|
(The following comments, please consider, were written by a transferee from Canoga High School to ECR, and may be slanted accordingly. )
The population of the San Fernando Valley during the mid 1960's was growing rapidly. The building of El Camino Real High School was completed in 1969, and based upon what I still consider to be some real gerrymandering ( class lines rather than geographical lines ) households were chosen for students to transfer from their current high school (either Canoga Park High School or William Howard Taft High School.)
Senior classmembers from each high school were exempt from the transfer, so only 10th and 11th graders made the move to ECR. Additional exemptions were granted based upon sports participation as well as appeals from some parents. At the time each class was divided into A and B (an age based process which was done away with while we were attending ECR.) Effectively the boundary became Woodlake Boulevard on the east and Roscoe Boulevard to the north. I do not know the boundary separating Taft High School from ECR. Roscoe was already the boundary separating Chatsworth High from Canoga High. A few of us who went to Columbus Junior High had already been split away from our some of our friends with the Roscoe boundary in 1967. I will bet those in Woodland Hills went through a similar process between Hale and Hughes junior high's. So, with ECR (ELCO) now opened, we were all directed to the new school.
Many of us now found ourselves among fewer friends and surrounded by students who, until now, went to a competing high school, especially if one considers the sports aspect. Canoga High had just won the City Championship in football, and suddenly here we were with students from Taft, who probably felt the same way I did; alone among strangers. That was something different.
New friendships were formed, but they may not have been as strong as those forged over many school years. Strange times... Varsity and JV teams were forged from underclassmates with limited experience, and everything seemed so different. We had already spent 18 months at our original schools and now would spend the final 18 months at ECR. Yes, it was exciting to choose school colors, school songs, mottos, and be a part of something new. But it was different.
Then there was the teacher strike. To many of us, that was a real memory highlight. But our football team failed to bring home even one win. I remember our team tied one game, and you would think that by the tumultuous cheering we had just won the championship -- but that's how good it felt at the time. It was different.
And suddenly we graduated. There were so many other graduates who I never knew, never had a chance to know, or didn't care to know. I knew few and was close friends with fewer still. Over the years since our graduation many of our classmates have generally felt the same way (as I have been informed) -- just not enough time to form great friendships, in a school that we just couldn't quite warm up to given the brief time we were there.
So what do we all have in common? Those experiences are shared by most of us. That lack of feeling a part of something exceptionally close to us, being pulled away from friends, teachers, and familiar surroundings to start anew is the common bond that holds us together. As we move forward toward a 50th graduation anniversary let's remember that what we all had in common was the lack of a common bond -- but we were all part of the 60's generation, we were all valley-people and part of a new school experience in a school devoid of football championships, scholarly awards or a rich history. As you ponder your brief stay at ECR, why not consider being a part of a 50th graduation reunion, even if you have never participated before? It may be something to remember. It will certainly be something different.
|
