Pamela Mortenson by Breanna and Nick
Life After School:
After graduating in the spring of 1987 Pam was called to do training for Boeing in the office administrator field, which lasted for 6 weeks. She was supposed to be hired into that type of role, but instead was hired at Boeing in September of that year as an hourly employee as a clerk taking inventory. She met Jeff Kelsey, who was hired a few months later, while working there, and after about five months they began dating. They got married on April 22, 1989 in a church. In 1990 they bought their own house in Arlington where they lived for almost two years, and then they moved to a house back here in Everett in Pioneer Trails because the drive to Boeing was too far. During that time, in 1988 about one year after becoming a Boeing employee, Pam was hired as a salaried employee in Seattle. She worked there until 1990, when she transferred back to Everett, and six months later she transferred from office administration to the Facilities department in January of 1991. She worked in that area until 1995 when she began working as a project administrator and worked up to a lead and then a project manager within five years. In March of 1995 Jeff and Pam had a baby, Breanna Kelsey, and lived happily for 5 years until they got divorced in June of 2000. Pam then moved with Breanna to a condo and lived there for about a year and a half. During August of 2001 she married Jeff Turk, whom she had worked with for several years at Boeing, and they moved into a house near Monroe Elementary School in December of that year. In February of 2002 they had their own child, Chelsie Turk, and the four of them have lived there ever since. Pam just recently celebrated her 24th anniversary as an employee of the Boeing Company in September. She now has a full time job at home as well – Jeff is working for Boeing in South Carolina, so she now has to take care of the house, put up and take down holiday decorations, and transport her daughters to their various school events, band events, and dance and gymnastics four nights a week.
The History:
Rules and Punishment
I really don’t remember much about the dress code other than I don’t think we were allowed to wear shorts to school. People were much more modest back then and you really didn’t have to worry about too much skin being shown. Most of the guys wore button up shirts or sweaters and the girls mostly wore dressy or casual business attire. I almost always wore heels. Mini-skirts were okay as long as they weren’t too short. The general rule was shoes and shirts, just like today. Oakland Raiders attire was frowned upon, as gangs were just starting up and that was usually associated with a gang. If inappropriate attire was worn, you were sent home to change clothes, or you would have to sit in the office the entire day.
Nothing much has really changed [in how strict the teachers are]; it is definitely dependent upon the teacher. I noticed it also had a lot to do with what kind of student you were. For instance, the class clown would generally get in trouble for almost anything, whereas the kids who paid attention could get away with more. I was one of the kids who were very reserved, so I was almost always on the good side of my teachers. I never really had first-hand experience [being punished] since I was never on the bad side, but I did have a gym teacher that had issues with me because I would not undress in front of everyone and take a shower after gym class, especially because I knew she was watching and it gave me the creeps. My punishment for that was a D in the class. Other than that, it goes back to how well you paid attention in class, and whether you were disrespectful or not.
The rules were much more lenient than they are today, but times have greatly changed in the last 20 years. However, there were definite rules and they were enforced per the school policy. The enforcement could be as little as detention, all the way up to being expelled. It is hard to verbalize [how the rules were more lenient], but one thing is the rules for being tardy or absent from class, horseplay on campus, or having personal medications would not have resulted in the same degree of punishment as today. Another example is if someone brought a weapon or drugs to school (just in their possession, not using), it would have just resulted in a phone call home and possibly a day or two suspension for the 1st offense. It would have taken 3 or more offenses to get expelled.
[The role of administrators versus teachers in enforcing rules and giving punishment] was dependent on what rule was being violated. For instance, if it was a classroom rule, the teachers were the main enforcement. For classroom rules the teachers would generally give you a couple of warnings. If that didn’t work, the next step was detention. After a few detentions, then school administrators would likely get involved. If a rule like no smoking, stealing, drug possession, or leaving campus were violated, it was always the administrators. We also had strict rules about locker usage, and if it was suspected that we had violated what was kept in a locker, the school administrators would search it.
Every student had a locker that they shared. It was not mandatory to use one, but most people did. No one used backpacks then, so it was much easier to leave your books in your locker than try and tote them around all day. Most people did not go to their locker between every class, because it may not have been near where their classes were. If you tried to go to your locker between every class, you would most often be late.
[Corporal punishment] was a bit before my time unless you were in a Catholic school.
Because I was only sent to the office once, and it was a case of mistaken identity, I’m not sure of the main reasons people got in trouble or were sent to the office. When I was sent in, it was because a girl with the same name as mine (except one letter), had been writing graffiti on the restroom stall partitions. Other than that I never got in trouble, so I’m not entirely sure what the main reasons were. I know from talking to some of my friends that continued “clowning around” in class, teacher or student harassment, defacing school property, or possession of an item that was against school rules would get you sent to the office.
