Diane (Tish) Thornberry:
CLASS OF 1960
H. B. Plant High SchoolClass of 1960
Tampa, FL
University of South FloridaClass of 1964
Tampa, FL
Diane (Tish)'s Story
Life
Plant High years pretty much convinced me that nothing was going to be given to me - I'd have to earn it. I was in the Charter Class at University of South Florida, graduated 1964 and married shortly after. One son, now 44. Worked briefly in welfare, then spent 39 years working with juvenile delinquents. Second marriage for 22 years while working there. On the side, learned much about restoring 68 mopar autos, hand lettered and cartooned several stock cars and boats and a few commercial vehicles. Retired 2004 after 20 years as a juvenile justice commitment manager, staffing & assigning committed offenders to residential facilities. Married PHS-60 classmate Larry Thornberry 15+ years ago. I have been on the PHS Reunion Committee from the beginning and looking forward to upcoming 50th in 2010. Reunions do help to keep us in touch resulting in some delightful connections!
School
I figured early on at Plant I would never be in the "in crowd" because I didn't have any connections, so to assure going to most of the events, I had to be in on the planning, set-up, decorations, entertainment. I'm okay with being "stage crew" and the experience has served me well. My best memories are not from the classroom - instead, it was the peripheral activities: the Panther annual staff (art and class editor), Danceros, Fine Arts and other clubs and Senior Executive Committee which was responsible for fund-raising for the senior class project, the Senior Prom, the graduation banquet and such.
Who in the Panther Band, Danceros or Majorettes can forget the Cherry Blossom Festival and parade in Washington DC, the "warm welcome" of the Hotel Pierre L'Enfante and the impomptu performance on the front steps to show our "gratitude" (they didn't give us rooms, made us use the stairs rather than the elevator, we had to change into uniforms from traveling clothes in the lobby behind a wall of baggage!) Danceros wore mantillas held on their heads by tons of bobby-ins. Heated in the warm sun, fried many brains by the time we completed the 2 1/2 mile parade.
Seniors raised funds by students "voting" for their favorite teacher at a penny a vote. While some teachers only needed small jars for their draw, a few required huge gallon jugs to contain quarters to dollars. Teachers would stop by the table on their way to lunch to check on their popularity. Winner was to be announced at the Halloween Dance. Miss Joanne Hall didn't realize until late that many of her votes were not for popularity, and when she figured it out she layed on the homework, added pop quizzes to her history classes and the vote money started pouring in. Miss Pat Robson was not as well known, but definitely preferred in popularity.
We decorated the gym creating a raised platform and throne underneath the basketball hoop, draped material from the hoop to the floor, then attached an unnoticed wire from high in the rafters t...Expand for more
o the base of the throne. Butch Green sang and Priscilla Salemi and I danced as part of the entertainment, then I got to make the awards of the crown of bones and certificate of announcement of "Ghoul of the School" to Miss Hall. While waiting for Miss Robson to come forward as runner-up, we let a "ghost" fly down the wire, the friction making an increasingly loud, shrill shriek until it landed at Miss Hall's throne. Few noticed that when Miss Hall got down from the throne for the rest of the dance that there was a puddle on the chair or the back of her skirt was soaked - and she was not amused.
As we prepare for our class reunions, we always get out the picture of Dad's Stadium drawn by Gail Legters using the names of all the members of the class of 1960. Most classmates even remember just where their name is in the drawing - the fence, the roof, the posts or in the bleachers.
And we continue to tell the stories of when the car was chained up the flagpole, just to get at Mr. Wilson, or when someone seeded the football field after it was carefully mowed and watered in preparation for graduation - long enough for the stuff to grow up to the base of our graduation gowns. What did YOU wear under your gown? Were you there when someone let a bowling ball loose on the second floor stairwell, or did you just hear it thump down the stairs to the bottom while you tried to pay attention in class?
Joel Jackson and I were always asked to help make posters for class officers campaigns or such because we were good printers, cartoon drawers (or maybe like the smell of paint and magic markers?)- but that experience led to making signs at USF to advertise the Center events (two artists, magic markers and poster board in a closet). By graduation, we had a complete sign shop off the recreation room with 15 most talented artists - my first supervisory job.
Workplace
After college, I was introduced to social work at the Hillsborough County Welfare Department and earned "longivity" after only a year in service. It took me that long to figure out why everyone else was coming and going so frequently. I moved on to Circuit Court in Tampa, in intake, investigations and probation, and made the transitions through the "Gault", "Escobido" and "Miranda" Supreme Court decisions that affected the way we do business today. In total, I spent 39 years working with juvenile delinquents and ungovernables, retired after 20 years as juvenile justice commitment manager staffing & assigning committed offenders to residential facilities. Now I don't have to read the papers or watch the news to prepare for the cases I've been working or what the kids have been up to lately. It's so refreshing to remember that the majority of teenagers are bright, creative and enjoyable to be around and to see mothers and fathers out on the field teaching their kids sports, fair play and values worth living by.
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Yearbooks
Reunions
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