The Mail-Journal, Volume 15, Number 44, Milford, Kosciusko County, 22 November 1978 — Page 12

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THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., November 22,1978

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452 participate — Swap Day at Wawasee High an educational experience

By ARCH BAUMGARTNER “Hey, Mr. Baumgartner, wanna take my classes at school Thursday? It’s Swap Day! ” “Who? Me? You kiddin’? I don’t want any part of it. No way.’’ That was the initial invitation and response from a Wawasee High School student who just happens to be a close neighbor. John Pifer, a tall, handsome and courteous junior, was asking us to spend a day in the classroom at Wawasee High for him. We understood “swap” to mean we’d be taking his place and he’d be taking ours. We were to learn later this wasn’t exactly the case. Two days later we gave the proposition a second thought — and allowed that a day in class might be refreshing and enlightening. And so we called John on the telephone about it. “Hey, John,” we say, “drop around. I’d like to talk to you a •little more about this Swap Day.” John lives just at the other end of the block on North James Street in Milford, so this was no problem. He came over Tuesday night handing me a complete classroom agenda. He had all the teachers listed by classes, but didn’t have their first names down. “Who are these people?” we asked. John said he had no idea, that he referred to them as Mr. and Mrs. or Miss so-and-so. We agreed to it all, then I said, “Now, John, I’m usually at work at 8 o’clock. They’ll show you around my office and tell you what I do. “You kiddin’?” he said. “I’m going hunting. I’d really mess your place up, and you wouldn’t want that.” I told him I didn’t do such a bad job at that myself, at times. John allowed that he’d much rather go hunting, but that he could put his feet on the desk and drink coffee, but that would be setting a bad example, so he thought hunting was the only solution.

s And So On The Bus “If I’m going to spend a day in school, I’m going to go the whole route,” we reasoned. And this means riding the school hack. Ooops! We were quickly told they don’t call them “school hacks” any more; they’re “school buses.” This was to be the first in a long series of goofs which we hoped no one would notice. And so, classroom agenda and camera in hand, we walked to the Milford Junior High School, got on bus No. 16 and sat behind sixyear veteran driver Don Losee. Across the aisle were Darline Alexander and Dave Siegfried, other Milford stand-ins who wanted to get the full treatment. Don tells us there are 36 buses in the corporation (“Better check that figure with Bud Lantz,” he hedged), eight of them coming from Milford. It’s off the bus and through a morass of people to locker 1026. So many people speaking to me, young and old alike, I was a little dazed as I groped to the locker. As I fumbled for “11 right, 35 left, 24 right” some smarty edged up to me and said, “Wish 1 had a camera to take a picture of this.” About to give up on the elusive combination, I finally read the notes John gave me. and 10, the stubborn locker opened up easily. I was smiling again. First Class, Sales I hurried to my first class, in room 207 on the second floor and had moments to spare. An old friend and former coach at Milford, Don Storey was the teacher, the subject, sales and merchandising. This should be duck soup, I thought. It was 8:15 to 9:10. Mr. Storey outlined the objectives of the course, showed us the display windows the students work on. Then came a color movie entitled “Sam’s Song, The Legacy of a Free Economy.” Each of us had to do a short critique on what we saw. We thought it was great that they were teaching students about the economic system that has made the United States a world leader. A chap back of me seemed to think otherwise: he was working a crossword puzzle. Next class was English in room 113 in the circular building, with Max Ellen Medich as instructor. She told us about the course and said they were reading “Witch of Blackbird Pond,” about a young girl from Barbados who went to live in New England and got caught up in the wave of witchcraft that was sweeping that part of the country in the midnth century. Mrs. Medich introduced Peter Marshall, a student teacher, who discussed the southern vs. the northern cultures and opened it all up for discussion. We wrote a piece on our thoughts, all the time thinking, “Don’t sell these young students short.” The paper had me scratching my head. The third period is history, and this is the one I wanted to zero in on. Former WHS coach Vernon Zurcher is the teacher. He impressed us all with his grasp of this required course. I looked across the room and

saw Scott Wise who works at our plant after school, and knew I had to look good. Mr. Zurcher gives students considerable outside reading with two objectives in mind: To give students an understanding of American history, and an appreciation of what we as Americans have as a heritage. We’re thinking he could be called the “traveling professor.” He showed color slides he had taken on his various vacation trips and they were well done. Mr. Zurcher works this in with his teaching of our country’s history. His first semester covers Colonial America through the Reconstruction period, while the second semester of this course deals with taxes through the wars of the 20th century. In some classes he has students dress up as various American political figures and defend a point of view, while he himself dresses as Karl Marx, beard and all. We liked this class, could be a consummate student. Liked HIT, Too We also liked HIT (Honors Independent Time), a period when we could visit the Commons to study, have a cup of coffee, but it is hoped this free time is put to valuable use. We used.it to take some pictures, then had a cup of coffee with our new friend, Dr. David Robinson, of the adult education program; my niece, Lois McMillan ; and a group of teachers. At one time I decided to go to the men’s rest room, and not wanting to leave my camera on a Commons table, I took it with me — thus creating a moment of pandemonium. We then assembled in the class of James Webster in room 110 for business mathematics. Time: 11:53, and we were beginning to wind down. He said, “Leave your things at your desk and let’s break for lunch.” Now, we heard that — good. Students Eat Well We can report here to parents who didn’t take part in Swap Day that their children eat well. We found three lines and a salad bar. One was for a hot turkey sandwich, another for a hot ham sandwich, the third for corn bread and beans, an ala carte line, and the fourth a salad bar. The sandwiches came with mashed potatoes, gravy and a drink. Students eat for 55 cents; adults, 85 cents. The kitchen apparently hasn’t heard of inflation. The 12 cafeteria regulars are assisted by a corps of student workers, and things moved like clock work. I was amazed. It was an opportunity to eat with Tom List, an old friend whose son Bob is our darkroom man at the Milford plant. Back in business mathematics Mr. Webster, an Atwood youth who actually graduated from Warsaw Community High School, told us his course dealt with basic mathematics. He gave us a test of nine simple problems. We finished six in five minutes, and (Continued on page 13)

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