West High School - Shaheen Yearbook (Davenport, IA)

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lelow: When extra enthusiasm is needed at a pep ud, Dr. Johnson takes the mike. Right: Dr. Johnson directs traffic through the park- ing lot. His job is more than discipline l try to be firm, fair and friendly in all my dealings with students, said Dr. Paul Johnson as he reflected on his first few months as Associate Principal. Johnson, whose duties are divided among attendance, discipline and stu- dent affairs, explained his philosophy. l have to be firm because in a school this size you must have discipline. l have to be fair because if you aren't fair then the discipline has no meaning and respect is lost. l try to be friendly too because l don't see any reason not to smile and be courteous. Fifteen years as a social studies teach- er at West have provided Johnson with a solid background for his new position. Al- though his role has changed from teacher to administrator, his goals are still basical- ly aimed at making the educational op- portunities the very best for every stu- dent. As an administrator, Johnson hopes that he can play a larger role in achieving these goals for students. Class skipping, according to Johnson, is the major discipline problem. He indi- cated that although less than 10 percent of the students skip, those students do it on a fairly regular basis. While Dr. Johnson is concerned with class skipping, he is more concerned with the number of students who fail classes. Johnson is working to pinpoint some of the causes of failure and work with stu- dents to overcome their problems. Dr. Johnson has been in education for sixteen years and has a Doctorate degree in administration from the University of Iowa. 'Www 4 A ,1E.ulllt..JKff Discipline 19 Q

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A game ot musical wheels The parking problem at West is going from bad to worse, declared Mr. Scott Caulpetzer, who, along with Mr. Tom Ertel and Mr. Tom Sears, is assigned to moni- tor the parking lot every day. Before construction began on the new addition to the Industrial Arts wing, the parking lot offered about 440 parking spaces to students who drive to school. Even then, the lot filled early, and student autos were lined up on most of the streets near West. But this past winter, ground was broken at the eastern end of the lot and the number of spaces was reduced to about 380. More students were forced to drive around in circles for a longer time and finally park even farther away from the building. In an effort to help with the parking situation, the administration requested that students ride the buses whenever possible rather than drive to school. But for many students that is a difficult task. Laura Fischlein commented, I have things to do before and after school which I couldn't do if I rode the bus. Maureen Graham drives rather than walks be- cause there aren't any sidewalks where I live and if I didn't drive, l'd have to walk in the mud. The fact that parking places have been lost is unchangeable. The obvious conse- quence is that not as many students can park in the lot. There is really no way to solve the shortage: students just have to find some mode of transportation other than their own four wheels. As in a game of musical chairs, some students have been left standing when the music stopped, and they just have to find an- other place to sit. 18 Parking Problem n Thanx 1 1719. ' ?Q W.-, ,, NL M . YVYV' Top: A common scene in the parking lotg a long line Above: Priester Construction Company sets up of stationary cars. camp in the parking lot in order to work on the new addition.

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The race before class Hey Mom! Where's my lunch? I Can't find my other shoe! Tell the bus to wait, l just have to finish this last problem. lt's early on a school day morning. Buses coming from all directions gradually meet at the same destinations, as they chal- lenge one another for the entrance into the school grounds. Fortunate students who live close by have the option of riding a bike or walk- ing. But as the snow begins to fall these students often find other means of trans- portation. For only a dime, the city buses will let a student off right in front of the school, and later transport them back home or to work. Another possibility is the formation of carpools which saves gas and parking spaces. As 8:00 draws near, the parking lot is full of shifting cars as they honk at one another in competion for a parking spaceg all joining in the race to get to school before classes begin. Above: A common means of transportation is the city lines bus, which will take you almost anywhere for a dime. ' 20 Transportation 'rivie- Top A lone student awaits his ride