Westlake High School - El Paisano Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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VUJNVO 19 A + EDUCATION HlellthlCENT. The business law mock trial was a lot of fun. Christy Qllvus, senior, Dayna Matysek, junior, and I enjoyed work- ing on the prosecuting counsel. We learned a lot about the courtroom and trial law. The computer caper was a fun learning experience that added a lot to the business law class too. - Laurie Yohe. senior n ff : BEST PLACE to write a re- search paper is in your own room. It's a whole lot easier with your own stereo and without all the distractions of school. But after four weeks of working on that same paper, my room got pretty dull. -Mary Podio, sophomore llRESEARCH is no fun. I had to write a paper in Mrs. Snyderls English class and managed to cram most research time into the lunch hour. I got my food and ran to the library before they lacked the doors. -Craig Turner, sophomore Hh'lY LAST CHANCE. I usually spend my studying time in my room so 1 am not distracted and where it is quiet. I start studying for a big test like a final about a week before the exam. Getting into the routine is hard, -Rohin Bridges, freshman

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BAommu. But nut yuxt .tm mop ning, The first murmnut .1 hright, cheerful awakening; that should have started an hour later. No more, the sleeprlns until ten a.m., the spontaneous afternoon dates to Barton Springs or the abillr ti; to work eight hours a day, Or at least not until next summer, because the obnoxious huzz 0f the nI do all the usual baCk'tO'SChOOl thingseshopping for clothes, buying new folders, deciding what to wear on the first day. .. . My favorite part of coming back to school is seeing teachers and friends I missed during the summer. The absolute worst is getting into the routine-no more sleeping ltil noon or summer afternoons. - Stephanie Kaplan, junior alarm clock signals the inevitable school has begun. It is a matter of ex citement for some, a matter ofmixed regrets for others, but school is in the air, and even the weather encourages late risers to hurry as the still, hot gusts of August air whisper around the walls of the once deserted school building. The paint on the bathroom doors is new and free of graffiti, seven new nIJABS are fun. I like them more than classwork, that's for sure. This was the experiment that de- termined what foil did when you put it in steric acid. It burns up, let me tell you. Mrs. Schumann makes it fun. -Lisa Kuhn, freshman 18 Academics DUCATION advisory schedules have been posted in strategic spots across the campus, and the bright, unmarrecl lines in the new parking lot still smell like fresh paint. Freshmen arrive first, saying good! bye to anxious mothers with impa' tience as they walk into a new atmosphere. Next are the sophomores, careless! ly displaying their knOthow and ob vious prestige in the high school world as they make their rounds for - the freshmen. Juniors filter in more slowly, gent- e ly reminding freshmen and sophomores that only upperclassmen lean on the railings in the Com- mons, and planning where to go out for lunch. Seniors casually appear at the last . moment, too used to first days of school to derive much thrill from them. But the rush of anticipating is shared by everyone, and there is a sense of dreams in the airedreams of success, of prestige, of new oppor- tunities. Ambitiously the first spotless covers are put on textbooks, new notebooks are organized, locker come binations are memorized. Schedules for underclassmen are standard: biology, English, algebra, geometry, world history. Older students boast more variation: V latin, economics, French, sociology, Shakespeare, computer science, trigonometry, physics. And then there are those ready to move on to higher and more challenging planes. College credit in high school? Just enroll in Advanced Placement American History, English, calculus, biology or, chemistry. There are no impending tests yet, i no threats of progress reports or pro, 1 bation in National Honor Society. The slate is clean, and the focus is ; on learning rather than scoring. Of course, as the year progresses and 3 routine sets in, it becomes harder to l remember what summer was like, and I the breezes of October also brought winds of controversy. iiChTACI-I AND I talked a lot about 3 upcoming golf tournaments during the fall season. The time we spend in class and not on the course is really important; Coach Paul Simon gives us lots of support. -Melissa Richard, senior

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Hl think itls silly to cut relaxation time dur' ing the school day. Despite the fact that eler tives and extracurricular stuff is more often than not strenuous, 1 consider it a break from the routine academics. I don't think Perotls ideas will workIL-David Wlebber, sophomore EDUCATION A Dallas HllllliVHJlIC ntmiutl llcrut published i1stithmutulltlesmlpli titletl uFlnt which demanded reform Hi ulmdtmn, and the media, the puhht and education lmi'u'thmnx'l forces responded. lt would not tittcct Us wt; there were still basketball PrtlLllkLCS to at tend, tlrama lines to rehearse and homework assignments to umiplete. But it was In the hack of our minds. festering. and we were aware of it when soccer cancelled on a weekend or Madrigal Christmas concerts were confined to lunchtime and after school. As UlL. required partimpants in extm'curricular activities to pass four Classes Instead of three and some talked of requiringy a minimum lC' practice was average, most students did not come in conflict with the new rules, but many felt the pressure in the air as they read in the newspapers about nine hour school days and limited numbers of activities. Still, school life conv tinued much as it had begun, and much as it had been the year before and the year before that. Nothing really Changed much, even the fashions made comebacks after awhile, and students still crammed for tests, still copied off each others assignments, still studied in the sun outside the cafeteria Senior students in government class talked about their required com; munity service hours and their Class rank while freshmen bemoanecl the difficulties of algebra, and students in German looked forward to 20 WurstlEst, a day of cultural exchange that took its form in eating. Those students willing,y to toil it out in Advanced Placement Biology got an extra bonus: a trip to Port Amn' sass But soon it would be too cold tor Port Aransas, and as winter ape proached and short sleeves were replaced with sweaters, the Christmas rush also began. Trigonometry and calculus students had research papers on their minds, if not on paper. For ambitious mathematicians, a careful paper could result in a bid for a state award in contests. But for the average student. pro, crastination and last'minute typing was more the norm, and the usual horror stories about staying up all night to write a 27vpage paper, ac, companied by appropriately bleary eyes and rumpled clothes, hit the halls about 8:37 the next morning. As the weather got colder, so did the classrooms. Or at least some of themt Layers were peeled off at random as classes alternated from being not much better than outside to a good substitute for the Bahamas. llNO SQUEALS were heard except from the weak-stomached. . .Kevin Williams, senior, trightl and I sat next to each other in Ms. Reese's biology class. Dissecting was gross, but having someone to share it with really helpedeBrett Goodwin, senior Academics