La Canada High School Class of 1971 Reunion Past memories to help inspire future memories.

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La Canada High School Class of 1971 Reunion Guestbook Page 15

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08/28/2001Dennis Phinney "Cheryl, I went to Paradise Canyon for six years (counting kindergarten) and I distinctly remember there being other kids at that school besides me. I racked my brain and here's my list (including some who moved away). I had a few more but my computer crashed so I apologize to those I left out. Distinguished Alumni of Paradise Canyon Elementary School (a partial list)

Ap Roberts, Jan
Andrade, Roualdo
Arman, Bill
Baker, Teresa
Bakerink, Mary Sue
Bittner, Craig
Black, Bob
Black, Marilyn
Boothby, Sally
Buffalino, Toni
Burlingame, Janet
Casselman, Laurie
Constable, Barry
Davis, John
Dunn, Robbie
Filerup, Robbie
Frame, Greg
Fredericks, Jack
Gayle, Janis
Goulden, Ben
Green, Valerie
Hale, Jenny
Haley, Kevin
Hauter, Fred
Hobart, Janice
Incikaya, Phil
Kile, Karen
Krauss, Barbara
Krauss, Dennis
La Valley, Mel
MacDonald, Duncan
Mc Millin, Janet
McPherson, Georgie
Methgen, Ken
Murphy, Trisha
Naeve, Bill
Parks, Gary
Porter, Bill
Priester, Bob
Purvis, Steve
Rembac, Stephanie
Rodgers, Tom
Smalling, Gary
Smith, Steve
Stabler, Kathy
Stipe, Nancy
Stone, Bruce
Thomas, Rick
Thompson, Rick
Vickers, Alison
Volle, Dan
Wells, Kerry
Wheeler, Sharon
Widmayer, Robert
Worth, Wendy
Young, Kevin
Zeller, Kim

Teachers
Kindergarten Mrs Templin/Mrs Green
1st Grade - Mrs Amsden/Mrs Colley
2nd Grade - Mrs Parker/Mrs Fowler
3rd Grade - Mrs Howlett/Mrs Irby
4th Grade - Mrs Durian/Mrs Heimer
5th Grade - Mrs Mate/Mrs Laren
Spanish - Mr. McPherson
Nurse - Mrs Fuel
Custodian - Smitty

I remember in fifth grade in Mrs Mate's class we had 18 girls and only 13 boys. This created a serious problem because each week we elected a "class president" and a class "ball monitor." Guys voted for guys and girls of course voted for girls (We hated each other back then.) Being outnumbered, we boys always got stuck with some creepy girl as class president and another creepy girl as ball monitor. The ball monitor position was especially crucial because there were only two balls in the ball box that would actually bounce. When recess came, the girls of course ended up with both of them. The "president" position was also critical because whenever Mrs Mate stepped outside for a smoke, the girl president only wrote boys names on the blackboard and we had to stay after school.

So one day during recess we sat around on our flat Voit utility balls and organized the United Boys Political Party, or something like that. I think the boys nominated every girl in the fifth grade for class president that day and enough of the girls voted for themselves that we actually won the election. Each week after that we threw our support behind one guy from for "class president", one for "ball monitor" and one for line leader. (The line leader was a political plum we handed out to waverers to keep them in line.) It worked great for about three months. Our entire slate of candidates swept every election. The next time Mrs Mate stepped outside for a smoke, the boys took their wooden rulers out and tried to see how many pencils we could launch into that pink foamy stuff they put in our ceilings while our newly elected "class president" scribbled every girl's name he could think of onto the blackboard. It was bitchen while it lasted. Then some boy had a girlfriend and secretly ratted us out. We had to report to the principal's office for a lecture on "subversion of the democratic process."

That was the same year the girls got to see the special movie that the boys didn't get to see. Of course we HAD to KNOW what this movie was all about. Bill Arman overheard Toni Buffalino say something about "ministration" after school. Radio Free Paradise Canyon clicked into action and by four o'clock we boys were calling each other on the phone trying to find the word "ministration" in our Funk and Wagnalls. We were heartbroken when the word wasn't even in the dictionary. 

Speaking of vocabulary lessons, I seem to remember one time when we had "euthanasia" as a vocabulary word. Bruce Stone wrote down "little Chinamen" for his answer and the teacher thought it was so funny she gave him full credit.

We had our own special slang at Paradise Canyon, which I'm not sure made it nationwide. In first grade, if something was good, it was either "tough" or it was "neato." I remember using "boss" in third grade. I'm relatively certain that Sam Riddle and the Real Don Steele "kiped" that word from us. "Bitchen" came into use in about fourth grade, but if your teacher was listening you said "twitchen" instead. And if somebody "kiped" your ruler it meant he stole it from you. Remember the cafetorium? They had these little yellow squares of cake in there with this weird white frosting so disgustingly sweet it tasted like you were eating a Fizzie. They didn't sell every square, so they kept putting the same pieces of cake out every day until some unsuspecting first grader accidentally bought one of them. Hopefully the poor kid didn't have any permanent teeth yet. We had a food fight one day. Somebody threw one of those things and broke a window.

Once a week they served this greasy orange stuff in there for lunch that they called "lasagna pudding." Why did they call it "pudding?" Was it to trick us into actually eating it? You couldn't leave for recess until you held your finger up in the air and a teacher would excuse you if she thought you had eaten enough of your lunch. Every time a kid got up to leave you'd beg him to take away some of your "pudding" in his lunch bag so you could leave for recess too. It got down to where there were only two or three kids left and you would scramble to find places to put that "pudding." Like smearing it underneath those green fold-up benches and tables. I'm sure Smitty loved cleaning that stuff up."

Foothill Intermediate Memories:

Anybody remember the Nicoll Mouse Club? Those little triangle finger footballs? Ugly stickers. Mrs Harmon had so many of those things on her classroom door you couldn't see through the window. Desert boots? Bike bags from John's bicycle shop? Coach Hoagland and The Mongolian grip?, the Tasmanian grip?, Receiving "waffle butts" when you were in pushup position. The time the Dodgers beat the Twins in the World Series and Coach Bunker was so pissed he made us run wind sprints for a week. Making dust pans and screwdrivers in Mr. Smith's shop class? Having to learn the words to "Johnny Zero" in Mrs Klusman's music class?

I just sent you an email on Paradise Canyon and I think I forgot to say who I was.
Great website. Thanks for all the hard work." 

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