Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your High School Years

It’s not only the first day of spring and in the 80s here in Tucson, it’s also Saturday, so it is time for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun with Randy Seaver. Here is this week’s challenge:

1) This week we travel down Memory Lane again – tell us about your high school years with answers to ten questions.

Here’s mine:

1. What was your high school’s full name, where was it, and what year did you graduate?

Wayne Valley High School, Wayne, New Jersey, 1970.

During my freshman year of high school, the town opened a second high school. It was determined that seniors in the Class of 1967 were all to remain at the newly renamed Wayne Valley High School and all freshmen were to attend the brand new Wayne Hills High School. Sophomores and juniors went to the school in their attendance area. However, for 10th grade (1967-1968 school year) all students attended the high school in their own attendance area. That made my class quite unique, as the two classes of 1970 had all attended Wayne Hills together for one year.

2. What was the school team nickname, and what are/were your school’s colors?

We were, and the school still remains, the politically incorrect Wayne Valley Indians. However, apparently a campaign began in June 2020 to rename the teams. Colors are blue and white.

3. What was the name of your school song, and can you still sing it? 

I haven’t a clue what the school song was, I can’t find it online and the commencement program only calls it “Alma Mater.”

4. Did you have a car? How did you get to and from school?

I didn’t have a car and, back then, only seniors were allowed to have a car on campus. I rode the school bus the year I attended Wayne Hills, which was three miles away. I walked down the hill to Wayne Valley in the morning and back up the high to my house in the afternoon.

5. Did you date someone from your high school? Or marry someone from your high school? Were you considered a flirt?

No, no and no. I was very quiet and shy.

6. What social group were you in?

I was a very good student and my friends were all pretty much academically oriented. We were tracked into advanced classes.

7. Who were your favorite teachers? My junior English teacher and senior Humanities teacher, Robert Ruffing, was one of my favorite teachers. He made learning fun and he was a very perceptive man. Lucille Attenasio taught American History I, Carol Pott taught Spanish II and II, Gaynell Harding taught Spanish IV, and David Wagner taught Psychology, a senior elective.

8. What did you do on Friday nights?

I went to school activities, if any were happening, but mostly babysat to earn spending money.

9. Did you go to and have fun at the Senior Prom?
No, prom was quite exclusive – extremely expensive for a ticket – around $100, if I remember correctly, which was a fortune back then – and I have never liked to dance.

10. Have you been to reunions, and are you planning on going to the next reunion?
Many of my classmates remained in the NYC metro area and reunion planners always chose Friday of Thanksgiving weekend as the date to get together. Having moved to California, I was never interested in flying to New Jersey over a horrible Thanksgiving travel weekend.
I had thought about attending our 50th, which was slated for the last weekend of September 2020. Yep, you guessed it – postponed at least until September 2021 because of the pandemic.
As for attending – maybe. We’ll see what state the world is in in six more months.
I did use my genealogy sleuthing skills to find missing members of the Class of 1970. There was a team working on locating classmates – 420 of them – and when they were down to around 25 still unaccounted for, I offered to help. There aren’t any more missing classmates!
Thanks, Randy, for this week’s challenge.

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