Elaine Grace by Jolene Strand
Elaine Grace (Class of 1983)
Elaine Grace was born on March 21, 1964 in the city of Edmonds. She had three other siblings that tested her strength and personality, molding her into the ambitious woman she still is today. Elaine let her personality shine by trying out for cheerleading in her first year of high school at Cascade. Her bubbly personality and softhearted nature allowed Elaine to meet many new people during high school and her drive to succeed led her to gain outstanding grades and academic accomplishments. After graduating from Cascade High School in the year of 1983, Elaine went on to Western University in Bellingham. At Western Elaine met her soon-to-be husband and decided to go into the field of teaching. After graduating from Western Elaine and her husband moved to Everett to be closer to her family and moved into a two-story home not far from her sisters. Today she is working as a substitute teacher in the Lynwood school district and she is happily married with two growing children. Elaine's bubbly and outgoing personality is still as strong as ever and she is proud to say she was a CHS Bruin.
I loved high school! Only makes me wish I was back in the good old days. I remember hating middle school but going into high school brought more independence and freedom which was so great! Especially when me and all my friends started driving we loved going out, staying up late and just riding the town.
I tried out for cheerleading my freshman year so I ended up being a cheerleader all four years of high school. I miss it so much! Back when I was actually flexible. Cheer was so great because football games were such a big thing and so being able to go and support our boys was awesome. And I know that football is still a big thing now but that was really our biggest source of entertainment. Being able to stand on our boys' sidelines and cheer is such a great memory.
I was mainly with the cheer girls so I spent the most time with them but I don't really know if I was really associated with one certain group. When I wasn't with the team I had my small group of friends at lunch that I usually sat with, but the nice thing about high school that I really enjoyed was that you weren't exactly always with your friends. Yeah, we had some classes together but I often took honors classes so I met a ton of new people going into high school. I usually sat with my good friends at lunch and hung out with them after school but thinking back on it now I think it's a really good thing I wasn't with my friends for everything. Branching out is a huge thing to do in high school and the social aspect is what allows to you do well later in life.
Did I enjoy the school aspect? Well I did to some extent. I definitely didn't take all of the AP available but I usually took honors classes which were challenging enough. Back then I know I didn't appreciate the work load but it kept me busy. My parents always told me to study more because it kept me out of trouble, now I can finally appreciate that. High school was hard, but school always had been hard. Going home and studying first thing wasn't really anything new. I spent so many hours studying! I remember one test I had was on a Friday and so the Thursday night before I stayed up all night studying. It was the first and only all-nighter I ever pulled. I fell asleep during my test! After all that work and loads of coffee... I crashed during the one hour I needed to focus in. I don't miss the late nights studying. The average night studying was maybe about three hours, at a minimal. Those were the nights my best friends would come over and we would each read one chapter and then share notes, that was our system. Worked most of the time but it usually just turned into gossiping and baking cookies or something.
I was lucky because I never really had any bad teachers but I know there were some that I found rather boring. My English teacher senior year was hilarious, probably the most boring teacher I can ever remember having but she was so sweet! She was like the cute grandmother that would lick her finger to get a smudge off your cheek. There weren't any teachers I hated though, thank goodness for that!
We did tons of things growing up to keep us busy. Football games and basketball games were definitely the highlight of our activities but those only lasted for part of the year. So we usually would go to someone's house and watch television, listen to music... and we played a bunch of games! I know you guys find board games and stuff boring but we used to be thrilled getting new games. Everyone kind of shared what they had and we would have huge game nights. Even with the family I can always remember having Thursday game nights. Now days kids just go out and party but my parents would never allow us kids to be associated with bad things like that! But I really didn't mind it much. I had my good group of friends and they were always welcome to stay for family dinner with us and hang out. Other than that, well my older brother had a motorcycle that he often took us for rides on. He never let one of us girls to drive it but I know he didn't mind so much having a girl on the back of his bike. He would kill me for saying that! We used to skate too! That was definitely a big thing. We always went to the skating rink with our friends and even my parents would come. Most of our activities involved the school or the community, we loved spending time with everyone.
It was different to what you kids consider school spirit now days but we were always proud of our school. We never really had spirit days or dress up days but everyone would go to our games! That was our entertainment. We would all go to the game together, cheer together, uh leave together, sometimes go out to dinner, that's just what we did. We always supported our CHS teams and that was how we showed our school pride.
[Elaine talking about her biggest struggle.] Studying! Of course no one really enjoyed studying but it was just a part of our schedule. We would come home, study for a couple hours, eat dinner as a family and go back to studying if it wasn't finished. I guess you could say fitting in was sort of a hard thing but my parents always said to just be yourself. Especially being a cheerleader I always thought fitting in was such a big deal but after a while you just come to realize who your real friends are and if you're nice to everyone, they'll be nice to you. It sort of took me a while to figure that out but once I kind of accepted that it was easier to focus on school and more important things. Everyone wants to feel like they fit in but that's just part of the process of getting older and maturing.
