Made primarily of cinder blocks, the buildings at my school are
not particularly elegant looking. If
memory serves me correctly the school was built in 1970 at a cost of
$6,000,000. Pilchuck High School became
the second high school in the district. The
colors were green and gold; PHS was the home of the Chargers. With no two story buildings and covering
almost 90 acres the campus was sprawling.
Classroom doors all opened to the outside; at the time it was called a
“California style” school. Didn’t the
architects know it rains here? The community was much smaller then.
In the early 70’s there were 9 consecutive school levy
failures in the Marysville School District.
To cut costs Marysville High School and Pilchuck High School were merged
in to one school in 1975. That was the
year I came to the high school. Marysville
High School’s colors were red and white and the mascot was the Tomahawks. The newly combined Marysville-Pilchuck High
School adopted red and white as the colors and adopted Tomahawks as the
mascot. The Pilchuck High School campus
became the Marysville-Pilchuck High School campus. Marysville High School became the junior
high. The school day was shortened,
class sizes ballooned. They were
challenging times.
In time a group of parents, led by Don DeMarco, came forward
and took on the challenge of getting our Maintenance and Operation levy
passed for the first time in years. It
was no small task. In the face of need the
community rallied.
Even with the two high schools combined into one, in the
late 70’s we could still do an all school assembly in the auditorium. I believe it seated about 825; we still
weren’t really a very big school. In a
few years we had to do two assemblies to accommodate the growing student
body. As more and more new homes were
built the student body grew; we moved assemblies to the gym. In or near the late 90’s we had well over
2,000 students. I believe we peaked
somewhere near 2,650 kids. We had become
one of the two largest high schools in the state. All the changes brought new challenges. Students, staff and the community always rose
to the occasion.
I have been a real estate broker the last 5 1/2 years. I taught from 1973-2009. I was the Marketing teacher and DECA Advisor at
Marysville-Pilchuck; I witnessed a lot of change. I taught at a AA school, a AAA school, and a
AAAA school—all that without ever changing schools. Early on I thought of MPHS as MY school. I loved my school and still do now. Was it those old cinder blocks that grew on
me? Did the warping fascia boards touch
my heart? When the roof leaked in my
classroom, did it endear me to that special place? In a way I suppose it did. More precisely it was my students who grew on
me; they touched my heart. Touched my
heart? Well, it was more like they became ingrained in my heart—they became a part of me.
Memories:
As a teacher I remember kids preparing for
competition, practicing presentations, running for offices, and planning large
scale projects. I particularly remember
the daily interactions in the classroom.
Sometimes it was an effort just to get everyone to sit down and stop
talking. Sometimes I felt clumsy and
awkward with a class or with something I was hoping to accomplish. Sometimes, certainly not always, things went
smoothly. Sometimes the classroom was
incredibly exhilarating. I enjoyed the
good natured bantering with my classes.
I enjoyed getting to know them as a group and as individuals. I enjoyed seeing kids gain skills and
confidence; it was so exciting to see their eyes brighten and their backs
straighten. How many jobs are there
where you get to love 150 new people every year? How many? I had that job; for 36 years I had
that job. It was such a privilege; dear
God, it was such a privilege!
I remember school and community service projects my students
and I worked on. “Think About It…”
campaigns were created to encourage kids to make good decisions in all aspects of
their lives.
Breaking Down the Walls was a week long program involving
hundreds of students and many staff members.
Parents and other community members also participated. We worked to help kids see how much they
really had in common with each other and to see past superficial
differences.
Martin Luther King programs were done to honor the great
civil rights hero and to celebrate diversity.
The Total Experience Gospel Choir sang at our assemblies. The first year we had them they performed at
24 schools. Later, Patrinell Wright, the
founder and director of the group, told us our school had one of the two best
programs they had seen. (I never
understood why we weren’t THE best.)
Our Proud to be an American program was a response to the
9/11 attacks. While having students and staff form a 60 yard flag on the
football field was the most visible part of the day’s activities the assembly
beforehand was by far the best part. Retired
Army Major Daverso’s tearful and emotional response to the assembly was moving
for everyone. Once again students and
staff came together to straighten our backs and choose positive responses.
In conjunction with Marysville Rotary I remember building
the Marysville-Tulalip Veterans Memorial; I doubt if there is anything quite
like it on any high school campus in the country. The project took 2 ½ years. We researched every Marysville-Tulalip KIA veteran going back to World War I. The dedication ceremony, done in 2005, took
nearly two hours. In attendance were
over 200 people from the community.