[They did not have campus security guards], nor did we have an onsite police officer. Violence is the one thing that we did not have much of. That seems to have started after different ethnic backgrounds starting being more prevalent.
[Lunch or after school detention] was usually teacher assigned for disruptive behavior in the classroom. I never had detention, but I have one friend that seemed quite prone to it. She said it was normally picking up garage, or sitting and doing nothing at all.
Technology
For the times, [technology] was pretty up to date although we didn’t have a lot of it. Computers were just starting to come out. During my junior and senior years we had the option to take a computer keyboarding class. There were only a few classrooms that had computers for these classes. The class I took was on a Mac, where we learned basic computer functions, as well as keyboarding. We had push pad phones versus the old fashioned rotary phones. Technology at the time consisted of vu-foil machines, movie projectors (the kind that were on large reels) and typewriters. I never heard mention of cell phones, but teachers used to tell us that someday we’d be able to have a phone conversation with someone and see them and that we’d have computers in the classrooms.
A vu-foil machine was a kind of like a light table. It was a box about the size of a VCR, only much taller. It had an arm that came up and projected light down to the glass area, and up onto a screen. You would write on a transparent sheet (like paper) and it would display on the screen. Overhead projectors did not come out until after I graduated. As for the boards they were good, old-fashioned chalk boards, with black erasers and all. White boards really didn’t come out until maybe a year or two after I graduated, or if they were out, they were not yet in the schools.
[The kind of desk] depended on the classroom. In science we were set up in tables with 2 chairs at a table. In English and Foreign language I remember having desks that were attached to the chair (like what is common today). I also recall in history and math that it was a desk with a separate plastic chair. Looking back I find it interesting that it seemed to vary more by building than by class.
I was generally a clueless teenager, so I really have no idea [how technology was funded]. I don’t ever remember an issue [with any technology], so it must have been taken care of fairly well.
The big [new technology] items while I was a student were the invention of CDs (instead of cassette tapes – which was also a fairly new technology). Walkmans were a big deal, along with VHS/VCRs and Nintendo systems. Computers were just starting to be really talked about and developed and started coming out while I was in high school. It was funny though, a few months after graduation I got a job at Boeing. When I transferred jobs there about a year after graduation, I walked in on my first day and they had computers. For every 4 people there was one computer and one phone. No one knew what to do with the computer and in I walk and actually knew how to make it work. It really frustrated all of the older people. The unfortunate thing is that it was a DOS platform and I was more familiar with Apple, but I still was able to quickly figure it out.
Life at Cascade
We actually had a lot of the same clubs that exist today: Vista, Stehekin, service, bowling, DECA, drama, and Hi-Q. In addition there were clubs that aren’t in Cascade now, like chess, pep, debate, woodworkers, computer, electronics, and horticulture.
I’m not really sure [how involved Cascade was in the community] other than the big annual Food Drive before the holidays. [She didn’t ever participate]; I was more interested in hanging out with friends then spending more time at school doing something good for the community. I definitely missed out on a lot of stuff like that that I now regret.
The feeling of connection [between the social groups] was not fostered like it is today, but at times the classes would feel together. However, there were 3 main social groups; the “Populars”, the “Stoners”, and the “Nobodies”. The lines between “Popular” and “Stoner” were definitely crossed more than the “Nobodies”. I was very fortunate to have friends in all of the social groups, so I was able to cross boundaries more than most. The other distinct difference was between the classes. There really was no feeling of connection between the grades. I had a couple of friends that were a year older, and some acquaintances that were a year younger, but for the most part my good friends were in my grade. Occasionally you would see someone from other grades dating, but it wasn’t very common.
For the age of the school, it was actually in pretty good shape. I don’t remember any major issues with it, other than some of the buildings just being old and needing some refreshment. You really didn’t see graffiti then, so that wasn’t really an issue. Every year the senior class donated something to the school so this also helped. Often times, if something was really old, it would be replaced.
I really do not know [how the clubs and sports were funded], and I also really don’t remember [if the clubs sponsored any fun events during the year. As stated before, Pam wasn’t very involved].
[During lunch students] hung out in groups in the cafeteria, or if allowed, would go up to Burger King (which is now Burgermaster). The “stoners” and the kids who smoked would always try to sneak into the woods by where AM/PM is today to smoke. I don’t remember the details, but I remember that going off campus was limited. You did have to have some sort of permission. At one point, we could only go to Burger King. That’s also where students ate.
The Cave actually existed while I went to Cascade, although I don’t remember if it had the same name. I was a member of DECA for my junior and senior years, and often worked in the store, or spent lunches doing inventory before an order was placed for more stuff. I don’t think you actually had to work in the store [as part of your grade], but you had to be involved somehow in how it operated and what items were sold.
