Thornton High School 1975-1977,
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- American High Schools in the 1970s. Was there anything more progressive, more garish, more transformative?
Thornton High School in Thornton Colorado in the late 70s was such a place. Built in '74, the state-of-the-art structure was closer to a college than a high school, with its open campus, its huge commons, its many grand new buildings, Theaters, Vo-tech and Physical education were all the maximum technological advantage.
I was an odd duck, because I had 2 senior years at 2 separate schools, 1st at Northglenn High, the next suburb over in the northern Denver area...(i didn't have enough credits to graduate at Northglenn, so I had to take more classes, but I had the sweet option of going to another school, Thornton, so as to avoid the shame of failure at NG.)
My brother Joe was already going to Thornton, so it was a natural fit.
I started filming all the events and people I met at this brand spanking new facility with my new super 8 camera, and even used a cassette recorder for sounds and interviews.
One of the fun things I filmed was getting the seniors to talk about their plans for their future in their young, idealistic minds, as you see here in the 2nd half of this film.. And then 10 years later I was able to follow up their progress and see how close they got to fulfilling their dreams.
A lot of wonderful teachers taught at THS, many of them straight out of the counter cutler themselves.
Some of the teachers featured here are Mr Ford, Mr. Jordan, Brenda Majors (one of my very favorites- I had her for filmmaking!) Mr. WIlson Snow, Jackie Swenson, Jerry Kemper, Dave Bolman, and the Capitol of Thornton himself, Choir director and musical wizard Ray Sheehan.
All presided over by the benign but effective, yet, always game THS principal, the aptly named Sam Thornam.
Those of us who came of age in the 1970s took the times for granted, but the 70s were really the spoils of the 60s. All the struggles the counterculture endured were manifesting themselves in the most lenient decade in human history, indeed, a high water mark for excess.
And us youngsters flaunted it, especially in our hair and dress. The lines between the genders got blurrier and the clothes, especially men's were as outrageous as ever, with our platform shoes, our polyester bell bottom trousers, our bell sleeve shirts and wide collars and lapels and lots of gold and silver chains for everyone, and sideburns, bangs and buoyant afros adorned our heads. We were Wild and Crazy Guys!
So, enjoy this time capsule from a bygone era. We winced at the 70s in the 80s and 90s, but now they're starting to look compelling again. Far out!
I graduated from THS in 1977. I am one of the Seniors that kidnapped the principal. Thanks for sharing, it brought back a lot of memories
@@thunder14062 The 70's Were a Rocking Good Time Huh?
I remember we thought that was so cool
imagine how much fun going to school in the 70s-90s must’ve been, wow
I would KILL to go back and be in High School in the 70s
Me to... Me to
Nothing beats those good old days
Same here!!
Nothing changes, people still sucks.
School is shit in any decade. But at least there isn’t corporal punishment anymore like there was in the 70s!
Thanks so much for bringing back the best memories of my life, I am proud to be a member of the 1977 graduating class of Thornton High, If we look real hard I think we did a great job in leaving our marks in the world, Thanks again This is Mike Gallegos if anyone can remember me,,,,,
Good to hear from you, Mike! I'm sure everyone remembers you… You were quite the big man on campus.
Have you seen my film about the Highlights singing group from 1976? You were featured very prominently in Ray Sheehan's class that year
I remember you Mike I had a big crush on you
Did you make the "class of 77" Carving in the cement it is till there.
Nice to hear some updates from 77 to 87. Nice touch.
Yes I did and it was great to share it with my Grandchildren. Proof that at one time I was young and had a good head of hair. Great to hear from you as well. Thanks again it was great to see all of those special faces again.
Good to see you too.
This is very cool! The 1970s must have been an amazing era to attend high school or be alive in! In my high school, we used to have pictures of students from the 1960s and 70s in class, it was so cool to look at! I graduated high school in 2018 in city in Massachusetts and it was a fun year but it was nothing like how it was shown in this video. It was more stressful for me! But glad to see teenagers having fun, interacting with one another
Pleasant to watch. A more carefree time.
But more corporal punishment in schools back then!
I'm graduating this year, by dad was a 1978 graduate I thought it would be cool to see what high school life was for him haha
Wow taking the principal hostage with prop guns would not go over very well today as a joke I can assure you.
@@jasongonzalez3983your old school sounds a barrel of laughs! Lol
😂 yes. I agree.
Definitely a lenient time. I wore hot pants and ate lunch off campus. Kids were allowed to smoke on campus. There was never a worry about shootings, no metal detectors, no cameras. No ugly shaved hair on the girls. and no tracking my every move.
Those were the days.
Haha that's my Dad!
Graduated from Thornton high in 2015. Very interesting to see
I lived on Eppinger, just east of York in like 69 to 71 when I was little. Went to Bertha Hyde.
I graduated in 86 but still a great time before social media ruined so much..
I don't go to Thornton High school but I do go to the Bollman technical education center right next to it. It seems like an interesting school.
I’m about to go to this school for freshmen haha.
1:43 looks like he's really into Elton John lol
I was born in '78
If I gotta be honest right now it looks cool to be in THS in the 70’s haha
I went to Whittier high School that was the best high school I ever went to just too bad I never bought the yearbook which I really would like to have
GREAT GUITAR SKILLS
It's about 40 years since this was made and I'd like to make a new one with overlays of this video in mine. Would this be okay with you?
+electrocat1 -yes, you are welcome to use my footage in your film. When you are finished can you send me a link to the finished product?
Sam Klemke
+ultimessence thanks so much! My friend and I were also wondering if you're still around here so that we could interview you for our video.
+electrocat1 Yes, I would be delighted to chat with you.. I'm traveling on the road now, but will have a room for a Skype for a couple of days. Can you email me at:
ultimessence@hotmail.com and we can discuss the details. ?
Thanks,
Sam Klemke, THS class 0f 1976
‘14 graduate!
same
U know what's funny I go to a high school called Thornton Academy and were also the Trojans... Weird
Where are they now?
Merritt Hutton Jr.high
My birth dad MIGHT have gone to this highschool and graduated around this time. I know he lived in Thornton for a while. Do you have a yearbook? Did you know anyone named John H Jarecki? Trying to find him and info about him. Thanks
hi
THS Graduate year of 2006!
can someone invent a time travel machine already
No the government want us to be as miserable as we can be so they will never let us time travel sadly! 😒
Highland High was better than Thornton High. Hornets were the BIG DOG in the city of Thornton, Colorado!
HIGHLAND K
The girls always looked pretty good in those hip hugger bell bottom blue jeans, but how in the world did the guys ever get girlfriends wearing those things
It was their personalities. 😉 😜
This was 10 years before my parents were even born wtf I have young ass fuck parents I'm 14