Wellesley High School - Wellesleyan Yearbook (Wellesley, MA)

Page 30 text:

A Wide Variety of Interests Shown in Independent Study This Year Can you take a dog’s temperature? Talk to a retarded child? Help a cripple to walk? Deal with a suicide threat? Name a dozen classics in Chinese lit¬ erature? Explain planetary nebula? More than eighty Wellesley High stu¬ dents are acquiring these skills in vol¬ unteer work ranging from hospitals to offices, from art studios to pet shops, and from college campuses to the State House. The greater Boston com¬ munity has become our educational playground, where academic credit can be earned in the pursuit of highly individual interests. Bob Malley edits his film. PattyThibodeaustudies Indian Literature with Mrs. Goddard. “I wanted to take second year shorthand but I couldn’t fit it into a regular schedule. How¬ ever, I could do it as an Inde¬ pendent Study, which does not require formal scheduling. The classroom lessons are recorded on tapes which I take down in shorthand. The les¬ sons include theory, speed building, and transcription. It is possible to keep up with the class by spending the appro¬ priate amount of time per week.” Ellen Carney Ellen Carney practices her shorthand. ’’The best aspect is working with the kids, and seeing the difference between 7th and 9th graders, and ourselves. Giving them an appreciation of history, see¬ ing them grow, and comparing the differences between my illusions of being a 9th grader, and what it really is like.” Dana Young i i Dana Young teaches Ancient History to a 9th grade class.

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Cheryl Borghi at Taffy’s Dancewear. Nancy Marshall at The Music Box. Distributive Education: A Specialized Course David Milky at the Mobil Station. Diane Nicolai at the Wool Shop. Debby Lanza and Betsy Strickland at Olkens. Distributive Education is one of our newest programs at Wellesley High. Offered on a limited basis in 1972-73, it is now fully operational with 37 stu¬ dents enrolled. DE is a cooperative course in Retailing, Merchandising, and related management. All the stu¬ dents are employed part time in Retail¬ ing occupations making DE a special¬ ized field of study. Students are “train¬ ees” at their work stations and are evaluated periodically by their training sponsor and Mr. Conaty. Distributive Education students are a broad cross section of the junior-senior student body with a large number of students furthering their education at college and business schools. Classroom activities are entirely geared to the functions of marketing with great stress placed on sales tech¬ niques, consumer behavior, principles of advertising, merchandise display, and buying techniques. Students are expected to obtain their part time jobs, although the DE teacher does offer job leads and employment counseling. With the large numbers of people employed in the Distribution process today, DE is a most timely and relevant course at Wellesley High School. Richard Roberson at the Wellesley News Agency. Left: Kathy Abruzzese at Paine’s Furniture. 23

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Alternate Semester Provides Seniors With an Alternative to Conventional Education Nancy Hankin, Martha Turner, Mr. Hadlock, Hilary Winslow, Carrie Wilson. This year, under the direction of Mr. Wayne Hadlock, a new pro¬ gram was added to the curriculum of Wellesley High: Alternate Semester. As an alternative to formal education, Alternate Semes¬ ter offers the senior student opportunities in education and experi¬ ence not available in the classroom. The program enables the stu¬ dent to have a greater understanding of his environment by dis¬ covering and learning from people whose values and lifestyles are different from his. Fifteen selected seniors met weekly during a fall seminar to dis¬ cuss the planning, housing and arranging of employment. The actual program began in January for a fifteen week period. Ten weeks were devoted to individual working and living experiences and a total of four to five weeks involved group activities and an evaluation of the program. The Regional Advisory Council to the State Board of Education As recipients of current educational programming, Regional Student Councils advise the State Board of Education and the Department of Education about their educational needs and concerns. Each spring, the elections for this position are held during the same week as the elec¬ tions for class officers. Sally Whalen was elected as Wellesley High’s delegate and Dave Rosenberg as the alternate to this position. As members of the Greater Bos¬ ton Council, Sally and Dave worked on such problems as the confidentiality of students’ records and students’ rights and responsibilities. As the publicity Ma¬ son for one of the Greater Boston Coun¬ cils, Sally also worked with WBZ’s radio show, “Talk to the People.” David Rosenberg and Sally Whalen. 25