West Valley High School - Aurora Yearbook (Fairbanks, AK)

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SURVIVAL CLASSES IN VOCATIDNAL AND LIVING SKILLS PREPARED STUDENTS FOR LIFE AFTER SCHDOL Instructed by Mrs. Seelinger, Karen McDonald learns culinary creativity. School and learning are words thought of simultaneously. Typically, the purpose of school is considered to be the edification of students in basic academics-math, science, English and social studies. These fundamentals are emphasized, but West Valley students also have the opportunity to take survival classes in vocational and living skills. Such electives teach students how to deal with people, problems, and situations that could be encountered in day-to- day living outside of school. Topics vary from typing skills to married life to automobile repair. ln the business department a student not only may discover how to type, but he or she may also learn how to keep and balance books as well as aquiring facility in such skills as shorthand. Typing, accounting and secretarial skills are valuable assets to the student with notes to take, reports to type or with aspirations toward employment in a business occupation. The Family Living classes prepare students for the outside world's problems and decisions through the exchange of roles, ideas, opinions and through the discussion of pertinent and controversial subjects. By staging a mock wedding complete with tuxedos and wedding gowns Cpaid for by pizza salesj, students learned about the preparation and cost involved in a marriage ' Self-defense instructor Mr. Scott monitors the progress of his champion wrestlers. . . xt . H R ,Q ,fa ee. ' Cutting the wedding cake, Tammy Kashita and Jim Desrochers participate in a mock wedding. ceremony. In the automotive mechanics courses, inspection of the innards of cars and painstaking repair jobs on engines provided students with practical mechanical experience. With new knowledge of car and engine repair locked under their hoods, students were well prepared for potentially nasty breakdowns on Alaskan roads. Through these courses and others, students learned how to cope in the world outside of school. Valuable and marketable skills are offered simultaneously with academic fundamentals, providing students with a wide spectrum of experiences.

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llhtljlWlEllcl.glLUdQ5ll3S PROVIDING THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN VOCATIONAL SKILLS HUTCHISON ALLOWED FOR A Learning a skill invaluable to office work, CLASSES Why did one-hundred and fifty West Valley students leave West to journey through the frequently icy cold winter air to Hutchison Adult Career Development Center everyday? The reasons varied, but all of them were convincing. Many students were simply not interested in carrying their education on to the college level following high school. This is probably the single most common reason for attending ACDC, as demonstrated by the large number of students who learned a vocation in order to get a head start in the job market following their graduation. At Hutchison it is possible for students to learn anything from Engaged in conversation while working on an engine are Pete Mayo, Robert Holden, and Todd Gardner. cooking to carpentry, from engine repair to child care, and make money at the same time. Another reason West students hiked the trail everyday, was to earn enough credits to achieve early graduation. T Hutchison gave the college-bound students the opportunity to take classes not offered at West Valley. Other students simply felt they needed a break from sitting in regular classrooms all day. Whatever the reason, the numerous classes available at ACDC appealed to the West students who recognized an excellent opportunity when they saw it. K Jackie Schloesser practices her shorthand. , gxsg. . wan N . 'Q-W L .W 412. 3. Touching up on his gas welding skills, Daryl Avara nrnnnrne in nu! 2 nina in Ohn Onrnh

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X r l if Hay' x,hQ,:g1-yywskl, Q' Q 1' 4. . r if 1 s 5 WN- W: A ec , tv' On their way to becoming proficient typists, Richard Tremarello, Brent England and Curtis Froese keep their eyes on the book. Developing driving Skills On SimUlai0rS Using the bleachers as her desk, Cathy Miles before taking to the streets are Kelly cgncentrateg on a P,E, fest, DeGabain, Bill Delany, and Susan Stone. . ,, fQ,., i X W? , xx tai I K 135