At John McDonogh for the last time on May 30, 2014 with a lady, who taught me well, Mrs. Patricia Maguire-Hill. She was a magnificent teacher of English, Literature, and Life. She possessed a magnificently broad vocabulary and impeccable diction and enunciation. Most of all, she had expansive knowledge relative to real-life issues, and imparted that knowledge to us while explaining that those lifes lessons would, in time, be as valuable, or more so, than any information gleaned from any block of instruction. On this date, one year short of our 40th Class Reunion, I and the members of my class (75), as well as every other alumnus, who encountered Mrs. Hill, will adamantly attest to the fact she never told us a lie. Those lessons we learned from Mrs. Hill, and all of our other wonderful teachers; Mrs. Gooch, Mrs. Torregano, Mrs. Irons, Mrs. Lackinack, Mrs. Jenkins, Mrs. Donahue, Mr. Sanders, Mrs. Wilson, Ms. Dodd, Coach Skinner, Coach McKee, Coach Reese, Coach Moore, and our principal Mr. Arman Green; ...and many not particularly named here, are the lessons that spurred us on to bigger and better things in life. Most of us went on to attend any of a myriad of institutions of higher education ranging from Alcorn to UCLA, or vocational schools geared at honing specific skill sets the would be prove catalysts for lifes journey. We would later become educated professionals in various fields of endeavor ranging from accountants to flight attendants, to kinesiologists, to police detectives, to urologists, to X-Ray technicians. As we now mourn the closing of O Proud McDonogh High, as touted in our alma mater, we still maintain hope that, as promised, the school will return again, and our legacy rekindled in the place where many proud public school grads and wonderful people once trod from 1902 until 2014. Until its return, Trojan faithful from the classes of 1961, 1967 (the first integrated class) to 1968, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1977,1981, 1985, 95, 99, 2004, and 2014, and all of the other JMcD graduating classes can find solace in the fact the JOHN MCDONOGH SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL will live in us forever! The TROJAN resilience is impenetrable and effervescent, and embodied in all, who donned the GREEN AND GOLD. Let it be said that on this date we closed our ranks as a symbol of unity to fill the void left by this closure. This building is the HOME of the TROJANS, but its not the essence of the TROJANS...WE ARE!!! Lest we not forget that through good times and glory, as with turmoil and tumult...we prevailed. As we persevered when time was ours, so shall we as we savor times gone by...for time will never cease that TROJAN PRIDE IS ALIVE AND WELL!!! -D. Deal President- C/O 75
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 07:16:40 +0000