No. 01 - September, 1996 - Omaha Central High School Archives

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Volume 110 Number I September 30, "1996

agles get new W,LN,G,S, Central has received ajoint lottery grant imately $600,000 to instigate a new called w'I.N.G .S. 21. Central's Business/ Marketing/ Technoldepartment in partnership with the ApInformational Management In stitute, or M. Institute, co-wrote a grant proposal for lottery commission asking for a technolgrant to better prepare students for the The grant money that was received was t between Central and A.I .M. " Central received $300,000 of the 8,933 grant. The money will be spent on W.I.N.G :8. 2 1 program, which stands for {)r~· t{)lr('p Initi ative for the Next Generation Students for the 21 st century. With W,I.N .G.S . 21 in place, new DOS , I.B .M. compati ble, computers and soft- · will be purchased for a new wave of techcurricu lum , which has never been at the hi gh school level before. This new curriculum will help students to enter the 2 1st century by educatthem in the areas of advanced informatechno logy. "We approached the AJ .M. Institute bewe knew they could help us get the m. GarYThompson,principal, said . will benefit them just as much as it will fit Central." The A .I.M. In sti tute will receive ,933 on he grant. A.I.M. is acoriglomof abo ut 32 businesses and 10 colleges the Omaha Metro area that will be aiding I in establishing the new informational logical curriculum. Some of the money they receive will be back into Central by mean s of internships certain students with some of the busiin association with A.I.M . "A.I.M. is compOsed ~ most of the larger

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corporations in the Omaha area, and some universities like U.N .L_., Creighton and V .N.O.," business teacher Keith Bigsby said. Bigsby was one of three teachers, along with Business/ Marketing/ Technology teachers Tim Larson and Murray Fenn, who helped the A.I.M. Institute prepare the grant proposal. "Over seventy schools applied for some kind of a lottery grant for this year," Dr. Thompson said, "and Central was one of the thirty or so schools picked to receive a grant." Dr. Thompson said that the three teachers, Bigsby, Larson and Fenn, did a great job on writing the grant proposal. "With A .I.M .'s help they really did a wonderful job on getting the proposal perfect. It said exactly what we wanted to accomplish with this new technology." Dr. Thompson said that Central has always had a great reputation and trad ition for being a high school with strong academics, and this new program will only add to the·recognition Central will receive. Bigsby said that since the neW computer age is what is dawning in America for the 21 st century, all students will need to know some basics on how to use comp ulers. "There are fi fteen hl 'ndred johs in the Omaha Metro area that require technical in. fomiational education," Bigs15ys aid .-«As of now, there are only about one hundred qualified people that are graduating from college who are _qualifi,cd to fill these jobs." Bigsby said that the goal · of "tfie · W.I.N.G .S. 21 is to give more students the opportunity to go in to these technical fields. . Bigsby said that he, along with others, wants kids to have every opportunity to find out what they want to do in life during high sc hool. He said if they go through the W.I.N.G.S . program now, they will now have a wider ra'lge of job choices to choose from in the future.

First and ten ...

va~sity football Coach Joe McMenamin sends in a play with Djuan Johnson, 11, against the number one rated Millard South Indians. C·e ntral battled the Indians, bt1~ came up short in the long run losing 31-13 . The Eagles played a tough first half and held the Indians to a 16-13 half time· score. - The Eagles play Creighton Prep at Caniglia field, at V.N.O., on Oct. 4.

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Increase In crime among you'nger generations past decade, the amount delinquent filings in Douglas Juvenile Court have ri sen 551 filings in 1985 to 1,855 in 1995. Mr. Vernon Daniels, Deputy Attorney, said this 342 perincrease is because of a variety including lack of paren-

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veniles cannot be attributed to any specific area of crime," Daniels said. However, drug charges and weapons charges have increased heavily · since 1985. Daniels also said that theft charges have not only risen in the past decade, but have also changed in nature. They are not only simple robberies now, they have become highly sophisticated crimes, often involving credit cards and checks instead of the traditional theft of items of value. The types of weapons being confiscated have also changed from knives to guns, Daniels said . One of the main factors in the increased amount of crime among juveniles is the way they are raised in their home, Daniels said. "Many kids haven't received basic instruction on how to behave, or even been taught basic manners," Daniels said. This lack of etiquette, when brought to a further extent, creates an attitude in the child that is easily transferred to criminal behavior, Daniels said The object of the juvenile court

