Tokay High School - Tokay Yearbook (Lodi, CA)

Page 215 text:

Gary White Marty White Rebecca Whitely John Whitlock Lisa Whitney Lori Whitney Bradley Wilson Katrina Wilson Michael Wimberly Jennifer Wiseley Kent Wisenor Jimmie Woodall Kaku Yamauchi Dyan Yannazzo Ralph Yester Christopher Young Jennifer Young Jill Yu nker Marina Zanardelli Seniors 21 1

Page 214 text:

Matthew Weeks James Welch Catherine Wells Rodney Wells Senior Kirsten George stretches out in an at- tempt to dig up a shot in a San Joaquin Ath- letic Association game. Hoping to attend a major un- iversity this fall, senior Kirsten George will graduate from Tokay with many athletic awards and accomplishments. l am still undecided about what college or university l plan on attending, said the 6-feet 2-inch George. lt looks as if it's between St. lVlary's College in Moraga, the University of Ore- gon, and Fresno State Universi- ty 77 George was chosen as the San Joaquin Athletic Association's most valuable player,leading the Tigers to a SJAA first-place fin- ish, and the Northern California Section championship. I don't let the awards get to me, she said. We had a great season. lt was a total team effort. The awards come last. George played varsity volley- ball since her sophomore year, and was also a member of To- kay's badminton team, as a top singles player, but she can't compare the two sports. They're both great sports, 5 1 X i A Senior earns many in high school since the competition is so good, she said. The only difference is that in volleyball, it's g a total team effort, and, in bad- minton, you play individually, but you earn points for the She said she would be looking forward to playing volleyball in college, it should be real excit- ing. But l hope the traveling is limitedlf' said George. by Tim Skamel , 210 Q r9l is i

Page 216 text:

Diversities toughen communities Life in the Lodi-Stockton area has been one of many changes. From problems faced with over- crowding in schools to contro- versy with an atom smasher, local citizens experienced a year of diversity. Adding a little spice to the local life, Lodi's own Lori Dickerson was crowned Miss California- USA on Oct. 14, 1986, This 20-year old brown-eyed brunette royally brought Lodi pride on a silver platter. Dickerson came out ahead of 89 other women to win the 36th annual pageant. The Lodi Unified School Dis- trict faced many hassles with over-crowding problem at the top of its list. School enrollment figures showed a doubled enroll- ment in the Lodi District in the last decade with more than 20,000 students. The Lodi school district must find room for North Stockton students accord- ing to several ballot measures approved in November. These ballots stated that hundreds of acres of North Stockton were to be annexed into the Lodi city limits. School officials set up three tactics to attack over-crowding in the district schools: both Lodi High and Tokay High schools used the extended day systemg two elementary sites had year- round school, and portables were set up to hold the increasing population of students. An inten- sive study on year-round school and its alternatives was made. Four study teams were sent to Los Angeles to analyze the 12- month academic schedules. Year-round school will be used, eventually, but to iron out the new system it will be avoided for at least the 1987-1988 school year. A deal with Stockton develop- er, A. C-. Spanos was made in October in which he agreed to sell the district 45 acres of land on Thornton Road as the site for a new high school. Its price tag was S562,500. Even with the finished school, year-round school seems unavoidable in the future. Also, Needham Middle School would be used for some basic ninth grade classes, freeing campus space for upperclass- men. Officials hoped that these tactics would work until year- round school could go into effect for all LUSD schools. On Oct. 26, 1986, Ellerth E. Larson, Lodi Unified School District superintendent, publicly announced his resignation. Lar- 212 Q son retired with 39 years of service behind him and 14 of those were spent in Lodi. At 64, Larson said he was ready to give the position to someone who could provide the continuity and stability the district would de- sparately need during the com- ing years. Some of the matters needing these qualities were the well-known year-round school and the changing growth picture. Also, the successor would need to look at programs in favor of retaining personnel unless more money came from the state. Prep periods and the new science program at the elementary schools would need a guiding hand to get on their way too. Larson was only the fourth superintendent for the Lodi dis- trict in 50 years. He had seen the district's budget increase from S8 million to about S70 million and the minority population ac- counted for 34 percent of stu- dent population from 1 1 percent when Larson began. One occurance that could not be helped was the San Andreas fault shifting closer to the valley. As California's most dangerous earthquake fault, the 800-mile- long San Andreas fault, appeared to be shifting its energy closer to the Central Valley, according to geologists. This is a slow process that could take at least five million years to move about 20 miles to the east. ln geological terms that was a jump. Geolog- ists reponed that more ea- rthquake activity had appeared east of the fault. Hitting our homes a little quic- ker was the issue of the atom smasher. An atom smasher was made up of poweitul magnets enclosed in an oval 10-foot wide tunnel dug 20 feet beneath the surface of the earth and running 53 miles in circumference, produc- ing less radiation than what nat- urally occurs in the foothills. lt was possible that beams of pro- tons which collide inside the oval tunnel may jump off course, causing radiation explosion. This threat meant no structures were allowed directly over the tunnel. Farmers were concerned they would be asked to leave their homes to allow the tunnels to be built under their land. ln San Joaquin County there were concerns about the envir- onmental effects the atom smasher would have. Though the main concerns were expre- ssed by the farmers who cultivat- ed the several thousand acres the ff- f- K superconducting tunnel and re search center would require. ln effort to protect farm inter ests in the event, the S4 billioi project was approved for easteri San Joaquin County. There wert important financial benefits to tht community which were chosei to house the atom smasher prc ject. lt was estimated that fo every direct job provided, tw' indirect support jobs would b created in the county. Seve' thousand direct jobs would b made in a two-year constructio f