1999-2000
				At the start of the 1999-2000 school year, Mrs. Lennyce Powers was honored with the Teacher of the Year award (Wall of Fame). As the school year started off, the Perry football team was getting ready to start its season. They were looking forward to getting to play at the RCA Dome against Southport High School. This game resulted in a victory with a score of thirteen to ten. The Most Valuable Player for the 1999 season was senior Kyle Heidelberger. The Homecoming game was against Decatur Central. This game sadly resulted in a loss by only three points (Passages XXVII 10, 13). Other Homecoming events that took place were the parade, the pushcart race, and the dance. The football team won the banner contest with its idea incorporating the new millennium. The wrestling team won the pushcart race. The theme for the Homecoming dance was “Millennium Falcons.” The dance’s queen was Kate Sitzman, and the king was Ross Sandefer (Passages XXVII 9, 10). The fall sports teams started off the new season with a lot of enthusiasm and energy. The boy’s cross country team had a very good season, ending with a 8-3 record. The boy’s soccer team also did exceptionally well. They broke the school’s record for the most wins in a regular season. Their first loss was against Franklin (Passages XXVII 126, 138). The fall play, Mousetrap, was directed by a faculty member Peter Wood. It was a “who dunnit” type of story. Strangers trapped in a boarding house due to a blizzard came together to try and solve the mystery of the puzzling murder of one of the guests staying at the hotel. Giles Talston, the owner of the boarding house, was portrayed by junior John Muylle. This play was liked by many who attended its two showings that fall (Passages XXVII 15). There were a lot of current events happening throughout the fall of 1999. On August 8th, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire premiered on ABC. It soon became the most watched television show ever. John Carpenter became the first person to win one million dollars on November 19th. He was able to finish the game without using any lifelines until he used one to call his dad and tell him he was going to win one million dollars. On August 17th, an earthquake registering 7.4 on the Richter scale struck northern Turkey. This earthquake caused 17,000 deaths and 44,000 injured (Epstein 87-88). Also during the 1999-2000 school year, Indiana’s gas prices were the lowest in the nation. The average price was $1.41. Gas prices had been dropping in the Great Lakes region and rising in the West and Northeast. The average national price was $1.577, which was almost 17 cents higher than the price here (“Indiana’s gas prices lowest in nation”). When the turn of the century came along, people’s fears of the Y2K, or Year 2000 problem, started to show. People thought that dated computer programming practices would lead to an electronic breakdown. This lead programmers to believe that computers would go haywire after the year of 1999 for the computers’ lack of being able to recognize numbers above 1999 on calendars. This panic had the whole world stocking up on supplies, such as duct tape, flashlights, batteries, bottled water, and canned goods, which would not spoil if the power were to go out. Many first aid kits were also sold in stores all around the world. Numerous people around the world lived in fear of what would happen once the clock reached midnight on January 1, 2000. People realized their fears were unwarranted when nothing happened early that morning (Epstein 94). After winter break, Perry held turnabout, the only dance in PMHS history to have an all male court and include costumes. The dance was called “Snowcoming.” The night the dance was supposed to be held, Mr. Henry had to cancel the dance because of a snowstorm. The dance was later rescheduled. This schedule change caused many students to not be able to attend the event. These students were given a full refund for their tickets (Passages XXVII 35). The winter sports teams also saw a lot of success during the 2000 season. The boy’s swim team won the Cardinal Classic bringing Perry its first trophy since 1978. During that meet, Matt Jeffries broke the Cardinal Classic record (Passages XXVII 148). The basketball team advanced to state after defeating 4A seventh ranked Lawrence North in the semifinals. With 4:55 remaining in the game, the Falcons had the lead. The Wildcats were keeping the game close by holding the Falcon’s lead at only 1 point. It was a quick lay-up by Owens and two free throws by Ryan Tapak that sealed the Falcon victory. During the game, Andre Owens had a game high twenty-five points and ten rebounds. He was the only player to score in double figures. During the season, Owens broke PMHS’s record for most points scored in one game (Grable web). The wrestling team won sectionals for the first time since 1987. During the championship round, Perry won the first five weight classes. Eventually eight wrestlers total were sectional champs. These wrestlers were Jeff Eubanks, Jason Level, Mark Richardson, Brandon McDonald, Terrell Coatie, Jared Cantrell, Nathan Moore, and