Safford High School - Ocotillo Yearbook (Safford, AZ)

Page 59 text:

gi 5 4 X S ,ff . SNS 4 f SR rw mmf Mad scientist. Careful not to spill any, senior Scott Evans pours a chemical into a tun- nel during a chemistry lab. No bones about it. Using a skeleton as a study guide, Teddy Poindexter and Rich- ard Crandall cram for an Ad- vanced Biology test. F' 'L rrr rlrr rr . A rainbow of muscles. Care- fully outlining a picture ofthe scapula is Becky Dudley, who can't resist testing out her new Advanced Biology coloring book.

Page 58 text:

Scientific fun raditionally, students have had an aversion to taking science classes because science was supposed to be boring and more than a little gross. But science students had several reason to think oth- erwise. lt seemed that every supposedly boring class one walked into had something going on that was interesting and new. Mr, Hampton's Bi- ology classes were treated to a disection of the frog which seemed to be a source of excitement for many freshmen and sophomores. Chemistry students had fre- quent labs in which they learned how to properly use scales and balances, bunsen burners, and how to handle a glass beaker without break- ing it. But the science class that saw the most action was advanced biology. Mr. De- Ridder took responsibility for the class when many stu- dents complained after its Taking inventory. Freshman Fay Larson examines the in- side of her amphibious Biol- ogy project. removal two years ago. I wanted to make the class a difficult one so that when tnese students get to college biology classes, they'll be prepared said Mr. DeRid- der. Needless to say, the class was difficult. All the bones and muscles had to be memorized and tested on, I wanted to make the class a difficult one not to mention the cycles of glycolosis krebs, and NAD. But when the brainwork was over, the fun began. In order to figure out their resting heart rate, students took part in a step test which in- volved stepping up one stair, down one stair, and over and over for three minutes. Grey's Anatomy coloring books could be bought to help students with memoriz- ing exactly where all the blood vessles were and ever- ybody looked forward to the end of the year when the cat was disected. A Though at first the pros-. pect of- earving up what might oe someone's pet made many students squea- rnish, they soon got used to it and became interested in the project. lt's kind of fun once you stop thinking of it as Morris or Garfield lying there, one student was heard to say. The science classes were anything but boring and opened new horizons of learning to students who might one day become the second Einstein.

Page 60 text:

Arguing for grades rugs, abortion, ca- - pital punishment, and gun control: it must be time for -senior debates. Debates have long been a part of the Senior English curricu- lum. Mr. Hirsch had been responsible for all Senior English classes for more years then many people could remember, but this year, Mrs. Sansom took over two of them and in doing so, decided to keep on with the debates. They were initiated into the classes 16 years ago and have been taking place every since then. We debate things that are both contempory and controversial said Mr. Hirsch. Students were paired up with a partner and assigned a topic. An- other pair of students were assigned the same topic and the couples then decided who would argue for that topic and who would argue against it. Once that was decided, the topics were thorough- Alchoholic awareness. Guest speaker Jake Flores lectures to Mr. Cotter's dri- vers education classes on the dangers of drunk driving. ly researched and infor- mation to support the stu- dents' cause was record- ed. After school and week- ends often got used as ex- tra time to prepare for that big day in front of the class. My partner and I had to goto E.A. a couple of times to get more infor- mation said Shelly John- son, who had the con side of the cigarette smoking issue. Other topics includ- ed: abortion, the death Some people took their topic personally penalty, child abuse, drugs in professional sports, unemployment, and video violence. Some students became very involved, maybe too involved, in the assign- ment lt depended on what your subject was, but some people took their topic personally. A few people got really up- set while they were de- bating said David Branch, a senior who gave his debate in Mr. Hirsch's class early in the year. Mrs. Sansom's classes didn't begin their debates until the second semes- ter, which gave the stu- dents an opportunity to ask around and find out what subjects were the most interesting to re- search. There was no shortage on topics but often sever- al groups wanted the same one. In that situa- tion, they decided among themselves who would get that popular choice. The choices of -topics may change over- the years, but there will al- ways be something tcf ar- gue about and the tradi- tion of senior debates will continue. iw F W