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| Cruisin’ the Past by Ed Dooley |
And gladly would they learn
Before Catalina High School was four years old, it had already been ranked twice
as one of the nation’s top 30 high schools. This high honor reflected the outstanding
faculty, staff, curriculum, and facilities, but more than anything else it reflected the
impressively high academic caliber and record of the student body. Of course there
were many above-average and average students, like myself, but it was hard not to
see that a large number of our classmates were gifted students destined for great
success. These young men and women not only brought honors to the school and to
themselves, but they inspired and motivated the rest of us to reach higher. I think
this was their greatest contribution to the class.
Each class had its academic stars, but recognition usually did not come until the
senior year when honors and scholarships were announced. For this reason, and
because my essays are focusing on the class of 1960, I will limit my comments to
our senior year.
The ultimate indicator of academic achievement was induction into the National
Honor Society. This was considered not only the highest academic honor attainable
at CHS, but the highest honor awarded by the school. The society was guided by
that paragon of intellectual discipline, Miss Eva A. Royce. High grades, high
standing in the class, character, leadership, and service qualifications were all
considered by the faculty who selected the student members. Students who failed
to live up to its high standards could be dropped from membership.
The list of senior members of the National Honor Society reads like a who’s who
of the class. The list is long, but worth noting here. Dale Retrum was the president,
Tee Cook was vice-president, Julie Barrett was secretary, and Larry Bryson was
treasurer. Other members were Judy Allen, Susan Angel, Janet Ayers, Ann Baksa,
Sherry Barney, Kris Born, Jean Buckwalter, Edit Catlin, Valerie Davison, Alice
Dawson, Vivien Englert, Doug Fischer, Bob Gaylord, Carol Green, Michael Gregg,
Margaret Hagen, Jarel Hambenne, Linn Harbour, Dawn Hollinger, Bob Jacobs,
Darlene James, Tom Kenan, James Klein, Judy Krivel, Glenn Martinson, Mary
McCurdy, Connie McMillan, Cindy Monroe, Brenda Morris, Nancy Odom, Richard
Parrish, Steve Patzman, Janice Phelps, Steven Phillips, Harold Rasp, Sylvia Reed,
David Rowe, Jeff Shofner, Linda Simanton, Diana Smith, Mark Stanberry, Steve
Tofel, Tom Tompkins, Janice Traister, Pat Tully, Ellen Van Wagner, Wesley
Voorhees, Paula Weger, Elizabeth Wheeler, Carol Williams, and Stephen Young.
At the start of our senior year, four class members – all National Honor Society
members -- ranked among the top 45 participants in the National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test out of 525,000 students who took the test. Margaret Hagen placed
second in the nation, Connie McMillan tied for third place, and Janet Ayers and
James Klein finished not far behind. Not surprisingly, Hagan later earned the B.S. in
math and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from Stanford
University. She worked as a researcher for Bell Labs. McMillan earned the B.S.
from Stanford and the Ph.D. form Cornell, and taught mathematics at Ithaca
College. Class records show that Ayers later taught at Chochise Community
College. And Klein earned the B.S degree from Stanford and a medical degree
from U.S.C. and is a practicing physician in Tucson.
The opening of our senior year brought news of foreign study. Edith Catlin, an
outstanding student of mathematics at CHS, spent two months in Switzerland as an
American Field Service representative. Edith later received a B.S. from the U. of A.
in engineering and mathematics, and an M.Ed. from Wichita State. In 1958,
Adrienne Hinds traveled to Jerusalem for a visit. On returning to CHS, she began
making plans to return to Israel to attend the Hebrew University in Jerusalem to
study Jewish history, literature, scientific thought, and philosophy. The last we
heard, she was on her way.
October 1959 was just two years after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the
first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. The reaction in the United States to the
launching was to reexamine the state of science education at all levels and to place
greater emphasis on it our schools and colleges. Catalina responded to this
emphasis by developing an outstanding biology-chemistry-physics curriculum. And
one of the top stars in this field was Larry Bryson who, with Connie McMillan and
one other Catalina rising junior, was accepted into a U. of A. college physics class
the summer before his senior year. Larry later earned the B.S. and M.S. degrees in
aerospace engineering and worked at the Stanford Research Institute. He then
switched careers and went to medical school at USC in LA and began practicing full
time as an internist in San Francisco. He also worked for some time with Henry
Kissinger. Jarel Hambenne won first prize in Catalina’s first science fair with an
“examination of shock waves in a supersonic wind tunnel by means of a schlieren
system.” He then went on to win first prize at the Grand Sweepstakes winners of the
Southern Arizona Regional Fair held at the U of. A. From there, he took his project
to the Eleventh National Science Fair in Indianapolis, Indiana. Making good use of
his interest in science, he later earned the B.S. in physics and math from the U. of
A., the M.S. degree in Physics from the University of Hawaii, and the Ph.D. degree
in theoretical physics.
