The Mail-Journal, Volume 27, Number 6, Milford, Kosciusko County, 23 March 1988 — Page 11

School news

From concert to D.C. — Busy week for WHS choirs

I By NEVIN DULABAUM Staff Writer Wawasee High School students have a busy week ahead of them between singing, traveling, and singing. On Thursday night, the North Webster based Psi lota Xi sorority is sponsoring the WHS Jazz Ensemble, the Dream Company, and the Varsity Singers, in concert at the WHS auditorium. The program will be include a

■ X '.f « 4 Jb|b a —' z U WHS REGIONAL SPEECH COMPETITORS — Brad Gerstner, left; Derek Bowen, right; and Jason Stover, not shown, participated in the Regional Speech contest at Homestead High School on Saturday, March 19. Gerstner placed first in the *‘US Extemporaneous” category, while Brown competed in "Impromptu” and Stover in “Radio.” Gerstner’s victory at Homestead earned him a trip to the April 9 state tournament in Indianapolis, and the opportunity to compete against the qualifiers from the other four regionals. (Photo by Nevin Dulabaum)

•B* • A ■ ■ I rW-w < VBtf F --.BTWfe’ •* »•> > .Fttm JF | kf’ k i ]r" < 1 XJW I ’ 1 jIL 7bH' < f 9- 1 Bi& *, ■ 0^8wl“ b 9 -H MAJOR FUND-RAISER FRIDAY — The North Webster Band Boosters are sponsoring their annual Band Booster’s Basketball Game Friday evening, March 25, in the North Webster School Gymnasium. The game will be from 6-9:30 p.m. and is a major fund-raiser for the music boosters. Shown in the photo are some of the students associated with the music department. From left are Laura Eastman, Courtney Singrey, Valarie Vester, Erika Esenwein, John Merchant, Scott Ousley and Alicia Holterman. (Photo by Deb Patterson). Ol - r j| ipflL jMKA S a. * /Wwa •- 6 /.- 3k' Jk »*! - z f *1 w ■ ~ UK tw* M t /-< WwMw»iwJsK ' "" ; ~, : n I IT SWINGING TO THE MUSIC — Wawasee High School singers practice for tomorrow night’s (Thursday) concert in the WHS auditorium. Shown, left to right, in the front row are Chad Hoffert, Jerlyn Sponseller and Debbie Bjella. In the back row are Chris Conkling, Anne Pohl and Jeff Carey. (Photo by Nevin Dulabaum)

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■ FINAL PREPARATIONS — The WHS Dream Company singers conclude one of their numbers as they prepare for tommorrow night’s

variety of music, including pop and jazz, and promises to be one of the best concerts of the year. The Psi lota Xi sorority has sponsored this concert for many years, which is very important to both the students and the school’s music department. All proceeds will be turned over to the music department for the purchase of music or equipment that the school is usually unable to buy. Attendance for the show has

not always been as high as it could be, despite the quality and variety of music. The WHS students would like as many people as possible to attend the concert, to see the show, to help further the growth of the music department, and to give most of the students support as they head - for national competition. Leave For D. C. Students in the Dream Company, the Varsity Singers, and the Concert Choir will leave soon after the concert’s conclusion for the Festival of Nation’s competition in Washington, D.C. In all, 82 students and 26 adults will be making the whirlwind trip, which will include: a Friday morning sightseeing tour of Gettysburg, Pa.; Friday afternoon competition; a Friday night tour of Georgetown and Washington, D.C.; competition throughout most of Saturday; the Saturday evening awards banquet, presentation ceremony, and festival dance; and the long trip home. Included in the entourage will be Superintendent Roger Thornton, who will be making the trip as a chaperon, and WHS Principal Ned Speicher, who will serve as the official WHS representative. Inflation up Consumer inflation rose 4.4 percent in 1987, but most of the increase came from an early rebound in oil prices and the rise in December was just 0.1 percent, the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index revealed.

(Thursday) concert and their trip to Washington, D.C., this coming weekend. (Photoby Nevin Dulabaum)

jl Bip <3Bb6IH ' w'.. / Il f ■ | * 1 « ■ 3 Mr" << j v Jr ' '¥•■ TALENTED WRITER — Eighth grader Karen Yoder strikes a familiar pose at Syracuse School after placing fifth in the Indiana State Scenario Writing Contest. Yoder, who finished third in the state last year and advanced to the semi-state level, stepped into the intermediate division this year — competing with those from the seventh to the 10th grades.