[The elective and challenge classes offered were] definitely not in the wide range that is available today. For fitness, the only option was general PE that I can recall. There were classes like Sales/Marketing (DECA), automotive, woodworking, music, art, and typing or keyboarding. There were the typical types of events like sports games, dances, and clubs. Nothing special really stands out in my memory.
All of the sports teams at the time did very well. Our football team was always one of the best in State. Girl’s gymnastics and crew don’t exist now. All the other sports were the basics: football, cross country, tennis, swim, soccer, volleyball, basketball, wresting, baseball/softball, track and golf. I’m assuming the crew team [went somewhere to practice], but I do not know where. Gymnastics was done downstairs in the gym, by the racquetball courts.
Cascade has always had a pretty strong music department. However, during the time I went there they were not as strong as they were in the 10 years prior to me being there, nor as strong as they are now. I was only a part of the music department my freshman year, so after that I lost touch to some extent although I had several friends who stayed in the band. We had some excellent musicians in the band, including the Bradley brothers. Bob Bradley is now a music teacher in the Everett Public School district. [There was a marching program], but we only marched at football games. In the summer, there was always an alumni band that could march in parades. I was fortunate enough to be able to march with them while I was in middle school because of my older siblings. There were no fancy shows like there are now, but we had routines that we did for the different songs we played in the parades we went to.
[They didn’t have any emergency events except for] a few lockdowns for bomb threats. I remember one in particular that was in the middle of winter and lasted for 2 hours while they searched the school for a bomb. It turned out to be a prank called in by one of the students, who was identified and expelled. Just like today, we had emergency evacuation drills routinely.
The World and Life After High School
[Pam hasn’t heard of many teachers still at Cascade that taught when she was a student]. Wendy Close was a PE teacher at the time as well as the coach for girl’s softball and volleyball. Both teams did excellent under her guidance. One of the guys that was in my graduating class is now the girls soccer coach at Cascade. He was a state champion in soccer at the time. I don’t remember a lot of the people I went to school with and have not stayed in touch with anyone, so I don’t know if any of my classmates have entered politics or anything.
So looking back now, lots of major events [in the world] happened, but going back to me being a clueless teenager, I wasn’t that aware of them at the time. A couple of big events that I was aware of were Live Aid, the AIDS virus being discovered, and the Challenger exploding. I don’t recall any of the events really being talked about by the teachers. In general AIDS did affect the students because everyone was really afraid of it, but it was never talked about in class; it was a sort of taboo at the time to talk so openly about something like that. I don’t recall [any events happening in the community or the school that largely impacted the students].
World Events
I loved the Cosby Show! In my opinion it was one of the best shows ever on TV. I really wish there were shows like it today. The show was very funny, and had a great story line, but could touch on serious topics, and had a very strong focus on education, but yet at the same time it didn’t take away from the comedy part. It wasn’t the same as a lot of other sitcoms, because it wasn’t filled with one-liners, and it tried to find humor in every day family situations. Bill Cosby was so hilarious and he did a great job of playing Dr. Huxtable in the series. The series was based on Cosby as an obstetrician and his wife who was an attorney, who lived in New York with their children. They had several children (I believe 5 or 6) ranging from an infant all the way up to full grown kids who were out on their own. I remember controversy around the fact that it was an African-American show, but that never bothered me as I was not raised to think of colored people as being any different. I remember the show being filled with some drama, but the way it was handled by “Dr. Huxtable” made it hilarious. Some of the topics that he was able to touch on in the show were teen pregnancy, dyslexia, and drug use, but it was always in a manner that didn’t make the show a turn off for kids. I actually remember thinking that I hoped I could be a parent like Dr. Huxtable and his wife. The show received many awards during its 8 or 9 years it was on the air. Looking back, I feel that it was a great step forward for African Americans because it showed that they could be very well educated and successful, and that they had the same daily issues as everyone else. It made them more relatable, in a way.
I loved watching the Olympics, primarily the gymnastics in the summer games and the ice skating in the winter games. That was back when the games were every 4 years, versus every 2, so it was a pretty darn big deal when it happened. Mary Lou Retton competed in the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles, where she won one gold medal and several silver and bronze medals. It was so exciting to watch her as she continued to dominate. I remember it was a very close race for the all around event, and she just barely beat a Romanian with some unbelievable scores on a couple of the events. She was a year older than me at the time (I was 16), and I always found it really inspiring to watch the gymnastics since I couldn’t even do the most basic gymnastics at all. One thing that stood out about that year and her medals was the fact that several of the Soviet countries had boycotted those particular games. I’m not discounting her skill and talent, but you have to wonder if would have turned out differently with the soviets there because they were always some of the strongest in gymnastics. With that said, she did have Bela Karolvi as a coach, who was Nadia Comaneci’s coach in the prior Olympics before his defection to America. He always proved to be a tremendous coach; in my opinion he was one of the best gymnastics coaches of all time.
