1992-1993
				The school year of 1992-1993 at Perry Meridian was a very rhythmic one. The hard work and effort put forth by both students and staff helped allow this school year to flow smoothly and rhythmically. Perry was able to define itself as a school and break out of its late 80’s shell. This was a time of growth and expansion as the school was finding out how the teachers and students could work together to produce the best possible outcome for making Perry a better learning environment for everyone. In the fall of 1992, Homecoming Week went global with the theme “Falcons Around the World”. Despite the threat of rain earlier in the day, the parade carried on without a hitch, with the People for People Club winning the banner contest. And Falcon pride soared when the Falcons won the football game 19-8 over Columbus North. Gill Journey (’93) and Nicole Gary (’93) were crowned Homecoming King and Queen. The Queen court was made up of Heather Birk, Trisha Etchison, Nikki Forte, Marianne Holloway, and Candie Mynatt. The King court members were Ian Dagley, Chris Fahy, Ambrose Garcia, Deric Vaught, and A.J. Wilkerson. The Homecoming Princesses were Anne Curbox (’96), Lourdes Taninsin (’95), and Megan Miller (’94) (Passages XX 14-15). A cast of ten performed the fall play “Rumors” at PMHS. Freshman Emily Allen and junior David Riojas opened up the mysterious play. As the plot unfolded, the audience discovered that Charlie Brock was shot, and Myra Brock had suspiciously disappeared as well. The mystery was never solved, however, and viewers left the show still wrapped in the conundrum (Newport front page). The Lady Falcons’ varsity basketball team had a regular season record of 10-10. Coach Mike Armstrong led the girls into three rounds of sectionals, where they were finally defeated by Southport with a score of 47-70. The Reserve team and the Freshman team were coached by Shannon Priller. It was her first year coaching for Perry, and both teams went two rounds into the sectionals (Passages XX 117). The boys’ basketball season began with a winning game against Southport. The next seven games were lost, but in a neck-and-neck game against Manual, Falcons won in overtime. The final ten regular season games ended with eight wins, two losses. The team finished up their exciting season as they went into the sectional tourney with a 9-10 record, and they defeated Southport in the first round, Washington in the second, but were finally ousted by one point against Manual (Passages XX 114). The girls’ tennis team had a 12-5 season. After rolling through sectionals, the team became a finalist in the Regional. The Reserve had a 13-3 record, and the freshman team had a 2-2 season. The boys’ varsity team had an 18-6 record, and they went on to win the County Suburban Athletic Conference with a 6-0 record. They dominated the Falcon Invitational Tournament. And the team placed in the top ten teams in the state. Tennis player Steve Brizendine (’94) accepted the title of First-Team All-State (Passages XX 134). This year’s Prom was held at the Murat Temple on May 16, 1993. This year’s theme was “Through the Eyes of Love”, displaying decorations of silver and navy blue balloons and a fifteen foot castle constructed from cardboard and paper. The castle was used as a backdrop for Prom photos. Junior class President Deric Vaught announced Hope Line and Adam Carroll as the 1993 Prom Queen and King. The two danced the night away to a diverse arrangement of music including some‘60s dance tunes and more recent ‘90s pop songs (Passages XX 9). Before the year of 1992, the marching band went to summer camp in Trafalgar, Indiana; but in ’92, the band practiced at school. Bill Deal, the band director, explained that by practicing at the school, the marching band players would have fewer distractions. The price of camp was also cut in half. A new addition to the staff was Mrs. Debbie Powell who led the Color Guard (Passages XX 102). In February, Perry students put on the musical Fiddler on the Roof. The performances were on the 27th and the 29th. It starred Heather Breen and William McGee as Golde and Tevye. Mrs. Sanders and Mr. Slack co-directed the musical. The rustic sets were made by the Advanced Drama class and painted by the Art Club. The pilgrim-era costumes were made by the Advanced Drama class as well. The orchestra pit was conducted by Mr. Lehman (Passages XX 6). The foreign language department, teachers held an International Banquet in hopes of exposing the foreign language students to other foreign countries besides the ones they had studied. Students were given the chance to learn to speak to other students in other languages and enjoy food from several different countries. Mr. Terry Strain organized the event in the cafeteria and hired Mr. Philip Lo, who owns the restaurant The Chinese Village, to cater the affair (Passages XX 2). Several other foreign language events took place throughout the school year, including the traditional Foreign Language Day and exchange student program, where