Rock Island High School - Watchtower Yearbook (Rock Island, IL)

Page 23 text:

Forgot Us This Year Teacher ' s unions launched several pro¬ grams pushing for approval of the school tax increase. Dick Sias, RIFT president and Phil Dennis, RIEA president coordinate the final moves to help gain support for the referendum. Around 7 00 students, carrying signs urg¬ ing voters to vote yes, participated in a student solidarity march from the audi¬ torium through the downtown area and back to the high school. Serious decisions, regarding the fate of education of the Rock Island system, faced a divided school board. Teachers, students, and concerned citi¬ zens launched a campaign to push for the approval of the referendum. Spearhead¬ ing the drive were David Hendrix, Dick Sias, and Phil Dennis. Saturation Satur¬ day , a program to distribute leaflets throughout the community, a student march from the school to the downtown area, and a public meeting to answer questions were a few of the group ' s ac¬ tions. Hendrix eloquently states the im¬ portance of these actions, We ' re talking here about the quality of students, the quality of education, and the quality of our community . Regardless of the outcome, it ' s a trag¬ edy for the students of the Rock Island school system. They will suffer for some time to come , said history teacher Ted Dickerson after the referendum defeat. Disbelief by voters that sports would be abolished may have been a key factor in the failure of the December 18th propos¬ al. It ' s that attitude that defeated the ref¬ erendum , stated William Bailey, a school board member. Another school board member, Harry Pells, after the defeat, launched a drive to sell season football tickets for $12 each. The plan will save all extra-curricular ac¬ tivities for only one year. Even though the drive succeeded, funding for future years activities will have to be through regular school channels. In a report released by the Illinois Of¬ fice of Education it was stated that, Overall it appears that the source of Rock Island ' s financial problem is inad¬ equate local tax support. Until the peo¬ ple wake up and are willing to accept their responsibilities to education, there will be darkness long before the dawn. Education 19

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Meteors And Meteorites With her opponents waiting in anxious expectation, Beate Bergerhoff (22) in¬ stinctively reacts to bump the ball back over the net while teammate Beth McLaughlin backs her up. Stroking to another victory, Sara Brick comes up for a breath before the final, painstaking surge to the wall. Meteors And Meteorites 21