Skyline High School - Origin Yearbook (Dallas, TX)

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► Outdoor education. Due to a generator malfunction, classrooms were without lights or electricity. Some teachers compensated for this by taking classes outside for study as architecture teacher Thomas Cox dictates a test to one of his classes. Photo by Elizabeth Gomez ► By the dawn's early light. Dark classrooms marred most teachers' lesson plans which left students with little or nothing to do as these students talk and read in G- building. Photo by Elizabeth Comez The day lights by Harold Gordon It started off as a day like any other. Students once again sauntered into the hallways, not expecting the total chaos the day would bring. At about 7:50 a.m.. it hap- pened. A generator blowout caused all lights, air conditioning and electricity to fail throughout the Skyline plant, causing confu- sion and disorder. « The problem was 02 } OUl in an electrical panel which supplied the electricity to the school. New fuses were in- the • 1 I • electricity to the school. New fuses were in- m t Kvnne stalled which brought back power to the main buildim? and G and B buildings. Because an building and G and B buildings. Because an electrical duct that feeds electricity into sub- panels was destroyed. F. T and C buildings were plunged into darkness until the panels could be replaced. Study hall classes were finally moved to the auditorium, while other classes were con- ducted in the halls. “I thought the power outage was great. We didn’t have to do any work,” said Jeff Wisdom about his classes that day. For some teachers though, the power outage was more than a headache. The students behavior has been pretty good, but the only thing we have for them to do is to lay their heads on the desks and sleep,” said study hall teacher Vivian McGlothin, about her first days in almost total darkness in F-building. While teachers were trying to conduct classes. Principal Frank Guzick was search- ing for answers to the problems. When in- formed that the bells to dismiss the classes were not working, Mr. Guzick went on the PA system and announced dismissal himself. Contacting DISD officials about the problem was difficult, considering that the phones were also out of use. Those students who had their hearts set on going home, were crestfallen when no announcement of school closing came. “It would be difficult to get every studen home and where they belong. We have to many buses and parents would find it dif ficult leaving work to pick up their children.' commented Mr. Guzick. The major worry on Mr. Guzick's mind anc every student's and teacher’s mind wa; whether lunch would be served that first day Emergency panels kept two ovens on in th lunchroom, but there were no lights, casl registers, dishwashers, air conditioning o refrigeration. When the lunchroom staf decided to serve lunch, they realized tha there would be some difficulties to overcome They had to use candles in place of lights paper plates and plastic flatware anc calculators instead of their usual registers. N( ventilation created unbearable heat abou which even students complained. When Mr. Guzick finally got through tc DISD officials, he informed them that thej might have to go to plan B if power was t stay off for any length of time. The plan wa: to move all frozen foods to a central storinj area downtown. With over $2,000 worth o groceries in the food service cluster, then was reason for concern. “The frozen meats and vegetables were ou: main worry. The bread and fruits are cheat so they could be thrown away with no grea loss.” said food service coordinator Odel Chism. With all the excitement going on. Mr Guzick still found time for praise. Al schools should be prepared for emergencies And the way that we dealt with this problerr shows that we were ready to act on such ar emergency,” said a confident principal dur ing a time of crisis. Although students were surprised during the power outage, they reacted to the problem in a mature manner. It was this attitude whicl made school a lot easier on the day the light: went out in Skyline. 22 Student life

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▲ Stepping out. Car payments continued to be a major expense for some. But in spite of this, the parking lot was rarely less than full as students felt that driving was a necessity. Photo by Bill Vahrenkamp ◄ What a hearty meal. Pizza dinners did get to be ex- pensive. Yet students frequented the parlors anyway. Phil Fragapane. Kary Nulisch and Kenton Self finish their dinner at Pizza Hut. Photo by Kristin Hundt Gas costs: it’s money in the tank You’re on your way to school and all of a sud- den your car sputters and fails. You. knowing little about car mechanisms, begin making false diagnoses. Then you remember — you forgot to get gas. Gas costs remained a major expense for students as they were forced to shell money for gas, which cost a lit- tle over$l a gallon. Last spring, some relief seemed in sight as gas costs, for the first time in years, dropped below the $1 mark. Some students did not really care about the ex- tra pennies that they had to pay. Others were just as budget-minded as parents and really tried to find bargains on gas. Gas continued to cut out a major chunk of students paycheck. But as long as they were to drive, they realized that they had to pass the buck anyway. ▼ Passing the buck. Stoney Logan finds (hat buying lunch was a small expense as he pays (he cafeteria worker for his lunch. Student life 21

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◄ Top of the heap. Without lights, sun power had to be used to read. Here teachers aide Elizabeth Bolton and Tuan Nguyen catch up on some reading. Photo by Elizabeth Gomez ▲ Making the decisions. Principal Frank Guzick converses with food cluster teacher Odell Chism on the emergency plan for food storage. Photo by Keith Cartwright ◄ Let the sun shine in. The power failure did not keep architecture students from completing their cur- riculum as they work under the watchful eye of teacher Robert Batson. Photo by Elizabeth Gomez Students react to power failure In almost every crisis, everyone wants to become a leader and give orders. Shouting begins and nothing ever gets done. Thus comes the expression: Too many chiefs and not enough Indians. This, however, was not the case during the generator failure. Students were surprised at first, but after a while it was old news. Everyone waited for new announcements from Principal Frank Guzick. and the day went by without major mishaps. After a couple of days. F building was still without electricity. Doors to the building were locked. Students who had lockers in F- building had to go to classes without books or materials. Other students, realizing that teachers had no way of knowing if their lockers were in F-building, took advantage of the situa- tion and told teachers that their homework, books or materials were locked up inside the building. Soon this became the excuse for virtually all students. Some students openly admitted that they en- joyed the power outage because it meant no work. Teachers who held classes outside brought this to a halt. Even though locked up books and boring periods in the auditorium were in in- conveniences. student's maturity and coopera- tion helped to keep mishaps and other pro- blems to a minimum. Student life 23