system is to rehabilitate the child back into proper behavior. Rehabilitation is defined as restoring a previously .good condition. The main problem with this rehabilitation process is that when it tries to rehabilitate a child who has no good basis to return to, it fails . "You have to have something to build on," Daniels said. He also commented that it is much more difficult to teach a child when they are older and past the initial development of their life. The young age of some parents is also detrimen_tal to the upbringing of children. Becal!se the only observations a child may have is that of their parents, who are not much more than children themselves, the child develops a skewed attitude towards their behavior, Daniels said. If the parents were older, Daniels also added, the maturity level would most likely be higher, and the children much more likely to receive the proper instruction as to their behavior. In a situation in which the par-

ent exhibits an inappropriate behavior to the child, reparations must be made before the child can improve his behavior, Daniels said. The parent needs to be able to face the child, tell him or her they themselves were wrong, and that the behavior is not acceptable for either the parent or the child, Daniels added . . The natural lack of judgment that comes with youth, regardless of particular upbringing, is also a main contributing factor to the high rate of juvenile crime, Daniels said. "Children seem to think that age provides a shield to any adverse consequences," Daniels said. This immortality complex that many juveniles possess is a main contributing factor to the unwise decisions that result in their committing crimes. Daniels said. Daniels also cited negative peer pressure that encourages criminal behavior as a main detriment to the _children of today. He said the"gang culture" that is prevalent in the youth today is one of the main problems. Another addition to the many

problems and roadblocks in the way of the justice system is the lack of resources the juvenile court has been given. Daniels feels that critics of the justice system should acknowledge the limited amount of resources before placing blame upon the members of the system, He feels that most people who criticize the system aretoo far away from the real situation, so their view is distorted . "It's a fashionable thing to be concerned about kids today. Tomorrow they ' ll move on," Daniels said of the bandwagon activists that attack the juvenile court. Regardles s of the many struggles and roadblocks-in the path to a successful juvenile court system, Daniels said he feels that the court system is quite effective, considering the resources allotted to it. He said that more attention should be focused on juvenil e justice in general, and that the courts would be even more effective if the appropriate amount of financial and personnel support were provided for the court system.

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2 Editorials

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Uentrallligh Ibn RCffislel'

Beha'vior brings just rules -.

Ma ny stude nts a t Ce ntra l have been a mazed and a ngered at the new lun c h ho ur , po lic ies in sta ted this yea r. M ost wo nder w hy these measures have been ta ke n. The ma in reason fo r the new lunch ho ur po licy is the lac k of sta ff availabl e fo r the supe rvision o f the West Porc h a nd the re m a inde r o f the school durin g lunch periods. It must also be ac knowl edged that the te nde ncy of stude nts to di sregard rul es also reinforces the admini stra tio ns ' limitin g o f privil eges. The stude nt body needs to reali ze thftt good be hav io r is the key to recei vin g pri vil eges. . O n Tuesday, Sept. 3, an unna med stude nt lit o ff a sm o ke bomb in the base me nt of Ce ntra l. Whe ther thi s was a pro test again st the ncw po li cy o r just a mindless ac t. It is obvio us th at thi s stude nt does no t unde rstand how the ad mini stratio n wo rks. II is sha mefulto have to ad mit that be hav ior like thi s s till ex ists o n the hi g h school le vel. If we expec t to be treated w ith any a mo unt o f respec t o r ~mpath y, we must earn it. As most stude nts have learn ed thro ug h re lati o nships w ith the ir parents, once a trust is broke n it is a lo ng te rm struggle to rega in tha t trust. It is very diffic ult at the beg inning yea r fo r the admini stra ti o n to tru st the stude nt hody because there is no bas is fo r trust. The lac k o f fo res ight in thi s stude nt 's ac tion s has mostlikcl y des troy ed any trust the admin is trati o n had the courtesy to pl ace in us. The ad mini strati o n does no t feci that the majority o f the stude nt body is at fa ult fo r these prob le ms. Dr. Tho mpson has sta ted th at he fee ls that 95 to 96 pe rcent o f the stude nt body is no t to bl ame for the pro bl e m s in the sc hool. IL is, however, that four or fi ve perce nt tha t e limin a te the c ha nce fo r a ny pri vileges fo r the rest o f the sc hool. Thi s ri d ic ul o us be ha¥io r ca n be c ited as a spec ific reason for the rules pl aced upo n the student body. If the stude nt body of Centra l had the maturity and commo n sense to behave. progress in the c ha ng in g o f certa in po lic ies may be poss ible. Bu t unfo rtunate ly, there a re e no ug h shorts ig hted a nd infantil e people in thi s sc hool to rui n any c hance o f freedo m that we had . It is no t tha t the adm in istra tio n does no t wa nt the stude nt body to e njoy the ir lunc h ho ur ; it is s im ply th at they canno t pe rmit the stude nts to da mage the schoo l's property or cause chaos in the sc hoo l. Fire d rill s are q uite d isrupti ve to the days sched ule, and the notifi catio n o f the authoriti es is q uit e a hass le for th e admini stra ti o n. The pa thway to being abl e to e njoy the pri vileges and freedoms th at the admini s trati o n has the au.thori ty to give is no t thro ugh misbehav io r and va nda li sm . T he stude nt body must be ab le to exh ibit e nough respo ns ibility and maturity th at is ex pec ted o f hi gh school age stude nts . T he ad mini s tra ti o n, as w ith a ny o ther autho rit y, respo nds to pos iti ve ac ti ons in a pos iti ve way. T he stude nt body mu st learn to pro vide the ad mini stra ti o n with re asons to trust the m . Good be havior is the o nly a nswe r.

