Did you ever wonder what any your teachers were like when they were in high school? Do you think they looked the same, acted the same, and spoke the same way they do now? I decided to ask two of our favorite WHBHS teachers about what they were like when they were your shoes at WHBHS years ago. You’ll be surprised to hear the results.
When I asked phys ed teacher Ms. Fabian what she was like when she went to WHBHS, she described a girl who seemed to be very similar to the way she is today. She was “sporty” and went to many sweet 16s and “danced her butt off.” She had a boyfriend all of high school and was an average student with her grades mostly in the 90s. She thinks she was pretty likeable and said if she could compare herself to any student it would be 2012 graduate “Haley Laube,” who was also very athletic.
Ms. Fabian had some of your own teachers now like Ms. Phillips, Ms. Masterson, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Parry, Mr. Grodski, and Mrs. Rosenberg. Mrs. Rosenberg taught her favorite class, Forensics. Ms. Fabian claims she never went to the principal’s office. During junior year, basketball season was her favorite high school memory because she won 3rd in the county.
To make sure she was telling the complete truth I asked Mr. Parry what he thought of Ms. Fabian as a high school student. He said, “She was the best athlete in the building. She played soccer, softball, basketball, was a great gym student and great kid in general.” About teaching at her Alma Mata, she feels, “Working here is a way to give back to the school and community that gave me such good experiences while I was a student.” Her senior quote stated, “You never have a second chance to make a good first impression” and “Better to tell the truth and comfort their cry, then to create pain, when you tell a lie.”
Social Studies teacher Mr. Bass claims he was a good student who never got into trouble, but was not a likeable person and very difficult to get along with. He claims to have no friends and spent every night home alone; he never had any dates; he spent all of his time studying in the library and called himself a “nerd”. He was in the band and played drums; his first date was apparently his wife, claims he didn’t speak to girls’ till college.
I suspected a feeling this was not correct information, so I asked Mrs. Rosenberg, who taught him “typing” when he was a junior in high school. Mrs. Rosenberg said, “He had a great personality and was very handsome. Many girls thought he was hot, but he had a girlfriend at the time. He was a joker in class but respectful. Mr. Bass was a great athlete who won County’s his senior year.“
Mrs. Rosenberg was the cheerleading coach at the time and apparently everyday Mr. Bass would come up from the wrestling room after his shower with his towel still wrapped around him to say hello to all of the cheerleaders (who all loved him.) Mrs. Rosenberg said, “He was a regular red-blooded teenage boy. He is the same that he is now, just more disciplined. He turned into a great father, great teacher, and great husband.” Mr. Bass’s senior quote was, “Hey, Wick, push the car!!!” Whatever that means…
Looking back at what our teachers were like when they were in high school years ago makes me think, what do you think you’re going to be like when you grow up? How are you going to look back on yourself when you were a student at WHBHS? Hopefully you will bring the good qualities about you from high school with you in your future just like Mr. Bass and Ms. Fabian did.
