Roosevelt High
School
Class of 1962 Alumni
Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Roosevelt High
School |
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Minneapolis, Minnesota |
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| Theodore Roosevelt 1858-1919 |
***50th Reunion ***
Faculty
Guest Book |
Welcome to the Roosevelt High School Class of 1962 web site, a work in progress. At this time, our site contains 70 pages. We hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to revisit often; and if you have any comments or questions, you may complete the Feedback form or email the webmaster via the link at the bottom of each page. We invite you to please sign or view our Guest Book and to drop us a line. Our next reunion, the 50th Reunion will take place on Saturday, August 11, 2012. We also plan on other events that will be decided later, so Save the Weekend! Dates and details will be announced when finalized. We have a class database and currently it is up-to-date. Classmates continue to move, however, so it remains a dynamic record. You may Update your information via this link, or by emailing the Webmaster below. Please make certain that we have your current address, phone, email address, etc. The information is used for reunion purposes only. Remembering our Commencement Program, on June 13, 1962, 656 graduates proceeded to the athletic field stage to receive their diplomas, as the RHS Band directed by Mr. Oren Henning, played, “Coronation March”. Student Council President, Kurt Jensen led the Pledge of Allegiance, and Lani Greenfield gave the Dedication. Donna Knight and Richard Erickson spoke on our Class Motto, “Today We Follow; Tomorrow We Lead”. There were presentations by Class President, Richard Wilson and Principal, John C. Wells. The familiar, “Pomp and Circumstance No. 1” was played for the Recessional. The RHS Choir, directed by Mr. Clayton Hutchins provided the vocal music for Commencement. Be sure to view the "album" page where you will find a '62 graduation photo that includes several students. Wasn't it just yesterday that we climbed up those "down" staircases at Roosevelt High? School spirit was in full swing! As an interesting sidelight, I find it newsworthy but a little disappointing that the RHS room numbers have been re-numbered since we attended RHS! We were fortunate to participate in or to be an enthusiastic spectator at the many athletic games. Sports developed discipline and sportsmanship, and those sports offered at RHS were: football, cross country, swimming, basketball, hockey, gymnastics, wrestling, skiing, track, tennis, golf, baseball, badminton, and volleyball. Remember cheering at the games and those casual days on Fridays? After the games, having worked up an appetite, we frequented some of our favorite hang outs. There was Charlie’s A&W, the Airloha Drive-In, Beek’s Pizza, Porky’s, Joe & Eddie’s, Totino’s, the Flat Top Drive-Inn, Canteen Cafe, Paul Pearson’s, and, of course, Bridgeman’s that featured the La La Palooza!.
In the '60s, there were 11 Minneapolis public high schools:
Central, Edison, Henry, Marshall, North, Roosevelt, South, Southwest,
Vocational, Washburn, and West, but today, only seven remain. Central
and West were closed in 1982 and have been demolished; Marshall was also closed in
1982 and Vocational in 1976, but both are currently used
for other purposes/businesses. In the academic arena, Roosevelt was the only school of the 11 that offered eight languages. Among them were English, French, German, Latin, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. Languages offered today are Arabic, French, and Spanish. Languages spoken at home are about 35. Japanese and Ojibwe languages have been discontinued, as has the Home Economics program to the best of my knowledge. Roosevelt continues the proud tradition of being a productive high school. Two additional programs were added to the existing curriculum for the 2008-9 school year: (1) the Wellstone Academy program and (2) the TAPP program. The Wellstone program is a school for immigrant youth 14-21, "newcomers" to this country, primarily Somali and Latino students, and offers English language learner (ELL) classes as well as core classes taught in English. The Teen-age Pregnancy and Parenting Program (TAPP) is a teen parenting program, basically a day care center for infants and toddlers. I am not certain that the TAPP program still exists. Roosevelt has earned the status of being an International Baccalaureate World School. A new administration is now assigned to RHS for the 2011-2012 school year: Michael Bradley, principal and Michael Walker, assistant principal. RHS enrollment was approximately 2400 for grades 10-12 when we attended. Attendance peaked in September, 1962 with 2399 students: 670, 785, and 914 for the classes of '62, '63, and '64 respectively, plus 30 students in special classes. The current RHS enrollment is just over 1,000 students for grades 9-12. More than 300 incoming freshmen will make up the Class of 2015. There were approximately 200 graduating seniors in the Class of 2009. (I don't have figures for graduating classes since then). Class enrollment contrasts sharply with that of the graduating class sizes of the 1960s. Prior to 1950, students graduated in the months of January and June in a given year. Many of our parents can attest to that. Commencement no longer takes place at the Roosevelt athletic field and hasn't for some time. This past year it was held on Saturday, June 4, 2011 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 Second Avenue South in downtown Minneapolis. The Wellstone International High School, also located at Roosevelt High held its commencement at Minneapolis Community and Technical College on Tuesday, June 7, 2011. I was unable to find a video for the 2011 graduation, but here is one for 2010. The '50s and early '60s were great years, and I am glad to have grown up during that time. I hope you feel the same.
Enjoy the site and please revisit often, as
additional photos and pages are frequently added! You'll want to "bookmark" it for
future reference. Do you have questions on
navigating this site? If so, please contact the webmaster via the many links,
or refer to the "Hint" in the paragraph below.
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THE ROOSEVELT HYMN ~ Floyd Barnard |
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Hail to thee, dear Roosevelt High, |
Proudly waves beneath the sky Our maroon and gold; Thy emblem ever dearer grows To hearts of young and old. |
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Chorus: |
~ Happy Valentine's Day in 2012 ~
February 14th
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