Griffith High School - Reflector Yearbook (Griffith, IN)

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Tucked in the northwest comer of Indiana, lies a small town, sandwiched between the bustling, industrial complex of Chicago — Hammond — and — Gary, better known as the Calumet Region. This “bedroom community” where fathers work in one town but live and rear their families in another is the suburbs of Griffith. This town is just like any other typical suburb, with one high school, mushroom-shaped water towers and a volunteer fire department. A steel -cast foundry and a paper-packing company make up the industrial faction, shops, taverns and the U.S. Post Office line the streets downtown, with two fire stations at opposite ends. Eleven gas stations, four recreational parks, and four elementary schools are scattered throughout the town. The Calumet area has been described as one big “melting pot,” in other words, name the nationality, and Griffith probably has it. The town is populated by more than 18 , 000 , ranging from Spanish-Americans, to middle- Europeans. Many belong to one of the twelve churches that are located within the town. Although the town is like many others, it does differ in some respects. Griffith claimed two entries in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” The town has the record for the most this is GRIFFITH PANTHER COUNTRY “This is Griffith Panther country. The legend painted on the water tower leaves no doubt as to what community a motorist is passing through as he spins down busy Ridge Road. Early evening in Griffith is exemplified by closed stores and the whizzing of cars as residents desert the streets en-route home from work. Griffith: conglomeration of railroad

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car washes. Some students were dismayed to discover that studying hours for a test sometimes resulted in failure, while not studying at all brought an unexpected A. Just as a student finally focused dry yeast cells under the microscope after 20 minutes of probing, the fire alarm would inevitably ring. It ' s an old belief that taxes and death are the only sure things in life. But in school, students realize new changes and old traditions will always be present. Kids discover life’s certainties: taxes, curfew, football, change 5

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tracks, army tank, water tower railroad crossings in any one place, and it used to claim Broad street as the shortest highway in the nation, until the state gave it to Griffith in 1964. Having a high school in a town doesn’t sound too special, but when one spends one -third of each day in a school, it is like a second home to many. Approximately 1,000 students and 52 faculty members sit in school for 415 minutes each day between September 4 and June 7. Every morning, janitors open the building by unlocking 45 doors and flicking on 72 lights. For competitive sports, teams can use either one of two gymnasiums. The library offers more than 17,000 volumes for research or just for reading pleasure. Eighty -four years have passed since Griffith was settled in 1891. What was once a swampland, is now the flourishing little town of Griffith. Generations of Griffith residents have grown accustomed to the tank guarding Broad street and all the town’s children.