West Forsyth High School - Cronus Yearbook (Clemmons, NC)

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PREP COURSE: Mr. Dean Barlow explains vocabu- lary and word analogies to Beth Haggitt and Dana Nelson. An after school S.A.T. preparation course was taught by Mr. Barlow, Mrs. Becky Cook and Mrs. Dot Harmon during October. THE KEY T0 GRADUATION: Mr. Jim Coghill monitors progress as Martin Richardson, Karen Ren- egar, Jimmy Rhodes and Erica Riefenberg take the N.C. Competency Test required for graduation. The test, originally taken by juniors, has been moved to the sophomore year, giving the small percentage who fail a better opportunity to improve. 50fTesting Ro

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Photos by Rob Harris lIlO'l'lVATIf N FV R By Tammy White and April Baldwin hat triggers motivation in you? Is it money? Power? Prestige? Friends? Or does the thought of good grades and great personal satisfac- tion through hard work trip your trigger '? School Is Your Job - Studying Is Hard Work , was developed by the chair- man of the English department, Mrs. Carolyn Barlow, as a result of her concern for the failure rate among high school istudents. When asked about the main purpose of the new motivation program, Mrs. Barlow replied, To motivate students to be con- cerned about their school work and to do well. Twenty five teachers volunteered to help in developing the program. Mrs. Bar- low chaired the overall committee. The teachers formed five subgroups, each with different responsibilities. One group prepared a presentation for the Open House Orientation, which was held on August 26. A second group devel- oped the School Is Your Job - Studying Is Hard Work', study skills booklet which was distributed to all freshmen. A third group devised a homework log to help stu- dents organize their study materials. The fourth group, known as the Awards Group, thought of ways to reward students for their academic achievements. The awards for achievement changed with each quarter. Some of these included free homework passes, movies, bonus points, publicity through bulletin boards, and ice cream sundae parties. Places such as Bur- ger King and Biscuitville donated special coupons to the awards system for students IT DUESNT TAKE 95513 Just EFFORT EFFORT IS ALL IT TAKES: This bulletin board displayed in Mrs. Barbara Gray's room symbolizes the importance of good grades to achieve excellence, Teachers tried many approaches to encourage stu- dents to make good grades. This was one attempt to arouse motivation. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Troy Allgood cashes in his coupon for a free Whopper to Tammy Mchone at Clemmons Burger King as April Baldwin waits in line. Troy was one of 500 students to receive this extra dividend as a result of making the first quarter honor roll, :Ur-f-'cc J QQCJQ who had high academic achievements. The fifth group, or Parent Contact Committee, developed a system to contact parents and let them know about their child's progress. If the student developed problems in attendance, grades, or behav- ior, a telephone contact referral card was sent to the guidance office. When a stu- dent received two cards, parents were contacted. Mr. Peoples expressed his support for the program by stating, 'School Is Your Job' is a practical and common sense ap- proach that will help students structure and organize their studiesf' School is your job and by following some simple steps, it may open many doors and bring much success in the future. This was the purpose of the recognition and encouragement of good study habits and effort. Motivationf49 yvwurfi--,,wu.h4-f

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f 7 . LELL .,.,b READY OR NOT: Michael Scales gazes at a notification of the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, which Juniors take if they want to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship. The test was given on October 18 to two hundred students. C.O. Matthews 'ESTING' F By: Ashley Orrell est taking is and always will be a part of the educational experi- ence, commented Connie Dew- berry, counselor in charge of testing. Stu- dents are faced with various tests including college entrance exams, achieve- ment tests, classroom tests and semester exams. Although it is not a favored part of the educational experience, West students proved that they take testing seriously. College-bound students showed an over all improvement on the Scholastic Apti- tude Test. Average scores for West stu- dents were raised thirty two points from 1985 to 1986. West's Preliminary Scholas- tic Aptitude Test scores increased two hundred points over 1984 scores. Appar- ent concern for stiffened college accep- tance requirements has led to slightly above average scores in comparison to other Winston-Salemfljorsyth County High Schools. Sophomores took the North Carolina Competency Test in March. With the ad- dition ofthe writing part of the test, the passing rate was 28176 higher in Winston- Salemflforsyth County System than the average state level of 87.871 in 1986. As a graduation requirement, the test proved a success for 90.6fZ: of Westls students. To improve the success of regular course tests, a specific schedule was de- vised for administering major tests. Each department was assigned a different day. Students enrolled in math classes took ma- jor tests on Fridays. Thursday was test day for foreign language and socialistudies. Wednesday was set aside for English. Tuesday was reserved for science while Monday was left open for miscellaneous courses. ln order to avoid an overload on students, all tests lasting longer than fif- teen minutes followed this schedule. The semester exam schedule was among the school board's topics this year. A com- mittee of principals, teachers and board members discussed the possibility of doing away with the exam exemption policy which states if a student maintains a Cv or better average with three or fewer ab- sences, they may choose not to take their exam. Mrs. Jane Goins, the mother of two West students and a member of the school board, commented, Most of the board feels the policy as it now stands is wrong? The policy was due for routine review which sparked an interest among students as well as board members. Andrew Tilley had a positive attitude towards the present policy. He comment- ed, lt is an incentive to make better grades and not to skip school. The board was in agreement with this but their concern fell on the possibility that college-bound students may not expe- rience exams. Stephanie Briles said, I think most stu- dents who are preparing for college are aware of the fact that they should experi- ence exams. The outcome of the school board's re- view will weigh heavily on how the exam procedure is followed in the future. Despite changes in testing procedures or schedules, it is clear that students have realized testing is necessary to become aware of personal strengths and developments. Test1ngf51