South Side High School - Totem Yearbook (Fort Wayne, IN)

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Lau Program: Bilingual Education Proves Successful; Ten Students Made Graduation Plans Underclassmen are given initiative as the work pays off. n its fourth year at South Side, the Lau Program continues to be suc- cessful. There are 43 students enrolled in the program. Ten will graduate this year, Mrs. Janet Perez, the head of the Lau Program states. This will be the first group to have completed all four years of high school at South Side. The program is mostly made up of students from Laos. However, there are also students from Vietnam, China, Mex- ico, Ethiopia, Poland, and Cambodia. They enter the program speaking little or no English. When the students are ready, they are mainstreamed into a regular classroom set- ting. There are Lau students enrolled in 52 different classes. Some are involved in the RVS program, studying such courses as health occupations, beauty culture, and metal trades. Even though the Lau students are from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds than the majority of South's students, they are just like everyone else, states Perez. They worry about SAT scores, college, careers, and future plans just as American students do. Everything is explained easily by our teacher. I am happy to be at Qouth Gide. I don 't speak English very well, but the people here really care and teach us. ' ' — Chanh Viengkhone I like Algebra. It's fun to work with numbers. My teachers make things easy to understand. — Emebet Solomon I've been at Qouth Side for two years now. I take accounting, which is my favorite class. South Side is all right! — Phan Luong Chanthavone Thammavongsa, freshman, plows her way through an English reading assignment. Yasothala Mahasena, sophomore, a member of the Lau Program, learns the secrets for mastering the computer. The program offers a variety of courses. 19

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RVQ: I like RVQ a lot. It's fun and I know a lot more than before. The teachers really know what they are talking about. — Sieve Beam At first, RVQ didn't seem to be what I wanted. Then, after I gave it a chance, I found out that everything I needed to know was there. — Heidi Skelton The people are nice, and RVQ is really a lot of fun. It gives my day variety. I'm studying child care, and I get to work with little kids. It's great. — Amanda Golden Qtudents Take Oppori unity To Learn a Working Trade RVS offers a challenge while it gives experience. ne way to learn a trade is through a two-year program called RVS. Par- ticipation in RVS takes up to three hours a day and five days a week and is open to all juniors and seniors. The Regional Vocational School, where the instruction is given is located in the former Central High School building. RVS offers such programs as child care, data programing, beauty culture, automotive, health, and many others. The director of RVS at South is Miss Jennifer Manth. It was reported that at the beginning of the year there were about 100 people involved in RVS. Manth often says, RVS is an opportunity for a student to develop a skill that many may use after graduation. Theresa Summers, junior, said: It's really a good learning experience. It also helps you understand more about the field you're going into. RVS gives students the opportunity for variety in their schedules. During their junior year they attend classes at Central for a half day, and during their senior year they are introduced to the coop program. This program enables them to get on-the- job training while earning wages. Gerald Pennington, junior, explains the intricacies of computer keyboarding to Fred Perry, junior. Philaphonh Symongkhon, senior, uses the skills he has acquired in industrial arts class to operate the metal lathe. 18

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Industrial Arts: I fhink metalworking is a very helpful and instructive course for someone who is planning to go into this type of work after high school. ' ' — Joel Cureton Woodworking is a lot of fun and helps you gain experience in working with your hands to make different objects. — Kerry Haywood Drafting is an excellent course to take if you are interested in architecture and some types of engineering. It's really relaxing. — Qcott Colley Learning a Basic Trait Now for Experience Later Working with their hands, students produce practical objects: ne way to learn new skills at South Side is getting involved with the in- dustrial arts classes. The program consists of graphic arts, metalworking, woodwork- ing, drafting, electricity, and power mechanics. The students in this program do not only use machines and different kinds of tools and many types of materials. They use a variety of processes to produce objects for practical use as well as appearances. Graphic arts is a popular class which covers a wide range of areas, including platemaking, silk screen printing, linoleum block cutting, rubber stamp making, and engraving. Printing is the primary focus of the course, though. Though such classes do not guarantee all the skills necessary for employment, they give the student a taste of the art and head him in the right direction. 20 Carmen Goins and Tony Phillips, freshmen, work hard putting a chair together in shop class. Taking a rest from the busy work of shop class, Dan Griner, senior, and Troy Carpenter, sophomore, turn their attention toward their drill instructor.