SOPHOMORE YEAR 1964-1965
I graduated from the Junior Building and it was time to start my rookie season at "Thou Dear". For the
third time in my school life, I had to start at the bottom of the heap and work my way up again.
TEACHERS
Mr. Bianco - Soph Band 3 & 4
The start of my fourth year with him.
Mrs. Berger - French 1 & 2
NE only taught French and Spanish. I would have preferred to learn German,
but the German language course was dropped because of WWI and WWII.
Mr. Bishop - Typing 1 & 2
Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors were combined in these two classes.
Mr. Engle - Drafting 1 & 2
Mr. Ramquist - English 3 & 4
Miss Porter & Miss Shepard - World History 1 & 2
We Sophomores were in a big double-size classroom along with Juniors. I remember
Miss Shepard telling us of her expereience in the WACS during WWII. She told us that one of the teachers, whose name
I can't recall, had been at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed. Even though she was young at the time, her hair turned white
and stayed that way all of her life.
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JUNIOR YEAR 1964-1965
TEACHERS
Mr. Bianco - Band
He was my Band teacher as usual. This was the first year we got to wear our brand
new Band uniforms. Those years of selling Band pens, decals and candy finally paid off. One of the biggest thrills I had was
marching in the American Royal Parade. I don't know why, but that year we were the very last band in the parade. I believe
we were actually the caboose of the whole parade. It wouldn't have been so bad, but there were 3000 horses scattered throught
the parade ahead of us. Of course, they always liked to leave their little horsey calling cards on the street. Mr. Bianco
told us about the problem and he said that when he was young, there used to be a little diddy called, "Horsey Keep Your Tail
Up", which he didn't elaborate on. I think it was a fine old Irish lullaby. Mr. Bianco was a veteran of many parades with
horses and he knew what to do. He would signal the Drum Major to space the formation out so that we could march without stepping
in anything. We had to become all-terrain marchers., because many times you never knew where you would be marching. All communication
was done with hand signals, drum cadence and whistles. For the most part, only people who have ever marched in or lead a band
will understand what is going on. A well-drilled marching band is a beautiful and entertaining sight. Our Drum Major that
year was Jackie Schooley. We also had what were known as Majorettes. Those are the cute girls who march in front of the band
twirling their batons. Jackie would many times walk backwards signaling us to make sure the lines in our formation were straight.
Let's just say she kept the band members out of a lot of messy situations. We had what was, for lack of a better term, called
the, "Horse Poop Shuffle". It was a nifty little jump in which you could skip over any mess and still stay in step with the
rest of the band. You always knew when something was ahead, because you could see the band helmets going up and down in front
of you.
That year we had to decided to wear white bucs or as they were sometimes affectionately
called, "Pat Boone" shoes. To any young reader unfamiliar with Pat Boone, he was a famous pop singer from the Jurassic period
of the 1950's, who always wore white shoes. We had just about made it through to the end of the parade when I saw helmets
bobbing up and down. This meant that me and my precious white shoes were headed straight for you know what. Mr. Bianco had
instructed us to always keep our eyes straight, but I couldn't stand the suspense and started looking down. I'll tell you
right now, trying to play a cornet and looking out for horse manure at the same time is very stressful. Anyway, I looked down
and saw I was marching straight into a big one. It wouldn't have been so bad, but that horse must have been sick. The whole
pile was filled with blood and urine. I cannot even begin to tell you the things that went through my mind when I saw what
I was headed for. I know the Bible says that the Devil will put obstacles in your way, but they never said anything about
this in Sunday School. I was scared. I started praying: "Please JESUS, don't let me step in it. I'm only sixteen. I've got
my whole life ahead of me!" I did the shuffle and thought I had missed it. Wrong! My left heel caught it when I came down.
Mr. Bianco had always taught us to march with our knees high. So, I came down hard. Needless to say, it is rather difficult
trying to stay in step and shake horse manure off of your shoe at the same time. Now you know why band members always had
a separate bus. The other kids couldn't take the smell. But, you do get used to it after a while. Okay, I'm only kidding.
We had a separate bus because we had so much band equipment, etc. But, the air did get a little thick at times. You can always
tell a band member. They walk home scraping their shoes on the curb. I'm not kidding about that. I used to do it myself. If
you ever want to scare a band member, just say those three little words: "Horse manure ahead!" Horse manure is to band members,
what Kryptonite is to Superman. Mr. Bianco once told us about the time a drummer lost control of one of his sticks and it
went flying into a horse pile. In true Viking fashion, he picked the stick out of the mess and shook it off into the crowd
and continued playing. Being a spectator at a parade can sometimes be dangerous; especially, when there are Vikings afoot.
Forget about hitting the fan. It's when it flies off the drumstick that you gotta start worrying! In America we have an organization
called the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). With that in mind, I'd like to start an organization myself. It is called the VHM
(Veterans of Horse Manure). If you have ever marched in a band that had to dodge the stuff, you are automatically a member.
Just like the Purple Heart, which is awarded to those wounded or killed in combat. I am creating the Purple Poop for those
like me, who actually stepped in it. Veterans like to exchange war stories and band members like to exchange horse manure
stories. You know, give the poop scoop. It's the American Way.
