Those were the days!

Yosemite High School operated with a new—

and controversial — education philosophy

YHS graduate Dustin Ginter now serves as the school nurse.

Hard work, high jinks, romance and great students are among the things staff members recall when they think about their years at Yosemite High School.

Several of today’s staff has been here since the school opened and a number of others came the second and third year. “The fact that so many of the original teachers are still here says a lot for the school,” saysEric Hansen, who was one of those first teachers.

Another fact that administrators point to with pride is the number of graduates who have returned as staff members. Throughout the district, there are over a dozen YHS grads on staff.

When Yosemite High opened its doors September 9, 1976 it was operating on a new educational philosophy that some staffers say today was the ’60s and ’70s open-education philosophy and the community college theory of choice.

While many of those still at YHS believe the idea was a good one, it simply generated more work than people could accomplish.

Mike Cole, who was on the original staff, recalls that the familiarity with students and the advisor concept was “beautiful and wonderful — but not workable.”

During the first year every teacher was assigned a group of students who were their “advisees.” As part of their job, the teachers were to visit each of those student’s homes three times a year.

That proved to be impossible for those who were assigned 30-plus students. Mr. Hansen recalls that his advisees lived in such places as Raymond and Bailey Flats — areas that took a lot of time to reach.

However, those with fewer advisees found that it was a positive experience. Curt Campbell, who was on the original staff as an employee of the Madera County Office of Education working in special education, was assigned 12 or 13 advisees and he did visit their home several times a year. “It really helped,” he recalls.

Mr. Campbell came to YHS from Southern California and he immediately loved the area and the students. “Where else would be better” than YHS, he says. “It was good because of the clientele (students) who came to us” at YHS, Mr. Campbell believes.

A ‘grandiose’ approach

To understand the struggles the teachers speak of, one must understand the way YHS operated in its beginning.

When the school first opened, there were between 300 and 400 students and one building was ready to occupy, but there were no seats. For the early part of that year, all of the students were in that one building seated on the floor. There were no walls so everyone listened to everyone else lecture.

Even after six-foot dividers were put in, people could still hear everyone in the building.

Students changed classes every two weeks the first part of the first year, they could be in class when they wanted to be, or they could not attend; they graded themselves and they selected the classes they wanted to attend.

It was highly individualized instruction that Mr. Cole says was “incredibly time-consuming to monitor.”

Dennis Otterson, also one of the original staff members, says the “learning perspective was grandiose; it was hard to monitor.” Mr. Cole corrects him: “It was impossible to monitor,” he says.

Some of these original teachers recall that the staff members wrote the names of the classes they would offer on a piece of paper and the students looked at the list and chose their classes.

Offerings included gunsmithing (black powder muskets), skateboarding, rock climbing, ornamental horticulture and backpacking as well as the traditional academic classes.

Mr. Hansen recalls that after a couple of months of changing classes every two weeks, it was extended to six weeks and eventually to the standard semester format.

Robin Conway, who was the first student body president at YHS, says the first year the school was open it was “not very rich” academically “but as a learning experience it was really something.”

Original staff members still remember how hard they worked to try to make the vision of the administration work. Superintendent Ken Savage often asked that the staff and the community “give the school a chance,” they remember. “We wanted to make it work,” Mr. Otterson says. “We tried as hard as we could to make it work,” Mr. Hansen says. Mr. Cole comments that Mr. Savage was “visionary” but the ideas could not work at a school the size of YHS.

“Exclusive private schools with a small population can do it, but not on our scale,” Mr. Cole says.

Graduate Rebecca Rice returned to campus as a teacher.

It was a busy first-year

Mr. Cole also recalls that the staff had no time off that first year. “Everyone was coaching, teaching and advising,” he says, adding that he worked all night at least twice a week.

There were many positive things about the early days of YHS. Mr. Otterson says there was a “tremendous amount of humanistic, positive people,” and Mr. Campbell says the “ideas were sound.”

The students who were self-motivated did very well in the environment that allowed them to work at their own pace while those who were not as motivated did not do as well.

Some students completed two years worth of credits in one year; others earned hardly any credits.

Mr. Conway, who was a self-motivated student, says “it was very interesting and exciting and a real learning experience.”

Everyone who taught at YHS during the open classroom era remembers those days and has stories to tell.

District Superintendent Bill McCabe, who came to the school as the agriculture teacher, says “people will tell you that pigs don’t fly, but they do.” He recalls very well the day that a fetal pig came flying over the divider into his classroom from the biology class next door.

“Before I could open my mouth to react, one of my students caught it and threw it over the divider into the next class,” he remembers.