CDs were so amazing and hi-tech when they came out, with such clear sound quality. It was a pretty big deal to be able to own a CD player and CDs. I didn’t actually get my first CD player until after I was out of high school, even though they were introduced my freshman year. Everyone thought it was the future; no one could even imagine they could develop something like an iPod.
I was very much against the PMRC, not because I felt that the rating system is bad, but because it was all about 4 women who were trying to censor music for the wrong reasons. It basically comes down to Tipper Gore and (3) other “Washington Wives” having their own twisted interpretation of what some songs’ lyrics were suggesting and so she/they decided it was their responsibility to censor music instead of letting parents do their job and educate their own children. There were several songs that she deemed had sexual or violent content, when in reality they had no such thing; she just interpreted wrong, probably because she was afraid of how to deal with the situation of raising her own children and having to explain issues such as sex, drugs and violence. I’m not saying that all the songs were innocent, because some weren’t, but the way she/they went about the situation was not the best way to deal with it by far. By the PMRC trying to censor music, and trying to keep it “clean”, they actually made the issue worse, as musicians started purposely making songs against the PMRC. The other issue with censorship is that anytime someone labels something is bad, it just highlights it and makes it more appealing, especially to the children she was trying to “protect”. All of a sudden you had people buying the albums just because it was a “no-no” and at the same time you had musicians pushing the limits even further to express their objection at trying to control freedom of speech. The four women famously came up with a list of the 15 worst songs, but all that did was make sure that all of us teens listened to them, and started looking for some deeper meaning. There were some songs on the list to this day that I’m not sure I agree with being on the list. Some notable musicians that were actively against the PMRC were John Denver, Frank Zappa, and Dee Snyder. The PMRC even went up against John Denver, accusing him of writing about drugs in “Rocky Mountain High”. Basically what they wanted to do was make it so any album that had any “explicit” lyrics would be kept behind the counter, and not played on the radio. I think it all started when Tipper Gore’s daughter listened to a song from Prince. After that, they were always trying to say how damaging or “evil” the music lyrics were to kids and trying to make it so that if there was a song that they deemed “inappropriate” than you would have to be 18 in order to buy the CD. By trying to “educate parents” they were really trying to say that any music that they had deemed “explicit” would corrupt kids and their values. I personally found this very offensive, as I listened to a wide range of music including heavy metal which was one of their main targets (as it was the “devils” music). The reason I took offense to it was I was a pretty good kid with good morals, and just because I listened to a song with “explicit” lyrics (which mind you was completely innocent compared to what is in music today) didn’t mean I was going to go start doing drugs, having sex with someone, or go murder someone just because a song talked about it. Even as an adult, although I appreciate having a label saying explicit so I know, I don’t necessarily always agree with how it is rated. It still seems to be a little biased and at times things are labeled explicit that really are not, while at the same time things that are very explicit are not being labeled.
I absolutely loved Cabbage Patch kids. The kids were dolls that were super life-like and about the same size as a real baby, but they were “kids”, not just dolls. When one was purchased, it came with an adoption certificate that you could fill out and mail in for a real birth certificate that would be mailed back with the name you chose. Kids and adults alike bought Cabbage Patch Kids and they were one of the most successful toys in the 1980’s. My boyfriend and I got one and named it together (my favorite name at that time was Andrea, a name I oddly enough really dislike now) and we took care of it. I actually still have her somewhere.
AIDS first started to really be talked about in the high school around 1985 and it was something that really really scared a lot of people. You could say it was kind of like the bird flu panic a few years back. It was something I was very afraid of. Looking back it was mostly because there was so little known about it. HIV was something that wasn’t talked about yet; it was just AIDS at that time and all we knew was it was deadly. It was something no one really wanted to talk about, and we tried to pretend that it didn’t exist. It was known that the disease was sexually transmitted, and could also be passed to unborn children, but there was definitely a perception that being around someone infected with AIDS could increase your chance of contracting the disease. Like I said, early on people didn’t understand that it started with HIV and then moved into AIDS. It was a world pandemic, especially in Africa where about half the population was infected.
The Live Aid [concert in 1985] was an absolutely amazing event that was put together by one individual for the simple reason of raising money to fight world famine, as a follow up to the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” which was recorded under the title Band Aid to raise money for famine relief. There was a lot of publicity leading up to the concert and it was referred to at the time as the modern day Woodstock, with concerts in both the UK and US. I sat watching it all day on TV because it had such a great line of up of performers as well as being dedicated to such a great cause. I definitely knew it was going to be a historic event, and I even taped it for memorabilia. I still have the tape in my attic. It was amazing how much attention it brought to the issue of world famine and how many people supported the cause. It is something that I have always felt deserved a great deal of attention, because there’s really no reason anyone in a world as plentiful as ours should be hungry. We throw away so much food, especially in the United States; I wish people would stop to think about what we have, and about giving to those who do not. Live Aid was definitely a step forward to get people to start thinking.
