Spring Valley High School - Saga Yearbook (Columbia, SC)

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Best friends and graduates Susan Welch and Mi- chele Berry help each other get ready before the graduation ceremony. So everything will run smoothly, Mr. Hendrick checks juniors Caroline Bell’s and Michelle Fel- ton’s list of graduates. Bach marshal led fifty sen- iors to their seats. r2 studenl life

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After Hours After School Hours Weekly: 2 60% 5 17% none 13% over 10 8% “It’s casual. I have a great time doing it and now it’s just a way of life!” said junior Brandy Rucker, who spends about eleven hours a week on after school activities. Most Popular Activity: Partying 25% Football games 11% Out with friends 8% Sports 6% “Partying’s a break from the homework and hassels of school. It’s fun and I get to see my friends,” said fresh- man Paula Cobb. W-' Under TheBnm Summer Sportsarama Homecommg Fashion 42

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They Sang Their Last Alma Mater . . . Our class, like many other classes, can be compared to one of the trees planted this year by the beautification committee. We all started out from roots, coming together as a single group — freshmen. But we were different. Our bark had a few cracks in it, but every tree does. Our spirit and pride brought out the green — the life. Four years ago, at the first varsity football game of the year, we lost to Lexington High School by four points. We were disappointed. Ev- eryone wants to be a winner. But, at the end of the game, everyone joined hands and sang the alma mater, showing the unity and strength that only a winner possesses. Our classes’ strong lungs and loyalty prevailed at pep rallies, during class competition, and at Sportsarama. As we progressed and grew, we branched out into separate limbs, ac- cording to our interests. Then each of us, as we worked with the others in our area, developed our trees’ small, pale buds into healthy, golden leaves, and formed some of the most majestic en- sembles in the state — in band, foren- sics and theatre. Even in the areas where we were not as strong, and others could climb high- er, we still had pride and never stopped displaying our colors . . . Never stopped running, jumping, swinging, singing, throwing, cheering, creating, comput- ing, writing, reaching . . . Eventually, after learning our way around the school, being the last class to have open pods — or multi-subject periods, after wearing garbage bags, yelling duck calls, coloring our hair, piercing our ears, ripping our shirts, watching three classes leave and enter, and after listening to — or trying not to listed to — almost two thousand P.A. announcements, we matured. Our branches began to flower. As we raised our branches proudly, the richness of our years of learning allowed the blos- soms to ripen into fruit. And now the time has come to break away from our tree that we all know so well — the time to start over, to being freshmen again, to moving away, and do what we will for the rest of our lives. What we must remember is that when we let go, we cannot let insects and other outside forces attack us, but flourish and grow and remember the heritage that we Vikings claim. Re- member the teacher that made you walk “gorilla war fare” style to the li- brary, the teacher that made you dis- sect an owl pellet, the teacher who told you to contemplate your naval — and the teacher that explained what con- templating your naval means. Remember all the special relation- ships you have had with the people who you thought were put on this planet for the sole purpose of stuffing facts into your brain. The teachers and staff of Spring Valley were the ones who nur- tured us, and helped us to grow. We must remember that reaching this height — receiving our diplomas, shifting our tassels and walking down those stairs — does not mean we are descending. We are taking a step ahead, because all the seeds of learning we have gotten from Spring Valley are go- ing to stay with us, for the rest of our lives, so that wherever we go, we will always be growing up towards the sun, never letting anyone forget that the Spring Valley class of 1984 will always and forever be number one. Stephanie Nankin Getting gowns on straight is a task for graduates Jennifer Berry, Sallie Freeman and Pamela Cole- man. Student Activities director Sharon Buddin says, “Anticipation and excitement fill the colise- um as everyone prepares for the ceremony.” Anticipating graduation ceremonies, graduate Brenca Outen files into place at the Carolina Coli- seum for the hour-long procession. student life 13