Mercer County High School - Highlander Yearbook (Harrodsburg, KY)

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4 1. In order to do her best in U.S. History, Rebecca Jenkins utilizes a break from office work to study. 2. Known for his ludicrous antics, Mike Brinegar shows his “care” about be- ing late to third period. 3. Seriousness and contemplation are important to Justine Glaesser. 4. Fort Harrod State Park stands lonely and desolate during the winter months. 5. The clear, cool night of October 29 instills a feeling of excitement in the local citizens as the team takes on Harrodsburg Pioneers. 6. Before an investigation begins, the premises must be scanned to gather facts and hints. 3 Opening 3

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CASE OPENED: CHANGES FORESEEN With the new school year came Reagonomics, a higher in- flation rate and many changes in education and the local life. The 939 students and 52 faculty members consisting of distinct personalities and intellects began to investigate their environment and be more aware of the conditions af- fecting them. Landmarks and traditions were proved to be taken for granted when State budget cuts forced the closing of Fort Harrod State Park during the winter months, and class ac- tivities became minimal due to the hard hit educational finances. Although renovations to the library and cafeteria brought about a change to the physical appearance of the school, its contents remained the same. The farm-minded people continued to work after school; the intellectually inclined studied, but events such as the Homecoming Dance, Harrodsburg-Mercer rival football game, and Fort Harrod Classic Basketball tournament merged everyone to a com- mon interest. A change definitely was taking place in the lives of the students and in the environment. Some met this as a challenge; others considered it a warning to settle for the simple things and be content.

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Please Listen To What I’m Not Saying Don’t be fooled by me. Don’t be fooled by the face I wear. For I wear a thousand masks, masks that I’m afraid to take off; and none of them are me. I give the impression that I’m secure, that confidence is my game, that the water’s calm and I’m in command and I need no one. But don’t believe me. Please. My surface may seem smooth but beneath I dwell in confusion, in fear, in aloneness. But I hide this. 1 panic at the thought of being ex- posed. That’s why I frantically create a mood to hide behind, a nonchalant, sophisticated facade to shield me from the glance that knows. But such a glance is my salvation; and I know it. It’s the on- ly thing that can assure me of ac- ceptance and love. I’m afraid you’ll think less of me; that you’ll laugh at me. Laughter would kill me. So I play my game, my desperate pretending game, with a facade of assurance; without a trembling child within; and so my life becomes a front. I idly chatter to you in the suave surface tones ... I tell you everything that’s nothing and nothing of what’s everything of what’s crying within me. So when I go into my routine do not be fooled by what I’m saying. Please listen carefully to what I’m not saying. 1 do not like superficial phony games that I play. I’d like to be genius and spontaneous and me. You’ve got to hold out your hand even when it seems to be the last thing I seem to want, or need. Only you can bring me into aliveness. Each time you’re kind and gentle and encouraging. Each time you try to understand because you really care, my heart begins to grow wings, small wings, very feeble wings. .. The nearer I approach me the blinder I may strike back. It’s irra- tional, but despite what the books say about man. I’m irrational I fight against the very things I cry out for. But I am told that love is stronger than walls, and therein lies my hope. Please try to beat down those firm walls, but with gentle hands — because a child is sensitive. Who am I you may wonder? I am so- meone you know very well. 1 am every man and woman you meet. Tom Wall St. Louis University I r 4 Opening