Mike Lavoie:
CLASS OF 1968
Francis Hammond High SchoolClass of 1968
Alexandria, VA
King High SchoolClass of 1969
Tampa, FL
Sligh Junior High SchoolClass of 1964
Tampa, FL
Greco Junior High SchoolClass of 1964
Tampa, FL
Temple Terrace Elementary SchoolClass of 1961
Temple terrace, FL
Mike's Story
Life
Mind boggling... now at 54 and 36 years post high school! Enjoying reconnecting with old friends via Classmates.
After high school in effort to delay VietNam era draft I attended a local Community College and graduated in 71. Enlisted in the USAF and served till 77. During that time I completed my BS at Rollins in 76 and my first Masters in Human Relations from U of OK in 78. (It's amazing what an educational motivator VietNam turned out to be!) I entered the Social Services profession and completed my 2nd Masters in Education from Stetson in 81. I continue my 27 years of work in social/human services as the V.P. of Program Services for the local ARC (Assn for Retarded Citizens) designing and operating programs for people with disabilities. I'm a life member of the DAV and Chair the Board of the local Retired Sr Volunteer Pgm. I've been married for 19 years and have a 14 year old son. We have lived in the same home in Brevard County Florida since 1985. My family loves to spend time at our lake escape home in Marion County fishing and relaxing where there are hills, fewer palm trees and more oak trees for a radical change in scenery. My primary hobby is being a "tech head" building, repairing and troubleshooting computer systems. You know, "boys and their toys..." Would love to hear from old friends and get caught up. Mike
School
High school years were timultuous as were the times themselves in the mid to late 60s. I ended up attending three schools in total. After leaving Florida for the D.C. area after Jr. High, I attended Francis C. Hammond High in Alexandria VA from my freshman through Junior years. If the name sounds familiar its because it was one of the schools referenced in the movie "Remember the Titans" starring Denzel Washington. Coach Bill Yost was my coach there for both PE and Football. Anyway, after premature exit from Hammond when my Dad was transferred back to Tampa I returned to attend King High as a Senior. Unfortunately, half way through my Senior Year there'68'the school let me know that several of my VA courses were "non-transferrable" in Florida so they yanked me out of my Sr. homeroom and status placing me in a Jr Homeroom and delaying my graduation till the...Expand for more
following year. Needless to say I was ticked and after a month of this I dropped out and ended up eventually enrolling in adult night school at Chamberlain HS where I finished in early'69'. So ultimately I sorta got cheated out of two "regular" high school graduations and all the fun that goes with it. Despite this I still have a very strong allegience to Hammond and equally so to King as all my Florida friends with whom I had attended Temple Terrace Elemenary, Sligh Jr. High and Greco Jr. High were in the 68-69 King classes. I would say the major difference between then and now for me comes down to one word... confidence. Getting older is getting better!
Mike
College
I recall spending my college years doing a lot of commuting. All of my college experiences were while I worked full time days and attended school at night. This was the case for the last year of high school through my Associates at HCC in Tampa, Bachelors at Rollins on PAFB, Masters at U. of OK on PAFB and Masters at Stetson.
I recall the very first night I walked onto the campus at Hillsborough High School which was acting as the first campus for Hillsborough Junior College in October of 1969, and the feeling of "Wow! I'm actually attending college!" Despite my venturing into higher education motivated by the draft and VietNam, evidently the bug of success caught on and I continued to pursue all the education I could afford out of my pocket or through the VA both while on active duty and after. The single most significant difference I recall is the moment where the old distaste for math ended with the functional realization that statistical analysis was a practical tool that I could use on the job! After that math became a friend and no longer an enemy to be avoided. Friends come to mind, especially sharing the realities of carrying dual loads of work and school and all the strain that comes with the efforts of balancing this and a home life too! Nonetheless I survived and have managed to enter into and maintained a respectable career for the past 27 years as a direct result. After 10 years of full time school and work I was ready to focus on just one major task at a time and have stuck with it ever since.
Mike
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