Ever wonder what our high- school was like before the Arts Center, the Pagel Center, and the Media Center we have now? Before the large Student Union and the coffee at the Dock? Before we had Smartboards and iPads? Ever wonder what it was like back in 1952 when Excelsior and Deephaven High Schools came together to create the school we attend today? Well I caught up with Mary Jo Clapp in the guidance office and asked her a few questions about what Minnetonka High School used to be like.
Mary Jo went to school here from 1955 to 1957, back when the school just went from sophomore to senior year. She said that her graduating class only contained 154 students, compared to the almost 800 we have graduating this year. The school was about half of the size it currently is and it was before all those additions I mentioned at the beginning of this article. Back then the school was basically made up of the main hallway; and the cafeteria was about where the guidance office is today.
I asked her what it was like compared to the school now and she said that she knew everybody in her class and was friends with most of them, and that was the norm. This must have made the high school experience a lot more fun, I can’t even imagine accomplishing that with any of the classes of this year.
Next I asked her if the school had as many activities going on as it does now like clubs, Coffee House, the talent show and after school activities such as that. She said that it was mostly sports in those days and that the hockey program was just beginning during her senior year. That hockey program must have made quite the impression though, because the class president at the time, Bob Naegele, went on to own the Minnesota Wild.
It was a quieter school back then, but still carried a lot of the same pride it does today. As well as school-issued one-piece jumpsuit uniforms for gym that were “the ugliest things you’ve ever seen.” I asked her what it’s like working at the high school she graduated from and she said, “Pretty weird,” adding in that she’s retiring at the end of the year drawing to a close a total of 15 years of work. When she goes, she’ll leave behind quite a legacy of children and grandchildren that have attended the school, as well as a niece who happens to teach here.
This only goes to show that Minnetonka holds a lot of history in its walls. So wherever you decide to go after gradutation and however far you travel away from our busy halls try to remember the school that gave you what you needed to succeed. Who knows, maybe you’ll work here someday.
