Stuarts Draft High School - Legacy Yearbook (Stuarts Draft, VA)

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Below: Mrs. Elaine Almarode, A.P. English teach- er, looks oddly bored with her class and the cam- Left: Mac Weems concentrates hard on the next eraman. sentence she intends to write on her essay. Above left: Amy Craighead and Demetria Kor- geanos are happily satisfied writing papers for Mrs. Almarode. Left: Kristi Knotts works harder as the ideas come to mind and flow through her pen. Above: Mr. Stump drills his A.P. history students on the criteria for their A. P. exam. Academics 19

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Advanced Placement was a growing phenomenon in this school for the last few years. We owed a lot to the A. P. teachers who gave their time and tal- ents to this special curriculum. Those teachers who taught A. P. here were, Mrs. Elaine Almarode, A. P. English; Dr. Richard Miller, A. P. chemistry and physics; and Mr. Gerald Stump, A. P. history. All the A. P. teachers were unique and so we picked one to spotlight. Mr. Gerald Stump taught A. P. history and advanced government, not to add all his extracurricular activities such as IPA and being involved in the Model General Assembly and the Mock United Nations. Mr. Stump took time from his busy schedule and answered a few ques- tions. Mr. Stump had been teaching A.P. history for two years and Ad- vanced government for ten years. When asked if he enjoyed teaching A.P. he replied, ‘Oh yes, its very chal- lenging for me as well as for the stu- I8 Academics Academic Phenomenon dents because we are able to study and do things not done in the regular classes.” As for the students he says at first it takes a while to adjust to the amount and depth of the material taught. He also said that it took the first six weeks or longer to understand his ways. He commented that when the first essay was handed in it needed more depth. They saw the surface of the problem but did not write in the great depth that he was looking for. He was asked how the students han- dled the A.P. class and he replied that some were probably taking more strides than others; for some it’s a struggle because of the level of think- ing involved. He commented that the grades of the A. P. students would be higher in a regular class; he said that the grades in advanced government were excellent but that A. P. history grades were lower because of the pres- sure of the exam and the detail and amount of material they cover. Mr. Stump was questioned about the fact that it took special preparation; he said that it was a lot of writing and extra handouts for the students and more handouts for him to prepare. In history he had a different special kind of preparation. He was asked if he would recom- mend A. P. for all college bound stu- dents. He replied that only if they were willing to work hard. He added that A. P. is a growing phenomenon, and that more and more colleges are accepting A. P. credits’, also that UVA within five years will not accept a student who has had the opportunity to take A. P. and not taken it. So Mrs. Frances Richard- son has commented again and again if you want to get into one of the more competitive schools you need to join the A. P. bandwagon because Ad- vanced Pla cement classes are here to stay. by Sandy Wright and Robin Watts

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Honor bound At Stuarts Draft High School there was this past year, as in former years, two special groups of people. One was the National Art Honor Society and the other was the National Honor Society. Both groups were comprised of out- standing students who were invited by the faculty to join one of these groups. The National Art Honor Society or NAHS, whose sponsor was Mrs. Spil- man, was mainly concerned with teaching the students to be more cre- ative and to encourage more art work in the school and in the community. It also helped them to be supportive of each other and their work. NAHS was an organization whose members were chosen by invitation of the faculty and those members had to have at least aB + average to be elligible to join. This past year the members sold candy to raise money for art supplies and went on a trip to Richmond, Virginia. The National Honor Society sponsored by Mrs. Leach, who is the guidance counselor at SDHS, was also very active this past school year. This group of stu- dents was made up of those who had a grade point average of at least a 3.3. These members wer juniors and seniors chosen by the faculty on a basis of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. To be invited to join the Na- tional Honor Society, the students had to win a majority of the faculty’s votes. This past year three seniors were invit- ed to join the NHS and were inducted in the fall. During the year the members of the NHS collected toys at Christmas for the Salvation Army and some even tried their hand at tutoring. At parent conferences a few of them served as guides and also sponsored a guest speaker. Once a month both of the two groups would meet to discuss future activities which would benefit both the school and the community. by Sandy Wright and Robin Watts Far above: NAHS members: Josh Biser, Deana Harris, Teresa Newsome, Marty Weems, Mrs. Spilman, Doug Cogar, John Burch, Joel Batts, Chris Campbell, Mike Rodgers, Sandy Vey, Troy Elmore, Jackie Vu, Lisa Snell, James Kitchen, Michelle Fitzgerald, Candy Northedge, Becky Knos, Tammy Ayers, Vicky Pen- nington, Ann Melvin, Sidney Harris, Roxanne O'Brien. Above: Lynette Bridge concentrates on a new idea for her sketches. 20 NAHS, NHS