Their+Lives

= Parents, share your stories. =

Charles X.
When I was a teenager the hottest and most popular trend was the jelly shoes. It came in many colors: white, green, red or clear. All the girls at school must have the new shoes. The vivid image of my clear jelly shoes is still clear in my mind. As I was walking to see, I noticed my friends had bought a new jelly shoes that I really wanted. So after school that day, I asked my father to take me shopping because I need a new jelly shoes, like the rest of the girls. By the end of the summer, I had all of the colors of the jelly shoes. I can't remember the exact amount of the jelly shoes, but it wasn't that expensive. Now, the trend is coming back. I noticed Target and Wal-mart has jelly shoes.

Mrs. Xiong

Matt D
I was a teenager when Walkmans first came out. It was so great because we used to carry big "Boom Boxes" with us. I was given one for my birthday which is in Spring. I can remember going jogging just so I could wear a stylish jogging suit and use my Walkman. It was a warm Spring day and the snow was melting so I was running all around puddles while listening to music. I remember that young, happy and alive feeling. I used my Walkman for years to come. At the time, it was one of the coolest inventions.

Mrs. Defatte

**Alex C.**
When I was a teenager and in the 8th grade, I had a babysitting job and was able to buy my own clothes and things. It was so neat to be able to treat myself to things my parents could not always afford. Once in a while I would bike a mile to eat at the closest McDonalds. I had a really close friend who I would spend many of my weekends with. She was the only child and it was nice to get away from my four brothers. We would hang out, listen to the radio and read Tiger Beat magazines.

Mrs. Cofta

** Joe O . **
In my junior year of high school I joined DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America). We studied marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, communication, marketing sales and service. In spring, we compete with other DECA students to test our abilities in the above areas. Well, I placed third in the area of communication as well as product and service. The feeling of hearing your name called in front of your peers is incredible! I will always treasure that moment in high school. Mrs. Olszewski

Kyle J.
This was the extra credit assignment for class about a historical event in our parents past or whatever. Well I asked my dad what he remembers about JFK’s assassination, apparently a lot. My dad didn’t want to type it so he just so we decided that I’d write it for him in the form of an interview, because it kind of was. Everything I typed was what he said to me.

“Well first we were on the playground playing football and an old lady came out and said, ‘Why are you kids playing? The president’s just been shot!’ We just said, ‘ Well, we didn’t know.’ We just stayed inside until the bell went off, which meant recess was over. Then, we went to our classrooms, sat down, and they put on the P.A. system, and the radio, that the presidents just been shot. He wasn’t dead yet, they took him to a hospital, it was in Dallas. They had a motorcade in Dallas, thats were he got killed, in 1963. You know what day it was? The day after your mom’s birthday (my mom). Walter Cronkite came on the radio and said, ‘John Fitzgerald Kennedy… is dead.’ He also said the time he died at, I think he said, ‘1:22 PM(Dallas time).’ He was a Roman Catholic and I think he was like 46, I think they said he was the youngest president too.”

“That was all that was on TV that weekend. On Saturday or Sunday, they had him in a casket on a horse-drawn cart/wagon with an American flag on it. They had him in, ’state,’ were people walk through and pay their last respects. They rode the wagon throughout D.C. and his son saluted him. He(JFK) was in the military too, he was on the PT109, he saved 10 men and received a medal of honor.”

” It was a lot for us as kids, I can’t remember if I was in 7th grade, I might’ve been in 8th grade, I don’t think so. I’m not sure what cemetary but I think it was Arlington cemetary. They have an, ‘Eternal Flame,’ I think it’s called, you know, like it’s always burning. Yeah, that’s were it is, Arlington National Cemetary. A lot of soldiers are buried there.”

” At the time Lyndon Baines Johnson was vice president and was on the plane with Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy when they were flying John F. Kennedy to D.C. They then swore Lyndon Johnson in on the plane. There was a conspiracy theory too. ’Cause he was going to end the war in Vietnam and a lot of army men didn’t want him to because they were making a lot of money off the war.”

I hope the information here was useful of interesting and I hope this was acceptable, even though he didn’t technically type/write it.

**Naomi S.**
​When I was younger I did a paper route so I could get money to buy things for myself. I used to have to wake up at about 3 or 4:00 in the morning. Although that was on the weekends. On a school week I did it after school. I had about 5 blocks to do before I got the job done. It wasn't long but it was an easy way to make money. I used to make like $100 a week. This money was spent fast. Either at the candy shop or the store. I wasn't really good at saving until I got older. Mrs. Lovejoy Nate B. ** When I was young, I remember watching the TV (black and white) when the first man landed on the moon. My whole family was there. We were all sitting there very quietly. I was too young to grasp the whole reality of the situation. When I was older I remember watching the shuttle with the teacher on it fall apart right after take off. I find the whole space program to be fascinating. I don’t think we will have people living on the other planets or on the moon. Mrs. Berg

Richard C.
When I was 13, "Welcome Back Kotter" and "Starsky and Hutch" were two very popular shows and the phrase "up your nose with a rubber hose" became a classic. Track shoes became more popular for boys to wear and for us girls, Bonne Belle lipsmackers in many assorted flavors were the rage. The popular games were rubix cube, knockers, pong, and twister. I grew up at a time when we were very disciplined from our parents and we feared our teachers (mine were all nuns because I attended Catholic school). It wasn't considered cool to smoke and that's when cigarettes cost 45 cents a pack ! Beth Christensen

Trevor N. ** When I was a teenager my friends and I would love to walk around the neighborhood with a big boombox listening to music. We would hang out at the playground at Burdick. We would walk from there to Super America several times a day. The popular music was "Fly Girls", and Michael Jackson songs. Some times one of us would ride a bike while the other one had a rope tied to the back and ride on a skateboard. I would watch "Family Ties" and "Knight Rider". The popular clothes I remember was jean jackets and "members only" jackets. The boys were break dancing on pieces of cardboard and wearing flight pants. Denise Nord

​