Child neglect causes concern Over the yea rs, the term neg lec t has deve loped a mo re serious co nno tation. No lo nger is it yo u neg lec ted to pi ck up the milk a t the grocery sto re, or yo u neg lected to . g rah the ma i I. Today in 1996 it is the neglec t o f peop le to take adequ ate care of the ir childre n. It is a neg leci to feed and bathe the ir infa nt s. It is a neg lect to keep the ir babi es a li ve. Infan tic ide . the killing of o ne's ch il d re n, occu rred aga in las t mo nth in N ew Yo rk . Carla Lock wood was cha rged w ith three acco unts o f murder fo r the deat h of he r fo ur ye ar ol d daughter, Nadine Lockwood. Nadine di~d Aug ust ::I I s t at the pit iful weight of Ii l'tce n a nd a hal f pounds. The chi Id had virtu a lly not moved out of her s leepi ng area for allll(l~t a ye ar. :'vlorc puu .ling than j u ~ t the in sane ci rcumstance of thi s child being s lowly forgotten aho ut. is th ai under the ~ alll e roof seve n other c hil dre n were hein g fcc\. c lothed and ~e nerally cared fo r. There wa~ an eigth ch ild that had been g ive n up for adoptio n. Even !lOW Lockwood is preg nant. thi ~ time with twins. The re arc ri s k facto rs wh ic h can s he d li g ht on wha t types of peopl e m ight neg lec t the ir chi ldre n. hut no concrete reaso ns as to why. Acco rd in g to C hil d Protecti ve Services (C PS), heing a person o f une mploy me nt , a dru g abuser, a depressed person , having a me nta l illness, o r hav in g bee n ahusedt hemselves as a c hild a re a ll compo nents that coul d make a pare nt a neg lec tor. B ut ultim ate ly no sta tis tic can break it dow n so tha t sudde nl y the re is an ex pl anati o n. O ne ca n s impl y write o ff tha t these people are pro fo undl y di sturhed , and be sati sfied to ad m it the mi s fo rtune o f the ir ex iste nce. What no person sho uld beg in to accept are the peop le who are ab le to hrea k the eyc le o f abuse, but are s ittin g bac k as the nu mhe rs o f fa ta liti es inc rease. a nd the peaks in the c harts do ubl e. Accord in g to the C PS, in 199 1, a n estim ated 1,383 fa ta liti es in o ur natio n we re the res ult of c hil d ahu se a nd neg lec t. Thi s shows a te n, pe rcent inc rease since 1990 . In 1994 the num bers continued the climb upward. And who is sta nding in the ir way ? It was a lleged ly reported w ith thi s most recent case that notificatio ns had bee n made to the po lice, and no thin g was do ne. S upri sing ly in a year o f hurricanes, fo re ig n connic t and e lectio ns, the re we re but few briefs in pa pe rs a nd news progra ms o n the latest case o f infa ntic ide. The Inte rne t produced no info rm atio n in regards to this unde r a dozen diffe re nt appropri ate head in gs. There was but Iimited roo m fo r the tragic account o f a no the r c hild lost to a mo the r's neg lec L. An account whi c h is impe ra ti ve to the aware ness o f the people o f the United S tates. But appa re ntl y everyo ne should ass ume the regul arity o f these deaths because o f the exte nsive coverage of S usan Smith who sent he r car a lo ng with her two sons into a lake to drown .

