Warwick High School - Warwick Yearbook (Newport News, VA)

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Qocial Studies Stresses Politics in Election Year The Social Studies Department, in the past very controversial election year, was probably one of the liveliest sections of all. The frequent cries of LBJ for the USA” and Goldwater” became more heated as the election approached. Because of the m tense student interest at Warwick, political rallies, public survey polls, assemblies, meetings, and mock elections were participated in with enthusiasm. It seemed the students had firm opinions on the candidates they were supporting, so, instead, the classroom discussion often revolved ardund guessing what party and candidates one’s teacher preferred. But I saw a Goldwater sticker on his car’s rear bumper.” That’s no help! He’s got a Johnson sticker on the front bumper.” However, when the day after the election rolled around, it wasn’t hard to tell those who had picked the winning ticket from those who hadn’t. Besides the election and current events issues, chapters and assignments in Government, Sociology, History, World Geography, and World History were occasionally covered. As Mr. Luck would say — Well, class, you didn’t accomplish much today, did you !” Besides the previously mentioned subjects, a new course, Modern European History, was introduced in the Social Studies Depart- ment. This new study was an elective course which more effec- tively prepared a student for college, and provided for a better understanding and appreciation of today’s European problems. The new textbook used for this additional course was History of the Modern World by Palmer and Colt. In the way of new equipment, the Social Studies Department received a new atlas for use in the World Geography classes and new maps for use in the Modern European History class. Now let me get this straight . . . General Washington was on our side. Carlton Morgan exhibits his tech- nical skill as he adjusts the flicker on a motion picture projector. 25

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Kennedy, my fruit fly has one red eye and one white eye, stripes, six legs, and only one wing.” industrious senior Genetics student may have gotten his .eciing jars mixed up with a few spiders and bumble bees, but we knew that his end results couldn’t be any more disastrous than last year’s five pound fruit flies. The underclass Science courses this year may not have been as productive, but the knowledge they gained from such intro- ductory courses as Physics, Chemistry, Earth-Space, and Biology did much toward increasing their enthusiasm in the field of Science. The department received a number of reference books for classroom use which, coupled with experimental projects and laboratory work, modernized the program. Besides the addition of books, the Science Department received such new equipment as oil emersion microscopes, making greater magnification possible, stereo microscopes, which because of their two viewers were especially valuable in viewing living organisms, and incubators which were used in rearing bacteria and hatching eggs. Also on the list of new equipment were two classrooms of badly needed tables and chairs, which, however, were going to waste in Mr. Howell’s room as everytime we walked in we found all his poor, gullible eighth graders standing in one corner of the classroom, hands clasped together and held in the air as Mr. Howell, looking very smug and evil, pulled the lever of an electric generator and sent all the students screaming about the room as a result of the electrical shock. I wonder what it feels like to be seen under a microscope? Science Shocks Students With New Phenomena 24

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oreign Languages Prove Confusing, but Beneficial Whether it was the conjugation of irregular verbs, the seeming- ly ridiculous word order, or the confusing masculine and feminine gender of nouns, language students were continually remarking mais je ne comprend pas” or the Spanish, German, or Latin equivalent of ' I don ' t get it!” However, with the various techniques employed by the language teachers, Mrs. Curtis, Miss Hundley, Mrs. Deskin and Mrs. Walsh, some of the students were invariably tricked into giving the correct answer. The objective of the Language Department,” says Mrs. Curtis, was to train students to understand, speak, read, and write with special emphasis placed on lingual skills in the beginning classes and the study of literature in the more ad- vanced.” Most of us would have been happy if we could master completely just one phase of our elected language. Through the use of such equipment as the language laboratory, portable tape recorders, phonographs, and movie and slide pro- jectors, classes succeeded in improving their skills, such as how to say, Entschuldigen Sie, Mir bitte!” without giving away the fact that there was a large piece of chewing gum under their tongue. Another phase of language proficiency was that of studying the culture and civilization of the various foreign countries. If you happened to notice any of the paperback books, Les Miserables, Don Juan, or jithus Caesar floating around the school this year, it was because the outside reading in the language courses became a major part of the program. Oh yes, and by the way, please return them. Many of this year ' s students will be needing them next year! Calling all cars, calling all cars . . .” How do you speak French in Braille?” I came, I saw, I flunked. 26