Helix High School Alumni
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Once a Scottie ... Always a Scottie
THE WAY THINGS WERE...
NOSTALGIA & MEMORIES
My Memories
by Carol Halac 1952
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As a member of Helix's first graduating class, and a senior class officer I have many memories. For starters, we shared the Grossmont campus with Grossmont as Helix High construction was not completed in time for us to attend classes there (see Helix History under the tab MORE) And, of course, the biggest high school rivalry was between Grossmont and Helix.
The first senior class officers were, Jack Campbell, president, Carole Davis, vice president, Carol Karns (Halac), secretary, and Sherrill Anderson, treasurer. I know Don was killed in an automobile accident many years ago. I'm sorry but I don't know anything about the other officers.
We officers spent many hours planning what we thought would best represent our school. We chose the name Highlanders and from there chose a mascot which could either be a West Higland Terrier or a Scottie dog, depending on which breed was available. We also chose the colors, silver and green, and, following in the tradition of Grossmont's Daisy Chain, we came up with the idea of the Tartan Bearers.
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I believe the yearbook staff selected the name, The Tartan. Also, the girl's club, Min-Tidiers name was a "Scottish" form of Moon Sweepers, the Grossmont girl's organization.
Cheerleading Memories
by Candy Young Greene
Try-outs where held just before the end of school in May of 1966. Each year members of the staff determined how many members would comprise the squad. The 1966-67 cheer squad was to have 8 members. Try-outs were judged by staff members and the previous year’s cheer squad. A panel of names was submitted to the student body to vote on. The top 8 with the highest number of votes became next year’s cheerleaders. Our squad was 2 boys: John Thorsnes and Ron Gidcumb, and 6 girls: Alison Zeis, Peggy Herzik, DeeDee Brown, Sheryl Mitchell, Candy Young, and Robbie Aguirre
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Right away we decided that all the members that could would attend a summer camp for high school cheer squads held at the University of Redlands. Four of us attended. Most of the squads were from the Los Angeles area. First day: SHOCK! We discovered that all of our sing-song, dance-about routines were archaic! EVERYONE else was doing what they called “collegian” movements: very precise, straight armed. By the end of the week, each squad was to present a new route to the instructors in front of the entire group attending. NO WAY could we compete with these people!! So, we decided to simply entertain them. We marched out stiff as boards, snapped to attention, yelled “READY”, and each did a different routine. The stands went crazy. We didn’t win, but definitely scored a victory!
Helix High
Songs and Cheers 1965
After digitalizing the 7" green 1965 record made by the Helix High School Pep Band, Bruce Oldham sent me the music. I uploaded it to You Tube for your listening pleasure and nostalgia!
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You can find them individually by searching “Helix High Songs and Cheers”.
Enjoy!
Marie Barnes Mason
I called my dad. He attended Grossmont at the time of the 1952 split (when some Grossmont students came over to attend the NEW school, Helix). There was an instant rivalry since all the students and even faculty split to create the new school. Grossmont didn't have their own football field, they used the Aztec field. But Helix got their own field and as soon as the brand new Helix football field grass was growing in, the Grossmont Lettermans Club and the Dukes (the leather jacket wearing 50's greasers) went to the Helix field and salted, gasolined, and burned a big G on the Helix field while safely watching and laughing from the hills above (there were no houses there yet). The dirt had to be dug up and replaced.
Helix in the '60's
By Dana Levy
I graduated in 1964. My oldest brother Dexter Levy graduated in 1957 and my middle brother David Levy graduated in 1962. My fondest memory from my 4 year passage through Helix High is beating Grossmont 36-0 when I was a freshman.
Then, I was admitted to the Brothers of the Spear in my senior year, a non sanctioned club, whose insignia of being club members was wearing golden colored sweatshirts to school on occasion, as those before us had done.
I was on the swimming team for 4 years and it was a good gig. Nobody knew what we did and it kept us from the rigors of regular PE classes most of the time. It was before there was a pool at the school so we swam at the La Meas Public Pool, and being off campus worked out well. I was a Co-Captain with Neil Heimburgh in our senior year and we dominated the county at swim meets and won CIF in 1963 and 1964.
Also, after a preseason football game at Helix against Clairemont High, when I was a senior, there was a great fight in the parking lot between a bunch of us and a bunch from Clairemont. Then there was a fight between John Tadlock and Ron Slocum in 1963 in the parking lot after school one day and Ron was too tough for John by a mile. (No fighting allowed today for sure!)
I was stunned and it solidified my political affiliation when JFK was shot and killed in November of 1963. I was devastated as the announcement came over the intercom system while I was sitting in Mr. Ramsey's chemistry class during the early afternoon.
My friend Danny Parker got real sick my senior year with some type of cancer (later learned it was a type of lymphoma) and missed a lot of school. I was hard for me to reconcile the fact that he would not share my life with me as grown ups. He passed away at barely 20 and is still missed.
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The girls that I went to school with were always nice to me and I enjoyed the learning experience interacting with them in school as I only had brothers at home. Liz Pence was one of my class partners in Mr. Pirie's Biology class and she made it fun and quite exciting.
Keith Sluder and I were close friends and we spent most of our time in Study Hall in the cafeteria messing around. He was, and still is, a great artist and he would amaze me with the cartoons and pictures he could draw during school.
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Getting my first real car, a '47 Ford, when I had a job at a gas station as a junior, was quite liberating for me and it kept me going throughout the whole senior year. It lasted me until it got stolen one night in 1965!
I got drafted into the US Army in 1966 and it was quite the culture shock for a boy from La Mesa.
I learned a lot during my high school career at Helix and it has held me in good stead ever since. Nothing but fond memories of the whole experience from the teachers, students, activities, and the campus itself. The dances in the Cafeteria, and then the Gym when it was completed were intimidating for me all the time. Doing pull-ups ( not too many, but Richard Hand was really good at it) under the bleachers during PE and running the hills where houses now are built on Eastridge was always a challenge.
My memories of the seniors when I was a freshman and sophomore are still with me. Wow, Karen Flagsted, class of '63 was a beautiful cheerleader. I remember John Pottinger was bad, along with Dennis Michalenko, Keith Mortenson, and Brian Funk. Danny Onelas had the coolest Mercury fast-back that was chopped, lowered, painted cool, and sounded great. I was impressed by all the work he had done to it.
Freshman orientation was a blur (couldn't believe that the upper class people wouldn't want us to join them) and the days passed quickly from then on. It was quite exciting, fun, hard work, great sports, growing pains, learned a lot in and out of class, and a priceless experience at Helix High School!