With much credit to Mrs. Lackey, CHS produced a long list of talented debaters who
won honors locally and nationally. At the head of this list were two students: Connie
McMillan and Rick Parrish. In December 1959, McMillan won the state level of the
National Voice of Democracy contest and traveled to Washington, D.C., to compete
early the next year for a scholarship. It was the first time a Catalina student had won
a state speech contest. Parrish placed highest at a debate held at the U. of A. in
October 1959. Rick was also a talented football player and once, perhaps not
seriously, told me that he wanted to play professional football. That did not happen.
Instead, he earned the law degree from U.C. at Berkeley and became one of the
leading trial lawyers in Tucson and a well-known fiction writer.
In addition to the activities mentioned, Catalina High School also sponsored a
number of clubs and interest groups that had an academic cast. For example, the
school sponsored a chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for
High School Journalists, a chapter of the National Forensic Club, the Inter Nos Latin
Club, the Club El Cid (for those interested in the culture of Spain), a chapter of the
Future Teachers of America, The Computers Club (which had little to do with
computers as we know them today but emerging phases and directions of
mathematics), and the Bi-Chem-Phy Science club, that promoted interest in science.
Before closing, I should mention all of those not yet cited who earned the doctorate
degree as further evidence of the wealth of academic talent contained in our class:
Gary Beers, Ph.D. (aquatic ecology); Valerie Davison, Ed.D; Don Fones, M.D.;
Paul Gray, Ph.D.; Don Ijams, Ph.D. (social psychology); Bill Kolb, Ph. D. (molecular
biology); Steve Ledbetter, Ph.D. (musicology); Frank Lochner, D.V.M; Joe Marco, M.
D.; Julius Moshinsky, Ph.D. (linguistics); David Rowe, M.D.; Jeff Shofner
(deceased) M.D., John Snell, D.D.S; Gene Sollenberger, M.D.; Mark Stanberry, M.
D.; Tom Tompkins, M.D.; Stephen Young, M.D. And there may be others we don’t
know about.
Many other members of the class not mentioned above went on to high
academic accomplishments. I mention in an earlier essay that of the 279 members
of the class who have submitted biographical information, a total of 191, or 63
percent, report that they attended college, university, or professional school (99
men; 92 women). We have no way of comparing Catalina’s record against other top
high schools at the time, but the number of awards and honors suggests that CHS,
still only three years old at the time, was distinctive, if not out-of-the-ordinary in this,
its main mission.
Before Catalina High School was four years old, it had already been ranked twice
as one of the nation’s top 30 high schools. This high honor reflected the outstanding
faculty, staff, curriculum, and facilities, but more than anything else it reflected the
impressively high academic caliber and record of the student body. Of course there
were many above-average and average students, like myself, but it was hard not to
see that a large number of our classmates were gifted students destined for great
success. These young men and women not only brought honors to the school and to
themselves, but they inspired and motivated the rest of us to reach higher. I think
this was their greatest contribution to the class.
Each class had its academic stars, but recognition usually did not come until the
senior year when honors and scholarships were announced. For this reason, and
because my essays are focusing on the class of 1960, I will limit my comments to
our senior year.
The ultimate indicator of academic achievement was induction into the National
Honor Society. This was considered not only the highest academic honor attainable
at CHS, but the highest honor awarded by the school. The society was guided by
that paragon of intellectual discipline, Miss Eva A. Royce. High grades, high
standing in the class, character, leadership, and service qualifications were all
considered by the faculty who selected the student members. Students who failed
to live up to its high standards could be dropped from membership.
The list of senior members of the National Honor Society reads like a who’s who
of the class. The list is long, but worth noting here. Dale Retrum was the president,
Tee Cook was vice-president, Julie Barrett was secretary, and Larry Bryson was
treasurer. Other members were Judy Allen, Susan Angel, Janet Ayers, Ann Baksa,
Sherry Barney, Kris Born, Jean Buckwalter, Edit Catlin, Valerie Davison, Alice
Dawson, Vivien Englert, Doug Fischer, Bob Gaylord, Carol Green, Michael Gregg,
Margaret Hagen, Jarel Hambenne, Linn Harbour, Dawn Hollinger, Bob Jacobs,
Darlene James, Tom Kenan, James Klein, Judy Krivel, Glenn Martinson, Mary
McCurdy, Connie McMillan, Cindy Monroe, Brenda Morris, Nancy Odom, Richard
Parrish, Steve Patzman, Janice Phelps, Steven Phillips, Harold Rasp, Sylvia Reed,
David Rowe, Jeff Shofner, Linda Simanton, Diana Smith, Mark Stanberry, Steve
Tofel, Tom Tompkins, Janice Traister, Pat Tully, Ellen Van Wagner, Wesley
Voorhees, Paula Weger, Elizabeth Wheeler, Carol Williams, and Stephen Young.
