9th Grade

I saw this while surfing this afternoon. In light of school starting soon...(not soon enough), I thought I'd give it a try.

THE NINTH GRADE

Who was your best friend? I never really had a best friend growing up. I grew up with Debbie and Dawn. Sisters that lived a few houses up from us. Dawn was a year older and Debbie was a year younger. They were really good friends. Now that I think back....I wish I had involved the two of them in my wedding in some way. I never see them. Dawn is a pediatrician and officer in the Air Force and Debbie, I believe, lives here now after several years of living away with her Air Force husband. Mrs. G visits my parents from time to time so I still get news on them. We should really get together sometime. Oh, wow...where was I? That was a little trip down memory lane, huh? Id did have a few good friends. I always spent the night with Kimmie. my cousin. She was more of a sister to me than anything I had. I think we fought like sisters. I miss her. I miss those times...with my aunt Doris and Grannie. Oh my...I just realized that this is about the 9th grade. Not my entire life. Who was my best friend in 9th grade? I don't guess I really had one. Debbie B. was a really good friend that I grew up with and I miss her, too. Haven't spoken with her in twenty years. Things happened our senior year. Then there was of course Ro-Shel. Otherwise known as Shelly. I miss you Shel. You hung in there with me, girl-through A LOT! This is your shout-out girlfriend!

Who did you "go" with? Exactly where did we 'go'? Well, nowhere. I think I went with Nick Roten...for about a week. Why, you say? (Of course you don't know him.) I have no idea. He was not even my type. I think I liked the thrill of the chase because I never really 'went' with anybody for very long. Although I did go with Coby Peters. He was a cutie. One week. Chase was over. See ya...buh-bye! I'm still amazed that I've been married for almost 18 years. And happily i might add.

Did you have a crush on anyone? Gah....I have no idea. I really, really don't remember. I'd for sure have to pull out my yearbook to remind myself. I probably need to pull that sucker out anyway. My twenty year reunion is coming up in 2 weeks. More on that later.

What sport did you play? No sports in the 9th grade. It was my first year for Drill Team. Holy cow. I SO need to get those pictures out and scan them. dang, I was cute! And I liked Drill Team. Although my first year we had a sponsor that decided that our uniforms were going to be made by a seamstress. One was cowgirl-ish. Really? Really. With of course our maroon saddle oxfords.

Did you buy your lunch? Of course. It was so not cool to bring your lunch.

Did you skip? Really? Heck no. Not in 9th grade anyway. I never skipped until my senior year (sorry Mom) and then it was only a couple times and not even for the whole day. Just a few classes.

Did you get suspended? No, never. I think I might have gotten D-Hall once or twice in the 9th grade.

Were you in any fistfights? Gah, no. People were too scared of me. OK, so not really. I always played the though one but I was really a sceerdy cat.

What was your favorite class? Probably Home-Ec. Wasn't that every body's fave class? Mike, wasn't it yours? Every year that you took it?

What was your school's name? North Junior High. The Knights we were. maroon and old.

If you could go back, would you? No. Emphatically. Mike and I discuss this all the time. Why? I don't know, we just do. He would LOVE to...in a heartbeat!

Where did you sit at lunch? I can't really remember. I want to say it was the 2nd or third table from the front. By the D-hall table. I'm really just taking a stab but I think that may be it.

Was there a smoking lounge? For kids? Oh my, no. That was the next year. Looking back...I can't believe there were actually smoke holes.

Who was your science teacher freshman year? Nancy Greenwood. She was about 4 foot 2 and had the whiniest voice. I loved her. I do remember that James Seats was in my class and Patrick Glover. I, everyday, used Patrick's Carmex. Loved that stuff. And i think I secretly did have a small crush on James. He was dating Tammy, no it was Melanie, and had been forever so I knew there was no chance. Mrs. Greenwood's daughter Libby was a fellow 9th grader. I believe she's still at Northwood. Mrs. Greenwood - not Libby.

Who was your English teacher? Kay Higgins. Loved that class, too. The Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet. She was married to a coach at the high school. This dude wore horribly out dated clothes and didn't smell all that great. Nicest guy ever though. We see him every now and again and he's always the sweetest thing. She was always made-up so nicely. Always had really nice clothes and makeup and had a diamond wedding ring that could choke a horse. How;s this for a weird one...my cousin ended up marrying their son. I still think that's bizarre.

Who was your history teacher? It was Civics and it was Mrs. Provin...who is also still there. She was a little out there but everybody loved her.

Did you think you were cool? Yeah, I kinda think so. Not so sure if I thought I was cool or popular. But isn't that one and the same? Well, at least I was friends with all the cool, popular people.

Describe your outfits in ninth grade. Don't really remember....which is probably a good thing.

Did you even have a cell phone? A what? There plenty of pay phones to go around then. Remember they cost a dime? (Here's a dime...call someone who cares.) We used to go to the mall to 'hang out' and get on the rows of pay phones and call people.

Who was your favorite teacher? I did have a favorite administrator. Mr. Ken Clark. He was the coolest of the cool. He used to let us come down to his office and hang out after lunch.

What's your most memorable moment? Can't remember. Prom maybe? It was in the school cafeteria. I took Shane Swaim...a little cutie who's sister was dating my brother.

What were your best accomplishments? I think it was surviving Drill Team camp the summer before 9th grade. It was brutal.

What action do you regret the most? Probably always being so temper mental. No. Seriously. I was.

What did you spend the most time doing on weekends? Probably sitting at home longing to be old enough to 'go out'.

Got invited to any proms? I actually did get invited but then he acted like it never happened. He was stoned when it happened. I said HE was stoned, mother, not me. I did go, though....see above.

How many years ago did all this transpire? Twenty four.

Bringing to a close my recollections. They are poor, I know.

~Shannon