By:Siena Shipcott, Grace Lindsey, Mia Bennet
Overtime, there have been many changes and new ideas in the world. Especially in the last few decades. How have these pivotal moments affected American high schools such as Morro Bay High? Ms. Haener, Ms. Weitzen, and Mr. Furbee all shared their experiences when they attended High School and how it compares to Morro Bay high school today.
Mrs Haener, the multimedia digital arts teacher, graduated from Morro Bay High School (MBHS) in 2001. She remembers her high school years fondly. “I really loved it. Of course I had bad days in high school, but I did remember meeting different people and just experiencing things outside of my comfort zone that I was excited about…it was fun, [not]scary.”
She also talked about how she was involved in a club called Varsity Club. “Basically we just ate food and wore our varsity jackets on friday we did barbeques. Mr. Greer did it. He was the old PE teacher, and we went to a dodgers baseball game as a field trip”
Haener shared how she was in water polo and how it was a fairly new sport to the entire district “if you could swim fast, at that time it meant you were good since it was a new sport when I was a sophomore”
Haener remembers getting dress-coded for spaghetti straps and hating the rule. Like Haener many students at MBHS have had similar experiences and do not agree with the dress code.
Mrs. Haener explained her social groups/cliques from high school and how she blended in with multiple “I was like an athlete but I was also in honors classes so the thing that I always liked about Morro bay is that cliques really blended together. I think they still do but they definitely did when I was in school. And honestly the cool kids were not stereotypical movie cool kids; they weren’t like prom kings or like football players like the quarterback. The cool kids were always like unique kids with colored hair or weird style or in drama or like artsy. I wasn’t even like in sports the cool kids were always artsy kids which I was artsy too in a way.” Many students at Morro Bay have a similar experience that there are not many cliques here. “ My friend group has many people from all different backgrounds and there is not just one specific clique,” said Reese.
Ms. Haener also discussed how her plans after high school changed from originally planning to be a graphic designer. “So I planned to be a graphic designer so I went to San Diego to be a graphic designer and I thought it would be fun to do logos and work with bands like Roxy and Quiksilver. It was really cool when I was in school. And like a surfer company (I can’t surf) I decided I didn’t want to work on my own and wanted to be with people and so I started working on a movie set. And then I eventually got into teaching and my whole family was teachers”
Mrs. Weitzen, who graduated high school in 2000, shared the importance of being involved in as much as possible. As high school was one of her favorite memories the “Varsity Gymnastics Team, Varsity Cheerleader, Speech and Debate Team Captain, Yearbook staff” were all activities she was involved in. Yet being involved in so much had her feeling like “I kind of lived in two very different worlds.”
She also mentioned that the Football and Basketball teams were very good at her school saying that her high school always won CIF. Weitzen said that being a part of Cheer and also more academic focused clubs in school greatly diversified the friend groups she was in.
Her style was one this generation calls Y2k, basing her outfits off “Britney Spears”. People today tend to choose what aesthetic they like, not what is popular. Now style can range from Fiona Apple to Britney Spears. Her music taste was none other than Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and many Boy bands.
After high school she planned on going to college then law school. Her dreams changed and she moved to study ¨majoring in English at Cal Poly, Minoring in Speech Communication and then getting my Teaching Credential instead of going to Law School. I eventually went back to school and got my Paralegal Certificate¨.
Weitzen’s high school experience was something anyone can hope to have, enjoying life as it comes your way, and trying many new things. Something everyone should learn. But to Weitzen she was VERY busy in High School. “I always had at least one job, in a sport and involved in school in many ways. I loved High School. I loved the energy of it, the memories, the experiences, the ups and downs…. I couldn’t stay away. Now I am forever in High School!¨.
Like Ms. Wietzen Nick Gray said “ My high school experience has gotten better every year so every year it’s gotten better as I’ve gotten involved in more things and understood myself more and gotten involved in more things.”
Mr. Furbee who graduated high school from El Toro High school in 1976 (towards the end of the Vietnam war. and the end of Nixon’s presidency) “An interesting time” he noted. 
He’s also been teaching at Morro Bay high the longest.
When asked about his style in high school he said he wore Hang ten shirts and levi cords “I don’t know that I was following anyone’s lead on that though, that’s what everyone wore back then.”
As for Musical tastes, his favorite was the eagles in high school. Today he leans more
towards The Menzingers.
Mr. Furbee was in Key club, and was Junior class president then ASB president, as for sports he played cross-country and track.
Like the other interviewees he shared what social groups or “cliques” he involved himself in to which he shared “I was kinda like Switzerland, I got along with most everyone. We had all sorts of kids at El Toro High. the people I was in sports and ASB with.”
Like Furbee, Nick Gray is the ASB president. He also is part of the Environmental Club and Interact.
For his plans he shared that he decided he wanted to be a math teacher his junior year of high school and by the looks of it; he stuck to that decision. “I had to help my Geometry teacher through most of the Geometry proofs during class and decided I liked teaching.”
If he could take one class at Morro bay high school if he still was in high school he’d take photos with digital cameras he thought that he could have experimented more. He stated “Because we had to use the dark room and all the chemicals we were pretty limited in how many photos we could take.”.
Mr. Furbee also was able to describe how modern technology changed the high school experience in his opinion when he was asked “In today’s math classroom you can graph functions and make tables of values. We had nothing like that. We had 4 function calculators and slide rules. Everything we did was pretty laborious. Having multiple ways to view things these days takes much of the confusion out of it.” Furbee said.
When he was asked to describe his high school experience;
He learned to apply himself, and developed really good work habits due to him wanting to succeed and excel in the classroom so he’d be ready for his college. “I learned how to be a leader by being in ASB and by being involved in sports.”
Many high schools like MBHS have changed overtime due to the rise of technology and new ideas. In this article the teacher and students showed the differences and similarities of the high school experience over the years. Showing just how different and similar a few decades
