Tuesday, June 7th, 2022
A&E
The Pepperbox | Page 15
Alumni teachers of Arcata High Aidan Shelton
S
Art Director
tudents often forget that staff were once teens as well. Many of Arcata High School’s staff members went here, much more than were interviewed on this list. With several of these staff members attending high school together, we sat down with some of them for a conversation about what AHS was like back in their day. Mr. Moore and Ms. Coriell: The iconic history teacher Owen Moore was just entering Arcata High School in ‘97 as a freshman while Jennifer Coriell, the AP Euro and history teacher, was starting her senior year as well. Coriell was the classic popular girl at the time. “I hung out with the cheerleaders and dated basketball players; that’s pretty cliquey,” Coriell said. While they didn’t talk much, being at opposite ends of the food chain, they would later become colleagues and the best of friends. “She was older and really cool. I was a nerdy freshman” Moore said. Moore, on the other hand, did varsity sports, was in clubs, and even participated in theater. That’s where he had his most embarrassing moment of high school. “I gave Ms. Stewart a concussion. We were rehearsing for a school play and I opened the door really fast and hit her. It gave her a concussion and sprained her wrist. That’s absolutely my most shameful moment. I felt so bad and gave her flowers” said Mr. Moore. According to Moore and Coriell, the school was a very different place in the ‘90s. It was much less tolerant and diverse back in the day, with the only openly gay student being heavily bullied. Mental health had not been realized as important yet
either. “I never heard the words mental health; it was all about not getting Aids,” said Mr. Moore. “It was all about not driving drunk and wearing a condom.” Vickers and Hogan: Cindy Vickers, the Director of Fiscal Services, and Jim Hogan, Head Custodian, also went to high school together at the same time, with Hogan being in school from ‘81-’85 and Vickers being here from ‘85-’89. While they didn’t have too many memories of each other, Vicker’s sister sure did. “He went to high school with my sister, who, when I talk about him, says, ‘oh, he was such a hunk. He was such a hunk in high school; Jimmy was good looking.’ So I guess you were popular” Vickers said to Hogan. Both had shared experiences with sports, however. Hogan and Vickers played softball and basketball, and Hogan played football, baseball, and basketball. He was the star quarterback on offense and a lineman on defense. While both may have been in the jock and class clown categories, they definitely had their fair share of embarrassing moments. “I would say mine would be when I did a U turn in front of the Old Fellows Hall. I punched it, spun out, hit the gravel and knocked out the handrail on that stairway over there. Everybody saw it too” proclaimed Hogan. Ms. Rosebrook and Mr. Kalson: Not only did Jennifer Rosebrook and Neil Kalson go to high school together during the same year, they also went to Sunny Brae Middle School together. They knew each other quite well. The biggest difference and most memorable experience of high school was the AIBT sleepover. “Me and Ms. Day (JCS Teacher)
went walking over to the AIBT sleepover with our sleeping bags, but not wanting to wear a jacket ‘cause, we didn’t have a jacket that looked cool, freezing to death..” said Rosebrook. The whole school would spend the night at the gym during the famous basketball tournament. “You could spend the night with all your friends, male and female, in the gym, pretty much unsupervised. We won’t outline why we don’t do that anymore” Kalson responded. Many staff were students at the same time as Kalson and Rosebrook, some the same age, and some older. “I had a huge crush on Mr. Perry because he was a senior and I was a freshman. I wrote a big heart around his picture ‘cause he was like student body president, football player, I just thought he was the bomb,” Rosebrook said. Ron Perry and Tahnia Campbell Perry and Campbell, who will be Principal and Assistant Principal next year, also went to high school together in ‘85. Both have many shared mem-
ories of sports, including of some coaches who are still widely known today. “I was coached my senior year by Jerry Paul, who is pretty well known and famous in the coaching area all over the state. Also, I would like to acknowledge James Washington was my coach” Campbell said. While being a star athlete, Perry was still able to excel academically. “I remember my freshman year getting my grades and Mike Pugh grabbing it from my hands saying what kind of grades you can get there ‘cause everybody else was like “I’m eligible!” And then I had 4.0 and they were all saying Perr’s a square look at his grades!” said Perry. From being athletes to bookworms, theater kids to cheerleaders, the staff around us had very diverse high school experiences. It was quite interesting to learn about how they knew each other from their days at Arcata High School.
Ian Letts/PEPPERBOX
AHS Alumni and current staff members pose on the Senior Lawn
