School in the 90’s reflects today: Pagers, punk music and protests
The 90’s: teens everywhere were walking around with scrunchies in their hair, mood rings on their fingers and Walkmans in their pockets, fit with the newest NYSNC or Britney Spears hit. To celebrate the 50th year of the Prowler’s publication, let’s take a look back at the newspaper in 1997.
Walkmans, beanies and pagers were technically not allowed on campus. However, many students were upset by these rules and still walked into school equipped with these devices, similar to student’s today using their phones under their desks in class.
Administrators may have let fashion trends slide, but were active in response to students’ complaints about GPA. Advanced students taking IB, AP, and honors classes were troubled by the fact that these were on the same 4.0 scale as CP classes. This meant that it would negatively impact their class rank in comparison to other schools for college admissions. Administrators looked at adopting a weighted GPA system that would be adopted later.
Another main concern that administrators had with advanced students were their schedules. They worked on reconstructing the block schedule for full IB students who were unable to take all the needed classes for the IB diploma in a regular day. It was decided that the students would have six 45 minute classes in comparison to the normal three blocks.
Measure Q, a $97 million bond plan providing modernization and reconstruction of CVUSD schools, was passed. Widescale renovations were planned in the school including new air conditioning, wiring for technology and renovating the bleachers.
Along with these renovations, the current theatre was being constructed, causing students to not be able to park in the side lot. Students were expected to park on Reino Road, bringing about many complaints.
Plans to build the Dos Vientos community were also passed and the community was in process of being built. This included 2000 new homes, 350 apartments, an elementary school, four parks, 1200 acres for open space and 10 miles of trails. There were mixed feelings about this in students, as there would be more citizens but also more customers for local businesses.
Other new community additions included the skate park at Borchard Park. However, this was not the current concrete skate park, and instead was a portable skate park constructed at basketball courts for two hours each day. It cost $5 to use it for the year.
In pop news, the 90’s were the time for punk ska hardcore bands and the school was no exception to these trends. The band “Veteran Flashbax,” featuring several seniors, signed a record deal with 206 Records and had several compilation CDs.
While some students played music as an extracurricular, others joined clubs. Amnesty International took part in a LA rally to protest Chinese president Jiang Zemin for his human rights violations and the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989. Amnesty today is continuing to examine international affairs and fight for human rights.
The 90’s may have been 20 years ago, but high school life had many parallels to today.
