W T Woodson High School - Cavalier Yearbook (Fairfax, VA)

Page 10 text:

Participation , ; .. . =- ,- ■ . , ' ' ; f 1 - ■:; ' . ' % V l 5 . • . . • « • ' ,. -• ; • ' v n£%- % gS 1 Sloshing through puddles and sliding down mui dedication of serious joggers and track oriente Football games are Woodson ' s favorite places to participate and show spirit. The Senior section upholds this doctrine enthusiatically. Chemistry experiments engross Bruce Kirchgessner and Stephanie Oliver. 6 OPENING

Page 9 text:

Attending many of the school’s meetings, assemblies and other events is still an important part of Mr. and Mrs. Woodsons’ lives. The Woodson’s renovated a barn for their house on Chain Bridge Road. A gracious host and hostess discuss their life in Fairfax. Mr. Woodson has worked with schools all his life and seen many changes. He was an innovator of many of the changes himself. When he started there were “more cows than we had children.” There were some 40 one-room school houses, most of them with dirt road accesses. As the county grew he was instrumental in closing the one- room schools in 1935-36 and opening consolidated schools. Another innovation he pushed strongly for was switching from having seven elementary grades and five high school grades to having an intermediate school, which would take seventh grade out of elementary school and eighth grade out of high school. Mr. Woodson retired in 1961, the year W.T. Woodson was built and named for him. He had already opposed naming an auditorium for him so the meeting for naming the school was held in secret. He was surprised to learn of the honor bestowed on him, saying, “listen, you don’t name schools for people until they’re dead, and I’m not dead by a long shot.” A Drawing Force OPENING 5

Page 11 text:

During one of this year’s numorous soc hops, everybody relaxes while the band takes a break. If you go to school you’re involved in it. There’s no way around it, par¬ ticipation is a way of school life, and this school has more than its full share. Working is probably the easiest form of involvement, if you only consider sitting In a classroom and taking notes to make a grade. Students in classes like government, though, run through the entire coun¬ ty and its resources to make a grade. Other classes, like, drama foreign languages, or sciences classes re¬ quire a different type of work. More than just listening to lectures, in classes like these the students are required to perform. The participa¬ tion that goes along with play hardly needs mentioning except to say that its enjoyed by all. Involved in one of those intellectual discussions which go on in the library, Richard Dynes smilingly offers his views. OPENING 7