1985-1986
				The 1985-1986 school year was characterized by many events. For instance on September 1, 1985, right before school came to session, an amazing discovery was made. Led by Dr. Robert Ballard and Jean Jarry, the site of the Titanic wreckage was finally found (Cox A1, A3). They had been working years on locating it and finally the hard work paid off. What an interesting way to start the school year. Many other exciting events happened around the world during, and in our own town during 1985 and 1986. These included happenings like Homecoming, Nintendo, and countless other things. The first subject on every students mind was homecoming. Held on September 28th, the theme was “Falcons Go Hawaiian”, with the dance theme being “Tropical Paradise” (Weaver 1). Homecoming week was an exciting event for all who participated. It was filled with different wacky spirit dress days. Some students even went as far as to bring coolers to carry around. The parade and extravaganza went off with out a hitch. During which, King Paul Buck and Queen Kristy Rees were crowned. The game was very victorious against Manual, and during half times the winners of the float and banner competitions were announced (Weaver 2). Jeen Endris remembers making floats and the thrill of the entire week. She also recalled the dunk tank during the extravaganza. “I think you could get five chances for a dollar, and then you could try and get Mr. Head into the tank”, along with this she added that this booth had the longest line (Endris Personal Interview). Another exciting event to happen late October was the filming of the movie Hoosiers (Moye 2). This got Perry Meridian students crazy. Brad Endris can still remember going to the filming with some of his buddies. “It was an experience I will never forget,” he stated (Endris Personal Interview). Also in October of this school year, the first Powder Puff football game was played. It was an overtime event, featuring the juniors against the seniors. Finally, the seniors pulled out on top (Passages XIII 35). Another big event in Perry Meridian sports history was the establishment of the girls sports cheerleading squad. Jeen Endris and Dede Simms were both members of the team. Jeen stated that there was not a lot of controversy over it, but her and others felt as if it was a good step in the recognition of women. Some special awards that were given during the beginning months of the school year were to tennis player Paul Buck and runner Todd Findley. Both won sectional awards in their selected sports. This was also the third time in a row that Buck was selected as MVP, which put him as a nominee for All-State status (Rolfsen 7). Academic teams were also doing very well, the Perry Meridian Brain Game team went to state in early December. They emerged victorious in our eyes with a good placement of third (Doxtater 1). When students came back in January after their winter vacation, they were surprised to hear about Perry getting a new satellite system. The whole thing was donated by American Satellite Systems, and had over 150 channels. This was used to expand teaching and learning opportunities (Johnson 2). The musical for the 1985-86 school year was “Little Abner”. This was a success with an outstanding performance by Kirk Thelander (Ruark 1). During this time of the school year, a terrible event took place. The Challenger spacecraft exploded. It blew up in the seventy-two seconds after it left Cape Canaveral Space Center. All seven crewmembers were killed instantly (Curry A1, A2). Upon a discussion with Mr. Allen Boehm, he told me his feelings about the event. All he recalls thinking about was the families of the crew. “They must have been there to see it all happen,” he stated “ then they look up and in a flash it’s all gone.”(Boehm Personal Interview) In an article of the Focus, students put in their thoughts on the events and on the space program in general. Most believed that the space race should continue. Furthermore, they believed that nothing, not even NASA, could have success without mistakes (Moscher 3). With outstanding effort, eight Perry Meridian High School students won the Golden Key in the Scholastic Arts Awards program. Mike Williams and Kimberly Cooper both received two. They were rewarded for their creativity and devotion in art (Heide 3). Also, during the month of February, the grade party was held. This was a must see event. At the party the annual stuffing contest was held, only it was inside a VW bug. The seniors came out on top, fitting nearly twenty students into the tiny Beetle (Trieff 5). In the community, school officials wanted to redistrict the boundaries of Perry Township. This was because of the need for new elementary schools. The split of students to the middle school would also create and even distribution between Perry and Southport. They additionaly wanted to reduce the student teacher ratios in both schools. This would result in the township participating in PRIMETIME. This was a statewide event that had to do with class sizes and money. Furthermore, officials also were concerned about the building conditions decreasing in safety (Doxtater 1). On March 10th a tornado raged through Johnson County and in close proximity to Perry Meridian. Jim Tuttle remembers coming back to school from C-9 and watching the sky go from sunny and blue, to dark and gray (Tuttle Personal Interview). The tornado ended up killing two men, and reaching speeds of close to eighty-five miles per hour (Terry A2). Also in early March the science fair was held. Matt Kinsey did a project on acid rain and its effects on soybean growth. This resulted in a first place finish along with a one hundred and fifty dollar cash prize (Ruark 1). In other scientific studies, women smokers were on the rise. In 1986, the United States had a decrease in overall smokers, but more women had been “lighting up”. During this time tobacco companies started aiming their advertisements at women, and these ads made an influence to many of them. Most companies would grab the attention by stating that smoking would add glamour into their lives. In 1986, thirty-five percent of men and thirty percent of women were smokers (Tomas E3). This led to more teen smoking as well, and some of it was during school. Mrs. Penny Kroning, remembers students hanging out in “the corner”, and all of the notorious happenings it was known for (Kroning Personal Interview). In other world events, during this time Libya was bombed by the United States. In response to this, on April 15, 1986, there was a Libyan terrorist attack on United States troops stationed in Germany (Rhodes 76). Additionally in April, the Speech team had an impressive season. They placed fourth out of forty in regionals. Members, Simon Bogigian, David Stone, Matt Kinsey, and Randy Head made it to State (Passages XIII 35). In the last few months of the school year everyone was excited about prom and graduation. The valedictorian for the class of ‘86 was Sherry Moore. She maintained a 4.0 Grade Point Average all four years of high school. She was a part of many activities like FADD, marching band, NHS, and was a National Merit Finalist (Ruark 1). Debbie Buroff remembers Sherri being the drum major in marching band. She stated that Sherry was always the one that all the girls looked up to if they needed anything, because she was always willing to help (Buroff Personal Interview). Prom was help at the Columbia Club on the circle. The theme was “One More Night,” and the colors were pink and silver. Along with the dance, a new picture approach and after prom were things that were incentives to the magical night (Borst 1). Graduation was filled with tears of joy and sadness. Sherry Moore talked about pulling education together and combining everything that they had learned, in her valedictorian speech. (Passages XIV 17). In conclusion the 1985-1986 school year was a very full one. There were many awards given and many terrible events that happened. But through it all everyone stuck together and made a great year in history for Perry Meridian High School. Jim Tuttle, senior class president, stated that his senior year was full of memories and he was glad that he was elected, but he wished that he could have done more (Tuttle Personal Interview). Most of the people I spoke with told about how well Perry prepared them for the future, and what a wonderful experience it was to go there.