After graduating in the spring of 1987 Pam was called to do training for Boeing in the office administrator field, which lasted for 6 weeks. She was supposed to be hired into that type of role, but instead was hired at Boeing in September of that year as an hourly employee as a clerk taking inventory. She met Jeff Kelsey, who was hired a few months later, while working there, and after about five months they began dating. They got married on April 22, 1989 in a church. In 1990 they bought their own house in Arlington where they lived for almost two years, and then they moved to a house back here in Everett in Pioneer Trails because the drive to Boeing was too far. During that time, in 1988 about one year after becoming a Boeing employee, Pam was hired as a salaried employee in Seattle. She worked there until 1990, when she transferred back to Everett, and six months later she transferred from office administration to the Facilities department in January of 1991. She worked in that area until 1995 when she began working as a project administrator and worked up to a lead and then a project manager within five years. In March of 1995 Jeff and Pam had a baby, Breanna Kelsey, and lived happily for 5 years until they got divorced in June of 2000. Pam then moved with Breanna to a condo and lived there for about a year and a half. During August of 2001 she married Jeff Turk, whom she had worked with for several years at Boeing, and they moved into a house near Monroe Elementary School in December of that year. In February of 2002 they had their own child, Chelsie Turk, and the four of them have lived there ever since. Pam just recently celebrated her 24th anniversary as an employee of the Boeing Company in September. She now has a full time job at home as well – Jeff is working for Boeing in South Carolina, so she now has to take care of the house, put up and take down holiday decorations, and transport her daughters to their various school events, band events, and dance and gymnastics four nights a week.
The History:
Rules and Punishment
I really don’t remember much about the dress code other than I don’t think we were allowed to wear shorts to school. People were much more modest back then and you really didn’t have to worry about too much skin being shown. Most of the guys wore button up shirts or sweaters and the girls mostly wore dressy or casual business attire. I almost always wore heels. Mini-skirts were okay as long as they weren’t too short. The general rule was shoes and shirts, just like today. Oakland Raiders attire was frowned upon, as gangs were just starting up and that was usually associated with a gang. If inappropriate attire was worn, you were sent home to change clothes, or you would have to sit in the office the entire day.
Nothing much has really changed [in how strict the teachers are]; it is definitely dependent upon the teacher. I noticed it also had a lot to do with what kind of student you were. For instance, the class clown would generally get in trouble for almost anything, whereas the kids who paid attention could get away with more. I was one of the kids who were very reserved, so I was almost always on the good side of my teachers. I never really had first-hand experience [being punished] since I was never on the bad side, but I did have a gym teacher that had issues with me because I would not undress in front of everyone and take a shower after gym class, especially because I knew she was watching and it gave me the creeps. My punishment for that was a D in the class. Other than that, it goes back to how well you paid attention in class, and whether you were disrespectful or not.
The rules were much more lenient than they are today, but times have greatly changed in the last 20 years. However, there were definite rules and they were enforced per the school policy. The enforcement could be as little as detention, all the way up to being expelled. It is hard to verbalize [how the rules were more lenient], but one thing is the rules for being tardy or absent from class, horseplay on campus, or having personal medications would not have resulted in the same degree of punishment as today. Another example is if someone brought a weapon or drugs to school (just in their possession, not using), it would have just resulted in a phone call home and possibly a day or two suspension for the 1st offense. It would have taken 3 or more offenses to get expelled.
[The role of administrators versus teachers in enforcing rules and giving punishment] was dependent on what rule was being violated. For instance, if it was a classroom rule, the teachers were the main enforcement. For classroom rules the teachers would generally give you a couple of warnings. If that didn’t work, the next step was detention. After a few detentions, then school administrators would likely get involved. If a rule like no smoking, stealing, drug possession, or leaving campus were violated, it was always the administrators. We also had strict rules about locker usage, and if it was suspected that we had violated what was kept in a locker, the school administrators would search it.
Every student had a locker that they shared. It was not mandatory to use one, but most people did. No one used backpacks then, so it was much easier to leave your books in your locker than try and tote them around all day. Most people did not go to their locker between every class, because it may not have been near where their classes were. If you tried to go to your locker between every class, you would most often be late.
[Corporal punishment] was a bit before my time unless you were in a Catholic school.
Because I was only sent to the office once, and it was a case of mistaken identity, I’m not sure of the main reasons people got in trouble or were sent to the office. When I was sent in, it was because a girl with the same name as mine (except one letter), had been writing graffiti on the restroom stall partitions. Other than that I never got in trouble, so I’m not entirely sure what the main reasons were. I know from talking to some of my friends that continued “clowning around” in class, teacher or student harassment, defacing school property, or possession of an item that was against school rules would get you sent to the office.
[They did not have campus security guards], nor did we have an onsite police officer. Violence is the one thing that we did not have much of. That seems to have started after different ethnic backgrounds starting being more prevalent.
