Name: Dewey ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 7:43 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1974
City & State: Chandler,AZ
E-mail
Message: This may help us understand the kids of today. 60 Minutes did a story a few months ago about them ? they are called "Millennials" have a look.

Name: Sharon Leach ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 6:46 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Moore
Class: 1966
City & State: Long Beach, CA
E-mail
Message: My sister taught 7th grade at Durfee Avenue Junior High in El Monte for 30 years. She retired about 8 years ago, saying that things had really changed. She said parents, students, and especially the administration just didn't seem care any more. Most of the pressure and blame is put on the teachers. The school system makes it more and more difficult for a teacher to teach. Teachers have more education than they have had in the past. They have to pass more tests to become teachers. More testing of teachers, more reporting by teachers, and more pressure for teachers to make kids perform has obviously not been the answer. Let the work begin at home. Teachers should not be the ones teaching kids manners, respect for others and for themselves. These moral values should be basics taught at home. If these basics were taught at home, I am sure kids would do much better in school because of their own self-respect. Okay, I'll get off of my soap box. I just feel sorry for teachers these days. During my student teaching, I decided right then and there that I was not cut out to be a teacher. I'm sure I would have been in the news, "Teacher loses it in classroom. Ties up students, tapes their mouths shut, and locks herself in the closet with 50 pounds of Sees chocolates. Film at 11:00"

Name: Marilyn Ross ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 4:26 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Wisham
Class: 1956
City & State: Garden Grove, Ca
No E-mail
Message: I absolutely agree discipline needs to start with the parents. I work in a high school in Fountain Valley and many of the kids have no respect at all for adults or their school. A lot of the kids just laugh at the rules because it is so hard to control. We have fences also but it doesn't seem to keep out the rifraff. We have metal benches donated by a senior class a few years ago. Almost immediately they were attacked and bent up. Possibly by skate boarders. This is after hours or on the weekends. We have a quad surrounded by buildings with tall fences at each opening. They still get in. Last year at the end of the year someone got in and threw paint everywhere. On the buildings, the cement walks. A small kiosk in the center of the yard had just been painted with a fancy design and had thick paint slung all over it. Without the parents help it will never be cured. In the 50's Leuzinger had a tall block wall put up across the front of the school. There was a big outcry and it was brought down to about 3 feet. We called it Lucatraz.

Name: Don D ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 4:19 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1975
City & State: South Bay
E-mail
Message: Happy birthday Johnny's Mommy!

Name: Loretta Cuiper ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 12:27 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Morelli
Class: 1962
City & State: Hawthorne, Ca
E-mail
Message: Happy Birthday to Mrs. Baker. I also have never met you, but John and I have been joined at the hip Buddies since 8th Grade. You are a Beutiful Lady, John is very lucky to have his Mom and you did raise a great Kid. Glad to see your Birthday was a good one, AGAIN "HAPPY BIRTHDAY", and make that for all this week and week-end!!
Just a note regarding California Schools. Really no need to move out of state to go to school. Everywhere has their problems. We still have great schools in California. ALWAYS A COUG

Name: Howard "Paco" Duran ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 11:54 am - HHS Time
Class: 1961
City & State: Lake Forest
E-mail
Message: I read in the paper this morning that USC's O.J.Mayo is Al Jardines nephew! Small world...

Name: Betty Rodriguez ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 9:21 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Kean
Class: 1969
City & State: Kingman, AZ
E-mail
Message: Mary Ann-I totally agree with you - it begins with the parents. Parenting is the most difficult job on the planet. But no matter what the family status is, it costs nothing to teach your children manners, honesty, values, and ethics. The schools won't teach it and our government certainly doesn't! Sadly, I had to leave California to ensure a decent education for my children. It was worth it. My children are proving to us and the community that what they have learned here at home is the very best education they can receive. I thank my parents and their parents for this. Betty Rodriguez

Name: Mary Ann Martin ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 7:24 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Walton
Class: 1961
City & State: Nashville AR
E-mail
Message: I strongly believe that it goes directly back to the family unit. Period. Not the churches, schools, judicial system or anyone else. The responsibility of changing the current quality of life is the parent's, whether a single household or not. We've similar problems - even in this small town - but they're dealt with ... beginning with the parent(s)!

Name: Jerry Miles ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 6:41 am - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Fair Oaks, CA
E-mail
Message: The first time I saw the bars was when I came down for the first homecoming game and it broke my heart. My first thought was that they put prison bars around my high school. That's what they look like and you can't fault people for calling it like it is. Rather they were put up to keep bad people out or stop the students from leaving, the real shame is that it has reached the point that a law had to be passed to make them mandatory. That's just not right. There has to be better ways to address the problem. Quite often I drive by the local high school here during the beginning or the ending of their school day. I see happy kids walking, driving, or getting rides to and from a fenceless school. Just like we used to start and end our school day. I'm not completely sure but I believe they still have lockers too. My point is here and many other places around the country prove it doesn't have to be that way. And not calling the fence "prison bars", which is just what it looks like, doesn't help either. What would help? I don't know. How do you get parents involved in their children's lives again? How do you get teachers who care about minimum day schedules more than educating their students to do the right thing. How do you force kids to respect their parents and teachers. And most importantly how do you instill a sense of shame for evil acts that seem to have become the norm. I know things aren't the same as they were John but my God, LA schools have become cesspools. I think it's very understandable that people are upset over this. I hope someday it will turn around and become closer to what it once was. But to tell you the truth, from what I hear on the news and the way the government is running things I see places like Sacramento falling into the same blackhole that LA is in now, not the other way around. All I can say about that is what a shame.

