SHS 70 - Gwen Russell Green

1970 Finally at 50

Finally @50!

By Gwen Russell Green

The dynamic “Shortridge Experiment,” Class of 1970 is alive and well! So many of us have lasted to see this new decade emerge, and we are finally at one of those momentous life benchmarks.

This is our 50th anniversary of our graduation year! We made it y’all!!

I am so appreciative of the efforts of our stalwart 50th Reunion Steering Committee, as we work to plan an epic class reunion that is worthy enough to mark this tremendous milestone.

Reflecting on my Shortridge memories, I am amazed at the impact that my four years there has made! I can recall with genuine excitement, winning the Indianapolis, IN basketball City Tournament in a triple overtime. I shrieked until I was hoarse! Oh the sheer ecstasy of that night! I’m pretty sure that I started a poem about it once. I wonder if I could find it again.

I certainly don’t have a copy of the one that our basketball star, team captain, Class President Carl Lile, asked me to write for our 25th year gathering, but I do remember the title, “Share a Silver Moment.” Fortunately, we had a paid videographer that year, and I bought the video. I still haven’t been able to update it to a format that is current though, but I think that classmate and hard-working committee member Peggy Harger Allen has. Peggy amazes me by crossing continents to pursue her passion for bird watching.

Dr. R. Ruth Richards can take a bow for that, I’m sure. She was our phenomenal Biology teacher, and I still tell people about our test on bird identification, and walking around her room to identify the many specimens that she expected us to know by sight! I also cannot forget dissecting a cow’s eye or that fetal pig! Hands on learning at its best is what she provided for me.

I remember Ms. Hamilton, who arrived at school covered with her pets’ hair. I think she had cats, but I’m fuzzy on that detail. She spoke with great pride about her star student, Kurt Vonnegut, who was already a well-respected author in 1970. I never related to his books, but I did dutifully buy a small collection of them in deference to her, and to him, since he also had attended my elementary school #43, AND Shortridge!

It was at Shortridge that I finally had a Math teacher that I could like, respect, and understand enough to master Geometry.

Thank you Mr. Gibson! Unfortunately, I’ll never really like Math.

He came into my life too late!

Shortridge molded me in many other ways. Our ability to get to know friends who did not look exactly like us, and who lived in different neighborhoods other than Butler-Tarkington, was an important opportunity for me. It made my life at Purdue University a natural progression. I appreciate the learning and the preparation that my four years as a Mighty Blue Devil provided and I look forward to catching up with the lives of each of you when we gather again in June, 2020, 50 years older and wiser!

Gwen Russell Green is a poet and a retired School Library Media Specialist. She served the students of the DeKalb County, GA School District for more than 27 years. She is the proud mother of 2 adult sons and one daughter, and 3 grandchildren, Gwen resides in the new city of Stonecrest, GA.

For more information about the Shortridge High School 50th Reunion for the Class of 1970 go to: http://www.classcreator.com/Indianapolis-Indiana-Shortridge1970/class_index.cfm