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Is the United States sending cruise missiles to Iraq an appropriate way to deal with Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kurdish territory?

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th, It 's great that we bombed Iraq. They shoul dn ' t han: moved into Kurdi sh territory.

Derek Vande-Brake 9

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I th ink it was appropriate because Saddam keeps messi ng with other countries. We need to show him we have the power.

DeAntae Gri xby

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No, because they are having their own problems. We should worry about our own backyard before we invade others. Chad Jacobsen 12

I don't think its okay because the United States has their own problems. Solving other countries problems should be secondary to ours.

Perhaps Ta nya Re id , who suffocated he r baby girl , sho uld have made us realize how these thin gs happe n. Or may be it was Wane ta Hoy t who killed her five c hildren, o ne afte r the o ther, by the same induced suffocati o n tha t Re id a nd ma ny othe r pa re nt s use, who was supposed to ma ke us re me mbe r fin a ll y how reocurre nt these same types o f deaths are. I ncarceration has bro ught thi s wo ma n to he r punsishmenL. But she shares the bl ame wi th others . The police a nd ne ig hbors, th ose who kn ew a re j ust as g uilt y for no t be in g • pers isten t e nough to preve nt thi s innoce nt g irl 's dea th. T he guil ty part ies in in fa nti c ide cases are s impl y lunat ics, and no t in a capac ity to make rational deci s ions . But mos t times the re is someone w ho think s tha t somethin g is wro ng or someone who knows, .and those people deserve no pardo n.

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Laura Werkhei ser 9

No, if they keep bombing them, it shows how much more violent America is. Sendi ng missi les just creates more pro ble ms. Quincy Welchen 12

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Em ougb My Eyes ~ilence . From the moment you en-' world time and time again. Seif-confiter the classroom, all chattering dies dent people have often instigated ilee.ded away. Gathering your courage, you risk changes whi.ch create a better quality of one glance toward the rows of desks and life. None of this would be possible if their curious, slightly hostile occupants. those people had allowed self-doubt and All of a sudden, your new school clothes shyness to take control. don't seem so "cool" and anxiety tightOf greater interest, however, than ens around your heart. Never having felt any story from the pages of history, are so alone, you quietly take your seat in the actions of ordinary people ,as they the new school which is a few blocks - change their communities in extraordifrom your new house in this cold, un- nary Ways. No matter what ,their perfriendly city. sonalities may be like these pe e have Most people have experienced this the'desire to improve the world around terrifying event, otherwise known as the _ them. first day of school. For new kids, this Be it your neighbor who serves important day can be especially trau- lunch at a shelter on the weekends or matic . However. as with most problems the rather quiet student who teaches in life, the newness wears off and the Spanish at grade schools on Wednesfears are soon forgotten. Instead of days, each has overcome the obstacle strange faces. children's memories are , of shyness and touched others as a resoon filled with laughter and best friends. sult. While this day is usually the beginning For some, interaction with others ofinany fun-filled times,for some it is a is painful because oftlie paralyzing fear door slammed shut. that accompanies it. Social functions For those who are extremely shy, an can be especially trying for extremely interactive education is far from reach. shy people. Our appearance-based soBecause they are uncomfortable with ciety usually views them as silent and other people, it is almost impossible for rather boring. them to gain a rich, diverse life experiWithout pausing for a second ence. The fetters of insecurity often keep glance, the popular crowd always passes people from forming friendships or ex- them by in its continual search for new pressing their ideas to others., excitement. These capricious peoplt; Shyness often confines people to make such a horrible mistake. their homes and familiar situations. A Every person has some interesting person's lack of confidence can limit both story to share. In general, quiet individ~his or her experiences and enjoyment of life. The results of extreme shyness and insecurity are tragic for both the shy individual and the rest of the world. So many amazing discoveries have ~sulted when people refused to be silenced by doubt. For example, Christopher Columbus requested money 'from Spanish royaity tOpay for his now famous voyage. If th!S bold step had not been taken; the discovery of America' would have been prolonged indefinitely. , Individ!lal bravery has changed the

