Pleasant Grove High School - Grove Yearbook (Texarkana, TX)

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A RARE SIGHT WAS FOUND DURING CAT TESTS as the whole senior class met together for Enolleh ln the lecture hall X untr- - QUIETLY COLLABORATING DURING SENIOR ENGLISH Ann LaCour and Alan Boyd discuss an upcoming college entrance RELAXING HER BRAIN AFTER THE CAT TEST Jlll Court wntes a note to a friend. Nlnth graders took both TEAMS and CAT tests dunng the year

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Mind Bogglers Soturdoy morning tests put pressure on students he room is deathly silent except for the buzzing of the fluorescent lights and the sound of busy No. 2 pencils coloring small dots. The air is cold, and heads are pounding as time ticks away. Faces show signs of bemlderment as students ponder over the irksome problems and wonder what possessed them to rise at 8:00 on a Saturday morning. Somehow everyone falls vic- tim to the testing dilemma. The ACT fSAT tests are designed to show overall high school achievement and determine entrance to colleges and universities. While the college tests show overall knowledge, they also infest students with anxiety and stress. Kim Wal- ton explains, lf your test date just happens to fall on a bad day, or a day when you're sick, it could affect your score. lf the test date happens to fall on an off day, students are allowed to retest as many times as they want. Senior Mark Hawkins took the SAT sev- en times. Mark said, The first three times l took the test l was nervous, the second three times l was a little relaxed and by the last time l felt very confident. He added that he seemed to score bet- ter if he went out and partied the night before in- stead of staying home to study and go to bed ear- ly. Of course the testing is not free: the SAT test cost S-11.50, while the ACT costs 510.50 a test. Both tests are usually given about once a month. To eliminate the need to retest, some stu- dents go to vast extremes to prepare for these mind bogglers. Preparation books for both exams are the most popular and inexpensive source of help. These books range in cost from five to twelve dollars. Preparation courses cost close to two hundred dollars. Either of these methods can help but they won't do much good unless you have previous knowledge of the testing areas. Besides the college entrance exams, stan- dardized testing in the form of CAT fCalifomia Achievement Testi and TEAMS fTexas Education Assessment of Minimum Skillsj were given to un- derclassmen. Of course, seniors were excused but freshmen, sophomores, and juniors fell victim to the moming's long confinement for a series of days. Finally the testing is over and students walk out into the fresh air and release their tension. Brains are drained of every last thought, and sto- machs growl at the 12:00 time. For the moment, the pressure is off . . . until scores are received and the process begins once again. b -'-H-24-..-... ,Ni MM .....,,:-ii., i-nw.-W. 5 .. -Le. . .Sai 48E?tCademics WHILE TAKING THE FEBRUARY ACT TEST at Texarkana Com- munity College, Seniors Chad Merchant and Brian Norton re- lax during a five minute break. K -Q an .wa AJC- AA Page CLEM I-30 at

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Choose Now, Poy Loter Students Moke Rosh Decisions Thot Lost o Lifetime eny, meeny, miney, mo. This was the ap- proach many students took when choos- ing electives. But with the new academic stan- dards in place and new requirements for grad- uation with honors, students had a much more difficult decision on their hands. Plus, with the wide range of options available to Pleasant Grove students, everything from the- atre arts to drafting - the choice was tough. lt is hard deciding what to take because you won't know if it's the right choice until you're in college, remarked Todd Sharp. This difficult task took place during March. Students started with the basic deci- sions of English, math and history. This was the easy part: the next fifteen minutes were spent on their electives. Students had to pick four electives and decide which two they wanted to take the most and put the other two down as alternatives. After students strained their brains and used their spare time, faculty members set up stations in the five hundred hall to help students fill out their choice sheets. Among the faculty that helped were Jack Davis, Margaret Davis, Debbie Sapaugh, and Roger I-lailey. Every student in grades 9-11 was aided during their English class. Seniors had the pleasure of missing out on the 'igreat event. We're so glad we don't have to worry about that anymore, said Kim Harrell and Angie Watson. On the other hand, some of the seniors wish they would have done a better job of selecting their electives. I wish l would have made a better deci- sion about my electives. Instead of putting dovm choices that my friends did, l wish I would have thought about my future, added Becky Smith. Not all seniors forgot about their future. Jeff White explained, l wanted some kind of drafting back- ground so l could go into my dad's business, and l took business law just for business purposes. Not all students chose courses for their future. Some took coursesjust for fun. Whether for busi- ness or pleasure, students eventually came out on top. DRAFTING STUDENTS JEFF wnm: AND ki-:vm TAYLOR WAIT as Mr. Frazior tries his luck flying his homemade plane. Drafting was an elective that gave students real-life skills and some interesting projects. JL..-.J .I+-N., --,usu- r