THROWBACK THURSDAY TIDBITS – the 80’s
-
In the 80’s, entire hallways were
decorated by each class with their
homecoming theme.
-
The “Spirit Jug” was originally
awarded to the grade that was the
loudest during pep rallies. In the
80’s, it was given to the grade with
the most points earned during
homecoming activities.
-
Hat, Tie and Shades Day was a popular day for Spirit Week during the 80’s. The choice
would be made to determine whether the girls or the guys started with the ties and then
if they talked to a member of the opposite sex, they lost their tie to them. During Spirit
Week in 1987, the guys started with the ties and the girls attempted to steal them by
tricking them into talking to them. (Many guys lost their ties before the first bell rang…)
-
Senior Class trips in the 1980’s were three days long. They left on Thursday mornings and
didn’t return to school until Saturday evenings. St. Louis and Chicago were popular spots.
-
1980 School Facts:
o 20 Teachers on staff
o 328 Students enrolled
o Tuition was $1,165 per
student
o 97 Seniors graduated
that year
o An art room, student
activity room, music
practice rooms & learning
resource room were added.
-
During the 1980’s, many students were members of F.C.A. (Fellowship of Christian
Athletes) and Forensics.
-
Joann Nikkel became school secretary in February of 1980. She served as full time
secretary for 20 years and then part-time secretary for another 13 years. During her
time at PCHS she saw many changes in technology – from having to use a manual
typewriter and rotary dial phone to a computer and speed dial phone.
-
The 1980 girls track team had 3 state
champions: Lana Vande Kamp in the 800
meter run and the 1500 meter run and
Brenda Zystra, Patti Monsma, Donna De
Cook and Lana Vande Kamp in the Distance
Medley.
-
The 1980 baseball team was the 1st to qualify for the state tournament in school history.
-
The 1983-84 school year was noted for academic excellence as PCHS was ranked in the
99th percentile in all four class levels on the ITED tests.
-
The volleyball program was started in 1983. They did not have any games that year, they
just spent the time learning fundamentals and having a scrimmage with Osky. Their first
official season began in the fall of ’84. They finished the season with 4 wins & 11 losses.
-
The 1983-84 girls basketball team qualified for the state tournament. It marked the
first time the girls had qualified since our 1952 team. They played hard but lost in the
first round.
-
1985 School Facts:
o Shorts were allowed to be worn to school for the first time ever.
o Spanish was phased in & German was phased out. Mr. Van Stryland taught both.
o Juniors continued to sell candy to raise money. Price was 40¢.
o Chapel was on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
o Homecoming Themes that year: Star Wars, Ghostbusters & Puffman, Wizard of
Oz and the Muppets.
o A large computer room and new counselor’s office were added to the school.
-
11 Vietnamese students who had suffered untold hardships at the hands of the
Communists studied at our school during the 1985-86 school year. 2 of them took classes
for credit and the other 9 audited classes to improve their English. The following year,
we had 10 ESL students.
-
The 1985 volleyball team won the school their first ever trophy in volleyball by finishing
3rd in the Baxter Invitational. Their record that 2nd year was 15 wins and 11 losses.
-
Boys golf began around the 1985-86
school year and was coached by Mark
Williams.
-
Girl and Boys tennis officially began
with the 1985-86 school year. Penne
Fox was the girls coach and Doug
Stursma coached the boys.
-
Girls Golf began with the sprint of 1987 and was coached by Wynne Veenstra.
-
In 1987, Pella Christian High has an enrollment of 287 students and a staff of 21
teachers. The school drew students from a radius of about thirty-five miles from Pella.
Students at Pella Christian High came from Oskaloosa, Sully, Cedar, Tracy, New Sharon,
Newton, and Prairie City as well as from Pella. Paul DeJong retired after serving for
forty years at PCHS with his last 26 years as the Principal. Clyde Rinsema was hired as
the new Principal and served for 14 years until 2002.
-
In the 1987-88 school year, a Pella Christian weightlifting team participated in the Iowa
Bench Press Championships held at Jesup. They finished sixth out of thirty-eight clubs
and thus began weightlifting as a varsity sport at PCHS. The following year, the team
participated in the state tournament and Mike VerMeer set a new state record of 200
lbs. in the 112 lb. weight class.
-
The 1988 boys cross country team qualified for the state meet and finished 12th.
