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Photo #1
Here is an aerial view of the Washington High School campus shown with a purple line around it. Just south of the football field is a public swimming pool, which is used for some classes and sports at Washington High School. I-17 freeway is on the left and North Mountain can be seen at the top of the image.
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Photo #2
This is a closeup of the northwest corner of the campus. North is at the top where we see Glendale avenue. The meeting place was at the ram plaque next to the Main Office.
(Saturday, Sept. 28th, 10:40am)
Photo #3
Here you can see the raised ram plaque.
10:41am
Photo #4
The ram plaque is behind Melvin Schlink (wearing a black shirt). The camera is facing north towards Glendale avenue.
10:49am
Photo #5
Assistant Principal, Todd Nelson, is giving the tour. He's on the right with the black Washington tennis (or badminton?) T-shirt.
The building on the right with purple window frames houses the counseling, athletics, and records offices. Behind those offices is the Media Center.
10:41
Photo #6
Another view of the ram plaque. The red brick wall on the left side of the photo is part of the cafeteria. The bookstore is in the center of the photo in the shadows.
10:40am
Photo #7
Looking east are classrooms. Notice the ram statue. A close up of that is below.
Photo #8
The Ram statue looks good as does the four benches and the flowers. That is nice gift from the Class of 2016. The surrounding tables with umbrellas provide more areas to sit.
Photo #9
Another angle of the above photo.
10:58am
Photo #10
Kathy Whittaker (Winter) checks out the poster listing harmful effects of marijuana. This poster is in the Main Office.
Here is an aerial view of the northwest corner of the WHS campus showing the auditorium/theater. That's the next part of the tour. Of course, that building wasn't there when we went to high school. We had to use the cafeteria when we needed a stage. North is to the left in this image.
11:02am
Photo #12
I remember we got a tour of this auditorium the day before the 20 year reunion. It's a nice auditorium.
11:02am
Photo #13
Several classmates are looking up to check out the elevated main control center at the rear of the auditorium.
Photo #14
Photo #15
Tom Eggert and Sara Myers in the WHS auditorium/theater.
11:13am
Photo #16
Here's a nearby computer room.
I belonged to the computer club in high school, but in 1969, there were no computers at all on campus. The computer club had one trip to Honeywell off the i-17 freeway to go see an actual computer. The 800 bytes of memory it had was the size of a large refrigerator. 800 bytes is less than one page of text.
This wider aerial view shows the Ed Sine competition gymnasium. This is the next stop of the tour. The football stadium and track is visible, too. The Ed Sine gymnasium was built after we were in high school. We used the "old gymnasium" which is now called the "Practice Gym"
Photo #18
In the front of the Ed Sine gymnasium is a lobby which has trophy display cases. During our 20 year reunion tour of the campus, the trophy cases had quite a bit of trophies and honors from the Class of 69. Not sure if they are still there.
11:19am
Photo #19
The Ed Sine gymnasium is about 50% larger than the old gym. Most of the size increase is in making it wider.
Photo #20
Photo #21
Jack Fassell and wife, plus Ron Rosenlof.
While some classmates are checking out the gym, others are making conversation. Marilyn Matthews gives a wave to Mark Holmesley who's taking the photos.
Photo #23
Now we get three posing for the camera.
Photo #24
On the wall of the Ed Sine competition gymnasium includes a banner recognizing the girls gymnastics team of 1969 as State Champions. Members of the 1969 gymnastics team were (69 graduates in bold): Judy Woods, Darlece Harwood, Vicki Phillips, Karen Richards, Debbie Sticht, Francie Bickle, Bonnie Cline, Pam Montello, Sylvia Wolf, Shirley Whorton, Terry Cline, Heidi Phillips, Debbie Borgo, Irene Mitchell, Connie Bentley, Gail Yaeger, Debbie Darby, Cindy Carlson, Linda Nulty, Debbie Lawson, Chris Perry, Comy Ulichny, Maxime (Irene) Mitchell, and Martha Williams.
Photo #25
Just outside the gym is the football stadium and track. Lot of memories here.
11:24am
Photo #26
We know Ron Kohl and Tom Eggert on the left have a lot of memories from that football
field.
Also in the photo are Ron Rosenlof, Craig Kitchens and Rick Coffman who played freshman football and did JV wrestling. Rick also did varsity wrestling.
Even Mark Holmesley, who took this photo, took football the freshman and sophomore years, track all four years, and cross country junior and senior years. Se he, too, has a lot of memories of this track and field.
Photo #27
Here's a view showing the south end of the field.
Photo #28
Arlo Morrison participated in Track and Cross Country all four years of high school. So he definitely has a lot of memories of the track and field.
Photo #29
It appears the principal (man in black t-shirt on the left) is getting ready to lead the group to another area of the campus.
The next stop is the "Weight Room". It sits between the handball courts.
If you click on the photo to see the enlarged version, you will notice the turquoise building in the upper right of the photo is labeled "Geriatric Specialist of AZ". That certainly wasn't there when we were in high school, but might be handy if we went back to high school now. North of that building was the Burger Chef fast food joint, which has been replaced by an auto insurance office.
