My High School Years (Lee year books)

(Me appearing in ROTC 1982. Awesome!)

Amazingly, a couple of year books from the 4 years I went to high school are online. I went to Robert E. Lee high school from 1982-1985.

Here's the one from 1982 (9th grade). My grade level is on pages 88-98. I'm on page 97 (beaming like I knew the score).

 https://archive.org/details/classmates-yearbook-60284-1982-robert-e-lee-high-school/mode/2up

Here's the me from 1983 (10th grade). My grade level is on pages 124-135. I appear on page 134 (looking like a 6th grader).

https://archive.org/details/classmates-yearbook-13585-1983-robert-e-lee-high-school

Yep, I am in both of these books. As are all the people I knew.

Flipping through them brought back a lot of memories. I really recall that things were simpler then. A lot of these kids are gone now. Already. Like James Valentine. He died a while ago. Like 2 years ago. Heck, I'm only 58 (as of this writing). I'm not exactly old. But dang, when you get into your 50's things get pretty wild when it comes to mortality. People start dying.

Anyway, looking at those yearbooks it is interesting that we were all so full of life, hope, self-doubt, and peer pressure. It was all about the peers. I remember. Not a smartphone in sight. No social media. Simpler times. You could make mistakes without the whole world knowing about it. Like I said, simpler times.

By now, age 58-59 all my classmates are getting to the ends of their respective careers. I myself should be able to retire by the time I'm 60, God willing. Most of us have kids, grandkids, and etc. Amazing. I look back at them (us) all there, looking like people oblivious to the triumphs, and devastation heading our way.

I looked at my teachers and honestly didn't recall many of them actually teaching me. I remember Mrs. Shade, Mrs. Fowler, Mr. Cherry, Mr. McCarty, Mr. Focht (pronounced Foaf), Mr. Johnson (Nam vet shop teacher), Coach Meller, Coach Doyle, Miss Richardson, and some others whose names elude me. They did their best I guess. Crazy stuff.

We were plowing through the 80's. The 80's were cool. Great movies, great music, great times.

And by the way, there there really was a kid named Terrell Bull ("Terrible"). I used to tell about that and people thought I was telling a whopper. But see for yourself. LOL!!

Also that 1982 ROTC group picture, shown above, appears on page 207.

The teachers that stand out to me...

Mr. McCarty. "Taught" biology. He was an eccentric old school "teacher". Lots of strange quirks and mannerisms. Lots of rumors about him. He had a really funny way of talking. One time in class he told me something and I said "It's cool." and he said "Boy, don't gimme any of that lingo!" Haha! He'd accuse us of "Dry labbin'!" haha! I felt sorry for him. He walked straight out of the 60's. The rumor is that he died while getting a haircut. Might've been true because he was suddenly gone. I was already out of his class. But he had been there at Lee for a while, I'm told. He used to mention his army experiences. He was an interesting guy.

Mr. Cherry. Taught government. I had him as a senior. He was a crusty old guy. This photo shows him smiling which I don't recall ever seeing him do in class. One time he said "See that bulletin board back there? My daughter decorated that. Don't touch it. If you do, I'll kill ya." He wasn't smiling. he had a gruff voice. And a gruffer demeanor. One time he came in and had shingles on his forehead. He explained that it "hurt like hell." I learned the value of taking notes in that class.

Here is Mr. Petri, assistant principal. They called them "disciplinarians". There was one for each grade level. This guy was mine. He walked around campus with a paddle in his hands. He was hated, but respected. I watched him like a mouse watches an owl. I knew better than to be "swatted" by him. Guys I knew that were said it hurt very badly. I made it through high school without getting "licks" as they were called. One time I got sent to him for repeatedly leaning back in my chair. Teacher had gotten fed up, apparently. Anyway, he read the "pink slip", casually thumped my forehead (quite solidly, as I recall), signed the paper, handed it to me and walked away, never uttering a word. I went back to class. Feeling blessed that I avoided "swats", I stopped leaning my chair back. He was like 6'4', and had clear blue eyes. And a unibrow. He really was an imposing fellow.

Mrs. Fowler, english teacher. She was very very nice. Very very patient. And she caused me to read entire books (novels). In her class I read "The Outsiders", "Of Mice and Men", "The Contender", and some other stuff too. She was cool. She would build a rapport. Good job Mrs. Fowler. Hers was a "special" recovery class. I had fallen behind in Mrs. Shade's class. So they put me in her class. In regular classes they said "We are reading such and such book." Most of the time it was something I resisted. But in her class it was different. She had a box of paperback books. She said look through the books and pick out one that interests you. I did that and it was "The Outsiders". Possibly the first ever novel I actually read cover to cover. Anyway, I thrived in her class.

 

Here's some pics from my High School years...

 

(Brian Munn, Mike Walk, and Patrick Hopkins circa 1985) 

 

(Mike Walk circa 1983) 

 

(Mike at home at his drawing desk. Circa 1984.)