September of 1960 marked the beginning of a four-year mountain climbing expedition to the top of Mount Grad. The expedition will come to a close in June of 1964, when a small flag with the ingle work “diploma” is placed on the peak.
The purpose was to prepare the 210 men and women who will reach the climax for the larger and more difficult mountains to climb in the future.
Mount Grad is a composed not of rocks, dirt, snow and cliffs, but of books, teachers, pencils, paper, tests, reports, homework, parties, clubs, dances, and games. In other words, Mount Grad is composed of our High School years.
As freshmen, we were all eagerly awaiting our first day as high school students. To our dismay, we soon discovered that our enthusiasm must have been misinterpreted, with the unfortunate result being a seven-period day. This was but the beginning of “Operation Guinea Pig.”
Exploring every stairway and every door in the school proved to be embarrassing for a few freshmen girls who opened the wrong door and went down the wrong stairway which led into the Boys’ Phy. Ed. department.
Homecoming saw Susie Paul and Jim Brull representing our freshmen class in the court. One of the more important events of Homecoming weekend was the announcement of a special honorary award for our class float. (We have yet to find out exactly what the award is but the judges have promised that they will explain the award if we explain the float.)
“Operation Guinea Pig” continued as biology was offered to several freshmen. Themes such as “Check yourself” and “Sst, Sst, Sst” became universal.
As freshmen, we soon discovered that spelling contests were not our strong point. We did, however, manage to preserve our perfect record through all four years.
Under the supervision of Mr. Mueller, better known as “Little Caesar,” the Romans invaded Mount Grad. These Romans, who knew little Latin, made an unsuccessful attempt to do away with “Little Caesar” on the Ides of March. As “greenhorns,” we had not yet acquired the characteristic of persistence. Had we, the results may have been more favorable.
With Jim Wiese, Enid Koch, and Diane Anschutz helping us over our first obstacles on our climb to the top of Mount Grad, our freshmen year was not as bad as we had been led to believe it would be.
Leading us over the foothills in our sophomore year were President George Ellis, Vice-president Bob Konop, and Secretary Enid Koch.
Phase three of “Operation Guinea Pig” commenced with the notorious team-teaching program. Supposedly representing the “cream of the crop,” it laid the foundation for an alliance between teachers and a correlation of subjects.
In the sporting world in our sophomore year, Jim Peterson mad a great showing at the Milwaukee Journal Relays. Jim was one of the four-lap relay team who copped first place honors there and set a new record in the classification of schools under 1,000.
Showing great promise in the field of music were Dianne Wilsmann and Marilyn Luebke.
On the successful journey up the mountain pass, we met many new faces. One who enlightened our sophomore year was Line Hauger from Oslo, Norway. Line gave us many memorable moments during her brief stay with us.
Enid Koch and Jim Peterson represented our class in our sophomore year on the Homecoming Court. Our football game was a heartbreaker as we lost a tough game to the Kaukauna Ghosts by a score of 12 to 10.
Yes, the mountain climbing rope was growing longer as each event was tied to it, but as we recall, our rope broke when our sophomore dance fell through. This is but one of the things that has helped to make our class unique.
Preparing us in our junior year were Ron Sievert, Charles Barman, and Kathy Lorrigan.
We were all happy to receive Christianne DeLannoy as our foreign exchange student. Christy hailed from Brussels, Belgium. We will never forget how her image of American teenagers improved when she arrive at Washington High School.
“Oh no, my gym suit is wrinkled.” “Look at my hair, it’s a mess.” These are a couple of the shrieks and screams arising from the girls’ locker room when they heard they were going to have mixed phy-ed. It is to be noted that there were no objections from the boys.
Displaying form that made him a good prospect in the pole vault was Dave Altmann. Also prominent on the track field was Tom Rath who set a new high school record in the high jump by soaring to a height of 6 feet, 2 inches.
Noteworthy is the fact that Robert Suettinger was announced as the school winner of the annual Current Events test sponsored by Time Magazine.