Name: Mary Ann Martin ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 5:24 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Walton
Class: 1961
City & State: Nashville AR
E-mail
Message: Wasn't Leuzinger the first high school in the area to put up fences? The ills of society ... so sad!

Name: Wade Greasby ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 4:40 am - HHS Time
Class: 1973
City & State: Surf City, Ca
E-mail
Message: Schools without fences, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Ocean View, Marina, Edison, Estancia, Esperanza, Costa Mesa, Newport Harbor, etc. Yes these are schools behind the Orange Curtain, Mira Costa in Manhattan Beach is still non fenced. Going through some of the articles from the California State High Schools, Hawthorne High was one of the safest schools up until the mid 1980's. It was also a fore runner in design of the modern high school during the 1960's when the Baby boomers began going to high school. The lay-out was a scaled down version of college campuses used by the Cal State System. As times change schools have had to adjust to the violence factor created in the areas in which schools area located. The new modern high school being built in the 2000's is the one patterend by the state of Colorado, called the, "Bunker". Where the school is in-earthed around a burm of dirt or hills to protect the students. Example is Columbine and Fairview High schools. The athletic fields and parking lots are now located surrounding the schools for a "line of defense" staging area, also to protect the students and administrators from outside influences. The bars of Hawthorne may give the appearence of a prison, but they serve the purpose for the older high schools to protect the students, teachers and administrators and keep the unwanteds out. Hawthorne is still the City of Good Neighbors, but the Times they are a Changin'

Name: Dan Dye ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Apr 4, 2008, 1:41 am - HHS Time
Class: 1962
City & State: Torrance, Ca
No E-mail
Message: Happy B-Day To Mother B, I have known little Johnny many years. I haven't met you, however I have heard little Johnny say many nice things about you. May God Bless you and have many more B-Days. Dan Dye

Name: Debbie ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Apr 3, 2008, 9:51 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Kilroy
Class: 1971
City & State: The OC
E-mail
Message: Happy Birthday Mother Baker!!! Best wishes today and always. Hope your day was special, Katella Deli is one of my favs also. We are very thankful to you for the blessing of John in our lives!!

Name: Jim Sloey ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Apr 3, 2008, 9:32 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: solvang
E-mail
Message: Mother B a very happy birthday to you as you are really the Genesis of Cougartown, Ma Cougartown!!! Do you have any old 8mm of you or Pa Baker whupping lil Johnny? We would pay for that! God Bless you and many more to come too. You did real good as a mom! Happy Birthday!

Name: Robert Munjko ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Apr 3, 2008, 7:12 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1978
City & State: Home of the Beach Boys
E-mail
Message: I did hear about Robert Sumser last friday, real sad if true.

Name: Mom Baker ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Apr 3, 2008, 6:02 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1938
City & State: Seal Beach, CA
E-mail
Message: Thanks to all of you who wished me a Happy Birthday. Come on the rest of you, the day is not over for 6 hours yet. I love it and my lunch and cake were great at the Katella Deli where my son took me. He is a good one. Thanks to him and all his many friends. I Love you too. Mom B

Name: Harry Plotkin ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Apr 3, 2008, 5:44 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1954
City & State: Harbor City, CA
E-mail
Message: Happy April to all Cougars, especially my former students. I would be remiss if I failed to wish Mrs. Baker the greatest of birthdays. Love to all, HCH Harry Plotkin

Name: Richard G Longoria ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Apr 3, 2008, 3:11 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1978
City & State: Desert Hot Springs, California
E-mail
Message: 2008 When I graduated from Hawthorne High Class of 1978. I had the best time I ever had. That's before they put up the prison bars around the High School. God Bless Everyone, Richard G Longoria 65911 Acoma Avenue, Desert Hot Springs,California, 92240

Name: Art LaMere ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Apr 3, 2008, 2:08 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1973
City & State: Bettendorf Ia
No E-mail
Message: Well first happy b-day Ma Baker, Saw some photos of Hawthorne this week. My oldest son went to So.Cal this past week to get married on the beach. Anyway he took photos of the old school and my mom and dads old home. All has changed. Have a wonderful day to all, Art

Name: Sharon Leach ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Apr 3, 2008, 8:09 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Moore
Class: 1966
City & State: Long Beach, CA
E-mail
Message: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM B!