“I wasn’t a really good student,” said Mr. King, describing his years at Radnor High School. While I beg to differ that one of the high school’s best social studies teachers wasn’t already killing it in the 80s, I’m sure there’s a lot about our teachers’ lives that is left out of their daily lectures and get-to-know-me power points. It’s also hard to imagine at times that the educators we see everyday had high school experiences of their own, but they did. And I, a curious senior, sat down with two of Radnor’s grads-come-teachers to dig up some of these memories.
Life in the 80s
We’ll be heading back to the 80s at Radnor through the perspectives of social studies teachers Mr. King and Mr. Wright. Back then, Radnor was the same in many ways; there were the famous LM pep rallies, sporting events, and senior traditions. But it was also different, and we’ll begin with the clothes.
Shockingly enough, students were not rocking the typical grey sweatpants and hoodie combination we see in Radnor’s hall’s today. Instead, students wore, as Mr. King dubbed, ‘Main-Line preppy’. It was all Ralph Lauren, corduroy pants, and Polo shirts, with Docksiders or L.L.Bean moccasins. Plus, in the winter of ‘87, color-block The North Face jackets were all the rage. Mr. Wright commented that you never could identify someone based on their clothes, which Mr. King attested to. Much like Radnor today, students wanted to fit in, so everyone dressed in similar fashion.
When it came to teachers I think Mr. Wright’s comment that “the yellow line in the math office was pretty serious back then,” sums things up. There was a green bathroom sign-out sheet, which was not a mere suggestion. Teachers and staff were perceived as strict authority figures. Mr. King explained that “the idea that teachers were friendly…at least with me was not the case.” There were both physical and emotional barriers between students and staff, as teachers taught lessons from behind a desk or a podium. Most teachers were distant and unresponsive; there was not the same effort to form connections with students that there is today. While Mr. King might have described Radnor teachers in the 80s as generally unfriendly, Mr. Wright offered a different perspective. Maybe he was just socially awkward, but he “was somebody very good at hanging out with adults,” even back in his high school days. Mr. Wright could often be found chatting with teachers between periods or during his lunch.
As expected, technology was minimal back then. Mr. King took a computer programming class and Mr. Wright had a desktop at home but that was about it. All classwork, essays, and homeworks was done on paper. The seniors did however have a personal printer and there was some form of primitive word on computers. A few students, like Mr. King, had type-writers which they could use as well. Rumor has it the old typing device is still in Mr. King’s garage – treasure hunt anyone?! As for exactly getting your assignments done, Mr. Wright explained that he used The Guide to Periodical Literature. This reference guide contained all recently published magazines, scholarly articles and journal entries and was perfect for looking up exactly what was needed for school assignments.
Outside of academics, “LM wasn’t everything near where it is now,” as Mr. Wright commented. The pep-rally was on a small scale. Students were still very enthusiastic but the whole ordeal was simplified. Don McKenny, a science teacher back then, led the rally as Mr. Krupp does now. According to Mr. King, he was quite skinny but had a very loud voice. Just the male teachers danced in the rally, but there were both female and male cheerleaders who did their routines and the footballers were known to perform the occasional dance. Unfortunately, for the whole time Mr. Wright and Mr. King were at the high school, Radnor never won the LM game.
If we’re talking about losses, the real moral killer was the infamous Saturday detention. Hosted in a big-room with no windows, students would sit and simply wait for the time to pass. Mr. King almost found himself in Saturday detentions after an encounter with a substitute teacher. Him and his classmates had been told to read silently for 20 minutes, but Mr. King must have had some news to share, cause he was caught talking to his buddy and given a detention. Understandingly not wanting to come back to school on Saturday, Mr. King attempted to work it off by sweeping the cafeteria and taking out the trash (an alternative punishment available back then). But alas, his labor was not recorded! This was a serious issue because there were threats that students couldn’t graduate if their detentions were marked incomplete. Mr. King does not quite remember how he got out of it in the end, but he did graduate without a hitch!