Badger girl honors were awarded to Connie Christoffel while Badger boys were announced to be Shedd Spring and Dave Altmann.
What do you think sounds better? “Let’s impress um” or “Let’s decrease um.” Don’t you think we should have used a combination of the two: “Let’s depress um”? Too bad we couldn’t impress the judges. All was not lost, however, as we had Alana Graycarek and Gary Lintereur as great representation of our junior class on the Homecoming Court.
The girls in our class were given an excellent opportunity to show off their coordination, gracefulness, and boy-tackling ability when the junior boys and girls played football together one lazy Saturday afternoon.
After school pep deteriorated for so many years, we decided to do something about it. A prize was offered for the best drawing of a mascot. T. R. Raider.
Remember the “western” touch of our senior farewell “Springtime in Paris” added by Jeanne Ramey? Long will remain with us memories of George Ellis’ modern interpretation of the Eiffel Tower, the Kleenex Arc of Triumph, the real live artificial flowers, and the unused bandstand. Special thanks go to Dennis Kazar for transporting the Louvre all the way from Paris.
At long last our senior year arrived, bringing with it many unforgettable memories. Guiding us along were Bob Konop, President; Greg Rhode, Vice-president; and Betty Lintereur as secretary.
During our journey we met foreign exchange student Gudmundur Karlsson who contributed much to both students and teachers. Karl is from Reykjavik, Iceland and because of his sale of “Eskimo Pies” and “Fish Sticks” at the variety show, there will be an exchange student next year.
Although we were plagued with many injuries and ended the season with a 0-6 record, our football team never gave up trying. That in itself is a credit to the boys on the team. With Gary Lintereur and Paul LaFond as co-captains, our 63-64 basketball team finished the season with a 7-7 conference record, earning us a tie for 3rd place with Shawno. Paul finished his high school basketball years by being elected to the first all-conference team. Jim Brull, Jim Peterson, and Mark Wrolstad were three of a four-man relay that made a fine show at the Milwaukee Journal Relays this year. Once again, W.H.S. was given first place honors.
Our school was well represented by Enid Koch in many ways. One of her first honors was to serve as a W.H.S. foreign exchange student during the summer of ’63. Freckenhorst in Westfalen, Germany, provided the summer home for her. Enid also received the 1964 DAR Award.
“Operation Guinea Pig” comes to a close. Introduced into this year’s curriculum for seniors were World History Seminar, Economics and Government, and Senior Science. Interest in Senior Science picked up with night study in astronomy.
Homecoming was reigned over by King Dick Peterson and Queen Carol Richmond. Also on the court representing the senior class were Ann Stangel and Mike Mraz. Mention should be made of the best float in the parade, a white cash register, which was forced to settle for second place.
We were fortunate to have some excellent debaters in our senior year. John Hansel and Lance Temby were among those who claimed the conference championship, while Mark Wrolstad and Jeanne Ramey helped to bring home the B-Class trophy. Capturing a first place in the Milwaukee Journal Student Art contest was James Antonie. Jim did a semi-abstract cosine entitled “Harbor Spectrum.”
Although Mr. Hurlbut doubted the ability of our senior class, we came through as usual, making the annual deadline with at least give minutes to spare. Work on the 63-64 Neshotah News required many hours from our senior class. All was not in vain, however, as the project was finished with more than satisfactory results.
The famous T.R. Blue Doddas, under the leadership of Mark Nischke, provided Sunday afternoon football entertainment and a chance for both the fans and players to fraternize with the Manty “enemy.” (?)
Initiated in our senior year was the Lettermen’s Club with Dave Altmann as president. We would like to take time here to remind all girls to be sure to get “their” lettermen’s sweater.
The trail to this peak has been rough and rugged but we have reached it at last. This is still not the end, however, for there are many more mountains to climb. We can only hope that our high school climb has prepared us for the rest of the journey and that we will not all into the crevices along the way. If we accept the challenge, someday we are sure to teach the Peak of Success.