Be True to Your School: Jr. High Memories from 1978-80

McAllister School - May 23, 2011

In August 1978, my parents moved the family from the desert of West Texas to the considerably more humid climes of the Texas Gulf Coast.  I was entering 7th grade and transferred to McAllister School.  After 2 years as a student, I moved on to terrorize the local high school, but in 1990, I returned to McAllister as a teacher.  I taught at McAllister from 1990-93 and again from 1997-2000.  All told, I spent 9 of the first 34 years of my life at McAllister.  Needless to say, I have many fond memories of that school.

In March 2011, the local school board voted to consolidate schools and, in a cost-cutting move, McAllister was slated to be closed.  I hastily planned a final trip to the school in May 2011 so that I could roam the halls one final time before the doors were locked.  I had kept in touch with many of my former colleagues at the school, so not only was I granted access, I had tour guides*.  It was great to see familiar faces and places, but understandably bittersweet.  Within two weeks of my visit, the school was closed.

To accompany me on my solo trip back, I created the following mix tape disc.  Without even considering my 7 years as a teacher at the school, I immediately chose songs from my years as a student at McAllister.  Many, many, many songs remind me of junior high school, but I have no memory of how these particular songs were selected for this mix.  In fact, I had almost forgotten about the CD-R until I happened upon it the other day.  However, whenever I hear these songs, I'm immediately transported back to the above school.  I'm sure you have songs that do the same for you.  Anyway, here's the tracklist:

Title	Artist	Year
Cruel to Be Kind	Nick Lowe	1979
Reminiscing	Little River Band	1978
Whenever I Call You "Friend"	Kenny Loggins	1978
I Just Wanna Stop	Gino Vannelli	1978
Le Freak	Chic	1978
Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'	Journey	1979
Chuck E.'s in Love	Rickie Lee Jones	1979
The Logical Song	Supertramp	1979
I Want You to Want Me	Cheap Trick	1979
Sad Eyes	Robert John	1979
Shine a Little Love	Electric Light Orchestra	1979
Biggest Part of Me	Ambrosia	1980
One Step Closer	The Doobie Brothers	1980
A Little More Love	Olivia Newton-John	1978
Why Me	Styx	1980
I Want You Tonight	Pablo Cruise	1979
Crazy Little Thing Called Love	Queen	1980

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That's a helluva mix if I say so myself.

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*During my tour, one of my gracious guides told me that when she thinks of me and McAllister, she remembers a time when she walked into the teachers' lounge and I was (allegedly) standing on top of a table telling a joke. I have no recollection of this event, but that doesn't mean it never happened.