At the start of our senior year, four class members – all National Honor Society
members -- ranked among the top 45 participants in the National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test out of 525,000 students who took the test. Margaret Hagen placed
second in the nation, Connie McMillan tied for third place, and Janet Ayers and
James Klein finished not far behind. Not surprisingly, Hagan later earned the B.S. in
math and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from Stanford
University. She worked as a researcher for Bell Labs. McMillan earned the B.S.
from Stanford and the Ph.D. form Cornell, and taught mathematics at Ithaca
College. Class records show that Ayers later taught at Chochise Community
College. And Klein earned the B.S degree from Stanford and a medical degree
from U.S.C. and is a practicing physician in Tucson.
The opening of our senior year brought news of foreign study. Edith Catlin, an
outstanding student of mathematics at CHS, spent two months in Switzerland as an
American Field Service representative. Edith later received a B.S. from the U. of A.
in engineering and mathematics, and an M.Ed. from Wichita State. In 1958,
Adrienne Hinds traveled to Jerusalem for a visit. On returning to CHS, she began
making plans to return to Israel to attend the Hebrew University in Jerusalem to
study Jewish history, literature, scientific thought, and philosophy. The last we
heard, she was on her way.
October 1959 was just two years after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the
first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. The reaction in the United States to the
launching was to reexamine the state of science education at all levels and to place
greater emphasis on it our schools and colleges. Catalina responded to this
emphasis by developing an outstanding biology-chemistry-physics curriculum. And
one of the top stars in this field was Larry Bryson who, with Connie McMillan and
one other Catalina rising junior, was accepted into a U. of A. college physics class
the summer before his senior year. Larry later earned the B.S. and M.S. degrees in
aerospace engineering and worked at the Stanford Research Institute. He then
switched careers and went to medical school at USC in LA and began practicing full
time as an internist in San Francisco. He also worked for some time with Henry
Kissinger. Jarel Hambenne won first prize in Catalina’s first science fair with an
“examination of shock waves in a supersonic wind tunnel by means of a schlieren
system.” He then went on to win first prize at the Grand Sweepstakes winners of the
Southern Arizona Regional Fair held at the U of. A. From there, he took his project
to the Eleventh National Science Fair in Indianapolis, Indiana. Making good use of
his interest in science, he later earned the B.S. in physics and math from the U. of
A., the M.S. degree in Physics from the University of Hawaii, and the Ph.D. degree
in theoretical physics.
With much credit to Mrs. Lackey, CHS produced a long list of talented debaters who
won honors locally and nationally. At the head of this list were two students: Connie
McMillan and Rick Parrish. In December 1959, McMillan won the state level of the
National Voice of Democracy contest and traveled to Washington, D.C., to compete
early the next year for a scholarship. It was the first time a Catalina student had won
a state speech contest. Parrish placed highest at a debate held at the U. of A. in
October 1959. Rick was also a talented football player and once, perhaps not
seriously, told me that he wanted to play professional football. That did not happen.
Instead, he earned the law degree from U.C. at Berkeley and became one of the
leading trial lawyers in Tucson and a well-known fiction writer.
In addition to the activities mentioned, Catalina High School also sponsored a
number of clubs and interest groups that had an academic cast. For example, the
school sponsored a chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for
High School Journalists, a chapter of the National Forensic Club, the Inter Nos Latin
Club, the Club El Cid (for those interested in the culture of Spain), a chapter of the
Future Teachers of America, The Computers Club (which had little to do with
computers as we know them today but emerging phases and directions of
mathematics), and the Bi-Chem-Phy Science club, that promoted interest in science.
Before closing, I should mention all of those not yet cited who earned the doctorate
degree as further evidence of the wealth of academic talent contained in our class:
Gary Beers, Ph.D. (aquatic ecology); Valerie Davison, Ed.D; Don Fones, M.D.;
Paul Gray, Ph.D.; Don Ijams, Ph.D. (social psychology); Bill Kolb, Ph. D. (molecular
biology); Steve Ledbetter, Ph.D. (musicology); Frank Lochner, D.V.M; Joe Marco, M.
D.; Julius Moshinsky, Ph.D. (linguistics); David Rowe, M.D.; Jeff Shofner
(deceased) M.D., John Snell, D.D.S; Gene Sollenberger, M.D.; Mark Stanberry, M.
D.; Tom Tompkins, M.D.; Stephen Young, M.D. And there may be others we don’t
know about.
Many other members of the class not mentioned above went on to high
academic accomplishments. I mention in an earlier essay that of the 279 members
of the class who have submitted biographical information, a total of 191, or 63
percent, report that they attended college, university, or professional school (99
men; 92 women). We have no way of comparing Catalina’s record against other top
high schools at the time, but the number of awards and honors suggests that CHS,
still only three years old at the time, was distinctive, if not out-of-the-ordinary in this,
its main mission.