als are much more observant of life than the rest of the population who habitually chatter on without stopping for breath. Therefore, shy people often noti ce the detail s in life that escape the notice of others. They indeed have many interesting stories to tell. Unfortunately, many shy individIJals never see their potential, focusing instead on their faults and shortcomings. No matter how much they might like to tell someone ajoke they made up or relate the strange conversation they overheard at a restaurant last ht, they simply cannot. The very thought of unwelcome attention is enough to turn some faces pale. In reality, most people never dis. cover the interesting stories that make up a shy person's life because they don't take the time to ask the questions or truly listen. Most people will never know that the quiet;'eighty year-old man in church used to ride Harley Davidsons. In -addition, few people pause long enough to learn how much he loved them or the reason why he gave up riding . . , The boisterous neighborhood kids never really seem to notice the shy girl whO whispers and plays with her dolls alone every day. They never , see her eyes follow them as they laugh and cycle down the street. It could be that shy girl who sits behind you in class or the'old man who, with tears in his eyes, sings the church hymns in a quavering voice. Extend yourself and help to bring a shy and frightened person out of their shell. ·In initiating such a friendship, you Will have cha!lge,d two lives forever.

Do you think that the belief of Creation should join the teachings of Darwinism in our educational institutes?

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Undecided/Miscellaneous

131 Students Polled

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4 News

Celtral HiP de Belisler

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Nebraskans join together and walk for cure'~

By Carolyn Bullard

The grand prize was two round trip I AIDS ";r tickets to anywhere in the contiHIV O ver 0 ne tho uds an.... supporters, victims and volunteers nental US. gathered at Memorial Park on the Jeffrey Wilson, Development morning of Sept. 8 to kick off AIDS Director for NAP began the openWalk Nebraska, a ten . kilometer ing ceremonies by comparing this fundraising walkathon benefiting year's walk to the very first AIDS the Nebraska AIDS Project, or NAP. walk. The participants began to pour "We have over 1,100 registered in around 10 a.m . via wheelchairs, walkers today. Just five .years ago rollerblades and by foot. By 11 a.m. . there were twenty of us here to the park was bustling with activity. walk," Wilson said. ....~, People with different stories, differWilson' attributed the increasing ent backgrounds, and different numbers to the awareness of the health status all came for the sup- community, saying that more people port of one single cause: AIDS. had been affected by the epidemic Walkers were to get people to today than they had previously been sponsor them for the amount that five years ago. According to th they were planning to walk. As an Center fo[, Disease Control an estiincentive, t-s hirts were given to mated 2,500 Nebraskans are now those who raised forty dollars or infected with the virus. more. In addition to the t-shirts, a Cindy Calhoun, aerobics ingrand prize was to be given to the structor, led the mass of supporters person who raised the most money. in a group warm up before the walk.

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As well, much concern w~s given ' .~e walk was finished and t~ M to the health of those walking who partlclpants met back at the park fa ,aide, I . h' f ~ od d ' Th O · perhaps could not make t e entIre ree 0 an pnzes. e nenta after walk. A van followed closely be- Trading Company, which is a hU11 the be hind the crowd to pick up any strag- - supporter of NAP, along with man: .die '9~ glers. other businesses and individuals year. The walk encircled the areas of donated hamburgers, hotdogs, par ''] Memorial Park, Fair Acres and toys and other odds and ends. OQtSid Dundee, and did not go unnoticed. Upon finishing the walk, eacl pursu H9meowners came out of their registered walker received a red ba1 padl; I houses to see what was occurring. full of toys and candy as well as in· bave a Some were supportive while others formation regarding NAP, H!V bting showed their lack of enthusiasm to- AIDS, volunteer opportunities ano said. wards the cause. Several offensive prevention. After all the hotdo1' T names were yelled at walkers. had been eaten, those who remainei Dot II "Not only are you raising . at the park helped clean up and wert way h money to help provide for people · trea:ted to icecream. living with HIVI AIDS but you are The proceeds went to Nebraskl the Or also sendin'g a message out to the AIDS Project, an organization thai SCbo( community, to every house you has taken on the great responsibil· last se pass, a message that says 'WE ity for preventing the spread 0; Ir CARE'. We are raising the level of AIDS through education and su~ conscious.n ess that. much more," port services for those whom it has Emile Cartoin, walk volunteer said. affected.

