Stratford High School - Mnemosyne Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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Varying from their usual style, the Spar- tanaires wore side ponytails with flow- ers in their hair and can-can skirts. Drum Major Kelly Smith and Captains Kim Hightower and Dana Weber, all seniors, smile in the pregame victory line. Sometimes fans in the crowd just sat there, then the Spartanaires would start cheering and everyone would get more spirited. I really appreciate what they did for the football team and the school! Var- sity football player Mark Cabrisch, senior, commented about the efforts of the drill team that accom- panied the Spartans to the state championship. Lieutenant Laura Gattis, junior, said, The goal we strove for this year was to bethe number one drill team to complement the best foot- ball team in the state. The Spartanaires certainly worked as diligently as the football team, beginning their practices the last week of lune and attending a clinic at SMU in luly. There they won first place in pom pom and second in Dancing with her father at the Sparta- naire formal, Senior Maria Lawson exclaimed, l didn't quite know what to expect. I had hardly ever danced with him before. Prim , ,sf r . 1 I V W' -4 mf-'ffl is V2 1 marching. They collected a total of 44 ribbons with 5 girls receiving tri- ple ribbon honors. Sophomore Angel Bruzzese com- mented, The SMU summer trip was a lot of fun, but l was nervous. The officers and everybody were really helpful and a special tie developed between me and my big sister. Mrs. Shauna Baker, director of the Spartanaires, said, Sometimes tl new girls dor1't understand our go of perfection. We emphasize disc pline and association with others. From mid-August until la December, the football season dor inated the lives of the squad. Afte school practices started at 3:30 ar lasted until about 5:30 or 6:00 wht they got it right and it looke

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fs ifter a crashing fall to the cement, Sen- mr David Sobosinski finds Senior Shelly hipman unharmed and finally drags er into the pool. Originally only peo- le without togas were to be thrown in : midnight, but I had a toga on and got rown in anyway, said Shelly. Clad in the fashions of ancient Greece, Seniors Elaine Divita and Margot Higgs take a break from the toga party held at Senior Laurie Robertson's house. Later Margot was thrown into the pool twice. I got all cold and wet, said Margot. . .and night lFor fifteen weeks, the football team, nd, Spartanaires, and cheerleaders t in four to five afternoon practices a geek in preparation for those two hours t community entertainment known as gh school football. ln addition to daily afternoon prac- Ces the football team, band, Sparta- ires, and cheerleaders spent several urs the afternoon of a game prepar- ig for that night's performance. According to Senior Varsity football layer Greg McFarland, the football ayers met in the locker room about 00 to think about the game. We were lpposed to be quiet and stay off our et, said Greg. Then they packed and ft about an hour before the kick-off. nce at the field the team did exercises lstretch out and loosen up and every-- Pdy started to get up for the game. iThe band usually arrived at school W2 lurs before the game to run through ie halftime show and sometimes to ive a uniform inspection. After arriv- g at the stadium, the band played a w warm-up scales and sometimes ayed for the small audience who rived early to get the best seats. The Spartanaires usually spent about hour at home, putting on their field ake-up, fixing their wigs, and putting i their uniforms. An hour or more 'fore game time, they arrived at school practice. We needed that practice to ally get it, and to get our nerves lmed down, explained Senior Cindy Simmons. Then they packed their pom poms, blankets, gloves, capes and hats and left in time to march in behind the band. The cheerleaders met at the field about an W1 early to put up posters and set up their equipment, according to Senior Cyrene Bouchard. About forty five minutes before the game began, stretching out and practicing double stunts could be observed. Out-of-town and Astrodome games meant that the whole process had to be started much earlier. The cheerleaders went to the school first to load the equipment for an away game and then went to the stadium. For the dome games, We got there really early, about 3:30 or 4:00, because there was so much more space to put up pos- ters, said Cyrene. Not only was there preparation for football games, but the other sports had their ways of preparing for their specific meets and tournaments. lunior Gabrielle Giovaninni said that preparing for a track meet took both mental and physical preparation. You had to get lots of rest and eat a lot of carbohydrates. Also, you had to think through the race and think positive and that you can win. Mrs. Becky Ryder, girls track coach, commented, The team always gets a pep talk and gets their positions before they go into the meet. Senior Stanley Bould commented, ln tennis, l try not to think about the tour- nament because l get too nervous. It's best to really stretch out and stay in shape to play your very best. Even parents of students had their own activities that centered around school events. Mrs. Vickers, Craig lames' mother commented, We usually had dinner at the Touch Center for the school kids and football players. They were usually too tired mentally and physically after the game, so they would come to the Center to eat and relax. Mrs. Adams, Kevin Adams' mother, said, About ten mothers decided on a menu for the Tully games at the Touch Center. At about 5:00 Friday, we would set it up and then go to the school and 'ooh and ah' for the football players. Only after the tired football players showered, the Spartanaires pulled out the coldcrearn, the band members hung up their wool uniforms and the specta- tors battled through the traffic did the celebrations begin. The celebrations were usually in the form of parties, however, they differed from group to group. The Stratford Party Team, a non- school sponsored group, hosted parties almost every weekend during football season including a Toga Party after the Spring Woods game. Everyone was supposed to wear togas, but l didn't think they would. But they did! When we were cleaning up, we found togas all over. exclaimed Lori Robertson, senior. At the same time band parties were going on. These were different from regular parties because Regular,parties have regular people. But band parties have band people. explained Senior lay Thompson. Another memorable party was held at Leslie Abramson's house. Besides cele- brating her birthday, its purpose was to celebrate winning the state title and the birthdays of Andy Paffet and Cindy Manicomf' said Leslie. Alter partying was over, people went their separate ways, only to meet back again the very next week to practice and party. parties and practices 23

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ood, according to Mrs. Baker. For each Friday game two new Jutines were made up by Mrs. aker and the officers: Drum Major enior Kelley Smith, Captains Senior erri Fisher, Senior Kim Hightower, enior Tria lnce, Senior Dana Jeber, Lieutenants - Laura Gattis, inior, Antoinette May, junior, julie oush, Senior, and Tracy Surber, anior. iThe entire week was needed to each the routines, learn spacing, Hd go over each step, one at a time. ich of the 94 girls had to try out for bth the jazz and the high kick rou- hes. Drum Major Kelley Smith, sen- Ir, said, Usually everyone made je jazz except those on grade or .eight probation, about 45 to 53 'aiting to be judged for Spartanaire try- its, Vicki Vanduzee and jacki Thees tended practice sessions every day ter school for two weeks in order to arn routines. A panel of 4 judges .viewed the 81 girls trying out, and lected 41 as new Spartanaires. bpling during the LaPorte game half- me in the Astrodome, Spartanaires ways manage to get the crowd's atten- Jn. made high kick each week. Then two days of practice would be used to synchronize the perform- ance with the marching band. Band member junior jeff Falick commented that it was really strange because we never actually saw them perform. We always had our backs to them until we played in the Astrodome. There we had to stand behind them so they could hear the music because the Dome was so big. l as Sai-it J- A victory line looks easy to do, but we had to practice it a lot. Each girl has an exact count she must do everything on, and if one person messes up, then the whole line gets off count, explained Senior Leslie Willis. Lt. julie Roush, surrounded by Karen Hutchens and Ann Henderson, per- forms in the new uniforms and stands on what she calls really heavy props. -.nf Intent on understanding Algebra, junior Leslie Hagedorn gets help from junior Marihelen Millar while Tricia Koch, jun- ior, looks on. With practice, there is not much time to do homework, so I just study when I can, Leslie explained. spartanaires 25