The Harrison Paw Print is not the only newspaper in Harrison High School. Students can see The Wildcat Times and The Big Green H on the history timeline near the office, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. After joining journalism this year, I was delighted to find out that my grandpa had a secret hidden beneath the pages of a Harrison Yearbook dating back to 1970. It was a vintage Harrison High School newspaper that gives an insight of what students were up to in the past.
This newspaper found in my grandpa’s yearbook is a Special Senior Memory Issue dating back to May 20th, 1970, and it was released under the name, The Highlighter. Harrison Graduate Howard Redden had forgotten all about this newspaper until he found it in the yearbook. It includes all sorts of information, like the principal’s farewell speech, who’s valedictorian, seniors saluting the advisors, and so much more! Let’s take a moment to look back a a time when our high school was newer than the junior high is now, and see what students were up to their senior years.
When The Highlighter was released, it had the bottom front, inside and half of the back dedicated to something called Student Wills. Think of Student Wills as when elderly people, in this case seniors, bequeath their possessions to family members, which are the other classmen. Another way to think of it is like the Harrison Rings where you swap rings with friends. I know that my ring will be with me forever! Some of these Student Wills include Janet Richards, who said, “I, Janet Richards, being of sound mind and body, do hereby bequeath to Steve Schulte, Larry Sandman, Clyde Kober, and John Strimple, my honorable ‘F’ in Citizenship.” (she really must not have been good at Citizenship) and Jeffrey Elrod, who wrote “I, Jeffrey Elrod, being of sound mind and body, do hereby bequeath to Dave Metz, one quarter to flip in case he can’t decide who to take out over the weekend.” This guy is really looking at all the fish in the sea, am I right?
On April 20th, 1970, seniors were all asked what the future holds for them. Several students plan on going to Miami University and they are Floyd Brown, Ken Hayes, Greg Oden, Vicki Parks, James Robertson, Joe Schulte, Ed Souders, Brian Taylor, Charles Thrasher, Elaine Vlochos, Carol Wiwi, and Carol Young. I do plan on going to Miami University eventually! Those joining the work force are Tom Miller, Walt Minges, Sandy Zorb, Janet Richards, Pat Vance, Dave Miller, Donna Taylor, Cliff Fowler, Lana Greiser, and Linda Nash. It’s always a good idea to sort out your future and what you want to do, either to join the workforce or go to college like these graduates.
Here comes my favorite part of The Highlighter – Look Ahead; Twenty Years From Now. I read this section for Journalism, and I just couldn’t stop laughing at these hysterical responses. “Is Melinda Enochs Harrison’s femme fatale?” If this newspaper is saying that she is, then I think so too. “Jim ‘Carrot-Top’ Doerflein was tragically eaten by a rabbit. (a giant rabbit).” I guess that giant rabbit was hungry for Jim, or should I say ‘Carrot-tops’?
When I was viewing the paper for Journalism, I saw two names that seemed familiar to me: Karen Reynolds and Toni Sabatelli. These names remind me of two people I knew. Ms. Reynolds and Camren Sabatelli! And then I got to wondering, are they related to Toni and Karen? I went and interviewed Ms. Reynolds first to see what she had to say, and I’ve collected a great response from her! Ms. Reynolds says that she didn’t go to Harrison High School, so therefore Karen is not related to her. She thinks the newspaper is a cool piece of history though. After Ms. Reynolds, I interviewed Camren for a response, and she says that her and Toni are related! Toni is alive and well in her mid-80’s, and I asked if Camren was in the Class of 1970, what would her student will be? Camren says it would be giving humor to people who are unfunny.
What’s so special about the Class of 1970? After the development of the high school was finished, the seniors were the first to graduate from their new school. On the Highlighter’s upper front page under the title ’PRINCIPAL BIDS FAREWELL TO GRADUATING SENIORS’ (1970)., is a speech given by the principal. ”… May God cause good fortune to come your way. Bless you as you depart the first class to graduate from the new William Henry Harrison Senior High School.” That’s what makes the class of 1970 so special.