[Lunch or after school detention] was usually teacher assigned for disruptive behavior in the classroom. I never had detention, but I have one friend that seemed quite prone to it. She said it was normally picking up garage, or sitting and doing nothing at all.
Technology
For the times, [technology] was pretty up to date although we didn’t have a lot of it. Computers were just starting to come out. During my junior and senior years we had the option to take a computer keyboarding class. There were only a few classrooms that had computers for these classes. The class I took was on a Mac, where we learned basic computer functions, as well as keyboarding. We had push pad phones versus the old fashioned rotary phones. Technology at the time consisted of vu-foil machines, movie projectors (the kind that were on large reels) and typewriters. I never heard mention of cell phones, but teachers used to tell us that someday we’d be able to have a phone conversation with someone and see them and that we’d have computers in the classrooms.
A vu-foil machine was a kind of like a light table. It was a box about the size of a VCR, only much taller. It had an arm that came up and projected light down to the glass area, and up onto a screen. You would write on a transparent sheet (like paper) and it would display on the screen. Overhead projectors did not come out until after I graduated. As for the boards they were good, old-fashioned chalk boards, with black erasers and all. White boards really didn’t come out until maybe a year or two after I graduated, or if they were out, they were not yet in the schools.
[The kind of desk] depended on the classroom. In science we were set up in tables with 2 chairs at a table. In English and Foreign language I remember having desks that were attached to the chair (like what is common today). I also recall in history and math that it was a desk with a separate plastic chair. Looking back I find it interesting that it seemed to vary more by building than by class.
I was generally a clueless teenager, so I really have no idea [how technology was funded]. I don’t ever remember an issue [with any technology], so it must have been taken care of fairly well.
The big [new technology] items while I was a student were the invention of CDs (instead of cassette tapes – which was also a fairly new technology). Walkmans were a big deal, along with VHS/VCRs and Nintendo systems. Computers were just starting to be really talked about and developed and started coming out while I was in high school. It was funny though, a few months after graduation I got a job at Boeing. When I transferred jobs there about a year after graduation, I walked in on my first day and they had computers. For every 4 people there was one computer and one phone. No one knew what to do with the computer and in I walk and actually knew how to make it work. It really frustrated all of the older people. The unfortunate thing is that it was a DOS platform and I was more familiar with Apple, but I still was able to quickly figure it out.
Life at Cascade
We actually had a lot of the same clubs that exist today: Vista, Stehekin, service, bowling, DECA, drama, and Hi-Q. In addition there were clubs that aren’t in Cascade now, like chess, pep, debate, woodworkers, computer, electronics, and horticulture.
I’m not really sure [how involved Cascade was in the community] other than the big annual Food Drive before the holidays. [She didn’t ever participate]; I was more interested in hanging out with friends then spending more time at school doing something good for the community. I definitely missed out on a lot of stuff like that that I now regret.
The feeling of connection [between the social groups] was not fostered like it is today, but at times the classes would feel together. However, there were 3 main social groups; the “Populars”, the “Stoners”, and the “Nobodies”. The lines between “Popular” and “Stoner” were definitely crossed more than the “Nobodies”. I was very fortunate to have friends in all of the social groups, so I was able to cross boundaries more than most. The other distinct difference was between the classes. There really was no feeling of connection between the grades. I had a couple of friends that were a year older, and some acquaintances that were a year younger, but for the most part my good friends were in my grade. Occasionally you would see someone from other grades dating, but it wasn’t very common.
For the age of the school, it was actually in pretty good shape. I don’t remember any major issues with it, other than some of the buildings just being old and needing some refreshment. You really didn’t see graffiti then, so that wasn’t really an issue. Every year the senior class donated something to the school so this also helped. Often times, if something was really old, it would be replaced.
I really do not know [how the clubs and sports were funded], and I also really don’t remember [if the clubs sponsored any fun events during the year. As stated before, Pam wasn’t very involved].
[During lunch students] hung out in groups in the cafeteria, or if allowed, would go up to Burger King (which is now Burgermaster). The “stoners” and the kids who smoked would always try to sneak into the woods by where AM/PM is today to smoke. I don’t remember the details, but I remember that going off campus was limited. You did have to have some sort of permission. At one point, we could only go to Burger King. That’s also where students ate.
The Cave actually existed while I went to Cascade, although I don’t remember if it had the same name. I was a member of DECA for my junior and senior years, and often worked in the store, or spent lunches doing inventory before an order was placed for more stuff. I don’t think you actually had to work in the store [as part of your grade], but you had to be involved somehow in how it operated and what items were sold.
[The elective and challenge classes offered were] definitely not in the wide range that is available today. For fitness, the only option was general PE that I can recall. There were classes like Sales/Marketing (DECA), automotive, woodworking, music, art, and typing or keyboarding. There were the typical types of events like sports games, dances, and clubs. Nothing special really stands out in my memory.
