Hommocks Turns Back the Clock to 1968 - You Can Too!

See Also: UTube 1968 Video Montage

by Seth Weitzman, Hommocks Principal

Student artwork along with "groovy" studies in history, literature, math, music, athletics, health and "culinary" arts were on the agenda as Hommocks celebrated its 40th anniversary on October 17.

(October 23, 2008) “Good morning Hommocks. Today is October 17, 1968. Good luck to presidential candidates Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey . . . Girls, for the first time this year, you are allowed to try out for one of four sports our school district offers: gymnastics, skiing, twirling or cheerleading.”

With this announcement starting the day, students and staff began a celebration of Hommocks’ 40th anniversary on October 17, turning back the clock to 1968. In every class, students reenacted lessons from the school’s inaugural year.

Students stopped by the main lobby, known as the Commons, where Home and Careers classes served the breakfast drink of astronauts, Tang.

Health classes studied the history and nutritional content of a menu item introduced in 1968, the Big Mac. They viewed a scene from the movie, Super Size Me, about the health effects of large portion sizes served in fast food restaurants.

Eighth grade English classes analyzed the lyrics of poems and popular songs such as Otis Redding’s "Sitting By the Dock of the Bay" and Bob Dylans’ "All Along the Watchtower." The 1960’s works were compared to a book they have been reading: John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the novella describing migrant workers’ lives in the Great Depression.

One seventh grade social studies class compared and contrasted the presidential elections of 1968 and 2008. In both elections, one student observed, a critical issue was an unpopular president embroiled in a controversial war. In another seventh grade social studies class, students read news articles from 1968. One girl, Arielle Joselson, proudly shared a photograph of Hubert Humphrey sitting beside her grandfather, Stanley Frankel, one of the vice president’s speechwriters.

An eighth grade social studies class noted differences between the lyrics of anti-war protest songs, such as "Time has Come Today" by the Chambers Brothers, and Merle Haggard’s Country and Western anthem, "Proud to be an Oakie from Muskogee." Another eighth grade social studies class studied Bobby Kennedy’s moving tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered while breaking the news of King’s assassination to an agitated crowd. (“So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that’s true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our country . . .”)

Click arrow to start Robert F. Kennedy's Statement on Dr. King's Death - Montage from Utube

As a prelude to an astronomy unit, eighth grade earth science classes first viewed and then discussed video clips of Apollo 7 and Apollo 8 missions. These were NASA’s final test flights before Apollo 11’s successful touchdown on the moon.

A sixth grade special education mathematics class embarked on a shopping trip, comparing food prices 40 years apart. The price of gas at the pump was 34 cents per gallon. A trip to the movies to see 2001: A Space Odyssey would cost $1.30. A gallon of milk cost $1.07.

Sixth grade classes brainstormed a lengthy list of technology not yet invented. Imagine life without iPods, computers, cell phones, and gameboys! For homework they were assigned to ask parents how modern technology has changed people’s lives.

Art classes watched a slide show of iconic 1960’s pop art, including Andy Warhol’s famous Campbell tomato soup can and psychedelic colored posters of Peter Max. Then students applied tie-dyed colors and patterns and bubble letter shapes to their own designs.

Some classes played 1968 trivia contests. Who won the Oscar for Best Actress? Which baseball team won the World Series? Where was the final scene of Planet of the Apes set? Name a slang term for money.

Many children and teachers wore hippie garb. A teacher drove his 1968 Volkswagen Beatle to school. All in all, it was a groovy, retro day combining education and fun.

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