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Minimum wage Increase has mixed reviews at

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By Tim Hakanson of the wage increase, his wage will go up. After the increase, David saio Cel)tr: The Nation's minimum wage will be increasing across the country in that he will be, "Makin' the money." II He also approves of the increase because he said he believes that the you n less than a month and working students are not short of opinions on the federal minimum wage increase will keep the economy stable. increase. Jlbout Others also think that the increase will cause increased inflation Was 'tl Starting in October, the federal minimum wage, the lowest legal hourly Michael Sheehan, sophomore, works for the present minimum wage $4.25. place. wage, will be raised in two increments. On Oct. I, the minimum wage will increase from $4.25 to $4.75. Despite the fact that his wage is directly affected by the increase, he doe~ cabinl One year from this November, the minimum wage will be increased again. . not agree with it. In his view, it will raise the price of everything else. and t1 Becky Overgaard, senior, said she is not happy with the increase. A more At that time it will be raised 40 cents to set the wage at $5.15. There is a varied reaction to the minimum wage among working Cen- year ago, she started working at minimum wage. She now earns $4.6! tral High School students. and said she is not happy that it took her so 10n8:,to get paid that while Cippe - Among those pleased with the increase include those paid below the come October, all workers will be paid at least $4.75. She said that her future minimum wage. II employer will have to redo the raise scale. Students such as David Richardson, junior, who makes $4.25, which All of those who work over the minimum wage do not think that their made is the present minimum wage, said he enjoys the change. As a direct result pay will be affected by the minimum wage increase. ~o

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Centrai gets new teachers from junior high By John Gaskins happy with the students and impressed with the Going to a senior high school after attend- maturity, work ethic and focus they have shown. ing a junior high can be an interesting experi- She says there is a definite difference in the beence for most students. but what about teachers havior and maturity level of junior high students that must do the same thing? and high school students. Due to Omaha Public School's decision to Whitney, whose tenure at Lewis and Clark terminate ninth grade at Lewis and Clark Junior lasted 21 years, is also overwhelmed by the High School , many of the students that would larger class sizes, ·not to mention one other pesky have been freshmen at Lewis and Clark are at- issue that both teachers and students have had tending Central. Three former Lewi's and Clark to encounter. freshman teachers, English teacher Ms. Dolores "It is hot in here!," Whitney said. "I miss D' Agosto, math teacher Ms. Mary Whitney, and the air conditioning we had at Lewis and Clark." science teacher Mrs. Jean Whitten, have made She taught freshman Honors Geometry and the same move. -Algebra 1-2 at Lewis and Clark and now teaches New students must adjust to the significant Algebra 1-2 and sophomore Algebra 3-4 at Cendifference in the size, age and maturity of other tral. At first, she thought the job of teaching at a students, as well' as the overall atmosphere of a ~igh school would be more demanding than at a high school. However, these teachers have also jun.ior high, but has found that not to be the case. had to adjust to high school life, especially durWhitney also felt slightly uncomfortable ing their first few days. and disorganized the first few days of school. "Lwas overwhelmed with chaos; numbed She said one of the more difficult adjustments in fact," D' Agosto said. "I'm still trying to re- was following the different procedures that the cover from that numbness." Central administration demands, such as the D' Agosto has reason to be overwhelmed. hour-and-a-half home room the first day. Her life and teaching career has not seen such a Other difficult adjustments she has had to change in a long time. make at Central have been teaching significantly She spent many of her 23 years at Lewis larger classes, dealing with the heat, and, like and Clark teaching freshman English 1-2, and . D' Agosto, traveling from room to room . She already has seen major differences in the sur- no longer has the comfort of her air-conditioned roundings of the junior high school level and portable at Lewis and Central. Central. "Oh, yeah, it has taken some getting used "I have always b~en an organized person, to, but I think I'll like things here," Whitney said. but this experience has made me feel very dis- "The students have been great and I've seen so organized, which is kind of fru strating ," many kids I knew from Lewis and Clark, which D' Agosto said. is nice." D' Agosto, who teaches freshman English Both Whitney and D ' Agosto sa id th ey 1~2 and sophomore English 3-4, teaches about greatl y enjoyed teachin g at Lewis and Clark and J 50 studel)ts in her five classes, compared to would have stayed at the junior hi gh had freshthe J 10 she taught in her six classes at Lewis man enrollment not been termin ated. However, and Clark. the presence of Central principal Dr. Gary ThDespite the size of the classes, D' Agosto is ompson, who was principal at Lewis and Cl ark