All of the sports teams at the time did very well. Our football team was always one of the best in State. Girl’s gymnastics and crew don’t exist now. All the other sports were the basics: football, cross country, tennis, swim, soccer, volleyball, basketball, wresting, baseball/softball, track and golf. I’m assuming the crew team [went somewhere to practice], but I do not know where. Gymnastics was done downstairs in the gym, by the racquetball courts.
Cascade has always had a pretty strong music department. However, during the time I went there they were not as strong as they were in the 10 years prior to me being there, nor as strong as they are now. I was only a part of the music department my freshman year, so after that I lost touch to some extent although I had several friends who stayed in the band. We had some excellent musicians in the band, including the Bradley brothers. Bob Bradley is now a music teacher in the Everett Public School district. [There was a marching program], but we only marched at football games. In the summer, there was always an alumni band that could march in parades. I was fortunate enough to be able to march with them while I was in middle school because of my older siblings. There were no fancy shows like there are now, but we had routines that we did for the different songs we played in the parades we went to.
[They didn’t have any emergency events except for] a few lockdowns for bomb threats. I remember one in particular that was in the middle of winter and lasted for 2 hours while they searched the school for a bomb. It turned out to be a prank called in by one of the students, who was identified and expelled. Just like today, we had emergency evacuation drills routinely.
The World and Life After High School
[Pam hasn’t heard of many teachers still at Cascade that taught when she was a student]. Wendy Close was a PE teacher at the time as well as the coach for girl’s softball and volleyball. Both teams did excellent under her guidance. One of the guys that was in my graduating class is now the girls soccer coach at Cascade. He was a state champion in soccer at the time. I don’t remember a lot of the people I went to school with and have not stayed in touch with anyone, so I don’t know if any of my classmates have entered politics or anything.
So looking back now, lots of major events [in the world] happened, but going back to me being a clueless teenager, I wasn’t that aware of them at the time. A couple of big events that I was aware of were Live Aid, the AIDS virus being discovered, and the Challenger exploding. I don’t recall any of the events really being talked about by the teachers. In general AIDS did affect the students because everyone was really afraid of it, but it was never talked about in class; it was a sort of taboo at the time to talk so openly about something like that. I don’t recall [any events happening in the community or the school that largely impacted the students].
World Events
I loved the Cosby Show! In my opinion it was one of the best shows ever on TV. I really wish there were shows like it today. The show was very funny, and had a great story line, but could touch on serious topics, and had a very strong focus on education, but yet at the same time it didn’t take away from the comedy part. It wasn’t the same as a lot of other sitcoms, because it wasn’t filled with one-liners, and it tried to find humor in every day family situations. Bill Cosby was so hilarious and he did a great job of playing Dr. Huxtable in the series. The series was based on Cosby as an obstetrician and his wife who was an attorney, who lived in New York with their children. They had several children (I believe 5 or 6) ranging from an infant all the way up to full grown kids who were out on their own. I remember controversy around the fact that it was an African-American show, but that never bothered me as I was not raised to think of colored people as being any different. I remember the show being filled with some drama, but the way it was handled by “Dr. Huxtable” made it hilarious. Some of the topics that he was able to touch on in the show were teen pregnancy, dyslexia, and drug use, but it was always in a manner that didn’t make the show a turn off for kids. I actually remember thinking that I hoped I could be a parent like Dr. Huxtable and his wife. The show received many awards during its 8 or 9 years it was on the air. Looking back, I feel that it was a great step forward for African Americans because it showed that they could be very well educated and successful, and that they had the same daily issues as everyone else. It made them more relatable, in a way.
I loved watching the Olympics, primarily the gymnastics in the summer games and the ice skating in the winter games. That was back when the games were every 4 years, versus every 2, so it was a pretty darn big deal when it happened. Mary Lou Retton competed in the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles, where she won one gold medal and several silver and bronze medals. It was so exciting to watch her as she continued to dominate. I remember it was a very close race for the all around event, and she just barely beat a Romanian with some unbelievable scores on a couple of the events. She was a year older than me at the time (I was 16), and I always found it really inspiring to watch the gymnastics since I couldn’t even do the most basic gymnastics at all. One thing that stood out about that year and her medals was the fact that several of the Soviet countries had boycotted those particular games. I’m not discounting her skill and talent, but you have to wonder if would have turned out differently with the soviets there because they were always some of the strongest in gymnastics. With that said, she did have Bela Karolvi as a coach, who was Nadia Comaneci’s coach in the prior Olympics before his defection to America. He always proved to be a tremendous coach; in my opinion he was one of the best gymnastics coaches of all time.
