Rock Island High School - Watchtower Yearbook (Rock Island, IL)

Page 16 text:

Hot Spots At The Rock It was 8:29 a.m. You had ten seconds to run across the concourse to get to class before that ominous bell sounded. You pushed, you shoved. You broke into a cold sweat. No matter how hard you tried there was no escaping THE MOBS. The mobs of students, that is. You may have gotten past fifteen sophomore girls trying to jam their books into one locker, but no one passed through the junior guys wrestling in the middle of the hall. Of course, it wasn’t this hectic in all parts of the building, but definite hot spots did exist at the Rock. The third floor hallways were usually easy to get through, but if you had to walk down a hallway anywhere on first floor, be prepared to go very slowly. Whether it was the gorgeous security guard or just avoidance of stinky science labs, these passageways were wall to wall people. Community lockers on second floor could also be annoying. Clusters of people could always be spotted in girls bathrooms, the lunch¬ room, and the parking lot after school. Other hang outs not quite as noticeable were alive and well to a choice few. TEC appeared to be popular on quite a few days: namely testing days. Everyone knew the logs outside the school could always be seen covered with people also. All the jocks around the Rock had their special hang out spots in given locker areas and their territory was worth fight¬ ing for if necessary. And of course we have all known for a long time that the music people certainly have their special spots for band and choir. For the most part, anywhere students could congregate to discuss great social concerns or just relax and be themselves, was their own number one hot spot. Richie Ballinger ' s incredible charm and savvy flat¬ tery made him a literal hang out for an unknown but lucky girl. Females could always be found primping and shar¬ ing gossip in front of bathroom mirrors between

Page 15 text:

Although his heart is devoted to his mother. Steve Tanner is embarrassed to be caught with her on a family outing at the mall. Red faced students How many times did you find your brand new shoe slip out from under you creating a down pour of geometry pa¬ pers? Did you ever get caught spreading gossip about the person standing in back of you? Embarrassing moments were impossi¬ ble to avoid. At least once in four years each student became the victim of a hilar¬ ious mishap. Whether your mother brought your lunch to school personally in her hair rollers and said “Here Sweet¬ heart”, or you actually sat down in the wrong class; at Rocky, in front of your peers, these moments were even worse. A class with a large enrollment of Rocky students is the RYDER program. One could always count on running into someone they knew there. Students have also gotten in embarrassing trouble for decorating trees outside of friends’ homes. Remember the time your new boy girlfriend’s father caught you in his yard at midnight with two rolls of toilet paper yet to place in his trees? Our biggest critics were our peers, and the littlest mistake could make you the butt of a joke for an entire day. Someone who could care less about forgetting their locker combination would get laughed out of the hallway before he had a chance to remember. Heaven forbid the idea of going somewhere with the family! “Herd in the Halls” would snatch that up before you got home. So be warned: these sha¬ meful moments never fail to come when you least expect it! Face it, embarrassment is unavoidable and essential. All of us would agree these moments were what kept the day on an up beat, broke the monotony, and most important taught us to laugh at ourselves. Danny McCart and Jackie Ralston have been caught studying in an unusual, and potentially dangerous spot. Who’s more embarrassed? Jenny Melton and Mr. Tietjens share the trauma of flashing red lights pulling them over in front of the school during a driver ed session.

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Most lunchers congregate in the cafeteria for lunch, but these choose the suburb of the usual haunt, the picnic table, where they can escape the mobs. Here are Chris Niels n and lone survivors of thq footb wait for friends. Allyso garr Wad s as ell the last ley loyally Very devoted football players. Mickey Borcherding and Yung-Yu Ma. could often be found in their sec¬ ond home, the locker room. Curt Panther, Jodi L Williams participate sharing lockers so inspired. and Brett l gal act of whenever itly ill gethe Ang i the get 3y cai