Karen Yoder sth in state

I By KAREN YODER Syracuse School Following is the story Syracuse eighth-grader Karen Yoder wrote for the Indiana State Scenario Writing Contest. Yoder’s entry, titled “I Will Try To Cope”, received fifth place among seventh through 10th graders throughout the state. I woke up trembling and drenched with sweat. Clutching my pillow tightly, I felt truly grateful it had been a dream. I was an astronaut, and it was the night before I departed on an almost three-year voyage. Space travel still had many risks, even in the year 2027. What worried me most about my nightmare was that it didn’t make any sense. It was always the same. I would be sitting in a rapidly moving spacecraft and around me other people in spacesuits would be checking gauges, adjusting dials, and tossing hurried instructions back and forth. Suddenly I would realize something was going to happen) 1 ! would try to warn them, yelling and screaming, gesticulating wildly. I was certain that if they had wanted to, they could have prevented it. But they just continued to adjust their dials and attend to their gauges, as if I weren’t there. And then it would happen! A woman I had not seen before would step into the room, holding a gun. Three shots would ring out, and then I would wake up screaming hysterically. My four-year-old son David, realizing I was going to be gone for a long time, walked into my room, very upset. “Mommy, will you be gone long?” he whimpered, “Mommy, don’t go. I want to go too!” “You’ll be alright, David,” I said. “Daddy will take good care of you.” But his plaintive voice reached my heart. He was only four now. When I would return, he would be seven. A feeling of uncertainty came over me. To stay or to go? To stay home, where things were safe and I was loved. To go, off into the wild excitement of space. How could I stay home? I had promised to go. But David ... I had promised! I must go! After a month of traveling, I was tired. Tired of the seemingly worthless, pointless chores. Sick of the tasteless food. Ready to cry. I was always under stress. I slept 12 hours a night. All 15 crew members came from different countries, so cultures and native languages were different, making communication difficult at times. I had a roommate, Gloria, during my first two months on the spacecraft. Next month I would have a room of my own. I would be happy to get away from

Gloria, although she had some good qualities, too. She was brilliant in mathematics and her power of observation were sharp. But it was depressing for me to be around her. She was too critical of everything. She didn’t seem to care about anyone else. She was one of the astronomers on board. I was a medical doctor, but with my limited equipment I would not be of much help if an accident were to occur. I felt so depressed. I felt sorry for myself, and I felt guilty about feeling sorry for myself. If it had been possible, I know I would have gotten fat trying to eat my way out of depression. I had so many questions that could not be answered. I felt that I was like everyone else on the shuttle, not special. But I still felt the need to be alone more than most of the others did. I knew, though, that we must work together. There was one bright spot. I made a good friend, Karla. We talked together about everything, from how to fry chicken to the latest theory froth “Science World Digest” was plausible. We talked about her children, Laura and Jennifer, and my child, David. I got to know most of the people on the spacecraft, and we got along alright. I think we were struggling with how to cope with this new situation, this cramped miserable lifestyle. The tension increased. At one point Michael, an astronomer, who had fqjwork with Gloria every day, was furious with her and began yelling. “You stupid . . . !” That did it for me! I floated to my room. I felt trapped. I had no self-esteem left. I couldn’t do anything special or different. I strapped myself to my bunk and scribbled my thoughts onto a piece of paper : “Go away, everything! I hate life! I want to die! Dullness! Headache! I despise weightlessness. Why, oh why? David ... Oh David! I want to tuck you in bed at night. To be your mother. I want to cry. I want to go home. Gloria, why don’t you just kill yourself? Oh, please stop telling me everything I do is wrong!” I began to sob uncontrollably. I began to feel relieved. Drained. Emptied. I left my room in search of Gloria. When I reached the door of her room, what I saw shocked me into the realization that Gloria was human. That she had her own problems, and that under her hard shell was tenderness. Gloria was crying! I realized now what my nightmares had meant. That we would kill each other mentally, by taking away each other’s pride and self-esteem. I knew that what we needed to do was to co-exist as best we could. We needed things to think about. Perhaps some of the crew members could teach the rest of us something we didn’t already know. We needed to have our own hobbies (I liked playing piano). We also needed to design activities and special events to look forward to. But the most important thing would be to keep our spirits up. We would have to support each other in every way possible. I would try.