[Elaine talking about her biggest fears] I had no fears! Yeah, yeah I did but I really wasn't much of a worrier. All girls worry about never finding a husband and things like that but school was our biggest focus. We had to do well in school in order to go to college and hopefully get a scholarship so that was the first thing on my agenda.
Going to college was a big thing, and then getting married and having kids. I had fairly practical dreams. I had always wanted to graduate from high school and if possible be able to get a scholarship to go to college. Getting a scholarship was probably my biggest dream because that was a huge deal! Not many girls my age were really interested in going to college. I mean some were but most of them wanted to graduate, get married and have kids. I definitely wanted that as well but being able to go to college was always a hope.
My biggest accomplishment in high school was passing history. I hated history! I mean I think history is interesting but the teachers I had completely ruined it for me. My brother used to be a huge history geek so that was helpful because he would often tutor me but I struggled a lot with that subject.
I loved math! Never really was any good at it but it always challenged me. One of my most favorite teachers I ever had was my junior year math teacher. Now I can't even remember half of the math I learned but I know I liked it. I probably liked it the most because there was always a way to do it. With English and other subjects there are so many things to keep track of and remember but with math there is one way to do it, one way to solve it, and if you know the formula it always works. I think I started loving math because of my junior year teacher though. He made things so fun and interactive and that was probably the first year I got really interested in math and numbers.
I keep in touch with a couple old high school friends but that's by email, I don't exactly see people. After graduation most kids started their lives somewhere else and over the years you just lose contact. We do get a lot of Christmas letters though which is nice! I love seeing all the add-ons to their families and it's nice hearing a little about how things are going for them.
I really miss going to football and basketball games, that was always so much fun! It was usually a family outing and I miss being a cheerleader at the games but I really miss the atmosphere. The whole school would go and support, it really was awesome. I can still remember piling into one car so that we could all go, bundling up in our gloves and scarves. I miss those days! Don't get me wrong I miss being a teenager but I definitely miss that kind of atmosphere. Time goes by so fast. I also really miss so much family interaction. It was a given to have dinner as a family and now days that's hardly the case! Sometimes it was kind of a drag but homemade dinner was always a favorite amongst us kids.Now it's a miracle to have a family dinner! It's amazing how much closer as a family we got from eating at the same table. And then after dinner we would still enjoy each other's company. Whether we were playing games or just listening to music, we did everything together.
My best advice is have fun! High school was amongst some of the best years of my life and you need to enjoy it. You need to make sure that school comes first but life goes by so fast! And I know you probably hear that all the time but it is true, the older you get the faster your life zips by. And stay involved... being a part of your school is a huge thing and doing clubs and sports and staying involved is great preparation for college. Trust me, the more you do now the more accomplished you'll feel and the prouder you'll be when you look back and not be disappointed that you missed out. High school is really the foundation of your life and you need to try new things and get involved to see what you like and what you want to do.
High school was definitely amongst the four best years of my life. I met so many people and the community was so involved. I did everything with my family, I had my good friends, I did fairly well in school, I was a cheerleader. There isn't really anything I would've changed. I definitely miss the home cooked meals too, those were free and delicious. I just miss being young, it went by so fast I can still hardly believe it. Being young and making mistakes, life was great!
Honestly it's not like we were completely oblivious to what was going on in the world but our family wasn't too big into the problems of the world. I can hardly even remember watching the news and reading the paper. And I know that was probably very different in comparison to other households but we just didn't focus on things like that. I do remember when Ronald Reagan was elected defeating Jimmy Carter. The US hockey team beat Russia in the Olympics! That was a huge deal at school especially amongst the boys. In 1980 Mount Saint Helens erupted! I remember that day really well... it was about eight or nine on Sunday morning and I was combing my hair when I heard this kind of faint boom that almost jolted the room. For a second I thought it was a car crash or something. I ran outside and my dad was listening to the radio. I don't know how long it must have been but it wasn't too long before we heard that Helens had erupted. Oh and I don't really know if you could even consider this as a national event but I definitely remember when Michael Jackson came out with the song Thriller! That was a huge deal at school too, we never stopped listening to that one.
I always got a lot of hand-me-down clothes but um most of the time we either wore dresses or skirts. I think most girls at school wore that, sometimes pants but it kind of depended. Our parents always thought it was more proper for us to wear skirts and dresses so if we ever got new clothes on Christmas or something that's usually what we got. (laughing) I always wore a jean jacket too! It was sort of a baggy, light colored jean jacket and I literally wore it with everything.
