My first byline was as a high school columnist for the local edition of The Times-Picayune in my native Louisiana. Sixteen years, one journalism degree, a handful of jobs, four kids and one move to Old Town Laurel later, I am delighted to begin this new adventure as a columnist covering the community in which my husband and I chose to raise our family. Please let me know if you have a story to share; I would love to help you do so.
Speaking (or writing) of good stories, Laurel High School principal Dwayne Jones has a couple to report this summer.
First, Laurel High was awarded a $10,000 grant by IT giant Cisco for its Networking Academy program. The Networking Academy is a curriculum developed by Cisco and used by local schools to train young people for careers in networking and information technology. The Laurel High program is led by Michael Hines, who was praised by the company for "his passion and commitment [that] are enabling Networking Academy students to reach for and achieve their full potential."
Second, science teacher Hillary Gawne recently received a $1,500 grant from the American Chemical Society. The funds will be used to purchase some much-needed chemistry equipment, including a digital balance that measures to the milligram place.
Many good stories were surely shared when Laurel High's Class of 1976 gathered the weekend of July 16 for its 40th reunion.
Class secretary Rita Clark Ritter and her former cheerleading co-captain, Nadine Syfert Pfaffman, organized the three-day bash. "We still have it going on," Ritter explained.
The celebration began the night of July 15 at the DoubleTree by Hilton on Sweitzer Lane with a small dinner and impromptu jam session by class musicians. The next morning, Liz Williams planned a 3k Walk With Friends (Run If You Wish) that began at Bond Mill Elementary. Class members were pleasantly surprised when former Laurel High basketball coach Taft Hickman joined them for the walk.
About 95 members of the approximately 450-member class came to the dinner and dance on July 16 at the DoubleTree, including class officer Kathy Kaifer Anderson and some who traveled from Connecticut, Iowa and Hawaii. The classmate who came from Japan surely won the longest-distance award, though. Attendees danced to a live band amid decorations of red, white and blue since they graduated from high school in the year of America's bicentennial celebration. They paid their respects to classmates who have died with a memorial table set up with photographs of those they've lost.
The weekend ended on July 17 with a picnic at the family home of class member Terry Jones.
The Laurel Historical Society needs your help in telling the story of the city's experience of World War I for its 2017 exhibit. If you have World War I-era items, particularly if they relate to someone in service or who was involved in World War I community activities, please contact the LHS at info@laurelhistoricalsociety.org or 301-725-7975.