School facts that tell little

IByR.L. KOHLS Agricultural Economics Department Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - According to the data collected for the nation’s elementary and secondary schools, the salary of Indiana teachers averaged $24,300 in 1986. This amount ranked 25th of the 50 states. Indiana spent $2,973 for each pupil in attendance. This level was 38th among the states. In 1987, the combined average Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score for verbal and mathematical proficiency was 874 — ranking 47th among the states. These are not pleasant statistics. Why do Hoosier children do so poorly? The glibly given answer is that we need to spend more money on our schools. The recent legislation initiated just this approach. There is nothing wrong with Hoosier education that more money won’t solve. But is the problem this simple? One step that would sharply improve Indiana test scores would be to not give the test to so many of our seniors! In 28 states, an average of only eight percent of the seniors take the test. In the other 22 (which includes Indiana), an average of 53 percent of the seniors take the test. The average scores of the smaller group in the 28 states was 1,001; of the broader group in the other 22 states, it was 892. In the 28 states giving the tests to only a limited number of students, there was really no relationship between the test score and either the support per pupil or teachers’ salaries. This indicates that highly motivated, bright students can learn in almost any environment! Alaska is the most expensive school system in the nation, spending $8,044 per pupil and having an average teacher salary of $41,200. Because of its special nature, it has not been included in the analysis of the 22 states in which an average of half of the seniors take the SAT test. The remaining 21 states are highly diverse, ranging from the heavy metropolitan states of the Northeast through the Southeast to the West Coast states. Indiana is the only Midwestern state in the group. The following shows some -averages of these UHI

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Wed., March 23,1988 —THE MAIL-JOURNAL

SAT Total Support Teacher Percent Total Per Pupil Salary Taking Score Northeast (10 states) $4,247 $25,100 58 906 South (7 states) $3,419 $23,400 38 871 West (3 states) $3,821 $27,100 42 905/ Indiana $2,973 $24,300 47 874

Again, it is very difficult to find a strong relationship between money put into the schools and teachers and the SAT score outcome of the students. The top average score of 938 was received by New Hampshire students. New Hampshire spent $3,115 per student and paid its teachers $20,100. The lowest average score of 832 was received by South Carolina students. South Carolina spent $2,912 per student and paid its teachers $21,400. The biggest spender in this group was New York, which spent $5,616 per student and paid its teachers $30,200. The average score of New York students was 894. There are geographic differences in support and scores. However, when the geographic differences in costs of living are considered, the dollar support difference may not be so great. Unfortunately, there are no nearby comparisons for Indiana. All these data do not help one make many conclusions! Thorp PURDUE PLEDGE — Jerrod Stoller, Syracuse, has pledged Alpha Kappa Lambor this spring at Purdue University. He has been elected president of the pledge class. Stoller is a 1987 graduate of Wawasee High School and the son ? > oFMr. and Mrs. Rich (Andrea) £»• Sttßer, Syracuse.

are substantial reasons to question whether the SAT scores adequately measure the educational results of schools. However, it is one measure widely used — and Indiana does show up poorly. It seems true that the large application of dollars alone does not guarantee high scores. The level of teachers’ salaries also is not closely linked to test results. General concern about the performance of our schools seems real enough. However, we must probe deeper than allocating more dollars if the education of Hoosier young people is to be improved. Auditions for Wagon Wheel's 'BB summer season Wagon Wheel Theatre will be holding auditions for the upcoming summer season on Sunday, March 27, at 2:00 p.m. Only performers between the ages of 8 and 15 years old, who can sing, are invited to try-out for the artistic director, Tom Roland. No appointments w»’l be necessary. Performers should arrive at the Wagon Wheel Theatre at 2 p.m. with a piano score of their choice. An accompanist will be provided, but will not transpose music into different keys. The upcoming shows that will be cast at this time are: “Ah Wilderness!,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” and the professional premiere of a brand new musical entitled “A Wonderful Life.” This is the only audition scheduled for the Warsaw area. The remainder of the casting (including all adult roles) has taken place in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. For further information, pleased contact the Wagon Wheel office.

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