“Lots of things got thrown over walls,” Mr. Hansen says.

You’ve got to speak up!

Additionally, there was the problem of noise. The art class was next door to the woodshop and the teacher had to try to lecture while a wood planer was running. The home economics class was next to the band class. The typing classes created a lot of noise as well.

Then there were the animated, inspiring teachers whose lectures caught other students’ attention. And other teachers’ attention: “Ellen Jackson (now Peterson) was so good that the other teachers stopped to listen to her,” one long-time staff member recalls.

Teachers could not show movies in the open buildings because they could not turn off their lights. If one teacher turned off the lights, they went off in the entire building.

The open space classrooms have just recently been remodeled into conventional facilities.

“There has been such a great improvement in the facilities,” Mr. Hansen says, “I love the room I have now.”

He recalls having more than 70 students in his class in the early days — and no chairs or desks. “They sat on the floor,” he says, “they were good kids and didn’t cause any problems. They made the best of what we had.”

Because the school was new and the staff limited, coaches drove the buses to games. Mr. Hansen recalls that he and another teacher, Darrell Cordova, got their bus drivers’ licenses. He had to drive his football players to their games and Mr. Cordova had to drive his agriculture students to events.

Mr. Hansen volunteered to be a substitute bus driver for the school and he says he drove at least once a month for a couple of years. “When you’re young, you will do anything,” he says.

However, in the early days at YHS, Mr. Hansen was not “young.” He recalls that he was, at 31, one of the oldest staff members.

Long hours, difficult facilities, a new educational philosophy — those are the things the staff remembers, but add to that low salaries and inadequate housing available in the community.

Mr. Hansen says the first year salaries were extremely low, but the second year they received a 19% raise and that brought them close to other schools.

Valinda Clevenger, who came to YHS as the original physical education teacher, says housing was simply not available. Some teachers roomed together, others lived in trailers and one teacher, she recalls, camped during the summer and then rented cabins during the school year.

Steve Raupp, who came to YHS the second year, recalls living with another teacher for about six weeks before he found a cabin to rent at Bass Lake for his family.

Despite the long hours, the teachers found time in those early years for get-togethers and they even went Christmas caroling the first year. “It was easy to have a party when the staff was so small,” Mr. Hansen recalls. “Everyone was very close and supportive.”

Athletics were difficult at YHS in the early years. There was no gymnasium at first, so the basketball team practiced in Raymond. Deer grazed on one end of the football field while the players practiced on the other end. The volleyball team played with a net tied between two trees with acorns under foot and deer roaming through.

The football team lost every game the first year but, Mr. Hansen recalls, the community was still glad to have a team.

When they started practicing for the first football season, there were no goal posts, no bleachers and no locker rooms. The players changed clothes in a trailer. The goal posts were put up the day before the first game.

The only facility the wrestling team had was a mat. Still, they won a couple of matches.

Because the facilities were so limited, students did other types of physical activities, such as skateboarding and rock climbing.

Mrs. Clevenger was hired as the school’s swim coach, but since there was no pool, she asked if she could start a volleyball team. She laughs as she recalls how frugal she and the other women coaches were when they ordered supplies. “We shared uniforms,” she says, adding that the men ordered everything for their players.

Mr. Hansen remembers that some students went fishing during their lunch break and his sons were able to ski to school from their house during the winter.

Driver training was different in the early days as well. It became a total learning experience with the students driving to such places as Hornitos, Yosemite National Park and Mariposa. They had to plan their trip, figure how much gasoline they would need and find their route on a map. “It made a good learning experience,” Mr. Hansen says.

Sparkin’ among the books

With a staff of young teachers, many of whom were single, romance was in the air as well. Among those who met at YHS and later married are Bob and Sharon Miller. She was on the original staff as the home economics teacher and he came the second year. They married in 1978.

Dan Walker, who was the school’s first auto shop teacher, enjoys telling the story of how he met his wife through YHS.

All applicants were given a series of tests before they were hired. Mr. Walker was scheduled to take his tests one Saturday afternoon. He was working as a mechanic at a store in Fresno and left work late.

As he was driving up Highway 41, he saw a woman and her small daughter in the Rocky Cut area with a flat tire. He observed the woman trying to change the tire as he drove by, and he knew she was doing everything wrong. “They really needed help,” he recalls.

Even though he was already late for his tests, he decided he had to turn around a go back to help. “I saw a need and I fulfilled it; if I was meant to get the job, I would get it,” he says.

After changing the tire and driving on to Oakhurst, he had trouble following the map to the test area. When he arrived, the test was already underway so he had to wait for the next series to start.