Danny Overy (Hanlon web). The team had an undefeated 23-0 record by the end of the season. This was the highest record in PM history. During the season, Coach Tonte was honored by WTHR Channel 13’s Butler University High School Sports Show as Coach of the Week. Nathan Moore was named the number one sophomore wrestler in the country during this season also (Passages XXVII 162). During the 1999-2000 school year, some major changes were made at Perry. This was the year the school was renovated. The school was changing from its past open concept layout to a school with individual classrooms for every class. Both teachers and were unhappy with the school’s environment during this time. Kyle Heidelberger, a senior at the time, remembers the school being torn up and dirty. He also remembers the trailers out by the baseball field that were put in to hold some classes during the time. He remembers them being unpleasant to be in when it rained or when it got cold (Heidelberger Personal Interview). Both Mr. Tonte and Mr. Schoettle agreed with Kyle. Mr. Schoettle thought that everything was dirty and cluttered (Schoettle Personal Interview). Mr. Tonte said that everything was dirty all the time and that the building was unpleasant to be in (Tonte Personal Interview). An unfortunate event occurred in February. Nicole Richards was hospitalized after being in a multi-car pileup. The accident occurred on Indiana 332 in Muncie. Witnesses estimated that up to twenty cars may have been involved in the wreck. Nicole survived the wreck, but she was paralyzed from the neck down (Edelhert web). As the school year started to come to a close, several events took place. One of these was the PTA Honors Program. During this program, several students were awarded with department awards and scholarships. The students who received department awards were: Charlotte Ewing for art, Jamie Friedrich for business, Rachel Obson for English, Tiffany Rose for family and consumer sciences, Lindsay Baron for Foreign Language, Joshua Golden for industrial technology, Danielle Chou for mathematics, Christopher Brown for music, Kate Sitzman for physical education and health, Danielle Chou for science, and Jennifer Warrner for social studies. Also on that night, Alissa Ellis received the Something Extra Award, and Jennifer Dodson received the Eugene Echols Award (Passages XXVII 217). Another event near the end of the school year was the prom. The theme of the prom that year was “Remember Me This Way.” It was held at the Crystal Yacht Club. The Crystal Yacht Club was decorated with white columns wrapped with green vines. The king and queen were crowned at ten p.m. that night. They were Harvey Lancaster and Nicole Richards. The theme of the Afterprom was Groovy Nights. The foyer and main gym were turned into a disco fever scene (Passages XXVII 25-26). The only remaining event of the year after that was graduation. The senior class officers were President Alan Grant, Vice-President Jennifer Lesniak, and Secretary-Treasurer Colleen Goddard. Jennifer Warrner was the valedictorian, and Danielle Chou was the salutatorian. Everyone remembers graduation as a day of celebration and at the same time a day of sadness. They had gotten through high school, a major milestone in their lives, but at the same time, they were leaving their friends (Passages XXVII 28-29). The senior class had at this point made it through high school, and it was time to move on. They were prepared for the next phase in life: college. After going through Perry, students felt prepared for that next step. Chris Stumpf, a 2003 graduate, thinks that Perry does a good job preparing students. He said that while at Perry he learned a lot and also used some things he learned but did not ever expect to need (Stumpf Personal Interview). Works Cited Edelhart, Courtenay. "Car crash leaves talented high school athlete paralyzed from the neck down." The Indianapolis Star. February 21, 2000. News A1. <http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p>. 3-10-07. Epstein, Dan. The 90's: 20th Century Pop Culture. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2000. Grable, Walter. "Warren Central, Perry Meridian stop state powers to reach final." The Indianapolis Star. January 15, 2000. Sports D6. <http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p>. 3-11-07. Hanlon, Steve. "Eubanks' win propels Perry to first sectional wrestling title since 1987." The Indianapolis Star. January30, 2000. Sports C14. <http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p>. 3-10-07. Heidelberger, Kyle. Student of Perry Meridian High School 1996-2000. Personal Interview, April 10, 2007. "Indiana's gas prices lowest in nation." The Spotlight. July 26, 2000: Section B: B1. Passages XXVII: Passages Into The Future. Marceline, MO: Walsworth Publishing Company, 2000. Schoettle, Matthew. Teacher at Perry Meridian High School 1999-present. Personal Interview, 4-12-07. Stumpf, Chris. Student of Perry Meridian High School 1999-2003. Personal Interview, April 12, 2007. Tonte, James. Teacher at Perry Meridian High School 1996-present. Personal Interview, 4-10-07. Wall of Fame