Valparaiso High School - Valenian Yearbook (Valparaiso, IN)

Page 32 text:

JUNIOR KIM GOTT concentrates on her work as she types a paragraph. Sophomore Ginger Gudino works next to her. AFTER AN HOUR in the kitchen, senior Tom McDermott serves junior Corey Fortune a plate of a German vegetable dish. They prepared it in Foreign Foods class. FOCUSING IN ON a slide, freshman Dan Davis examines a plant cell. Biology students regu- larly worked with microscopes and slides. 28 Academics Division

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Turning tassels AS CLASS OF 1987 Valedictorian, senior Martha Maiers addresses the graduates. Maiers graduated with a G.P.A. of 4.282. June 3, 1987. The countdown calendars are down, the caps and gowns are in place, the Valparaiso High School gymnasium is decorated in green and white. A class of near- ly 400 students sits in anticipation: a foot twitches here, a cough there, quick glances around the room. The speeches drag on forever. Only about an hour to go ... the seniors check their watches. Finally the speeches are finished; the di- plomas have reached the Z’s . . . and it ' s over. In past years, seniors hurled their caps into the air to signify graduation. In 1987, however, because of new safety precautions, they release balloons and toss streamers in celebration. Martha Maiers and Melissa Hutton, vale- dictorian and salutatorian, are congratu- lated by Dr. David Bess, VHS principal, and parents and friends try to find the people they have come to see. Every VHS senior has waited and counted down, and by the end of his junior year knew to the minute how long he had yet to wait for this unforgettable day. For twelve years these students have been conditioned to react the way they were “supposed” to act. That, however, all changed in two hours. No one told these peo- ple what to do when it was all over. All the waiting, all the working, and all the frustra- tion seemed to go away in one heave-ho . . . and the streamers go flying! by Jennifer Mitol 27 Gradua tion Baccalaurea te

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On paper, the facts about academics in 1987 were intimi- dating. We saw the birth of 15 biology classes and 15 English classes mainly to bear the burden of the freshman class. New entries in the curriculum guide also included classes VHS had never seen before, ranging from third year Latin to Im- ages of Humanity, a course about Russian literature. There was a senior seminar; there was a freshman seminar. The popularity of art classes like photography sky-rocketed so much that a second dark room was built to accommodate be- ginning and advanced students in 13 classes. Overpopulation of the student body led to such a great increase in the teaching staff that for the first time, teachers all had to share classrooms throughout the day. And in the school library, alias the “learning center,” a circulation and security system was installed to prevent “book-lifting” by the masses. On the lighter side of education, competitions like Academic Decathalon, Hoosier Spell Bowl and Academic Super Bowl stumped us with questions about anything and everything academic. Whether we faced a 50-point pre-cal test, a hallway jam- med to the breaking point or a computer program that just wouldn’t work, in 1987, we were PUT TO THE TEST. by Karen Mutka 29 Academics Division