In Wichita there were really only two major public High Schools when I was growing up. Wichita North and Wichita East. Both schools had a long history. They were the largest in terms of enrollment and had other aspects that separated them from the rest. I am not that familiar with Wichita East so for this article I will only deal with my alma mater… Wichita North. This school had history out the wazoo. There were pictures near the gym of all of the old athletic teams, the trophies, it was incredible. Speaking of the gymnasium… that was one of the coolest I have ever seen. All of the seating started about 10 feet above the gym floor. The seating was 360 degrees around. I am guessing that you could get a couple of thousand people into those seats. The game we watched was normally basketball and it was like watching gladiators in the Coliseum. The place was so loud you could hardly talk to the person next to you. North also had a pep band which was epic. They were awesome and also very loud.
A few other things that were noteworthy. Wichita North was right on the banks of the Little Arkansas River. We were the only high school in the United States, at that time that had a regular class in our physical education curriculum for canoeing. The school owned approximately 30 large aluminum canoes. It was a great class. We learned to canoe and there was an island on the other side of the North High bridge and we would canoe to the other side of the island where no teacher could see us and hang out until it was time to paddle in.
Without getting into too much detail there was swimming class. I have watched too much of the ID Channel so what I am about to reveal is hard even for me to imagine these days. North High had an indoor swimming pool. When we had swimming class which was a requirement and lasted about 9 weeks we had to swim in the nude. “You Have To Be Kidding Me”. Its true. The girls were spared that humiliation because in their swim class they were allowed to wear a very unflattering one piece turn of the century suit. As boys we were not afforded the same luxury. We had to go into the pool without any clothes on. We lined up and were… “inspected” (I have no idea what they were looking for) and then went into the pool area and did whatever swimming stuff was required to pass the class. Don’t misunderstand me… it was all very uneventful… over time you got through it and it was… no big deal. Easy for me to say now… It makes for an interesting story because you can’t make this stuff up. All of us survived and even though today something like this would be unheard of, it happened, and I don’t believe that I was scarred for life as a result. Looking back, I do not understand the rationale for this practice. I am sure they had a good reason. It was only 9 weeks and with some creativity you could be sick or have a doctor’s appointment or a dental appointment or something else that would conflict with your swim class. I doubt that I had perfect attendance. There will be more about Wichita North later on but I doubt that any of you want to hear more about my high school right now. You need to let some of this sink in first.