Elaine Grace was born on March 21, 1964 in the city of Edmonds. She had three other siblings that tested her strength and personality, molding her into the ambitious woman she still is today. Elaine let her personality shine by trying out for cheerleading in her first year of high school at Cascade. Her bubbly personality and softhearted nature allowed Elaine to meet many new people during high school and her drive to succeed led her to gain outstanding grades and academic accomplishments. After graduating from Cascade High School in the year of 1983, Elaine went on to Western University in Bellingham. At Western Elaine met her soon-to-be husband and decided to go into the field of teaching. After graduating from Western Elaine and her husband moved to Everett to be closer to her family and moved into a two-story home not far from her sisters. Today she is working as a substitute teacher in the Lynwood school district and she is happily married with two growing children. Elaine's bubbly and outgoing personality is still as strong as ever and she is proud to say she was a CHS Bruin.
I loved high school! Only makes me wish I was back in the good old days. I remember hating middle school but going into high school brought more independence and freedom which was so great! Especially when me and all my friends started driving we loved going out, staying up late and just riding the town.
I tried out for cheerleading my freshman year so I ended up being a cheerleader all four years of high school. I miss it so much! Back when I was actually flexible. Cheer was so great because football games were such a big thing and so being able to go and support our boys was awesome. And I know that football is still a big thing now but that was really our biggest source of entertainment. Being able to stand on our boys' sidelines and cheer is such a great memory.
I was mainly with the cheer girls so I spent the most time with them but I don't really know if I was really associated with one certain group. When I wasn't with the team I had my small group of friends at lunch that I usually sat with, but the nice thing about high school that I really enjoyed was that you weren't exactly always with your friends. Yeah, we had some classes together but I often took honors classes so I met a ton of new people going into high school. I usually sat with my good friends at lunch and hung out with them after school but thinking back on it now I think it's a really good thing I wasn't with my friends for everything. Branching out is a huge thing to do in high school and the social aspect is what allows to you do well later in life.
Did I enjoy the school aspect? Well I did to some extent. I definitely didn't take all of the AP available but I usually took honors classes which were challenging enough. Back then I know I didn't appreciate the work load but it kept me busy. My parents always told me to study more because it kept me out of trouble, now I can finally appreciate that. High school was hard, but school always had been hard. Going home and studying first thing wasn't really anything new. I spent so many hours studying! I remember one test I had was on a Friday and so the Thursday night before I stayed up all night studying. It was the first and only all-nighter I ever pulled. I fell asleep during my test! After all that work and loads of coffee... I crashed during the one hour I needed to focus in. I don't miss the late nights studying. The average night studying was maybe about three hours, at a minimal. Those were the nights my best friends would come over and we would each read one chapter and then share notes, that was our system. Worked most of the time but it usually just turned into gossiping and baking cookies or something.
I was lucky because I never really had any bad teachers but I know there were some that I found rather boring. My English teacher senior year was hilarious, probably the most boring teacher I can ever remember having but she was so sweet! She was like the cute grandmother that would lick her finger to get a smudge off your cheek. There weren't any teachers I hated though, thank goodness for that!
We did tons of things growing up to keep us busy. Football games and basketball games were definitely the highlight of our activities but those only lasted for part of the year. So we usually would go to someone's house and watch television, listen to music... and we played a bunch of games! I know you guys find board games and stuff boring but we used to be thrilled getting new games. Everyone kind of shared what they had and we would have huge game nights. Even with the family I can always remember having Thursday game nights. Now days kids just go out and party but my parents would never allow us kids to be associated with bad things like that! But I really didn't mind it much. I had my good group of friends and they were always welcome to stay for family dinner with us and hang out. Other than that, well my older brother had a motorcycle that he often took us for rides on. He never let one of us girls to drive it but I know he didn't mind so much having a girl on the back of his bike. He would kill me for saying that! We used to skate too! That was definitely a big thing. We always went to the skating rink with our friends and even my parents would come. Most of our activities involved the school or the community, we loved spending time with everyone.
It was different to what you kids consider school spirit now days but we were always proud of our school. We never really had spirit days or dress up days but everyone would go to our games! That was our entertainment. We would all go to the game together, cheer together, uh leave together, sometimes go out to dinner, that's just what we did. We always supported our CHS teams and that was how we showed our school pride.
[Elaine talking about her biggest struggle.] Studying! Of course no one really enjoyed studying but it was just a part of our schedule. We would come home, study for a couple hours, eat dinner as a family and go back to studying if it wasn't finished. I guess you could say fitting in was sort of a hard thing but my parents always said to just be yourself. Especially being a cheerleader I always thought fitting in was such a big deal but after a while you just come to realize who your real friends are and if you're nice to everyone, they'll be nice to you. It sort of took me a while to figure that out but once I kind of accepted that it was easier to focus on school and more important things. Everyone wants to feel like they fit in but that's just part of the process of getting older and maturing.