-
The 1989 girls
softball team
qualified for the
state
tournament and
finished in 5th
place.
-
In 1988 and 1989, business students participated in the Pleasantville Business
Invitational Contest. A few of the categories they competed in included Accounting I &
II, Computer Programming, Filing, Typewriting I & II, Transcription, Calculators, Record
Keeping, Shorthand and Business Law.
-
1989 also saw
Dan Vermeer
voted as the
first
Homecoming
King in PC
history.
IMAGINE - HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD
-
How does an actor that starred in movies like “Bedtime for Bonzo” become President and
defeat the incumbent, who is a peanut farmer turned politician, bringing the “Evil Empire”
to the brink of extinction and change American’s minds to believe that the best days for
the country are ahead, not behind? One word, OPTIMISM! This one word reflected the
patriotism and essence of the “Great Communicator”, our 40th President, Ronald Reagan.
-
In the 80’s, America regained its patriotic
spirit, economic footing and phenomenal
scientific achievement. MTV and the
first music videos were born along with
home video; VHS or Beta.
POLITICS
- President Jimmy Carter (D) former governor of Georgia & peanut farmer in office for 3
years, led the country in double digit inflation, job shrinkage and an impotent military.
The Shah of Iran was deposed by radical Muslims who invaded the US Embassy in
Tehran, Iran under the will of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Despite negotiations, the US
could not gain release of the hostages and after a botched military rescue, the hostages
remained captive for over 400 days. America was in a sad state of affairs. The seeds of
“Contragate” in Nicaragua were sown at this time.
-
Only after the new President, Ronald Reagan (R) was sworn in, were the hostages
released. Reagan’s infectious spirit of optimism spread across the country like wildfire,
and even the majority party in Congress, the Democrats, led by Rep. Tip O’Niel worked
with Reagan to restore America to its former glory days. The Republican economic
recovery plan, degradedly called “Reganomics” helped to restore our financial prosperity
by lowering the income tax rate for people & corporations in a move called “trickle down
economics”.
Soviet Symbol & Red Star
-
Mikhail Gorbechov (L) & President Reagan
Star Wars-SDI
Internationally, the Soviet (USSR or CCCP) leader Leonid Brezhnev died, quickly followed
by his successor’s death approximately 6 months later, and only then was a man ‘elected’
that we could do business with, Mikhail Gorbechov. A new era accompanied the new Soviet
lead called Glasnost, meaning opening or unthawing. This, combined with Perestroika
(Перестроіка), a reforming of politics, led to the weakening of Communism and its
eventual destruction. The 15 Soviet Republics and the Iron Curtain countries were
granted their freedom by the Russian Parliament and its new President Boris Yeltsin. As
a result, Germany was reunited for the 1st time since 1945.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
-
The 1980’s can also be called the decade of scientific advancements. Star Wars –
Strategic Defense Implementation (missile shield from outer space); The De Lorean car;
the first cell phone (slightly larger than a brick) but no texting or internet; Compact
Discs instead of vinyl albums for music; 1st superconductor; first personal computers;
MS-Dos invented (basis for Windows); first human growth hormone genetically
-
engineered; HDTV invented; Doppler radar invented (handy for accurate weather
warnings). There was however NO World Wide Web as of yet, nor iTunes. Life was a
bummer compared to today… not!
IBM Personal Computer Ad
De Lorean MC I Stainless Steel Coupe 1983
Martin Cooper & his invention,
the first cell phone; note the size!
MOVIES
See if you can decipher the names of these popular 80’s movies in the following:
E.T. phones home and the empire strikes back; the revenge of the jedi occurs despite
superman’s & batman’s best efforts to remain footloose. The terminator becomes a
raging bull while ferris bueller takes a day off to go back to the future with the
breakfast club! How many did you find ?
Correct answer: 11
Cost comparisons:
McDonalds (Burger, Fry & Shake)
Annual Salary
New Car
Bread/per loaf
Gallon of Gas
Cell Phone
1980 price
$2.99 (2 Cheeseburgers)
$ 23,190.00
$ 11,305.00
$
1.70
$
1.08
$ 788.00
2014 price
$ 5.74 Ala Carte
$ 45,000.00
$ 31,352.00
$ 3.49
$ 3.80
Free - $299.00 w/2 yr. contract