Santa Teresa High School - Compendium Yearbook (San Jose, CA)

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TAKING A NAP Viet Nguyen naps at the Decathlon ovemighter. These ovemighters arc designed to get all oi the team members together to study as a group. Viet was a member ol the National Honor Society, as well as the California Scholarship Federation. Pho'.o by BOTTOM ROW: Robyn De Herder MIDDLE: Coach Bill Sheehy, Arvind Suthor. Michelle Choppers, Viet Nguyen TOP: Andy Mac Lennon. Catherine Hedden. Lisa Sevcik, Jason Bennert, Mike Young, Renata Zalizynak. Pho TAKING A BREAK FROM TESTS Mike Young rests between tests at the competition. Mike was one ol the Honors level competitors. Mike was also a member ol the Notional Honor Society and the California Scholarship Federation. Photo Decathlon

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On the day of the big Oak Grove football game; De- cathlon history was being made. Academics 38 TT CELEBRATING ANOTHER POINT 4 Scholastic level competitor Catherine Hedden celebrates another correct answer at the Super Quiz. Cathenne was a member ol the Na- tional Honors Society this year. Photo courtesy of Esprit. TIRELESS DEDICATION n the morning of Satur- day, November 14, there was a small group of Santa ------Teresa students who spent the day in a classroom, taking tests. These people were the members of the 1987-88 Academic Decathlon team. For the entire day. these stu- dents spent the day being tested in Language and Literature, Fine Arts, Science, Social Sciences, Mathemat- ics, Economics, Essay, Interview, and Speech. The team consisted of approxi- mately 20 members. Of these 20 members, nine are chosen to repre- sent Santa Teresa High School at the competition. The team is divided into three levels, based on the grade point averages of the students. The Honors level is for students with a G.P.A. of 3.75 to 4.0. 3.0 to 3.74 is for the Scholastic level, where the Varsity level's G.P.A.'s are below 3.0. For each level, there are two ac- tual competitors, as well as one alter- nate. The selected team consisted of Honors level competitors Mike Young, Viet Nguyen, and Renata Za- lizynak. Arvind Suthar, Catherine Hedden, and Lisa Sevcik competed on the Scholastic level, while the Varsity level was made up of Jason Bennert, Andy MacLennan, and Ro- byn DeHerder. On the day of the competition, the decathletes are sent through a series of tests, as well as speeches and inter- views. The height ol the competition is the Super Quiz, where the com- petitors are asked questions on the history of flight. The Super Quiz is best part of the competition. It's where you get to find out how well everyone studied, says Varsity alter- nate, Robyn DeHerder. The Academic Decathlon awards banquet was held on December 8, 1987. Here, the teams find out, for certain, who won the competitio This year, Santa Teresa placed se ond in the entire competition. This the best that Santa Teresa has ev done, and the first school, outside Palo Alto, to place in the top thre At the banquet, the competito also find out who won individu awards for subject scores. Certi cates were won by Arvind Suthar f science, Andy MacLennan for s ence and math, Catherine Heddt for speech, Robyn DeHerder for fir arts, and Jason Bennert for fine ar social science, economics, essa and speech. Bennert also was awar ed two silver medals for speech, ar overall score. The second place victory for tl Saints was a tough one to achieve. I Robyn DeHerder put it, Palo A1 always wins the competition. Fro there, it is just a matter of who tak second. So, for us, it was just like wii ning. By Laura Geer.

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here at best of us be- come even better a id the J dering eyes, few announcements, begins instructing day's lesson plan. Ti scenario of a day iri cial education class. Contrary to what most people think, Santa Tere- sa's special education program is aimed at helping those with minor learning disabilities rather than iso- lating the students from the real world.” The somewhat stereotypical view of Special Education as a program for severely handicapped students is completely false. Led by Leslie Suckow, Lana Ellis, and Jerry Rome- ro, the goal is to aid the student in overcoming his or her particular dis- ability. Some examples of these, which can all be cured, are dyslexia and other reading and writing prob- lems. For example, actor Tom Cruise's dyslexic reading disability has not prevented him from becom- ing a leading celebrity, and the same potential success holds true for ev- eryone in the program here at ST as stated by Mrs. Suckow. Most of the students have an average or above average I.Q. The only thing that holds them back is their minor dis- ability which can be minimized. That's where our help comes in! The students usually spend a few periods in the specialized classes while the rest of the day is in the reg- ular mainstream courses. Vice prin- cipal Karalee Roland, head of the de- partment, believes this new ap- proach to the program allows the student to feel less sheltered. Before the kids felt as though we were isolat- ing them from the rest of the student body. Now, however, they are able to interact with everyone else which makes them less self-conscious around others concerning their dis- ability. One of these students, Frank Giuliani is now a member of the Civil Air Patrol United States Air Force Auxiliary and on his way to gradu- ation. Without the program, I wouldn't have had the motivation to overcome my handicap. It's helped me tremendously! By Tanya Pine. ATTENTION. PLEASE! Mrs. Suckow lectures the class as Mike Tindall listens intentively. Paying dose attention saves the students a lot ot time behind the X oks at home. Many ol the kids lack concentration so we focus on teaching them to learn better study skills. Photo by Tanya Pine. Academics