Blast to the Past: Things you didn’t know about Ripon High
Picture from old Ripon High yearbook taken by Triptaan Dhami.
Did you know that there used to be a fun game room at Ripon High? Or that there used to be typewriters for each student in classes? Ripon High has many unknown and hidden things that would surprise many.
Mrs.Gillihan, the math teacher, remembers many things from her time as a student at the high school she teaches. She remembers when there were typewriters or meetings where all kids from the grade level got together.
She mainly remembers her sophomore year highlight. “When I was a tenth grader, I was a sophomore, and I was actually sitting in Mrs.Cutino’s room. One of the teachers at the time ran in and he goes, ‘Get everyone the he** out of here!’ I’m like woah, and so we all had to [leave]. So as we are walking out, there was a huge explosion!” recalled Mrs.Gillihan.
“Over by the district office, on the other side there was like a paint storage place and something caught on fire, and so every paint barrel was exploding.”
She remembers that all students had to stand on the football field until their parents came to pick them up. This incident was a huge deal for Ripon because nothing ever happened before in the city’s history. As time goes by, newer things are covering the incidents that used to happen.
Other than the explosions that occurred at Ripon High, Mrs.Pendleton thinks back to the time when the whole school started and was really small. Shockingly small!
“Ripon High, when it started, actually started upstairs where Ripon Road House is now, in that building,” said Mrs.Pendleton.
Before the school was even built, everything that used to happen in the small space upstairs. After some time, the school was built to look like a mission. This also explains the reason why the yearbook always has mission on it.
Sam Green, the school campus security guard, talked about the hidden thing that many students never know about. They never learn about the small animals that belong to the Ag. department.
“The one thing most people don’t know about Ripon High school is that we have 48 chickens, and they live in the back of the school. The chickens just had babies, so there’s a chick out there,” said Sam.
She loves all the chickens ever since she met them and encourages others to meet them too.
Another Ripon High graduate, Mrs.Ochoa, talks about the fun times she had at highschool.
“Back in the late 90’s, we used to have a student store called the Teepee, where the current teachers’ lounge is. We used to have air hockey and pinball machines and other video games and wall to wall gas station snacks.”
A lot of students would want the old student store back, especially because there used to be gum, drinks and other sweet snacks like cupcakes. Mrs.Ochoa says that the students were able to go there during breaks and hangout.
Many teachers of Ripon High might not even know these few things about the school. Students might be shocked or jealous because of the Teepee room, but clearly not a lot of people know these things that happened at their school, before them.
Triptaan Dhami is a sophomore at Ripon High. Her goal for this school year is to be more involved and to meet as many new people as she can. She also wants...