easier to get ·F utur, for four years before coming to Central , and ' to tha Central's reputation of quality academics con· create vinced them to come to Central. back ' The adjustments of going from a junior high school to a senior high school were not as difficul1 sit bat to make for Whitten, the freshman Honors BioI· ogy 1-2 teacher. Prior to teaching ninth-grade bi· ology at Lewis and Clark for five years, Whitten [;) taught at high schools in South Carolina, Boston, . North Carolina. She also taught at the Universit) By Rof Nebraska at Omaha for 10 years. The year be· S fore she started at Lewis and Clark, she taught al SurrOI Central as a substitute. and Sl Whitten said there is very little difference be· centel tween the freshman class she teaches now and the High one she taught at Lewis and Clark" with the excep1 tion of the much larger class sizes. She is also reque, impressed at the maturity of high school students their ( and said they are capable of handling the larger each : classes; partm "The kids seem to be really, really easy and sehed fun to work with, and as long as you have that, yOU and e can teach 32 kids without any problems," Whitten tI said. Her classes at Lewis and Clark had only 20 have ( to 25 students. Centl Whitten srud she came to Central because she Paul ~ wanted to continue teaching biology at the high are a school level and because she already knew mosl with t of the Central staff from her substituting..days. ing (( She said one of the benefits ·of teaching fresh· have I men at a high school compared to a junior high is. enroll that she is able to see her former students in the· least. years after she taught them . As a freshman teacher ~ at ajunior high school, she didn ' t get to know stu· of sci dents until they were freshmen in her class . of ( Whitten said she feel s no added pressure or , stress teaching at a high school because she h3~ tunit) done it before. She is very excited to be at Cent ral ·they These Lewis and Clark veterans said they arl Seuir gradually getting used to teaching at a hi gh schoO and are proud to call Central home.

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familiar face returns to the halls of CHS security aide at both the Walnut Hill and Jackson Schools. Working in the schools, Williams became interested in coming back to Central. "It's home," he said. "I went to an After bidding agency to for a security job at rsue another Central he was I thought I'd hired once again. ajobin marThere were people g," Williams who were pushing for him to return to Central as well, Williams said. This year there have been numerCharles Williams ous changes in Central's rulebook, many of which semester. affect security aides. Most changes In OPS Williams worked as a Mr. Charles Williams, security retumed to Central this year leaving at beginning of '95-'96 school

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once again. "I give a helping hand driving the debate team to tournaments and talking to the consumer science classes about immunizations," Williams said. His experience with immuniza~ions is based on 22 years of giving immunizations to infants and children while in the United States Airforce. Returning to a different administration than he remembers Williams is happy with the changes, sighting the positive changes that have already taken place over the past year. "Central this year will grow and get better," Williams said . . If it does, one can expect Williams to be a part of the positive changes.

Counseling center changes are positive Personnel and the office makeup are some of the changes that the High guidance center have undergone since last year. If you've been in the guidance department lately, may have noticed a few new characteristics the room. Over the summer, the north wall torn down and another office was built in its . The secretary's desk, copy machine and file were all moved to the middle of the room space. "It's a great change," Guidance Director Sharon said. "We have more space then before we also have more plans in the making." It's clear that the changes in the-eenter have some impact on the students as well as the

For many seniors, college is currently the main focus of attention in their liyes. The counseling department dealt with this two years ago by adding a new position based on college guidance alone. Cipperley held the position last year as well as guidance director. An attempt was made to replace the counselor from two years ago, but after many candidates were interviewed, no one was selected to fill the position. "It was tough handling both jobs,'! Cipperley said . This year, because of the expected ipcrease in enrollment, interviews again took place over the summer. They needed someone who could concentrate directly on college counseling. Ms. Janette Matney was hired to fill the position of college counselor. "We wanted someone enthusiastic who could work with seniors," Cipperley sl\id. Matney will add to the idea at Central that a student is able to go to any counselor he feels comfortable with, unlike many other schools where you are assigned a certain counselor who you see all the time. Whether it be a change of character in the center, or the addition of new people, the counselors' office has undergone some extensive alterations in the past few months . It has given the guidance department a whole new look which will allow it to have an even greater impact on the student body.

e have more space than efore and are plans n the makng.

-- Sharon Cipperley, Guidance irector

"The changes made waiting to see a counselor ," senior T.J. Ernst said. "It's also made it easier get in and take care of my scheduling problems." changes include a new work station similar that of the main office. There are also plans to a college search area for seniors towards the of the center where the partition used to be. "We plan on putting some comfy chairs in the back where seniors can back and get comfortable while they look at colleges," Cipperley said.