CDs were so amazing and hi-tech when they came out, with such clear sound quality. It was a pretty big deal to be able to own a CD player and CDs. I didn’t actually get my first CD player until after I was out of high school, even though they were introduced my freshman year. Everyone thought it was the future; no one could even imagine they could develop something like an iPod.
I was very much against the PMRC, not because I felt that the rating system is bad, but because it was all about 4 women who were trying to censor music for the wrong reasons. It basically comes down to Tipper Gore and (3) other “Washington Wives” having their own twisted interpretation of what some songs’ lyrics were suggesting and so she/they decided it was their responsibility to censor music instead of letting parents do their job and educate their own children. There were several songs that she deemed had sexual or violent content, when in reality they had no such thing; she just interpreted wrong, probably because she was afraid of how to deal with the situation of raising her own children and having to explain issues such as sex, drugs and violence. I’m not saying that all the songs were innocent, because some weren’t, but the way she/they went about the situation was not the best way to deal with it by far. By the PMRC trying to censor music, and trying to keep it “clean”, they actually made the issue worse, as musicians started purposely making songs against the PMRC. The other issue with censorship is that anytime someone labels something is bad, it just highlights it and makes it more appealing, especially to the children she was trying to “protect”. All of a sudden you had people buying the albums just because it was a “no-no” and at the same time you had musicians pushing the limits even further to express their objection at trying to control freedom of speech. The four women famously came up with a list of the 15 worst songs, but all that did was make sure that all of us teens listened to them, and started looking for some deeper meaning. There were some songs on the list to this day that I’m not sure I agree with being on the list. Some notable musicians that were actively against the PMRC were John Denver, Frank Zappa, and Dee Snyder. The PMRC even went up against John Denver, accusing him of writing about drugs in “Rocky Mountain High”. Basically what they wanted to do was make it so any album that had any “explicit” lyrics would be kept behind the counter, and not played on the radio. I think it all started when Tipper Gore’s daughter listened to a song from Prince. After that, they were always trying to say how damaging or “evil” the music lyrics were to kids and trying to make it so that if there was a song that they deemed “inappropriate” than you would have to be 18 in order to buy the CD. By trying to “educate parents” they were really trying to say that any music that they had deemed “explicit” would corrupt kids and their values. I personally found this very offensive, as I listened to a wide range of music including heavy metal which was one of their main targets (as it was the “devils” music). The reason I took offense to it was I was a pretty good kid with good morals, and just because I listened to a song with “explicit” lyrics (which mind you was completely innocent compared to what is in music today) didn’t mean I was going to go start doing drugs, having sex with someone, or go murder someone just because a song talked about it. Even as an adult, although I appreciate having a label saying explicit so I know, I don’t necessarily always agree with how it is rated. It still seems to be a little biased and at times things are labeled explicit that really are not, while at the same time things that are very explicit are not being labeled.
I absolutely loved Cabbage Patch kids. The kids were dolls that were super life-like and about the same size as a real baby, but they were “kids”, not just dolls. When one was purchased, it came with an adoption certificate that you could fill out and mail in for a real birth certificate that would be mailed back with the name you chose. Kids and adults alike bought Cabbage Patch Kids and they were one of the most successful toys in the 1980’s. My boyfriend and I got one and named it together (my favorite name at that time was Andrea, a name I oddly enough really dislike now) and we took care of it. I actually still have her somewhere.
AIDS first started to really be talked about in the high school around 1985 and it was something that really really scared a lot of people. You could say it was kind of like the bird flu panic a few years back. It was something I was very afraid of. Looking back it was mostly because there was so little known about it. HIV was something that wasn’t talked about yet; it was just AIDS at that time and all we knew was it was deadly. It was something no one really wanted to talk about, and we tried to pretend that it didn’t exist. It was known that the disease was sexually transmitted, and could also be passed to unborn children, but there was definitely a perception that being around someone infected with AIDS could increase your chance of contracting the disease. Like I said, early on people didn’t understand that it started with HIV and then moved into AIDS. It was a world pandemic, especially in Africa where about half the population was infected.
The Live Aid [concert in 1985] was an absolutely amazing event that was put together by one individual for the simple reason of raising money to fight world famine, as a follow up to the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” which was recorded under the title Band Aid to raise money for famine relief. There was a lot of publicity leading up to the concert and it was referred to at the time as the modern day Woodstock, with concerts in both the UK and US. I sat watching it all day on TV because it had such a great line of up of performers as well as being dedicated to such a great cause. I definitely knew it was going to be a historic event, and I even taped it for memorabilia. I still have the tape in my attic. It was amazing how much attention it brought to the issue of world famine and how many people supported the cause. It is something that I have always felt deserved a great deal of attention, because there’s really no reason anyone in a world as plentiful as ours should be hungry. We throw away so much food, especially in the United States; I wish people would stop to think about what we have, and about giving to those who do not. Live Aid was definitely a step forward to get people to start thinking.