Besides the end of Saturday detention, many of the traditions we see at the high school today were going strong in the 80s. Open campus was enjoyed by both Mr. King and Mr. Wright, where they would escape for lunch at McDonalds or John Hoagies in Wayne. As for senior activities, dress-up day was already a well established tradition. Mr. King and his friends dressed up as the lunch ladies. He thinks it was “quite uninspired but they had these powerpuff blue dresses” which were much admired by his classmates. Mr. Wright had a similarly amusing experience when he and his buddy Fred dressed up the men from a new wine-soda brand at the time. He specifically mentioned that they, yes, were completely sober for this choice and that they had good fun dressing in suspenders and putting white powder in their hair.
As for senior prom, Mr. Wright’s experience was far more blissful than Mr. King’s. Mr. Wright went with a girl who he was friends with and they had a lovely time. He even brought a matching tie for her pink dress. According to him she’s a “big wig in Maryland now,” so no high school sweetheart for Mr. Wright. As I previously implied, Mr. King’s road to a prom date was far from straight forward. He asked six different girls to the dance, and he was rejected by all of them; however, one girl did feel bad and arranged for Mr. King to take her cousin. When the night came around, it turned out the cousin knew all the jocks, so Mr. King was left essentially dateless at one of those big round event tables.
Senior pictures were another timeless tradition. Back in ‘84, all the seniors went out and got their picture taken leaning up against a tree in a park. Wr. Wright had a similar experience taking photos in a light blue sweater down at the willows in ‘87. He said he can almost replicate that entire outfit today, one of his kids even said, “oh my god Daddy, I think you’re wearing the same sweater,” when he pulled out the yearbook for his children some time ago!
Memory Lane
“In some ways the young teenage struggle is to fit in, how to run with the cool crowds or find the parties on the weekends which I never did – mine were spent playing video games with my friends.” – Mr. King
Towards the beginning of my time with both teachers, I asked them what they’re favorite and least favorite memories were from high school:
Starting on a positive note, Mr. King was quick to mention how much he loved his history classes. He had US history with Sam Holt freshman year, World studies with Jimmy Balk the year after, and more US history with John Dale in his junior year – who all taught excellently. Unlike these enjoyable times in the social studies department, senior year in AP Euro was far from a walk in the park for Mr. King. His teacher was a woman with a traditional style and challenging assessments. Apparently everyone failed her quizzes, even one of Mr. King’s friends who’s a professor and Columbia grad! Funnily enough, Mr. King ended up working with the lady later in his career, but he did not hold a grudge. Overall, the social studies department was Mr. King’s favorite part of high school and I’m sure he’s making fond memories in his own history class at Radnor now.
Speaking of history, Mr. Wright also claimed these classes were his favorite part of high school. I’m starting to think these guys are just trying to hype up the subject they teach…In any case, Mr. Wright had particularly fond memories of Sam Holt who was his teacher in his sophomore year (he had to take freshman history in 10th grade after moving to the Radnor District). His American Colonial History I class was what first propelled Mr. Wright to be a history teacher. Allegedly, Sam Holt or Mr. Holt, as I’m sure he was called back then, was very good at reframing narratives. Mr. Wright even claims to hear his voice everyday when he’s lecturing in his own classes. Sam Holt was a Vietnam War veteran so part of being in his class was hearing about how the conflict had affected the teacher’s health and lifestyle. Mr. Wright was so moved by this that Sam Holt even came back to Radnor to speak to the 11th Grade integrated program, Viewpoints, for a number of years.
For the not so sweet memories, many of them centered around social situations. Mr. King explained that integrating into Radnor’s social life was far from easy; there were lots of different cliques that divided the popular athletes and, as he called them, the “born nerds.” There were even two cafeterias back then that really highlighted the divide. The ‘new cafeteria’ (the one we still use today) was for the athletes, and the “radical rip-jean, work-boots, long-hard guys” who were smoking their cigars. On the other hand, the nerds and studious types ate in the old cafeteria a.k.a. the black box. This was Mr. King’s home turf. There would be “stares and glares” if one tried to move to an alternative lunch spot.
Mr. Wright’s social journey at the high school was a little different. He had grown up in Radnor but moved to Ohio for middle school and freshman year. Hence, when he got back to Radnor, he had missed the years where kids really developed their friend groups. He ended up floating between crowds and reconnecting with old friends he knew from church. His undefined social state ended up being his worst memory from Radnor. Although he “had no seat in the cafeteria,” he would often spend his lunches in the old cafe, just as Mr. King did.