[Elaine talking about her biggest fears] I had no fears! Yeah, yeah I did but I really wasn't much of a worrier. All girls worry about never finding a husband and things like that but school was our biggest focus. We had to do well in school in order to go to college and hopefully get a scholarship so that was the first thing on my agenda.
Going to college was a big thing, and then getting married and having kids. I had fairly practical dreams. I had always wanted to graduate from high school and if possible be able to get a scholarship to go to college. Getting a scholarship was probably my biggest dream because that was a huge deal! Not many girls my age were really interested in going to college. I mean some were but most of them wanted to graduate, get married and have kids. I definitely wanted that as well but being able to go to college was always a hope.
My biggest accomplishment in high school was passing history. I hated history! I mean I think history is interesting but the teachers I had completely ruined it for me. My brother used to be a huge history geek so that was helpful because he would often tutor me but I struggled a lot with that subject.
I loved math! Never really was any good at it but it always challenged me. One of my most favorite teachers I ever had was my junior year math teacher. Now I can't even remember half of the math I learned but I know I liked it. I probably liked it the most because there was always a way to do it. With English and other subjects there are so many things to keep track of and remember but with math there is one way to do it, one way to solve it, and if you know the formula it always works. I think I started loving math because of my junior year teacher though. He made things so fun and interactive and that was probably the first year I got really interested in math and numbers.
I keep in touch with a couple old high school friends but that's by email, I don't exactly see people. After graduation most kids started their lives somewhere else and over the years you just lose contact. We do get a lot of Christmas letters though which is nice! I love seeing all the add-ons to their families and it's nice hearing a little about how things are going for them.
I really miss going to football and basketball games, that was always so much fun! It was usually a family outing and I miss being a cheerleader at the games but I really miss the atmosphere. The whole school would go and support, it really was awesome. I can still remember piling into one car so that we could all go, bundling up in our gloves and scarves. I miss those days! Don't get me wrong I miss being a teenager but I definitely miss that kind of atmosphere. Time goes by so fast. I also really miss so much family interaction. It was a given to have dinner as a family and now days that's hardly the case! Sometimes it was kind of a drag but homemade dinner was always a favorite amongst us kids.Now it's a miracle to have a family dinner! It's amazing how much closer as a family we got from eating at the same table. And then after dinner we would still enjoy each other's company. Whether we were playing games or just listening to music, we did everything together.
My best advice is have fun! High school was amongst some of the best years of my life and you need to enjoy it. You need to make sure that school comes first but life goes by so fast! And I know you probably hear that all the time but it is true, the older you get the faster your life zips by. And stay involved... being a part of your school is a huge thing and doing clubs and sports and staying involved is great preparation for college. Trust me, the more you do now the more accomplished you'll feel and the prouder you'll be when you look back and not be disappointed that you missed out. High school is really the foundation of your life and you need to try new things and get involved to see what you like and what you want to do.
High school was definitely amongst the four best years of my life. I met so many people and the community was so involved. I did everything with my family, I had my good friends, I did fairly well in school, I was a cheerleader. There isn't really anything I would've changed. I definitely miss the home cooked meals too, those were free and delicious. I just miss being young, it went by so fast I can still hardly believe it. Being young and making mistakes, life was great!
Honestly it's not like we were completely oblivious to what was going on in the world but our family wasn't too big into the problems of the world. I can hardly even remember watching the news and reading the paper. And I know that was probably very different in comparison to other households but we just didn't focus on things like that. I do remember when Ronald Reagan was elected defeating Jimmy Carter. The US hockey team beat Russia in the Olympics! That was a huge deal at school especially amongst the boys. In 1980 Mount Saint Helens erupted! I remember that day really well... it was about eight or nine on Sunday morning and I was combing my hair when I heard this kind of faint boom that almost jolted the room. For a second I thought it was a car crash or something. I ran outside and my dad was listening to the radio. I don't know how long it must have been but it wasn't too long before we heard that Helens had erupted. Oh and I don't really know if you could even consider this as a national event but I definitely remember when Michael Jackson came out with the song Thriller! That was a huge deal at school too, we never stopped listening to that one.
I always got a lot of hand-me-down clothes but um most of the time we either wore dresses or skirts. I think most girls at school wore that, sometimes pants but it kind of depended. Our parents always thought it was more proper for us to wear skirts and dresses so if we ever got new clothes on Christmas or something that's usually what we got. (laughing) I always wore a jean jacket too! It was sort of a baggy, light colored jean jacket and I literally wore it with everything.