This year, Cuyahoga Heights Schools is showcasing the Classes of 1950, 1975, and 2000 in a flashback series that the community can see each Friday on the district website, app, and social media sites. In this winter issue of “Heights Highlights,” we shine a spotlight on the Cuyahoga Heights High School (CHHS) Class of 1975.
We recently talked with alumnus Mark Dobbins who shared his memories of CHHS as a student. Now retired and a member of the Cuyahoga Heights Schools Board of Education, Dobbins painted a colorful picture of school life in the mid 1970s.
“I remember the early morning gym classes at the outdoor Cuyahoga Heights Village pool across the street from the high school. Those classes preceded the time before the indoor natatorium was built so swimming classes during gym class were held at the outdoor pool. There were some very chilly fall temperatures,” Dobbins remarked.
Dobbins fondly recalls going to fall football games throughout his high school years and meeting at the local McDonald’s afterward. In 1975, the football team ended their season with a dismal 0-8-1(tie with Independence) record. The Independence Blue Devils were, and still are, the high school’s biggest rivals. However, the basketball team ended the season as district runner up with the best record since 1967, and a member of the wrestling team advanced to compete at the state level.
A wrestler all four years of high school and also in middle school, Dobbins said one of his favorite teachers was Physical Education instructor James Wallace who was also the wrestling coach. “He instilled a lot of basic traits about hard work, discipline and preparation,” Dobbins recalled. He also had fond memories of Industrial Arts teachers WIlliam Attewell and Donald Geiger. “I took a few introductory industrial arts and vocational education classes with Messrs. Attewell, Geiger and CHS vocational education teachers during my CHS years,” Dobbins noted. At the time, what is now the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center was only a few years old and many member school districts were transitioning from in-house vocational programs to encouraging interested students to participate in programming that was offered at, what was then, the new vocational school.
A student of the French language during all four years of high school, Dobbins said that Ms. (Michele) Zelazny, who taught French, “added a lot of culture and awareness to my life.” But he vividly recalled the pungent smell of formaldehyde that occasionally permeated his homeroom, that of biology teacher Mr. Joseph Kuhmera. ”All of Mr. Kuhmera’s homeroom students knew when the biology curriculum progressed to dissecting a frog,” laughed Dobbins. He also recalled field trips to a property near Interstate 90 in Westlake where students did everything from surveying to water testing and investigating area wildlife. “It was an annual field trip and a highlight of the biology class.” Dobbins recalled.
As senior class president, Dobbins remembers working with fellow officers and classmates to plan many memorable activities. “As a team, we organized several car washes to raise funds for the prom. One customer brought a large truck that we washed as best as possible. He paid us something like $20, which was a big sum at that time.” That year, the prom was held at the Spanish Tavern, now Burntwood Tavern, in Brecksville. “It was a fun evening,” said Dobbins.
The school also offered a Driver’s Education course. “The Driver’s Ed teacher was Mr. (James) MacDonald who was also a social studies teacher. I remember being picked up from my house on some summer mornings to practice driving with other Driver’s Ed students in the car,” remarked Dobbins. “It’s one example how things have changed,” said Dobbins, noting that the class is no longer offered at CHHS.
There were no cell phones in those days and computers were in their infancy although Dobbins recalled a math-based course that incorporated “the new computer technology”. Another memory was reading class with Mrs. (Emily) Brown. “The classes were held in a darkened room where we would sit in cubicles at reading machines that illuminated a few lines of text from a book’s pages with a light that scrolled down the page at an adjustable rate,” he recalled, about the extent of technology that was integrated into the curriculum at that time.
Dobbins also took a number of Business Education courses focusing on bookkeeping and accounting. “That’s where I got an interest in accounting,” said Dobbins, who went onto Cleveland State University after graduation and became an accountant. He then went to Cleveland Marshall Law School where he earned a law degree.
The dress code was always controversial during the mid 70s, especially as it involved the length of the boys’ hair and the length of the girls’ skirts. “Both were subject to some pretty rigorous rules,” noted Dobbins. “The boys could not have facial hair and their hair length could not cover their ears,” he said.
“Looking back, the number of opportunities that the district offered to its students was remarkable. Fellow classmates and other CHHS students could participate in the band, orchestra, a sport, take an advanced science or math course, an industrial arts course, and/or attend the Career Center. Fifty years later, Dobbins said he has greater awareness and appreciation of the strong connection between the school district and the communities it serves. “The villages continue to be incredibly supportive of the district and the district continues to provide an exceptional educational experience to its students. Looking back over 50 years of life experience since graduation, I’m grateful to the district for providing the opportunities and resources that it did,” he concluded.
Watch for more Flashback Friday features in upcoming issues of “Heights Highlights” as we continue to celebrate the rich history of Cuyahoga Heights Schools through the decades.