Reviewing Radnor
“I teach high school so I can redo everything that went wrong [for me] in high school” -Mr. Wright
Considering their mixed experiences at the high school, I asked both Mr. King and Mr. Wright to rate their high school experience from 1-10, offering them two categories: social and academic. Here were the results:
Mr. King rated academics an overall 8. He said that history was a 10 but he did not like math or science, and English “was a struggle.” He did mention having a good teachers senior year, though, which “brought [him] out of the abyss.” On the social side of things, Mr. King rated them a 7, only giving the simple statement “I wish I could go back,” which speaks volumes to the friendships Mr. King made in his high school years.
When it came to Mr. Wright, he also rated academics an 8, explaining that his teachers were great and college felt pretty easy following a Radnor education. For the social side things were a 4. Mr. Wright had a close knit group of friends but he always felt like he was missing out on something. When a popular kid did actually invite him to a party, his mom quickly shut the idea down and Mr. Wright never did get his teen-movie party moment.
Life After Graduation
“I could hit a bad golf shot and still hit fifteen people I went to high school with,” -Mr. Wright, referring to the amount of Radnor grads still living outside of Philadelphia.
From the ‘84 Yearbook
As my time with both Mr. King and Mr. Wright was coming to an end, I took a few minutes to speak with them about their lives since graduation…
We began with speaking about classmates they’re still in touch with today. Mr. King mentioned his close high school friend lives in Montreal now, but that the Kings see him at least once a year. Mr. Wright still has two friends from High School that he is “I could text right now” in touch with. He said that other graduates are never far: some are parents of his students, and others are his neighbors.
After leaving Radnor, Mr. King headed off to Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. From there he was living in Italy from age 21-29. If you’ve ever had Mr. King as a teacher, you’ll know he still does not shut up about the gelato. Finally Mr. King rounded off his education at Middlebury College in Vermont where he pursued a masters in Italian Literature. He’s now in his 29th year at Radnor and still going strong!
Life after graduation would not be complete with the infamous RHS reunions. Back in 2017, Mr. Wright went to his 30 year reunion which he claimed was a lot of fun. In Mr. Wright’s eyes, “this is a lovely place to come back.” While Mr. Wright’s 30 year reunion was a delightful blissful walk down memory lane, Mr. King’s was quite the eye opener. He found that some of friends from high school were jerks, and spent the evening talking to people who he never spoke to back at Radnor. Looking back, he thinks he had the ‘blinders on,’ in high school, focused on popularity rather than finding true friends. There was even one man, Richard Dole, who went up to Mr. King and said, “Rob you have such a Philly accent.” This must have really hit a nerve for Mr. King as he said to me through a chuckle that he wanted to give the man the middle finger but, of course, he didn’t. There was another old classmate who “was a boring hedge fund manager,” and one who’s now a paraprofessional at Radnor. This lady came up to Mr. King exclaimed, “So good to see you!” Mr. King admitted that at that moment all he could think was “Oh, how fake can you be?” for she was one of those super-popular girls who was once, as Mr. King admitted, out of his league.
When it came to romance, Mr. King did get lucky. He met his wife, Mrs. King who is a French teacher at the Radnor Middle School towards the start of his teaching career. He explained that every teacher had a mailbox which they had to check twice a day, or else they’d get phoned up to do it. The boxes were in the same place each year so Mr. King came back one summer he didn’t think to check if his box had moved – alas, it had. When he went to look for his mail, he discovered that Mrs. King had his old spot. They got to talking and the rest is history. One could say it was love at first mailbox.
Radnor Then and Now
Even with all their ups and downs, Mr. King and Mr. Wright spoke fondly of their time at the high school. The pep rally was, in its own way, just as fun back in the 80s and their final year at Radnor was as students filled with timeless senior traditions. These days the two men make for excellent history teachers. Still, sitting down with them made me realize there’s more to our teachers’ lives than giving lectures, grading tests, and reviewing homework. They were, at one time, just Radnor kids as we are now.
