Dan Whitlock:
CLASS OF 1984
Riyadh International Community SchoolClass of 1984
Riyadh,
Tinsley Elementary SchoolClass of 1984
Macon, GA
Ladera Elementary SchoolClass of 1984
Thousand oaks, CA
Los Cerritos Middle SchoolClass of 1984
Thousand oaks, CA
Calhoun Middle SchoolClass of 1984
Calhoun, GA
Dan's Story
Life
I was never in one school long enough for anyone to remember me but you never know. I made a few very amazing finds already from Riyadh. Cheers.......
Most interested in people who attended RICS in the 70's. I was there from Fall of 1974 (3rd Grade) until Spring of 1977 (5th Grade). The school was separated by gender during 3rd grade (there were 2 locations for the boys school my 3rd grade year). The boys were integrated with the girls and moved to the girls' location my 4th and 5th grade year.
My teacher in 3rd grade was Mrs. Denton. There was another 3rd Grade class whose teacher was Mrs. Dooh. We used to have "Bombardment" (Dodgeball) tournaments; "Dooh's against the Dents". It would always end the same. The big kids would kill each other and it would always come down to me and another little British kid who was as small and as geeky as me. I remember there was a dark headed German kid named Wolfe in Mrs. Dooh's class who scared the bejesus out of me. He wasn't the nicest guy. I hope he turned out nicer than he was in 3rd grade. I also remember in the first villa in 3rd grade there were massive mountains of gravel at one point. Apparently there were no threats of liability lawsuits in Riyadh because I vividly remember everyone climbing up those mountains of gravel and hurling rocks at each other. I seem to recall one cracked open head.
There was a PE teacher named Mr. McCabe who was married to a Lebanese lady (the librarian I believe and Arabic teacher). He used to sit in the library and make fun of my Southern accent.....which was pretty funny considering he was Scottish.
Herb Hilbert was the principal that year and I'm not sure what happened to him after that year when the boys and girls combined. He was the nicest guy, which was really representative of most relationships we had in Riyadh. When King Faisal was assasinated, we were kicked out of our hotel (Al Yamamah). My Dad was out of the country and my Mom was left to deal with an eight and a six year old. Mr. Hilbert showed up in his yellow VW station wagon and asked if we needed help getting our stuff out. He ended up taking us to his villa and we stayed with his family for about a week. It was almost like a vacation.
My 4th grade teacher was Mrs. Collins and 5th grade was Mrs. Steinbeck. It took me years to remember Mrs. Steinbeck's name.
My brother Jon was 3 years behind me and was in the Girls' school during Kindergarten and in the back of the old building during 1st and 2nd grade.
My first son's name was inspired by classmates Simon Harris and Simon Gemayel after my wife started browsing through my ...Expand for more
3rd grade yearbook while my parents were moving and we both decided we loved that name. So of course with Simon being a slightly unusual name in the US, everyone wonders if we named our son after Simon Cowell when American Idol previewed 2 years later. Geez. Now I know how Michael Bolton felt in Office Space. I think the line was, "no-talent ass clown".
There was one time I think in 4th or 5th grade that my friend Jeff Neilsen taught me how to make these cool paper airplanes and then we taught everyone else how to make them. I remember we would always play in the big courtyard after the bus dropped us off before class started. So one morning, it seemed like every little kid in the courtyard was throwing around these paper airplanes. It looked like a sandstorm blowing a million planes around. I don't remember the teachers liking it too much. It was just a momentary visual that sticks in your head until you die. It's hard to remember details or people from 30 years ago but that one sticks out. Was hoping anyone else out there might also share that memory.
See School BIO for conclusion>>>>>>
School
I remember my last night at school right before we left the country to go back to the States. There was a music teacher there from Alabama who was a sweet older lady, Mrs. Rice (although, at my age now, she probably wasn't as old as I thought), and the whole school performed a musical ensemble of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Oliver". Kind of a weird mix. I remember practicing for it and Mrs. Rice trying to get us to sing "Hey Look Me Over" with a British accent. I will give her credit for my sterling if not cockneyed British impression today. I remember how beautiful that courtyard looked all lit up at night and that that was the last time I would see all my friends and teachers before we left. I remember dragging Mrs. Steinbeck out of the gates to the street so she could meet my new little sister who had been born at KFSH a couple of months before.
I'm very glad I was old enough to remember as much as I do. My little brother recalls bits and pieces and my sister has to tolerate all the stories about Riyadh and all the traveling our family did. Of course, after she was born in Riyadh, we left for the states never to travel abroad again. Man, talk about bad timing............that's a shame..........
Would love to hear other stories. Post or email. Thanks
Besides Riyadh, attended many schools in the southeast and a couple in California. Graduated from Cleveland High in 1984. Got in too late on having any good friends at CHS since I didn't move to Cleveland until my Sophomore year.
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