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Our Reunion was a success!
Dear ‘64 EHS Classmates,
“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different?” — C.S. Lewis
Dear ‘64 EHS Classmates,
As hard as it is to believe, our 60th high school reunion is almost here. Where did the time go?
We have a date set for the weekend of October 4th. Friday Oct 4th we gather at Joe Baccardis' from 4pm to 7pm...Folks can hang around there or go to the Homecoming game...it starts at 7pm.
On October 5th, we will tour the old and new Eureka High School buildings at 9:00 a.m.
At 5:00 p.m., we will still gather for greetings and dinner at the Opera House of Pacific in Pacific, Missouri.
The cost will be $30.00.
Your RSVP and money must be received by Sept 21, 2024.
If paying by check, send to: Janet Kourik, 61 Forest Hills Drive, Eureka, Missouri 63035
If paying through Venmo: jkourik
Please let us know if you are interested in attending. Finalized plans will be sent out soon.
If you have any pictures from our glorious youth, we would appreciate your sharing them. Unfortunately, the ones from our 50th reunion have been lost.
Jackie has updated our “EHS 1964 Alumni” page on Facebook. If you have any ideas for us, please go on there and share them with us. Also, we need help locating a few of our classmates. If you can help us find them, we would really appreciate it. You can also reach us by phone and email. The list is at the end of this letter.
Jackie will also be contacting everyone regarding the website, our previous movies, and current life events.
We cannot wait to see you all again. We have lots of memories and life experiences to share.
Thank you,
The 1964 Class Reunion Committee:
Janet Dockery Kourik jkourik@gmail.com
Jackie Devine Jackie.devine@comcast.net
Mary Beth Gerstung Sickert mbsickert@gmail.com
David and Judy Workman judy.dave.workman@gmail.com
Larry and Mary Ellen Campbell missourihomehunter@gmail.com oma.maryellen@yahoo.comgmail.co
Jim Ziegenmier jlaviere1777@gmail.com
“Where are they” classmates:
Susan Brockman Hull
Ginny Deleiko
Diane Dickey
Rosemary Fritz Swartz
We are the Class of '64
There were seventy-six of us who graduated from Eureka High School in 1964. That year was our school's fifty-sixth birthday. The high school opened in 1908 incorporating Eureka, Minche, Crescent, and Augustine to form the first high school in what eventually became the Rockwood School District.
Eureka held its first high-school level classes in the opera house at 137 N. Central Ave., the same building that housed the town's drug store.
Seven students in the class became the first to receive diplomas from Eureka High School, the first high school in St. Louis County west of Kirkwood.
The high school started with one teacher, and now the little school that is considered Rockwood's first high school has grown into a district with an enrollment of close to 19,886 students.
Echoes of the Past: What school was like in the '60s.
Our introduction to post-secondary education was quite different from the experience of today's high school students. But, as the kids born to the Greatest Generation, we were taught how to go the distance.
There was a very strong emphasis on traditional subjects such as English, math, science, and history. Many high schools were segregated by race, and the civil rights movement significantly influenced the educational landscape. Extracurricular activities like sports, music, and drama were popular, and there was a growing emphasis on college preparation.
We were young, innocent, and rather isolated from the world at large...
The typical classroom in the '60s consisted of rows of wooden desks facing a chalkboard, where teachers would lecture and write notes on the blackboard for the students to copy.
Traditional subjects such as language arts, math, American history, and science formed the core curriculum.
Teachers were expected to maintain strict discipline while adhering to standardized curriculums. No matter the weather, our only air-conditioning consisted of an open window. And the whirring, whispering drone of an oscillating floor fan displacing air as it pushed it around the classroom.
The cafeteria ladies, moms, grandmothers, and trusted neighbors cooked our lunches from scratch.
All assignments were submitted in cursive and hand-written in either pencil or ballpoint pen. You had to sharpen your pencil using a rotary hand-cranked machine attached to the wall. This allowed you to get up, walk around, and do a little flirting when the teacher wasn't looking.
Typewriters were not electric, and we had never heard of computers. Teachers gathered in the smoking lounge on their break. Many students were smokers and lit a cigarette right after class on the school grounds.
We had a dress code that was much more formal than today. The rule was girls wore knee-length skirts and dresses, never slacks or shorts. Although Pantyhose was introduced around 1959, most Eureka High girls wore nylons held up by garter belts and heel shoes or perfectly white, plain tennis shoes without fancy stitching. The guys wore slacks and shirts with collars and leather shoes and socks. The faculty dressed appropriately, and male teachers wore suits, sports jackets, and ties. Female teachers wore dresses, suits, nylons, pumps, or heels (except for Ms. Johnson, who often wore golden slippers) and jewelry.
Most of the students either walked to school or rode the bus. About eleven cars parked in the parking lot, and only a handful of students drove. However, if students went to school in cars or trucks, it was permissible to have a rifle or knife for hunting purposes.
Many of us had after-school jobs. If we weren't working, we had several after-school activities to attend. The only fast-food restaurant in town was Johnny's Malt Shop, and we had to drive to Crestwood for a Hamburger. Which could have been served to us by classmates Dayle Schoessel, Rick Vollmer, and others.
Our school dances were primarily held in the old high school gym or the new Junior High cafeteria. Rock and Roll was typically the music we danced to.
And by golly, on a given school day, we knew it was time to get to work when we heard the National Anthem blaring over the P.A. system, and we stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Back in the day...
We have very few photos of our high school years. That was before everyone carried a camera in their phone...
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