Hats Off! Musings of being a Pirate
March, 2001
By Wyatt Newman
There was justification to
Rogers' reputation of being a rough school. Scenes from the
1950's "horror" movie, "The Blackboard Jungle"
could have taken place at Rogers. A memorable scene in the movie was
of the black leather-jacketed kids smashing the bespectacled teacher's
prized old 78 records that he so graciously brought to school.
"Who would do such a thing?" the audience might have asked.
But, who would have thought a student would attack a study hall
teacher for trying to maintain absolute quiet. It happened at Rogers.
Also witnessed was a defiant "student" recently returning
from the notorious Pirate hangout, kitty-corner from the
school, furiously puffing away as he marched down the front hallway in
the middle of the day. Mr. Jelinek, the mild-mannered but no-nonsense
Dean of Boys, soon had the
rascal collared.
Did anyone else witness the
desk being kicked down the hallway as the class poured out of the
business of education room? No one seemed to pay much attention,
eventually leaving the desk in the middle of the hallway, maneuvering
around it as they continued hustling to their next class.
Business as usual was the general reaction.
Every male teacher had the
"hack paddle" under the counter. Only the younger ones
seemed to use it. Only males were so punished, by bending over and
grabbing the ankles. Somehow, it was almost a matter of male pride to
get hacked and witnessed by the entire classroom to show his bravery
in not crying out, just like a stoic Indian. (Editor:
Or Pirate? Been there once.)
Was there any other school in Spokane that had upper classmen
proctoring the study halls ready to grab some hapless freshman from
his seat and dragging him off to another location? How about the
paddle patrol that, armed with the decorated hack paddle, stood
guard against any unacceptable hi-jinks from the fans in our section
in the Coliseum at one of the Friday night basketball jamborees? In
every club, one of the most prized offices any member could be elected
to was that of sergeant-at-arms. 'Twas almost more of an honor to
wield the paddle than the gavel.
More than one talkative,
defiant, wise guy was seen bodily dragged or escorted out of the
classroom to some unknown fate in the hallway. And how about the
biology teacher, famous for silencing the classroom talker by throwing
the chalkboard eraser at him ... always a him. He had uncanny aim,
never missing his target.
If you really wanted tough,
dare to enter the Pirate. Only the real ruffians dared enter.
Once the inevitable fight broke out at the Pirate and spilled
into the intersection of Wellesley and Pittsburgh, drawing the usual
crowd. Somehow the incident made the Spokesman Review the next day as
a riot at Rogers High School. The principal, poor Mr. Purdy, was in
Seattle at the time and came rushing back to handle the crisis, which
was not really a crisis after all. But, then again, it was at Rogers,
and Rogers had that reputation.
- Wyatt
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