Chatsworth : Students Demonstrate Skills for Open House

Offering a peek at the diversity of educational pursuits at Chatsworth High School, faculty members welcomed parents to campus for its annual open house.

Billed as Showcase ‘96, the two-hour Thursday night event offered parents the opportunity to meet their children’s teachers and to see for themselves what goes on in the classroom.

“We hope that it’s a discovery for parents and a chance for kids to show off,” Principal Fran Ramirez said.

In Ed Burke’s advanced-placement government class, students debated the merits of the Bill of Rights, arguing before a panel of faculty judges whether it should have been added to the Constitution.

“I was proud of her,” Chuck Hardaker said after watching his 17-year-old daughter, Laura, speak. “She’s always sharp as a tack.”

For Laura, although she doesn’t enjoy public speaking, she said she was eager to show her parents what she’s learning.

“The curriculum is very good,” she said. “We have some really excellent teachers.”

Across campus in Paul Lauten’s home-economics lab, students such as 16-year-old Robert Morgen were busy supplying freshly baked cookies and pizza for hungry visitors.

“You feel like you really did something,” Robert said, explaining his pride in watching people devour his creations.

In Wendy Wooten’s physics classroom, Fernando Cazares, 18, and Ari Soto, 17, demonstrated the principle of projectile motion using foam-tipped darts. Nearby, posters explained the mathematical formulas at work in gravity and velocity.

As parents and students mingled throughout the room, Cazares said his own family was unable to attend but that he welcomed the chance to relay an important message to other parents.

“School does work,” he said.