Pulaski County High School - Cougar Pinnacle Yearbook (Dublin, VA)

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Turn On the Radio A major concern of all stu¬ dents during the months of December, January, and Feb¬ ruary was the weather. If a person woke up, looked out and saw even a snowflake in the air, you can bet the radio was switched on to listen for any school closings or delays. The snow scare confused everyone in a different way. Drivers had to force their cars through ice, sleet, and snowplows. Seniors were faced with updating senior trip reservations and looking even further forward to graduat ion. Teachers wor¬ ried about getting personal class schedules out of order. Test day was often kicked up to a week later, by then the material was cold. Adminis¬ trators realized a real-life horror when the pipes in the main office froze under the sub-zero temperatures, ex¬ ploded, and flooded the car¬ pet. Unfortunately, the office was blessed with the scent of mildewed rug for several weeks to follow. When blizzards weren ' t occuring in Pulaski County, Southwest Virginia suffered under drastic cold spells. Temperatures sank to minus five at night and climbed to a whopping ten degrees dur¬ ing the day. People wrapped pipes in blankets, and brought pets inside to stay, shutting the door on the wind chill factor. Christmas and New Year ' s were not white; they were frozen stiff. It brought a new meaning to frigid. But far from missed dead¬ lines and dead car batteries, snow days had their advan¬ tages. Everyone got to sleep late, caught up on soap op¬ eras, or went shopping. Snow days were a rest run around get things done time for all people to enjoy. Signs of winter are evident in this shot of a side road in Fairlawn just off Route 11. Side and back roads were especially treacherous causing the closing of schools. The employees at Hardee ' s in Du lin worked together to create N Big Deluxe in front of their resta rant. Many students found Hardee a great place to be on those fros winter days. 28 Weather

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Responsibilities School days provided many different experiences for all students - the be- havers and the misbehavers. The Student Responsibility Center and Responsible Free Time were two of the new punishments and rewards available to everyone. The SRC was set up due to administrative, teacher, guidance, and public con¬ cern for an alternative disci¬ plinary consequence that would not leave students at home or on the streets, ac¬ cording to principal Mr. Dewey Wilson. Very few students were assigned to the center more than once, this being a result of the strict rules and total silence re¬ quired in the rooms. When assigned to the SRC, the stu¬ dent had to report to the center first thing in the morn¬ ing, and stay there until school was dismissed in the afternoon. While there, the students were allowed to work on class assignments, lunch was brought to them, and they were not allowed to move from their seats. The SRC ' s director was ori¬ ginally Ms. Mary Todd; how¬ ever, when Ms. Todd was promoted to another pro¬ gram, the center was taken over by Mr. Greg Hardy. Mr. Wilson remarked that the philosophy of the pro¬ gram was that it provided a consequence for unaccepta¬ ble behavior under the direc¬ tion of a teacher who hope¬ fully, with the cooperation of the students, could correct a discipline problem and help the student to establish a more positive attitude of self discipline. The isolation fac¬ tor in this program provided enough negative feeling on the part of the student to cause him to avoid assign¬ ment to this program. Responsible Free Time, commonly called Fun Hall, took place every day during the sixth period in the com¬ mons area. It was assigned to students who had study hall sixth period, and for those who wanted early release but had no way home. They had the choice of either studying in the teachers ' din¬ ing area or hanging out with their friends in the com¬ mons. They could buy soft drinks from the machines there, or go enjoy the great outdoors within a certain area. No one had to keep your mouth shut or plant yourself in that seat. The SRC wasn ' t a dun¬ geon, the Black Hole, or the Vast Space. RFT wasn ' t a zoo; it was teaching people to be responsible for their free time. Both of the new pro¬ grams attempted to extend education and discipline be¬ yond the classrooms and turn students into responsi¬ ble adults. While in sixth period responsible free time, )ody Taylor takes advan¬ tage of quiet time to work on some of his trigonometry homework. Studying is an optional activity dur¬ ing Responsible Free Time. Preston Albert, Ricky Dalton, and Brad Lewis work on homework assignments. A student works in one of the isola¬ tion carrels in the SRC. These are designed for a negative feeling for the student within, to make him or her realize the importance of appro¬ priate behavior in school. 27 SRC Fun Hall

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Cold weather often makes cars dif¬ ficult to start. Tina Viers and Carla Thomas,check under the hood of Tina ' s car to see why it is not run¬ ning. As a winter storm hits the county, students are dismissed from school at 11:30. The storm was much milder than expected and only kept students out one day. 29 Weather