Student profiles from senior year of classmates new and old.
Sung Hee Kim: Senior
Sung Hee was amused by my role as Jenny Cho’s English teacher
Sung Hee was Korean, medium height and her thick, black hair was cut short for a teenager at the time. She almost always wore a women’s headband, not to be confused with a Bjorn Borg style tennis headband…… Sung-He dressed in a rather dated, conservative manner, but she was very smart with a surprisingly playful personality. I got along with her quite well. She was fun and even liked to flirt a bit. I remember regular exchanges with her at the student store that I helped run in the mornings. Then again, I was a bit of a flirt and would regularly try to banter with the girls. I noted her soft hands when I would hand back her change. Hey, cut me some slack! I had been at an all-boys school for the three previous years. Looking back, Sung Hee is someone that I should have taken some more time to know. No, not in a piggy way. She seemed like an interesting, smart person with a story to tell.
Nahum Wright: 7th grade
Nahum had great energy and enthusiasm.
Nahum holds a special place in my memory. When I was in 8th grade, we’d cross paths in the hallways, and he would always greet me with a high five. We were all about basketball and he would be pumped up and excited when we’d see each other. After we had beaten the high school in basketball where I had lit it up for 64 points, he was my number one fan. I remember seeing his dad, Joe Wright quite frequently. Joe was a friendly, smart presence and we got along well.
When I returned for senior year, Nahum’s was a face I welcomed. A validation of who I was from the past. Nahum was now a 7th grader but still energetic and excitable. However, as the year wore on and the school team’s basketball season unfolded the dynamic gradually changed. Our team was dreadful, and I wasn’t scoring 64 points in every game. Nahum seemed confused and almost disappointed. His memories of the past not matching up with the present reality. He wasn’t the only one.
Kevin and Jennifer Renaud: Sophomores
The odd sibling duo of Kevin and Jenny Renaud
Another couple of recognizable faces from the “Old days” of 1980’s Gospel Outreach church and school. Not much had changed with Kevin and Jenny. Although they were in the same grade, Kevin was older by a year. He was almost my height and still a goofy, odd, awkward beanpole. Kevin could have easily played a part as Napoleon Dynamite’s Chicago cousin. He had a look that screamed 90’s independent film character. Even though Kevin had been at Gospel Outreach since the early 1980’s, he would have been an outsider amongst his classmates in ’92-’93.
His sister, Jenny kept a relatively low profile. She dressed conservatively. I had inadvertently traumatized Jenny the year prior when I had posted a picture of a couple of naked dudes as a joke to the walls of the Alvernia school building. Since Gospel Outreach was so conservative this may have been the first time, she had seen the male form naked. Poor Jenny. Most of the time she was quiet with a melancholic air, but every now and then a wry smile would appear. When she was younger, I remember her being a pain in the ass and a tattle tale, but as she entered her mid-teens, those tendencies seemed to recede. Truth be told, the two of them rarely entered my radar space senior year.
Jenny Hoendervoogt: Junior
Jenny representing the late 80’s early 90’s hair.
Jenny had also been part of Gospel Outreach for ages. Her older and adult big brother Rick had been my basketball kryptonite. Her last name was as Dutch as wooden clogs and Gouda cheese, but she was also half Puerto Rican. She had long curly hair and regularly wore leggings with long dresses. Her vaguely benign expression was completely neutral and almost had a Mona Lisa vibe to it.
She had attended grade school but oddly was home-schooled when she was in 7th grade (that would have been 8th grade for me). Jenny was generally agreeable and easy to get along with. She and Ismael quickly became a couple shortly after the school year began. I ended up interacting with her primarily through my friendship with Ismael.
What stays in my head the most about Jenny during the school year was her perpetual lack of energy. She often appeared lethargic and rarely moved with any kind of urgency. Jenny seemed to splay when she sat as if exhausted. It was remarkable how inactive she was. From where I sat, there was a teenage, youthful dynamism curiously missing from Jenny.
Marlene Adame: Senior
Marlene was a wise head on young shoulders.
One of my prevailing images of Marlene was that she almost always wore black. I’m not sure that was necessarily the case, but that is what my memory has chosen to retain. She was mature, well-liked and respected by everyone. Marlene was Mexican American, had shoulder-length black, curly hair and a pale complexion. She also, unfortunately, had a debilitating case of arthritis that aged her body considerably. She moved slowly and most of the time was seated. Despite her medical condition, Marlene was good company, and I spoke with her on a regular basis. Most of our conversations would have taken place at the tables that were situated in a shared space outside the classrooms where the hallway led out to an open area. The space was commonly used for study hall and lunch breaks.
Marlene was an old head on young shoulders. I imagine it must have been so very difficult to have been afflicted with a physically debilitating condition that compromised her ability to have a normal childhood and teenage experiences. She was kind and had a wry sense of humor. I had the sense that she was amused by my outward audacity and general foolishness.
Gospel Outreach School and High School Memories 1988-1992 