After the parade, we went to our bus which was parked on the hillside near the
Liberty Memorial. I remember that it was either some Red Cross or some Salvation Army people came and passed out coffee and
doughnuts to everybody on the bus. That was my first taste of these goodies. It was better than going out on a date. Girls
may come and go, but a coffee and doughnut will stick with you. The bus driver got some, too. While we're on the subject of
bus drivers, I'd like to say that all through school we had excellent people. They were good drivers and not at any time did
we ever have an accident. Sometimes we had a male and sometimes a female driver. They let us kids talk and yell all we wanted
as long as the chatter didn't get out of hand. They also made sure we weren't bothered by the usual bullies who seem to pop
up like mushrooms. All the adults I knew when going to school always commanded respect from the students. They also protected
the students from anything that might cause trouble. Most of the time, they did it by themselves. During my days at Thou Dear,
you weren't even allowed to have a pen knife in school.
We once marched in the now defunct Mineral Bowl Parade in Excelsior Springs,
Missouri. The parade preceded the Mineral Bowl football game. That was a very embarrassing march for me. I had always had
trouble with the zipper on my uniform pants. While marching, the zipper would work its way open. Fortunately, in cold weather,
we wore blue jeans underneath. But, the people on the sidewalks didn't know that. I was on the very left, closest to the sidewalk.
As I marched and kept my knees high, the zipper worked open. People saw this and started passing word down the line to check
out the kid whose fly was open. It was very embarrassing , to say the least. For 5 miles I marched and played, all the while
people pointed at my pants and laughed. But, Mr. Bianco had taught us well. I kept my head up, my eyes forward and my knees
high despite the catcalls. After the parade we went and watched the football game. During halftime, all of the school bands
were gathered on the field and we played a number together. GOD does reward you for what you've been through. I was very thirsty
after the march and game, but didn't have any money to buy a drink. As I was walking back toward our bus, I spotted a quarter
on the sidewalk in front of me. I was alone, no one else was around. I picked the quarter up and went to, I think it was the
local drugstore. If I remember right, I got me a tall cherry limeade, which was my favorite drink in the 60's. Boy, did it
taste good! It was a big drink, too. These days, a quarter will buy you just enough to use for eyewash. The people of Excelsior
Springs showed a lot of kindness to us kids.
I remember that we also wore white gloves. This was good because we sometimes
marched in cold weather and those who played brass instruments could hold their mouthpieces in their hand and keep them warm
when not playing. Sometimes we kept them in our pockets. Anybody who plays a brass instrument will tell you that tonguing
the notes is a very important part of playing music. Sticking a hot tongue on a cold mouthpiece could be very dangerous. It
doesn't look too good if half the band is marching with their tongues stuck to their instruments.
Mr. Baker - Driver Eduation
Mr. Chenoweth taught in tandem with Mr. Baker and was in charge of the other
half of the class. I wanted to drive a Chevrolet, but ended up with a 1965 Mercury. The class was fun until it was my turn
to drive across the narrow and dreaded Chouteau Bridge. Any kid who survived that, deserved a driver's license. A Purple Heart
for being scared half-to-death wouldn't hurt either.
Mr. Bishop - Business Law
Miss Comer - Bookkeeping
Miss Davis - English
Mr. Harris - Printing
Miss McMillan - Shorthand & Typing
I was the only boy in the whole class. Well, there are worse things that could
happen to you. I'd like to say that the girls were very nice. Not at any time did they ever try and take advantage of me.
Doggone it!
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SENIOR YEAR 1965-66 (turned out to be 1966-1967)
I missed my Senior year due to illness. When my Senior picture was taken, I only weighed 120 pounds. That
may not seem too low, but when you consider I was 6' 2" tall, I think you get the picture. At the present I weigh over 200
pounds;. Hey! There is a GOD! I went to Summer School in 1966 and went the first School Semester of 1966. I also went to Night
School. I wanted to have been able to graduate in the year of 1966, but I had to go the Second Semester because I was a couple
of credits short. When I went to school, you had to have proven knowledge in order to graduate. It's not like the Diploma
Mills being run today. So, instead of having a Diploma that said 1966, it said 1967.
TEACHERS
Mr. Bianco - Band (As if you couldn't figure that one out!)
Mr. Adcock - Biology
Mrs. Berger - French
Mr. Craven - American History
Mr. Day - American History
Mr. Huhn - Human Science
? - Civics
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I remember that nutrition and exercise were always stressed when I was growing up. Except for very severe
weather, we always walked to school, until my Senior year when I drove my 1962 Chevy II. Since it was a bright red in
color, I was sometimes known as the "Red Baron". It was fun walking through Budd Park. We were always going up and down stairs.
James School had 3 flights and Northeast Junior & Senior had 4 flights. I remember one time I had Print Shop on the 1st
Floor at the South end of the building. I had to leave there, got to my locker above on the 4th Floor to pick up my lunch
and then go to the cafeteria, which was on the 1st Floor on the North end. That didn't leave a whole lot of time to eat, since
we only had a half hour for lunch. We always had either milk or water. There were no soft drinks. The exercise I got helped
condition me to face the many injuries and sicknesses I would face as I grew older.
I started this Northeast High School history website, because as I looked through the old Nor'easter,
I became very proud of the school I graduated from. I wanted to share the past with my Viking Classmates. I also wanted to
pay honor and tribute to those teachers and other employees who helped thousands of growing kids learn what they needed in
order to enter into the responsibilites of adult life. I think that growing up in the 50's and early-mid 60's was the greatest
time in this country that kids have ever had. I cannot say enough good things about my Grandparents' and Parents' generation,
who gave all of us a happy childhood and a strong education, which enabled us to have a firm foundation to go through this
life.
GO VIKINGS!!!
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Check out pictures below
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