School Spirit

HAGERSTOWN -- School spirit was palpable among a group of classmates Saturday afternoon at Fountain Head Country Club. Linens and flowers in maroon and gray -- the school colors -- bedecked the tables as enthusiastic attendees dined, sang and joked. But this was not a homecoming dance for teenagers. It was the 70th reunion for Hagerstown High School's class of 1938. The average attendee's age was 88. Mary Jane Auxt, 88, of Hagerstown, was chairwoman of the event. Auxt and a friend grinned as they recalled going across the street from the school on Potomac Avenue to the Valencia.

by JOE CROCETTA / staff photographer enlargement GREENCASTLE, Pa. - The year was 1928. Mickey Mouse made his debut, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, Herbert Hoover was elected president and 38 seniors graduated from Greencastle High School. This year, the class of 1928 is planning its 70th reunion. Its remaining members are in their late 80s and early 90s, but their school spirit remains strong. Adam Byers, 88, of Shady Grove, Pa., was the class valedictorian.

South Hagerstown High School wide receiver/defensive back Jakerian Jones lived on Hagerstown's north end until he was in middle school and has friends that go to North Hagerstown High School. Friday night, Jones, 17, will be fighting to keep the Gridiron Classic trophy away from the area he once called home. “I'm just trying to keep the trophy here as long as I can,” he said. “Before I got here, it was never here for a long period of time. Since it's my senior year, and we have to make the playoffs, it's probably going to take all of my energy.” The 56th annual North High Hubs-South High Rebels football game scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at South High's School Stadium has more to it than just the pride of winning a fierce rivalry game.

andrear@herald-mail.com Be real. That's the best advice for winning a school election. It worked for Adam Hockensmith, who won his run for president of the Student Government Association at South Hagerstown High School this year. Adam narrowly beat fellow senior Trang Phan for the position - and he did it by being sincere, upbeat, funny and confident, he says. "I just tried to be myself, to be positive, and not to have a fake niceness about me," says Adam, 16, of Hagerstown.

Broadfording Christian Academy held its graduation ceremony May 23, highlighted by a candlelight recession for each of the 20 graduates following the ceremony. The school had three co-valedictorians: Ashley Marie Burkett, Anne Elizabeth Hunt and Bethany Michelle Yeager. Burkett is the daughter of Richard and Denise Burkett of Greencastle, Pa. She is interested in a wide variety of activities, including sports (mainly soccer), reading and writing, singing and drama, photography and the outdoors.

We've got spirit, how about you? By LAURA ERNDE laurae@herald-mail.com Before home football games, Hedgesville Eagles players invite their friends and neighbors to sign up to attend. It's just one way Hedgesville fosters school spirit, said Principal Don Dellinger. Dellinger and other Tri-State area principals said school spirit is not something to be taken for granted and its importance in a school's success cannot be underestimated. More than just cheering at sporting events, school spirit creates a sense of unity that permeates a school, they said.

An 18-year-old Smithsburg High School senior has succumbed to injuries he suffered in an accident while working for the Hagerstown Suns at Municipal Stadium on Tuesday. Mitchell Ronald Akers, of 109 Rachels Court in Smithsburg, died Wednesday night, according to Smithsburg High and Suns officials. Smithsburg High Athletic Director Teresa Bachtell said school officials read a statement to students Thursday morning informing them that Akers had died Wednesday night. She said grief counselors were called to the school to help students deal with the tragedy.

HAGERSTOWN - School spirit was palpable among a group of classmates Saturday afternoon at Fountain Head Country Club. Linens and flowers in maroon and gray - the school colors - bedecked the tables as enthusiastic attendees dined, sang and joked. But this was not a homecoming dance for teenagers. It was the 70th reunion for Hagerstown High School's class of 1938. The average attendee's age was 88. Mary Jane Auxt, 88, of Hagerstown, was chairwoman of the event. Auxt and a friend grinned as they recalled going across the street from the school on Potomac Avenue to the Valencia.

North looks forward to stadium By TARA REILLY / Staff Writer A new athletic complex for football, soccer and lacrosse games is in the works for North Hagerstown High School, according to Principal David Reeder. The 2,500-seat complex would be at the old driver's education range next to the student parking lot and could be completed by 2003, he said. He did not give an estimate of how much the complex could cost or how much land it would need. North Hagerstown High School, on Pennsylvania Avenue, is the largest and only high school in the county without its own stadium, Reeder said.

By BILL STERNER / Staff Correspondent photo: JOE CROCETTA / staff photographer HANCOCK - Hancock's Sam Hess always feels the "spirit" when he takes the field for the Panthers each weekend. It just isn't necessarily school spirit. Since the 6-foot-2, 230-pound senior was old enough to listen, he remembers family talking football, particulary the legacy of the Hess family in Hancock football. Young Sam understood early on that the tradition of a champion existed in his bloodline, and he was expected to play each and every down with that spirit inside of him. That spirit drove him to the weight room when many of his friends were driving elsewhere.

