instructors. To enroU in the course, students had to be at least fifteen years of age. After enrolling, students had to get a Learner ' s Permit, obtainable after taking an eye test at nearby license branches. Most of the students were sophomores although some fresh- men and upperclassmen enrolled. Mr. Bertram stated that the number of students enrolled during the school year was about the same as the year before, but the number of students enrolled during the summer had increased. The reason for the in- ' creased summer enrollment was that many of the student ' s schedules were filled up during the school year. While other driver education students sat inside studying driving techniques and skills, three students were taken outside during each period to practice the rules of the road. Shawna Chaplin ' 85 said, I liked drivers ' ed. because it gave me a chance to get out of a classroom. Many specialized tests were given to students enrolled in drivers ' educa- tion. Written tests from chapters in the books as well as driving tests were taken. Drivers were tested first in the parking lot, then on country roads, and finally on interstate highways. They took us onto the in- terstate about four or five driving days after drivers ' ed. started, said Vicki Henson ' 85. I felt confident that I could drive on the interstate at any time. Near the end of the semester, students were required to take a 20 minute driving test. After taking the test, they were required to list all of the mistakes they had dur- ing the trip and what their major strengths and weaknesses were while driving. Students learned much about social driving, defensive driving, and safety. Besides learning how to drive, students learned about the make of cars and how to buy them. Mainten- ance, repairing, and the parts of a car were other important things the students learned. Drivers ' education benefits students in many ways. Students seemed to have much more con- fidence in themselves after com- pleting the course. Insurance rates were reduced for students passing the course. The majority of the students were glad that they enrolled in the course because passing it enabled them to skip the driving part of the test when they went to get their licenses. I am anxious to get my license, said Barry Bowers ' 85. It wiU allow me more freedom to do the things I enjoy. DRIVERS EDUCATION 141

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The department saw several im- provements in the 1983 school year. Mrs. Virginia Dailey stated, We are putting more emphasis on debating and discussion techniques, which students need in order that they may become more effective speakers. Mr. Lyndon Wall, adviser of the school newspaper, FOCUS, and Jotimalism I-II teacher, said, This yeeir ' s newspaper staff has been the strongest one I ' ve worked with. There were several new ideas that knocked on the English departments ' door, also. One was to do away with aU English electives in the junior year and have a reqviired course called English V— VI. Mrs. Frances Huff, department chairman, said, This course would eliminate students who can ' t read or write effeciently. Mrs. Mary Rebber, freshman English teacher, agreed, This course would be more structiu-ed and more consis- tent among the teachers. Another idea was a program for gifted and talented students which would be taught by Mrs. Dailey who has worked with these students for 25 years. Mr. Wall was excited about the prospect of the school buying a computer for editing the school newspaper and yearbook. AU you ■«vould have to do is type in your copy, move words aroimd to where you want them, press a button, and a finished copy would be printed without any mistakes. It would save much time compared with having all of the editors manually edit it. He continued, I would like to see jour- nalism approved to be a college- preparatory course. For college- bound students, non-college preparatory courses are hard to fit in- to their schedules. If it is approved, then it Avill be easier for these students to enroll in journalism. Ms. Connie Sabo, speech and dramatic teacher, said, I think speech should be a required course for all sophomores because it is the only course that centers around learning to speak efficiently. ' Some students wrote creative work for the school newspaper and other associations. Nancy Kamman ' 86 submitted poetry to FOCUS for printing and to the Perry Township Reading Council which gathered essays, poetry, and other EngUsh- related writings from students at the elementary and high school levels. Mrs. Rebber stated, Academical- ly, the class sizes were smaller. This meant that there was more time to spend with the individual. She also commented, Since there was more time, the teachers could increase the workload on the students. This was advantageous when the results showed that thfe grades were better than those of previous years. Some courses that generated en- study, and comprehension skills. Most students thought that dramatics was an interesting course. Ms. Sabo said, I really enjo yed my dramatics class. I gave students the opportunity to express themselves creatively while gaining an apprecia- tion of a vital art form. This class Tina Sykes ' 87 studies in English. iS - Mark Leonard ' 86 questions Mrs. Peggy Minor about a grammatical error. Mrs. Chert Austin assists Jeremy Ciampa ' 87 with an adverbial dependant clause. thuslam were Etymology, which studied English words with Greek and Latin derivitives. Mrs. Rebber in- dicated, I do not know why Etymology drew so many students, possibly to do better on the PSAT and SAT college tests. Developmen- tal Reading was a popular class. It studied reading rate, vocabulary enabled students to escape reality by providing entertainment, whUe still learning about himian behavior. With all of the improvements, new projects, Etnd advancements pro- jected in the English department, English was less foreign to PMHS students. ENGLISH 14a