Valparaiso High School - Valenian Yearbook (Valparaiso, IN)

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SOPHOMORES MISSY BALDWIN and Corey Fortune take a minute to look for their pyramid. Each couple attend- ing the dance had a pyramid with their names on it on the wall. Egypt Crowns A King ORGET PHfiROfiHS Cleopatra might have done it a little differently. She might have used more au- thentic decorations and real cam- els. She probably would have held a dance called A Night on the Nile” in the middle of a huge desert with plenty of palm trees, or maybe right next to the river itself in an enor- mous tent. When V-Teens began planning the annual King of Hearts dance, they knew their Night on the Nile” would have a few restrictions. For starters, there would be no sand, no tents, no exotic foods. It was strict- ly a paper decorations cookies and punch affair. But when you get right down to it, a dance is a dance, whether it’s confined to a stuffy high school gym or held on a sun-baked African desert. The setting — VHS’s north balcony — was not ideal, but the decorations were. We wanted it to be fairly realis- tic so we referred to a book of Egyptian mythology to get ideas for decorating,” said V-Teens sponsor Liz Hall. The end result: it wasn’t Cairo, but it wasn’t bad. A bridge over alli- gator-infested waters led students toward pyramids, palm trees, wa- terfalls, and an Egyptian sunset sur- rounding the dance floor. Pharoahs and hyroglyphics were also part of the setting when senior Mike Neis was crowned King of Hearts. It was very spread-out. Students could dance to music provided by B § B, sit at tables off to the side, or move to the cafeteria to get away from the commotion. Being the outgoing woman she was, Cleopatra would have loved this dance. It was a time for the women’s-libbers, not the faint- hearted. The dance was Sadie Haw- kins style, or girl ask guy. Most of the guys didn’t seem to mind being in the passenger seat for a change. When I go to a dance, we stay at my house with a TV dinner. When the girl pays, we go to the best res- taurant. It doesn’t bug me at all,” explained senior Russ Barone. If I can think of a disadvantage to this type of dance it would be breaking hearts. The worst thing is seeing all these rejected females walking the halls with long faces.” Long faces” may have been common before the dance, but they were even more noticeable after the dance. Girls emptied their pock- etbooks for dinner as well as the tickets. It’s a good chance for girls to experience the financial burdens of dating,” said senior Greg Chester. Any guy will go to a dance if he doesn’t have to pay for it.” Guys didn’t mind being paid for. But surprisingly, the girls didn’t mind doing the paying. Dance tick- ets totaling 182 were sold. At $6 a couple, V-Teens pulled in $1092, $500 of which was donated to the Porter County Heart Association. It doesn’t bother me. Guys pay for everything else, so it’s a break for them,” said senior Kate McNeill. Sophomore Tonya Gray agreed, I think it’s good. It should be this way some of the time. It’s not right for the guy t o always have to pay.” While some girls were worrying about coming up with cash to foot the bill, others just worried about going to the dance. ”1 was a wimp. I like it better the other way, when the guy does the asking,” said sophomore Jamie Clark. I’m willing to spend the mon- ey, but I’m just too scared to ask anyone.” V-Teens had a problem or two also while preparing for the dance. For a long time, the date of the dance was a big question mark. We tossed around several dates, but it’s next to impossible to get a day when there’s nothing going on here,” said Hall. The date was finally settled for February 8, the day of a music con- test for band members and also the day of sectionals for girls on the basketball team. Both groups made it to the dance, however. The girls in the band came with their dates just like everyone else. But the girls basketball team stormed the balco- ny around 10 o’clock with a trophy and pieces of the net after winning sectionals. They danced a few rounds and then left to do more celebrating. We had fun, but I would’ve liked to have been at that dance,” said senior basketball player Rochelle Meyers. This is the third year in a row that girls’ sectionals and the King of Hearts dance have been on the same night.” Unlike V-Teens, Cleopatra wouldn’t have had problems plan- ning this type of party. Her wish was her servant’s command. That’s what it’s like when you’re queen of the Nile. — Karen Mutka

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Fun After School (1ST IMAGINE... Every high school student in America should read volume 20 of the World Book Encyclopedia. More specifically, they should read the article about recreation in the United States. It’s good for a laugh. According to the authors, John Edwin Coffman and Teresa A. Sulli- van, Most Americans have a great deal of leisure time ...” Hmmm. Maybe Americans in the upper age brackets have a lot of leisure time,” but here in the I8s-and-un- der, free time during the working week is scarce. It’s terrible. After I get out of school, go to work and do home- work, I’m left with no time,” said senior George Douglas. He’s not the only one. ”1 work three days a week, go to club meetings after school and do lots of homework. Once in a while — rarely — I get some sleep,” said senior Julie Bodensteiner. But wouldn’t it be nice if students did have a few spare minutes some- where between 2:30 p.m. and 7:40 a.m. the next day? At least we can dream . . . Wouldn’t it be nice if we could catch a 2:40 flight to California, spend a few hours soaking up the sun and fly back just in time for first hour the next day, complete with a fabulous tan? I’d like to hop on a supersonic jet and go to Australia, just as long as I’m home by I o’clock to get some sleep for school the next day,” said senior Brian Gill. Wouldn’t it be even nicer if we could drive into Chicago every night of the week to go to rock con- certs? I’d love to go to some good rock concerts, but I’d go off and on,” said sophomore Wendy Berner. ”1 don’t know if I could handle a con- cert every night of the week. I’d love to see Bruce Springsteen.” And wouldn’t it be great to come home from school and hear your parents say that it’d be just fine with them if you invited 50 or 60 people over for a party, as long as they’re all out by 6:30 a.m. the next day? If I had a party like that I’d go all out — tons of food, pizza at two in the morning,” said senior Michaelle Grabowski. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the whole school could take a Caribbean cruise after school, free of charge? Maybe the administration would have so much fun that they’d cancel school for the next day, and we’d make it a two-day affair. A cruise would definitely be a great idea. We’d go to the Mediter- ranean — Club Med type stuff. We could hit the Greek Islands. We could take a party to the Parthenon and knock down what’s left of it,” said sophomore Heather Fierst. In reality, a student’s social life after school is almost nonexistent. It’s no secret that after the after- school club meetings, athletic prac- tices and part-time jobs, students do roughly three things: eat, study and sleep. But we can dream. Wouldn’t it be nice? — Karen Mutka SOPHOMORES MEGHAN MARTIN and Kathy Sovich spend a couple hours after school making up a missed chemis- try lab. The girls were separating sand and salt in or- der to determine the weight of each. WHILE WAITING TO play in the next intra- mural basketball game, sophomore team- mates Jason Mack. Tony Letnich. Kevin Hughes, and Marc Leetz clown around. The foursome spent an hour and a half giving play-by-play reports of action during the first game. SCHOOLBOOKS CAN BE multi-purpose. Sen- ior Marybeth Reavis uses her homework as a step ladder to reach the top shelf of her locker. 19 After 2:30

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COUPLES DREW CLOSE to dance to Separate Lives, a ballad sung by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin. STUDENTS DANCE TO an old favorite, Shout!” by Otis Day and the Nights. DUE TO THE resignation of two candidates, the 1986 King of Hearts court was small. Stu- dents voted on the king and prince by the ballot system rather than money donations. WHILE THE MOVIE Purple Rain” was re- leased in 1984, Let’s Go Crazy a song from the soundtrack, was still a popular song with junior Susan Roberts and sophomore Cyndi Wells. 2 King Of Hearts