To students today, it may seem like MHS has always been how it is now. However, many aspects of the school have their roots in the past. Trojans from the 2000s took a look back to share what MHS was like back then. “My freshman year was the first year we did Trojan Olympics,” physical education coach and MHS Class of 2002 graduate James Carter said. “In the first year, it was tough to get people to join because no one really knew what it was, and no one wanted to be the first to do it. But obviously, after that, it picked up and it became a big event that people love to participate in, that had a waitlist of people that could participate in it.”
Trojan Olympics was always the best event on campus, but most current students have only experienced the event outdoors, Activities Director and MHS Class of 2009 graduate Deana Queru-
bin said. “If you guys think outside is hype, inside is a whole different experience,” Querubin said. “That was always the best day, the best time when I was in high school. And the reason being is because you get 40 kids on the team, and they’re from all different friend groups.
You have people that might not even be on a sports team, but they’re ultra-competitive. ”
A school-organized event that she misses is the cultural programs, Spanish teacher Kimberly Marion, who has been working at MHS since 1995, said.
“For instance, Chinese Club–they would have an assembly of their culture, and it would be in the theater,”
Marion said. “Each club had a separate
assembly, and it would be in the the-ater. And the assembly usually lasted an hour, where here the students were really able to perform and the school was able to get a sense of the culture. I don’t like the way it is now. It’s just everybody’s thrown together, and it’s in the gym.”
A well-known place students would go to in the early 2000s was the Great
Mall, Querubin said. “You all don’t even go to the Great
Mall anymore,” Querubin said. “We used to go to the Great Mall all the time. Back then going to the movies was still a big deal, right? Now you’re streaming everything, going to the movies doesn’t seem like that much of a thing to do (…) Great America was a big deal in the summertime, but now it’s closing down soon.”
One aspect of school that has now changed which he misses were the tardy sweeps, Carter said.
“When the two-minute bell rang they would play music,” Carter said. “And if
you weren’t in class by the time the bell rang then you got caught in the tardy sweep and it was an automatic detention.”
As time passes, the school will change and new students may not know how the school life was different during the 2020s. But although these years might become forgotten, the era will have an immense influence on the school and the future.