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occur during the lunch hour. "A lot of the changes are work- . ing really well," Williams said. There is a smaller area to observe students in during lunch time . which makes his job more efficient. At lunch, Williams may be seen patrolling the school foreveryone's safety. "My duty is to insure the safety of staff, students, equipment and faculty," Williams said. The student population increase has not hurt his duty. The students appear to be more protective with their .p roperty because of the increase in population this year Williams said. Students and staff have welcomed Williams back this year. Many are glad to have him volunteering his time to school activities

The blue sheets represented the of students trying to change r class schedules. At the start of h school year, the guidance derearranges numerous class ules to lit the needs of students elimi nate conflicts. Many students are aware or dealt with thi s si tuation before. ntral's assistant principal Mr. Semrad said schedule conflicts a result of too many stude.nts too many class needs. Accordng to Semrad, the students who the most schedule conflicts are lied for the courses offered the Semrad said the primary goal f scheduling is to match the needs f the most kids . "We want to give every oppority for students to take the classes want or need to graduate," said.

However, some students have to make a choice between two classes because of a schedule conflict. Semrad said music subjects and other electives cause many schedule conflicts for students. Classes offered in various hours of the day try to revolve around those courses with fewer sections(hours offered). Semrad also said s.cience courses can be a problem because of the double period required for lab. Thi s year, Biology is no longer attached to a lab period, and as a result fewer freshmen have schedule conflicts. The process of developing a student's schedule begins months before the school year approaches. Semrad is-in charge of creating an overall schedule for every course offered at Central during the year. In the spring, counselors register students for the following school year. From the spring registration, he determines the number of class periods necessary for each course. The department heads then de-

cide which teacher and what period of the day a certain course should be taught. Semrad spends the first three weeks of summer on his computer fitting all courses and sections into an overall schedule. Each class period is designated a maximum number of students to control the class size. Semrad conducts trial runs of the schedule, or prints a listing off of the computer of every student and whether he or she has a conflict. "This year I started out with 330 conflicts out of 1800 students. It took six trial runs to have over 2000 students with no schedule conflicts," Semrad said. Semrad said he will contact students over the summer if they have a schedule conflict occurring on a trial run. "It is important that a student decides between taking one class or another," Semrad said. "It is not fair for me to choose one class over another without a student's approval." Academic support counselor Mrs . Sharon Franzen said that one of the causes of schedule conflicts

is a lack of faculty. Like Semrad, Mrs. Franzen said she agrees that the biggest problem is having students desire too many class periods for a wide selection of courses. "We try to accommodate all of our students, but it is very difficult to do with almost 2000 different schedules to work with," Franzen said. Franzen and Semrad also commented that class sizes may reflect schedule conflicts. An example is Honors Physics 1-2 ~uring periods four and five . Mr. Frank Marsh, the teacher of this class began the year with 42 students . The class was large because several stud~nts' schedules could not fit a Physics class any other time during the day. Since then, the class size has decreased to 35 . The counselors chose seven students whose schedules would be easiest to change. As Central continues to grow, the sc hedule will become a n even harder puzzle to solve said Franzen and Semrad . The goal will be the same: providing students with the best possible help with class needs.

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Features

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Uentral High the Register

Jobs -affect students school performance By Tim Hakanson

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By .~aroline Foley

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School: Iowa State Univer-

sity ~ Where? Ames, Iowa @

~Total Enrollment: 20 ,757

~ P~rcent male and female: 58 and 42 percent

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Number of applicants: 8,000

~Percent accepted : 88% ©> SAT range : 370-530 Verbal and 460-630 Math . ~ Estimated tuition (including room and board): $1 0,000 out-~f­ state ·

@ 'Students involveed tn . fraternaties and soroities: .33%

0. Most popular majo~: engi: '

n~ririg

. . Miscellaneous information: io~a;'State's has ou~tanding 3(tiil~eCiUre:,engin.eei:ing and.com~lit~nsphooM. . fF";i« e. Boy White City. The album Heine considered the album a Around the Omaha area the band came out in April 1995, on natural progression of four musiing with Man or Astro Man. At has been playing venues like the Cog Caulfield records. This driven cians (Pat Noecker, Matt Silcock, ''I'm glad that high school kids mar: Factory for years. Focht considers and energetic album was re- Chris Heine, and Matt Focht.) He .can relate to us because there is are ki himself fortunate to have a place like corded at Mogis Studios in Lin- adds that the album may be a little lot of older bands that