Here are some of the things happening this week in Washington County Public Schools: Monday, Feb. 4 Boonsboro Middle - National Junior Honor Society ceremony in auditorium, 2 p.m. Clear Spring High - Athletic Boosters meeting, 7 p.m. E. Russell Hicks Middle - After-school technology program, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; department/team leader meeting, 2:30 p.m. Potomac Heights Elementary - PTA meeting, 6:30 p.m. Springfield Middle...

Hitting the books after a fun-filled winter break packed with holiday magic can be a bit of a let down, but one Waynesboro Area Senior High School junior has the high school buzzing with excitement. Hannah-Kate Schlegel, 17, hatched an idea last summer to cultivate school spirit and have students kicking up their heels at the same time with a January dance. As her senior project, Hannah-Kate came up with the idea to resurrect the high school's Snow Ball defunct for several decades.

South Hagerstown High School wide receiver/defensive back Jakerian Jones lived on Hagerstown's north end until he was in middle school and has friends that go to North Hagerstown High School. Friday night, Jones, 17, will be fighting to keep the Gridiron Classic trophy away from the area he once called home. “I'm just trying to keep the trophy here as long as I can,” he said. “Before I got here, it was never here for a long period of time. Since it's my senior year, and we have to make the playoffs, it's probably going to take all of my energy.” The 56th annual North High Hubs-South High Rebels football game scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at South High's School Stadium has more to it than just the pride of winning a fierce rivalry game.

Broadfording Christian Academy held its graduation ceremony May 23, highlighted by a candlelight recession for each of the 20 graduates following the ceremony. The school had three co-valedictorians: Ashley Marie Burkett, Anne Elizabeth Hunt and Bethany Michelle Yeager. Burkett is the daughter of Richard and Denise Burkett of Greencastle, Pa. She is interested in a wide variety of activities, including sports (mainly soccer), reading and writing, singing and drama, photography and the outdoors.

Elizabeth J. Groenendyk moved to the area from northwest Iowa two years ago, and enrolled at the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts in Hagerstown as a junior. At that time, she wasn't sure what to expect. But Groenendyk fit in right away. “Coming into Barbara Ingram as a new student was definitely an interesting experience, but it was so great,” she said. “Everybody was so nice to me.” The valedictorian of the Class of 2012, Groenendyk and 24 of her classmates were commended for their excellence in the arts and academics Thursday night during commencement exercises at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hagerstown.

An 18-year-old Smithsburg High School senior has succumbed to injuries he suffered in an accident while working for the Hagerstown Suns at Municipal Stadium on Tuesday. Mitchell Ronald Akers, of 109 Rachels Court in Smithsburg, died Wednesday night, according to Smithsburg High and Suns officials. Smithsburg High Athletic Director Teresa Bachtell said school officials read a statement to students Thursday morning informing them that Akers had died Wednesday night. She said grief counselors were called to the school to help students deal with the tragedy.

So much for Ho, Ho, Ho. Christmas is over. Now it's time for the backlash. Today is the day after Christmas, which is the opposite of Black Friday. Today is the busiest return day of the year. In keeping with the season's spirit of giving and returning, I decided to revisit some of my 2011 stories to give personalized gifts and return some sentiments they created this year. Dylan Dopson - An 18-month subscription to high school. If there was a way, the North Hagerstown senior deserves to experience all the playing time he missed because of injury.

When the pomp and circumstance of a high school graduation is broken up, heads usually turn to stare at someone in the audience or among the student body. On Saturday as the diplomas were being handed out to the 53 members of the class of 2011 at St. Maria Goretti High School, the guests were looking at Principal Richard E. Fairley as his cell phone ring tone sounded, causing him to fumble under his gown to turn it off. It was just as funny the second time it happened. And he promised himself detention.

Don Lewis might be remembered for his contributions to Boonsboro High School sports, particularly football. To his family, though, he is remembered as a man who always put his family first. He valued the youths he worked with as students and people first, then athletes, said Dotti Whitt, the youngest of his two daughters, who lives in Colorado. Don died Sept. 23, two weeks shy of his 82nd birthday. He died surrounded by his family, who were with him during his six days in the hospital.

View all of the photos for purchase! SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- Morgan Kali Miller's parting reminder Thursday evening to fellow graduates of Musselman High School's Class of 2010 was all about school spirit. "Once an Applemen, always an Applemen," Miller said after presenting the graduating class' gifts at the school's commencement exercise at Shepherd University. Diplomas were awarded to 306 graduates this year, the 61st year for the southern Berkeley County school in Inwood, W.Va.