Ross S Sterling High School - Governor Yearbook (Baytown, TX)

Page 52 text:

For those students who were seeking an escape from Gor- donian Democracy.” as Mr. John Gordon called his senior English classes, there was an alternative. According to the handbook, several classes were certified to replace senior English. Creative writing was designed to develop the writing skills of those students interested in writing professionally or just improving their written communication skills. When the year began, there were no rigid curriculum guides, so the students, along with the teacher. Mr. Gary Sedlacek, decided what course the class would take. During the first few weeks of school, the class organized a club which they dubbed “Ranger Writers. New alternative enhances writing 48 • Language Arts They also planned for a literary magazine. Piece of Mind, to be done later on in the year. Mr. Sedlacek described the class as “providing an opportunity for students to communicate in a controlled fashion some deeply felt emotions. It also provides an opportunity to help students to extend their skills, imaginations and aspirations. Meanwhile, in other language arts classes, it was business as usual. Journalism classes worked to meet deadlines for the yearbook and to put out as many newspapers as possible. Mr. John Gordon, independent studies teacher, did his best to give his students a better understanding of the English language and increase their verbal scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, while speech classes improved their public speaking abilities.

Page 51 text:

rV i major six we«k« govi Sleffonie Sneed iglves her presenlalion on cult while other member await theio Futch and Ru ty Bari by R. Morin f Whether discussing daily events, making tepees or taking trips, all were part of classes in the social studies department. While government classes took one day out of the week to discuss current events. Mrs. Sharon Leggett's world affairs classes, which was not a mandatory course, discussed them everyday. Not only did students discuss daily occurrences, they also played a simulated war game between the Americans and the Russians, debating both sides of the issue. Mrs. Leggett said, We played this simulated war game so students could learn more about nuclear war. Billy Tieman added. I learned how real nuclear war is and how Not just confined to the four walls easily it could be set off. In addition to these classes, there were those that were not limited to the confines of the four walls. American Indian studies constructed a full-sized Plains Indian tepee. One of the students that helped put up the project at Dayton said. I found it interesting and enjoyed presenting it to all the kids. Sonya Brockington added. There were a lot of kids there, but it was fun. As one of the many extracurricular activities offered to social studies students. Mr. Jerry Sanders sponsored the Close-Up trip to Washington. D.C., for a week for students who were interested. Paul Smith, who attended seminars, workshops and tours on the trip said. The trip was worth the time, effort and money put into it; it was most definitely worth taking. Social Studies • 47

Page 53 text:

Creative writing studenti Dean Cross ond Derek Grayson analyze the sentence structure of a short story. Photo by R Guenther Beth Northcutt. Denise Purvis ond D'Shswn Kirksey work diligently on preparing Piece of Mind for publication. Photo by R Guenther As Troy Oehler looks on with amusement. Dawn Mams puts much expression into her speech. Photo by R. Foster Seated at Mr Bryan Borah's desk, Carole Golden seems to be instructing Jennifer Walker on how to be a better debater, while Steve Colombe goes about his business quietly. Photo by R. Morin Language Arts-49