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Celebrating the 40 year anniversary of the first graduating senior class of Highland Hall
A Speech given by Brian Higgins, Class of 1971 to the Highland Hall Community, June 17, 2011:
"It’s always a pleasure to come home to Highland Hall. Given that I am a graduate of the first high school class, I’d like to give you some history of how the high school came to be.
The school was first located in an old, rundown motel on Riverside and Colfax in North Hollywood. For assemblies, chairs were set up in the driveway and we would open the garage door.
When we moved up to the HILL - as we liked to call it – the classes were held in six temporary bungalows…that would be the same six temporary bungalows you see today. I can only imagine how many coats of paint are on these things.
There was no grass, no trees, no field, and the school only went through ninth grade. All throughout our final year, we tried to convince the college [of teachers] to start a high school. We were told that the timing wasn’t right and there was no money. There was also an ongoing debate as to whether higher education even fell into Steiner’s philosophy despite the fact that a few high schools had already sprung up around the world.
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From left to right: Joan Jaekel, Vilma Palma, Brian Higgins, Shawne Zarubica, Chris Stendahl and Scott Lunny. |
So we left. As close as we were we were scattered, all going to a number of schools throughout the area. Three of us, Susan Newman, Todd Sherman and Caroleen Fisher ended up in the same school where corporal punishment was still in fashion. It was the 60’s and students with behavioral issues were disciplined in front of the whole school. Let’s just say it didn’t sit well with three kids who were used to beeswax, fountain pens and knitting.
Clearly, we had to do something. We all got together and with the encouragement of our parents we drafted a petition letter that we all signed and delivered to the college. We were energized, empowered and wouldn’t take no for an answer. In the end, it was Noah Williams the Third, Quatro’s father, who made it happen. This is the same Noah Williams who helped start Highland Hall back in the day. He said that the right time to start a high school was when kids wanted a high school.
Our parents who not only encouraged us every inch of the way, also worked closely with the school to raise the necessary funds to make it a reality and, as they say, the rest is history.
We have all stayed pretty close. Whenever we gather, we still tell Highland Hall stories and they still make us laugh. I’ve been married for almost thirty years. My wife, a dyed in the wool New Yorker, had heard all the same stories, more times than she would care to remember. One summer night, when she thought she'd heard and seen it all, Todd and I, for no apparent reason, started demonstrating Eurythmy on the front porch. She’s still laughing. I guess there’s not a lot of Eurythmy in Brooklyn – or anywhere for that matter.
I could tell you what a Waldorf Education has meant to me over the last forty years since my graduation but we would be here a while. Let me just say that very little time goes by without me thinking about these three lines…
That strength and grace and skill
For learning and for work
In me may live and grow.
So thank you Highland Hall…for the morning verse, the May Fair, the advent festival, the class plays, the India Ink, the knitting, crocheting and sewing. Thank you for the woodworking, the Eurythmy and all those absent superheroes.
These temporary bungalows and a virgin high school voyage have given us a solid foundation and wonderful memories. It’s more than we ever dreamed of when we started out on this journey forty years ago.
On behalf of the class of 1971, I thank you and our congratulations to the class of 2011.
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