As he waited, he told the receptionist, Suzie Rodgers (now married to YHS athletic director and wood shop teacher Dave Dooman) why he was late. Miss Rodgers was the one who remained late and gave him the portion of the test he had missed. She was so impressed by what he had done that she told everyone.

Later, he saw her at a store and went up to thank her again. Her friend, Sally Schollenbarger, was with her and Suzie introduced them. They began dating and later married.

“I give Suzie the credit for me getting the job,” Mr. Walker says today. “I credit the lady’s flat tire with meeting Suzie and then meeting my wife.”

Mr. Walker taught at YHS for three years and then opened his own auto repair business. “I loved teaching and I really miss it,” he says, “I still teach my customers when the opportunity arises.”

Extracurricular pranks

The staff members also recall the fun they had and the pranks they pulled. A group of people who still won’t let their identity be known, filled the superintendent’s office with the material from the pole vault pit one night.

They will talk about it in detail, how they hauled it in a pickup and managed to get all of the material over the partition into his cubicle. They laugh at it - how he could hear his phone ring, but couldn’t find it, how it covered everything with foam, what a total mess it was.

This was when Jerry Livesey was superintendent and, they remember, he had a pretty good sense of humor — most of the time. But this wasn’t one of the times his humor prevailed. “He was furious,” one of the anonymous participants remembers, still chuckling.

Laura Peterson, another long-time employee, remembers the early days at YHS with fondness. “It was like a family,” she says, “everyone knew each other and helped out.”

They also had fun. During the summer when they were washing the furniture, it was common to hose each other down or to dump buckets of water on someone.

The most fun she recalls, however, was when she and another employee scared Lance Hays, who was a member of the custodial staff and is now custodial supervisor. He and another person were in one part of the drama room. Mrs. Peterson and another employee were on the other side of the divider. There was a space between the dividers so a long stick could reach through.

The other employee put the stick through and moved a desk, then another piece of furniture. Mr. Hays knew there wasn’t anyone else in the room except the person he was talking to, yet across the room, periodically a piece of furniture would move.

Mrs. Peterson still laughs as she recalls how frightened Mr. Hays became.

The closeness the employees mention is also something Mr. Conway recalls from his student days. He says it was the early ’70s and YHS had the same problems everyone else had “and we dealt with them well.”

However, there were a number of student factions on the campus and they were “a little more severe that first year.” Then, the last day of school arrived and “everyone came together,” he recalls, “it was really fantastic.”

Mr. Conway also recalls some fun. He remembers the chemistry class that Bill Rees taught in the open building. “We did things that disturbed the rest of the building,” he says, including the day they made an ammonia cloud and everyone had to leave the building.

“Weird” is the word two YHS graduate use to describe what it is like to come back as an employee.

Rebecca Rice, a 1993 graduate who returned in 1998 as a social science teacher, says it is “really weird” to be back as a peer of her teachers and she says it is still hard to call people by their first name after calling them “Mr.” or “Mrs.” for so many years.

Former student challenged

Dustin Ginter, a 1994 graduate who now works for the Madera County Office of Education as a school nurse, says it is “weird” to come back as an employee. Through the county office, YHS contracts for Mr. Ginter’s services 20 days a year.

Mr. Ginter says it almost seemed like he was back in school the first day he came to YHS as the school nurse. “It was also nice to come back and see everyone again,” he says.

He remembers that some of the teachers saw him and commented “didn’t you graduate already. What are you doing here?”

Ms. Rice said while it was weird to come back as an employee, her former teachers also provided lots of help and support. “It was a lot better than coming in as a stranger because I knew how things worked.”

Since returning to YHS, Ms. Rice says she has developed close friendships with the other graduates who are working here. None of the other graduates were in her class, but may have been on the campus at the same time in another class.

She has taught her brother and sister at YHS and has enjoyed that experience, calling it “neat and interesting.” She said her siblings liked having her as a teacher and they both tried really hard in her class.

Both Ms. Rice and Mr. Ginter are happy in their present jobs. Ms. Rice says she hopes to retire from YHS and Mr. Ginter hopes to retire from the MCOE. They both said they were well prepared for college at YHS

Twenty-five years is a long time for people to build memories, friendships and careers. Those who have spent most, or all, of those years at YHS look back with fondness as they recall the good times and the challenging times.

It has worked. YHS was selected as a California Distinguished School in 2001 and its students earn regional and statewide honors in many areas. The school has over three times as many students as it had when it opened 25 years ago and a considerably larger staff.

What made it work? Mr. Hansen sums it up this way:

“There is not a better group of teachers anywhere. We started with a bunch of livewires who were enthused and happy to be up here working with the kids we had.”