HSPVA was fabulous. I had wonderful friends there, some I still have to this day. I met so many different kinds of people. I was in awe of many of them.

I still remember the Folk Group singing on the Happening stage in the courtyard. Totally blew me away. If I'm not mistaken, I remember Rachel Sligar dancing to Elton John's "Tiny Dancer". I remember Gretchen Phillips and Co. playing guitar and singing "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" and everyone dancing in the road in front of the Denney Theatre. Believe it or not, I had never heard that song before!! I'll blame it on having a sheltered life with older (and amazingly wonderful) parents.

I learned every Chicago song from carpooling with John McDaniel (Instrumental '79) who played his Chicago tapes in his car until they wore out. I learned to appreciate live Jazz from watching Doc Morgan and the kids in his Jazz class. Becky Moser and I were Shelton Crocker's cheering section during his Senior Recital. I think I still have a cassette tape of that somewhere.

I got my first taste of Mariachi music at HSVPA and I used to love walking up and down the Rotunda steps listening to the orchestra practice. The sound was so cool in there.

I loved to see what the kids in the Jewelry Making class were doing. All the Art kids were amazing. I remember Lisa with her safety pin clothes - so daring!

What can you say about the Drama kids? They were crazy and unforgettable. Okay, I could say a lot more, but let's leave it at that!

I have no singing voice - so I was always in awe of the Vocal majors. I remember someone singing "Everything Must Change" which blew me away - another song I had never heard - and I have this crazy idea that it was during Biology class!

HSPVA wasn't always easy - I remember crying in the photo lab to my media teachers Alice Lowery and Sharon Williams, because I wasn't doing well in the film making class and I needed help! Of course, they helped me. And John Brooks taught me to love photography and especially the dark room. I loved seeing my photos come to life in those chemicals. And he put speakers in the dark rooms so we had music! Pat Coakley was an unforgettable man and it was cool that he and my dad could "talk shop" about the film business. Dr. Margaret Hatcher was THE most interesting teacher I'd ever had up to that point and probably since. She taught me about Warm Fuzzies and Marshall McLuhan's "The Medium is the Message".

I had SO many wonderful teachers! If I start naming them all, this will go on forever. What is really cool is how so many of them are remembered fondly by all of us.

The kids in the Media Dept. with me were so smart and full of ideas and creativity and again, I was in awe of them. I loved the Media Festival we had where all the school could come see what we produced - films, videos, photographs, creative writing pieces and performances, and let's not forget Becky's KPVA Radio broadcasts! So many outstanding productions.

Some of my most fond memories are of making my movies and videos: "The Animated Amoeba" for Ms. Glenna Kelly's Biology class, "The Agony of DeFeet" in which I filmed my friend Melissa Hepler's (Art/Creative Writing) feet running up and down her Montrose townhouse steps which I paired with a drum solo from a Rascals album, and my "Sweet Nothing" video starring my Dad who accidentally eats an entire cake to the 1812 Overture. These all bring back such treasured memories.

I'm just going to end now this by saying - HSPVA - Best School Ever!