West Mesa High School - El Chicote Yearbook (Albuquerque, NM)

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Social Studies Department Learning the workings of the court system was a unit in Sociology classes this year. Here, judge Larry Wolfe and lawyer Robert Guitierrez listen to witness Joy Noffsinger while defendant Jerry Austin and police officer Richard Martin look on. Striving for a better future is social studies objective To meet the needs of minority group students, the Social Studies Depart- ment offered two new courses this year, Black Studies and Southwest History. To comply with state requirements, World History and U.S. History were also offered. Freshmen students were offered Civ- ics, while upper classmen had the op- portunity to take Sociology, a study of social problems. Juniors and Seniors could take Hu- manities instead of History and Eng- lish. These courses blended the cultural aspects of the United States or the World, from past to present, into a form that could help students learn from the mistakes of the past in order to work for a better tomorrow. 36 Academics Poster-filled bulletin boards for World History classes set the background for students in South- west History as they read material which has been assigned to them.

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Mathematics Department Courses designed to meet changing world In Calculus, Mr. Bartlett explains the application of derivatives to Lynn Thunborg and Dan Caffrey. ii Distinguishing the differences between 4 geometric solids are sophomores Brent Espinoza, holding a triangular prism, and Martha Martinez, with a hexagonal. prism. Looking on is Doug Lawrence. Mathematics continues to change as the world changes, and West Mesa High School continues to offer a varie- ty of mathematics courses designed to fulfill the needs and desires of as many different students as possible. Upper level courses include Algebra II, Math Analysis and Calculus which are mainly for the college-bound stu- dent. Computer Oriented Mathematics provides basic computer programming of mathematical problems for those in- terested in the everwidening computer field. Algebra I and Geometry provides in- troductory work in the abstract field, knowledge of shapes and sizes, and leaming how to solve problems pre- sented by these concepts. An increase in the number of students taking Business Mathematics has oc- curred and an even larger number is expected next year. This course pro- vides practice in mathematical problems occuring in the business world. General Math I and II and Pre-Alge- bra provide basic concepts and skills as well as pre-requisites for more ad- vanced work. This year some of the teachers have been doing team teaching and it is planned to expand this aspect of the mathematics program. Academics 35

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Foreign Languages Communication,-key to understanding, theme of language department in '71 In French I students are practicing oral drills while using the language lab. The language lab enables teachers to give students more individual help in specific areas. is With the thought in mind that com- munication is the key to understand- ing, the Language Department has strived to instill in the minds of its stu- dents the ideas, philosophy, culture, and the language of different countries throughout the world. This year four levels of Spanish and three of German and French were of- fered. Students who had completed Spanish II were permitted to take a trip in the spring to Guadalajara, Mexico. Here the students put to use what they had learned in the classroom. French I and German I provided stu- dents with the basics of the language. Advanced German and French classes increased the students' knowledge of the people of these countries and their language. lgilllf gilz 9 it T i l ll lg E Il is For a vocabulary exercise in German II and III, Mark Zimmer receives a point for writing on the blackboard. Gerri Lee gets one point for any correction she makes. Also looking for errors is Mrs. Regener. Academics 37