Elkhart Memorial High School - Monolith Yearbook (Elkhart, IN)

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Memorial was full of special people, students and staff alike. Whether it was attending a public school in a wheelchair, or returning to high school after a 26-year absence, these people had the determina- tion to work harder, stay longer, and put forth the extra effort that set them apart from the rest. Eight of Memorial's 1600 special people are recognized on these two pages. Connie Cummins would have run on the girls’ cross country team, but there wasn’t one. However, there was a guys’ team, so she joined it. She was the first girl ever to run on the Memorial cross country team, previously made up of guys. Connie wanted a way to better her dis- tance running times for track in the spring, while doing something she enjoyed. Cross country seemed to be the best way When on the team, Connie received the same treatment as the rest of the guys. The team accepted Connie as one of them and helped her when she needed it. Connie agreed that cross country was a hard, gru- cling sport and even admitted that it was the most challenging thing she had ever done. Connie had an ulterior motive for run- ning on the cross country team. “I'm really hoping that there will someday be a girls’ cross country team here at Memo- rial. Maybe my running on a guys’ team will show girls that it is not all that hard.” Laurie Griffen, born with cerebral palsy and confined to a wheelchair, always attended public schools because “a school for the handicapped was something we never really considered. My parents just felt a public school would be better for me.” Until the sixth grade, Laurie attended classes for the physically handicapped. She enrolled at Brookdale Junior High School in the seventh grade and has taken “regular classes” since then. In her ninth grade year, Laurie received a special appreciation award from the Brookdale students and faculty In August of 1977, Laurie underwent a new type of surgery, “The Cerebellum Stimulator,” and was hospitalized in New York for five weeks. During the surgery, electrodes were planted on the surface of Laurie's brain. The electrodes were connected by wire to receivers in her chest. The purpose of these electrodes was to send electric cur- rents to her brain, breaking up spastic pat- terns and allowing her to be more relaxed The improvement from the surgery was gradual and described as an “accumula- tive process” by Laurie, who added, “The one thing I hope for is to be less depend- ent on others.” George Riebs, in order to make his U.S. History classes more interesting, wanted to find some Elkhart history that his stu- dents could relate to. He soon discovered that the history of Elkhart was no easy thing to acquire, and the only book of the city’s history was one that was written for elementary school children. After gathering bits and pieces of his- tory and many old pictures of the Elkhart area, Mr. Riebs decided to write his own book. Not only did Mr. Riebs compile, once and for all, the city’s history, he also gives many speeches on Elkhart's past. Stew Troyer used his musical abilities to play in the Marion, Indiana, Symphony Orchestra. Stew’s main instrument is the French horn, which he played in the Memorial Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. While at band camp, Stew was asked to play the French horn in the Mar- ion Philharmonic Orchestra, sitting assist- ant principal chair. The assistant principal chair player had to know how to play each

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Cathy Holt, Steve i and Joan Quinlan

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of the other three horn parts, aside from the first horn part. He also had to be ready to play any of these parts on a moment's notice. Stew traveled to Marion every Monday night to rehearse with the orchestra. He practiced this music, along with the music that the band used, for which he played a mellophone solo. Music has been an important part of Stew’s life since he was in grade school and he plans to continue with his playing and make it a career. Bill Haslem and Laura Sickels, both involved in publications, held part-time jobs at The Elkhart Truth during the 1977-78 school year. Bill, the publications darkroom man- ager, was the Truth’s only student photog- rapher and worked weekends taking and printing pictures. “[ really liked being a Truth photogra- pher,” commented Bill. “It gave me a chance to meet a lot of people. I even met Jim Nabors and Tommy Newsom of the Tonight Show!” Laura, editor-in-chief of Genesis, ran the wire room on Friday evenings. Running the wire room included moni- toring the wire photo machines and help- ing to prepare wire stories for the Satur- day morning papers. Laura had previous experience at The Truth as she won top Go reporter for 1976-77. Laura enjoyed working at The Truth and said, “It was a good experience that I may not have had otherwise, and it will definitely help prepare me for a career in journalism.” Vi Andy Holtz was field commander for the 1977-78 Marching Chargers. He was also the first junior drum major to work solo. When Andy tried out in April of 1977, he was worried that as a junior he would not command the respect of the band the way a senior drum major would. During the summer, Andy attended Moorehead University in Kentucky for a week of drum major schooling, where he learned the fine points of marching and directing. The drum major’s job is to direct the band on the field. No band member is expected to march any better than the drum major. Andy commented, “The hardest part is that the responsibility is all on your shoulders and if you mess up, everyone knows.” Everlyn Hackworth attended classes at Memorial during 1977-78, finishing her junior year in January and starting her senior year second semester. Mrs. Hackworth attended classes dur- ing the day because she worked nights, Homework was done between school and job. “Having an early release made it easy for me to go home and finish my homework before leaving for work.” Mrs. Hackworth decided to return to school because she thinks a high school education is a necessity. Her plans included attending college after gradua- tion Linda Hackworth, her daughter, along with many other students, thought it was “neat” that Mrs. Hackworth returned to school. Mrs. Hackworth said, “Students were kind and helpful even before they found out my age.” Jorma Latva, Rainer Wolfersdorf, Pia Osterberg, and Miyuki Tanaka spent the year at Memorial as exchange students Jorma and Pia came from Finland, Rainer from Germany and Miyuki from Japan. Each student was here to learn the Ameri- can way of life. Youth for Understanding was the pro- gram that sponsored Pia, Jorma, and Miyuki. Rainer was sponsored by Interna- tional Christian Youth. All four students lived with other Mem- orial students. Jorma lived with Manley Robinson; Pia with Chris Vetter; Rainer with Dennis Huston, and Miyuki with Mary Luke. Miyuki was the second for- eign exchange student to live with Mary Luke's family All four students agreed that the prices in the U.S. were cheaper than those in their own countries. Rainer noted that jeans in Germany run about $40 a pair compared to about $20 a pair here. Although homesickness was a big prob- lem, all four students were happy with their American families and the U.S.