THE GRYPHON
September 22, 1977 ® ■ * ^ - l c_i i i> i v p 97JW11 Vol. 4, No. 1
Rocky Mount Senior High School, Rocky Mount, N. C. 27801
High Enrollment Breaks
Previous School Record
Senior High opened its doors
on August 27 to the largest
number of students to ever
attend. This is due to the large
number of students in each of
the three classes.
Major problems could arise
due to the large enrollment, but
according to principal Elton
Newbern there have been none
as of yet and none are antici
pated here in the future. The
teaching staff increased slightly
this year, but many of the
new teachers replaced others
that left at the end of last year.
The increase in teachers did not
rely on the numbers of students
coming to Senior High.
The attendance, which was
1607 on August 28, took an
expected surge to 1655 stu
dents aftex Labor Day week
end, because students were
coming back from vacation and
new students were transferring
into the school. At the present
time there are 586 Sophomores,
603 Juniors, and 466 Seniors.
The enrollment will decrease
later in the year due to stu
dents dropping out of school for
various reasons.
Regina Compares Home,
Rocky Mount, America
Sixteen year old, German
speaking Regina Perler, this
years Foreign Exchange Stu
dent from Switzerland, is living
with Barbara Wujciak, a junior
at Rocky Mount Senior High.
She will be in the United States
for a year.
Regina explained that she
was interested in coming to the
United State." for seVjjiSI
sons. First Reg^ wants
to become more familiar with
the English language. She also
said she wanted to meet Ameri
can people and make many new
friends. Even though Regina
just arrived in this country on
the 15th of August she has
already gotten a good insight
on American life. Regina says
Switzerland and the United
States are alike in many ways
but at the same time very
different. She explains that
there is much difference be
tween the American way of life
at home compared with the
Swiss. The woman of the house
makes more of the food herself
in Switzerland than does the
American woman who depends
on the grocery store.
When asked about the
schools in her country Regina
says that the teachers switch
classes instead of the students.
The Swiss schools also do not
have the same classes each day.
The students attend different
classes everyday.
j
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
STUDENT ARRIVES: Regina
Perler, a native of Switzer
land, takes a break from a busy
day at Senior High with her
American sister, Barbara Wu
jciak. [Photo by Hutchisson.]
Their sports, she adds, are
much like the ones played here.
Among the most popular are
soccer, volleyball, basketball,
and of course the most famous
one, skiing.
If one should happen to ask
Regina what she enjoys doing
here in the United States one
will most likely get an answer
of “I like to eat peanut butter.”
f
M
President's Cabinet Expects
Very Busy, Organized Year
The Student Organization
(known as the Student Repre
sentative Assembly last year)
wUl consist of 14 committees for
the upcoming school year.
The Finance Committee
The Finance Committee,
whose chairman Bruce Hayden
is also the treasurer of the
organization, handles the finan
ces of the Student Organiza
tion. The committee makes a
budget from which committees
money, and can invite the
chairman of any other commit
tee to help on the deliberation
of any specified project.
The AssemUy Committee
I Stephen Phillips, the vice-
president of the organization,
also chairs the Assembly Com
mittee. This committee arrang
es a schedule of assemblies to
be held throughout the year
The Social Committee,
with Janet Kitts and Jana
Lucas as co-chairmen, promotes
a feeling of friendship among
the students and receives aU
visitors who come to the school.
The Traffic Committee
Chris Howell and Kevin
Beairsto are the co-chairmen of
the Traffic Committee. This
committee supervises traffic
movement throueh the haU?
It also registers motor
vehicles so they can be parked
in the parking lot.
The Ejections Committee
The Elections Committee,
with Clarence Wiggfins and
Kaye Batts as co-chairnwn,
handles all school elections.
The PubBcations Committee
The Publications Committee
directs the use of all publica
tions received by the Student
, Organization. Audrey Coo^r is
the chairman of this committee.
The Student Store Committee
manages the student store and
transfers the store’s profits to
the organization treasury. Toni
La Grange,is the dudrman of'
tfaia wwnmitt—. '
The Publicity Committee
Steve Ratchford and Sheri
Vines co-head the Publicity
Committee, which publicizes
the work of the organization
and maintains all general bulle
tin boards plus the marquee on
the front lawn. The Fire Drill
Committee, co-chaired by Glor
ia Pittman and Mark Pearsall,
plans, suptervises, and holds fire
drills once a month. It also
conducts Fire Prevention Week
activities as decided on by the
• committee..
Lost and Found Committee
The Lost and Found Commit
tee takes charge of all lost
articles and attempts to return
them to their owners. If none of
these articles are claimed, then
they are disposed of and any
profit resulting from this act
would go to the Student Organ
ization Treasury. Starletta
Wiggins is the chairman.
House and Grounds Committee
The House and Grounds
Committee has the duty of
suggesting to the Student Or
ganization action and work to
improve the neatness and gen
eral appear^ce of the school.
Karl Bestwick is the chairman
of this committee.
School Spirit Committee
The duty of the School Spirit
Committee is to help create an
atmosphere of school unity,
Uud dignity. The commit
tee also helps with the activi
ties of homecoming week and
organizes and carries out the
pep rallies throughout the year.
Hope Reese is the chairman of
this committee.
Human Relations Committee
The Human Relations Com
mittee encourages students of
different backgrounds to dis
cuss openly common problems
that all students face. Drew
.Peterson and Toni Williams
co-chair this committee, which
tries to create a climate where,
intergroup problems can be
openly discussed and dealt
with. Sessions are held often so
grievances held by students can
be brought into the open. The
committee also tries to develop
better human relations.
The American Field Service
Beth Hutchisson is the chair
man of the American Field
Service, which arranges the
visits of foreign exchange stu
dents and holds a talent show
each year.
Three Semifinalists Selected
Tim Browning, David Goff,
and Toni Strickland have been
chosen semifinalists in the 1978
National Merit Award Scholar
ship Program.
Semifinalists are named from
over 1 million students enrolled
in 17,500 high schools who
entered the 1978 Merit Prog
ram by taking the 1976 Preli
minary Scholastic Aptitude
Test/National Merit Scholar
ship Qualifying Test (PSAT/
NMSQT). Semifinalists are the
highest scoring students in
each state; the number named
in the state is proportional to
that state’s percentage of the
nation’s total graduating senior
class. The semifinalists, most of
whom will complete high school
and enter college in 1978,
represent the top half of one
per cent of the nation’s most
academically talented young
people.
Approximately 15,000 stu
dents have been named semifi
nalists in the twenty-third an
nual National Merit Scholarship
Program. These academically
talented students wUl have an
opportunity to continue in the
competition for about 3,900
Merit Scholarships to be award
ed in the spring of 1978.
Tim remarked about the
honor, “I was excited when I
heard I was chosen as a
semifinalist. I hope I’m good
enough to become a winner.”
David said, “I was happy
when I heard I was selected a
semifinalist. I hope to continue
in the competition.”
Toni states, ‘Tm glad to have
a chance and I’m very excited.”
SEMIFINALISTS CHOSEN—National Merit Award semifinalists
from Senior High are Toni Strickland, Tim Browning, and David
Goff. Seated is Senior consultant Mr. WiUiam Hutchisson. [Photo by
Hutchisson.]