Frank Gadwa, an Air Force pilot, was shot down over Germany during World War II. He was a German POW for 2 years. He attended.
Marine Corporal Jack Elkins, a Bataan Death March survivor, was in
attendance. In uniform. The Tulalip Honor Guard presented the
colors. Marysville-Pilchuck students
interviewed over 250 veterans and the families of KIA veterans. They made a tri-fold display board for each
veteran. Captain Robert Pearson was shot
down over Viet Nam in 1967. His mother
was there to help read the formal dedication of the memorial. Gary Clifton Paddock, US Navy, died on his last
day of service in Viet Nam in February of 1967.
We interviewed his mother; it was still too painful for her to
attend. Marine Lance Corporal Jack
Hammond was killed in Viet Nam in October of 1967. His mother attended the dedication. After the dedication two students walked her out to the memorial
where she gingerly touched her son’s name.
In all of these instances kids took tremendous risks to
organize and put on large scale projects.
Students, staff, parents, and the business community came together to
make extremely worthwhile things happen.
This is how I remember my school and the community.
Darkness comes:
On
the morning of October 24, 2014 the unthinkable happened at my school. A freshman boy texted his friends and invited
them to have lunch with him in the cafeteria.
He walked in and shot five of them; it was vicious, premeditated
murder. The killer then turned the gun
on himself and took his own life. At
this writing two of the five victims have died.
Why did this happen? Why?! WHY?!!
Why, why, did this happen?! I am
horrified. I am confused and I am
grieving. This kind of thing happens
other places, faraway places, but not here, not at my school. My school is a good place, a safe place, a
very special place. This boy shot his
friends and his cousins; it is more than I can grasp.
The victims were shot in the head. Those young faces—smashed… Those young lives—snuffed out… So much promise and so much to look forward
to—smothered in an instant…
I have so many questions, so many questions…What was the
killer thinking? Why did he do it? The faces of some of the victims were so
obliterated that they had trouble identifying the kids. What was it like to be a parent of one of the
victims and get the call that your son or daughter may have been shot? If the two victims who are still in critical
condition survive, what kind of life will they have? What are the families of the two murdered
girls feeling now? What is the family of
the shooter feeling now? How are thousands of alumni feeling about their school and their community now? How will any of
the families ever move on? How does one
15 year old wreak so much havoc and bring darkness into the lives of so many
people?
As a parent how do you explain all of this to your middle
school or elementary school child? Kids
who were not even there will have nightmares. How do you comfort and reassure your
kids? Parents will be more worried and
more anxious for years to come. Trust is
broken now for everybody. In one way or
another everyone is marked by this for life.
For life.
Light:
How do people
move on? Where does anyone begin? How do
we start to find light again? Two of the
shooter’s victims have died, two more remain in critical condition at this
writing. Another shooting victim, Nate
Hatch, is currently in satisfactory condition.
He recently tweeted this:
I love you and
I forgive you jaylen rest in peace
I asked how one 15 year old could bring so much darkness into the lives of so many people. Is it possible that a 14 year old is
showing where light begins? How does he
find it in himself to do this—to forgive the shooter? How?! How
is he doing this? Where does he find the
strength? Where does he find the
courage? How does he choose light in the
face of devastating darkness?
Through the
decades, time and again I saw students, staff, and the community come together;
they are already doing it now. They are
already choosing light.
During my years at the high school I knew so many teachers and other
staff members who were hardworking, dedicated, caring people; day in and day
out they put kids first. They helped
MPHS be a good place and a safe place.
They did through the decades I was there, they still do now, and I know
they will in the future. I am completely
confident that the kids, the staff, the parents, the community, and the alumni will
reclaim the school.
Students and staff, take the cafeteria back; take it back! Show respect for the victims. Paint the walls, make a change of some sort and then walk in there together and TAKE IT BACK! Take. It. Back! Take your cafeteria back; take your whole school back! When the ribbons are gone, when the balloons have deflated and the flowers are faded it will finally be the staff and the students who make the cafeteria and the school your own again. Take it back; you can do it. Support each other, work together, trust in yourselves and each other. I know you can. It is in your hands. I know you will choose light; of this I
am sure.
Is Marysville-Pilchuck a good place, and a safe place? Do I dare say it? Yes.
Yes it is! Marysville-Pilchuck is
a good place, a safe place and such a very special place. Marysville-Pilchuck is MY school!
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