Photo #31
Inside of the Weight Room showing weightlifting equipment.
Photo #32
This photo shows the names of the sponsors who helped pay for the equipment and remodeling.
Photo #33
Next stop is the Dance Room which is on the south end of the Practice Gym (the old gym).
11:30am
Photo #34
I wasn't there,but it appears that Ron Kohl had just shown these female
dance students some real dancing moves. You can't play several years
of football without knowing how to move your body in creative ways.
Eye Witness account: Ron was actually following along with the dance moves that the girls were doing. Too bad we didn't have video. I'm sure it was good.
Photo #35
It now seems the girls are trying to follow the sign, "Dance like nobody's watching!".
Now the tour backtracked and went south to the handball courts adjacent to the baseball field.
Photo #37
Here's a view of the baseball field from the handball courts.
Photo #38
It appears the principal is giving the tour more information about the baseball field and that area of the campus.
Photo #39
Now we are back in a classroom taking a history and government class. These seats face are at the side of the room and face sideways rather than towards the front of the room..
According to the clock, it's 11:55am, but according to Mark's camera which records the time with the photo, the time is 11:42am. Not sure which is correct, but I've been using the date stamp Mark's camera created as the time.
Photo #40
It appears that Arlo likes to sit in the back of the class.
11:43am
Photo #41
Sara Myers has joined him in the back of the class. Usually those in the back of the class are the troublemakers.
Photo #42
Now it looks like nearly all of the students have arrived.
11:44am
Photo #43
It seems that Chris Perry likes to sit in the back corner of the class.
That way she can keep an eye on the whole class. So it's a very
strategic seat.
Photo #44
It doesn't look like there's enough seats for everyone. Plus, some may not want to relive sitting in those student desks.
Notice the numbers on the desks. I don't remember those being there when we were at WHS.
Photo #45
Most educators agree that students who sit in the front of the class often do better because they are more likely to participate and be attuned with what the instructor is teaching and wanting.
Photo #46
Everyone seems to be having a good time, especially Kathy and Mark. Mark Holmesley gets to be in this photo thanks to Trudi (Arlo's better half) taking this photo with her phone.
11:44am
Photo #47
A few students have left but most are staying to visit with each other.
11:45am
Photo #48
Posters in the back are interesting because they are from the Classes of 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018.
11:50am
Photo #49
In between the classroom buildings is a bush in the shape of a the school mascot.
11:50am
Photo #50
Here's a close-up. It's pretty impressive. The rock below says "Be Yourself" with a heart on it.
11:56am
Photo #51
Meanwhile, back outside, we see Marilyn staring at a tree. Not sure why. Was her initials there?
Photo #52
Next stop is the Practice Gym with a view looking south. This was the gymnasium we used for basketball games, assemblies, dances, gymnastics, and other activities. The new auditorium and new Ed Sine Gymnasium were not yet built.
Notice that the old gym has a curved roof while the new Ed Sine Gym has an angled but flat roof. I kind of like the curved roof of the old gym better.
12:05pm
Photo #53
The old gym also has a trophy case in the lobby. It appears they are looking for trophies from our Class of '69. There were photos of Ron Kohl, Steve Combs, and Larry Pickard. Ron and Steve were chosen for All-State football and Larry was chosen for All-State Wrestling.
Photo #54
Here's a view inside of the gym. You can definitely see the curved room from the inside. This is looking towards the rear (southern) end of the gym. I like the fact that the frosted windows let in plenty of natural light.
Lot of memories in this gym ranging from basketball games, dances, assemblies, and so much more.
12:05pm
Photo #55
On the northern end of the gym, we can see silhouettes on the wall that indicate girl's badminton is popular in the gym. The southern end also has the frosted windows. The windows may not provide the insulation that the walls in the new gym has, but they do let in more natural light.
12:15pm
Photo #56
Mark took this very nice shot of the front of our old gym with three picturesque palm trees and big WHS letters at their base.
12:28pm
Photo #57
The group is looking to the left because the principal is using Mark Holmesley's fancy camera to take a group shot. Unfortunately, he only pressed the shutter button halfway down, which causes the camera to focus, but it doesn't trigger the shutter to take a photo. So even though he thought he was taking photos, no photos were actually taken. So we are very lucky that Trudi (Arlo's personal photographer) was also taking some group photos with her iPhone 7 smartphone. (Remember you can click on this photo to bring up a larger version to see the faces more clearly.)
Photo #58
Here's the second of three photos that Trudi took.
Photo #59
Trudi moved closer to the principal to get more of a straight-on photo. Now everyone's face is visible. Lot of smiles so it appears that everyone had a good time on the tour of their old high school. It's now 12:30pm, which leaves plenty of time to get back to the Sheraton and get ready for the 50 Year Reunion.
Photo #60
Let's end with a view from the east side of the campus. Here we notice another baseball field on the lower right and the swimming pool facilities are in the upper right.
It's amazing how many students have gone to Washington High School since it opened in 1955. I think for the most part WHS has served its students well.