students come from other countries to study for the year at Perry Meridian High School (Passages XX 95). Mr. Ken Knabel earned Teacher of the Year in the year of 1992. He was with the Perry staff for twenty years, and not only was he a great one-on-one teacher in school, but he also participated in other, outside events. He was a member of the PBA/ NCA self-study evaluation committee. Mr. Knabel also participated in the PTA for 27 years as well as the Kiwanis Club (Passages XX 72). The Class of 1993 graduated on June third, with a graduating class of 347 seniors. The Valedictorian was Mark Su, and the Salutatorian was Elizabeth Dinnage. During commencement, ladies were given red roses while all students received blue or white balloons, which they would release in the gym after the ceremony had taken place. The ceremony ended with all of the graduated seniors singing their own version of “Shout”, a popular song back then (Passages XX 34). Several seniors also received awards. The Eugene Echols Award was given to Clifford Leslie, and the Something Extra Award was awarded to Reka Schloegl (Passages XX 25). During the 1990s, the economy was shifting to suit the tastes of a bigger, more technological-hungry nation. A few ground-breaking economic events happened in 1992. For example, on August 11, the Mall of America opened in Bloomington, Minnesota, proving that bigger really was better. The massive mall was the biggest super center in the country. Americans also wanted more mobility, and the cell phone provided that chance. By November 23, 10,000 cell phones had been sold in the U.S. (McConnell 175). In 1992, national news headlines raged over the Bush and Clinton presidential elections. A memorable campaign moment was Bill Clinton’s saxophone appearance in “The Arsenio Hall Show.” More big news came on June 29, where the Supreme Court ruled that abortion was still upheld as constitutional in a 5-4 vote; however, some state restrictions were still allowed. And in a devastating blow to the nation, Hurricane Andrew blew through southern Florida on August 24, killing 38 people, destroying 85,000 homes, and leaving 250,000 Floridians homeless (Epstein 14-17). On February 26 in New York City, seven people were killed with over 1,000 more people left injured due to a bomb explosion in a car park that was underneath the twin towers of the World Trade Center (Guinness Book 418). Many people were stuck in the building and could not get out until rescued by local firemen and other officials. No culprits could be claimed at the time; however, several Islamic extremists were later arrested and convicted for the attack (Bruccoli 285). On March 12, 1993, Janet Reno was sworn into office as the U.S. Attorney General by President Bill Clinton (Bruccoli 327). Reno became the first female Attorney General to ever hold the position. Janet Reno had a history as a tough Miami prosecutor who brought her own demanding style and demeanor with her wherever she went. She had a strong record for changing people’s opinions with a snap of her fingers. Her fifteen years of experience as a prosecutor for cases dealing with homicides, drug smuggling, and violent street crimes helped President Clinton choose her for the position. Although Reno was not the President’s first choice, she beat out Zoe E. Baird, a corporate lawyer and other possible candidate for the position. Reno graduated from Harvard Law School and had already had five election victories, including being Dade County’s largest vote-getter (Isikoff A-1). Several other major events happened in the world wide during this time. The ATF attempted to put a warrant out on the Branch Davidians compound in Waco, Texas on February 28th. Due to a shoot out, four agents were left dead and six Branch Davidians were killed (Kallen 116). After this, F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela both won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 (“Nobel Peace Prize Winners 2006-1901” http://nobelprizes.com/nobel/peace/). And on January 20, Bill Clinton was inaugurated as the forty-second president of the United States (Feinstein 37). Pop culture was also an important additive to a lot of the students’ and teens’ lives attending Perry. Several movies that came out in 1993 were Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg, Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks, Groundhog Day starring Bill Murphy, and The Piano by Jane Campion (Guinness Book 421). Top Television shows were “60 Minutes”, “Roseanne”, “Home Improvement”, “Seinfeld”, and “Murder, She Wrote” (Epstein 19). The school year of 1992-1993 introduced new leaders, explored the world of the mobile telephone, and had several key events take place, making this school year the memorable year that it was. The students ended a great year of academic and athletic achievement, increasing Perry’s pride among the rest of the students and staff. Perry took a step in the right direction this year and has left great a great foundation for a successful decade to come.