Washington High School’s Class of 1960 celebrating ‘founders reunion’

CEDAR RAPIDS — The first 10th-graders to attend Washington High School in 1957 are celebrating their 65th high school reunion this month.

Members of the class of 1960 — who are about 83 years old now — are marking the milestone Sept. 21-22 with guided tours of area schools and a banquet. The school did not include 9th grade at the time.

Washington High’s first students laid the foundation for years-long traditions, said Steve Sovern, president of the Class of 1960. They wrote the school’s inaugural student government charter, school fight song and alma mater. They also established the school’s newspaper — The Surveyor — which continues publishing today, and they chose the school’s colors of red and blue.

The first day of school in the Fall of 1957, Sovern recalls hearing his first school announcements over the PA system.

“There was a bunch of crackle and then came the voice of Fred Klus, the first principal of the school. In dulcet tones, he announced, ‘Here we are, here we go.’ And then the PA system began to crackle and it went dead,” Sovern said.

“Now, we’re fidgeting around when five to 10 minutes later comes the static noise of the PA system and the tones of Fred saying, ‘Here we are, here we go.’”

There were about 500 students in the Class of 1960.

Since graduating, the class has reunited every five years with the exception of 2020 during the pandemic.

Gingie Hunstad said being a student at Washington High those first few days in the fall of 1957 was “like bumper cars. Nobody knew their way around.”

As a student, Hunstad started a group called MuDaCo, which stands for music, dance and comedy. She was involved in student government, Spanish club and pep club.

After finishing college, Hunstad wound up teaching Spanish at Washington for two years. In her second year as a teacher, she was married and pregnant. “The principal allowed me to finish the school year. You weren’t supposed to be pregnant and teaching in those days,” she said.

She later had a career as the student volunteer coordinator at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids. “My ulterior motive was to get those interested into health care, so someone would take care of us when we were older. There are several doctors here in town who were student volunteers. It was so much fun,” she said.

Hunstad has spent the last 30 years living in a condo overlooking the high school and enjoying the sound of the marching band practicing on fall mornings.

Byron Thompson, who graduated with the class, recalls becoming “a star in the musical” in high school. “I had a good voice, and I knew it. I was starting to know it at the time,” he said.

Thompson later went on to teach vocal music in the Linn-Mar Community School District for nearly 40 years.

Thompson said in high school he felt it was important to learn skills needed “for your job and your life.”

“I had such a good time at Washington in the music program that I was going to carry on that tradition,” he said.

During the reunion, Thompson plans to read a poem he wrote reflecting on his memories of high school. “I wanted to put some of the emotional things that happened in terms of exploring our futures at that time like we all do at that age,” he said.

Class organizers anticipate more than 100 of their peers to return for the celebration. Tickets are $65. Financial assistance may be available to those who can’t afford it.

More than $8,000 has been raised to ensure the reunion remains financially accessible to all and provides a substantial gift to the school and district, Sovern said. Donations are still being accepted and can be made to the Washington High School Class of 1960 Donor Fund. Checks can be sent to Cedar Rapids Community Schools Foundation Educational Leadership and Support Center at 2500 Edgewood Rd. NW, Cedar Rapids.

Reunion itinerary

A block of rooms is reserved for attendees at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cedar Rapids, 350 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids. A welcome reception will be held at the hotel Sept. 21.

Monday, Sept. 22, attendees will be invited on guided tours of elementary schools, Franklin and McKinley middle schools and other memorable sites with local historian Mark Stoffer Hunter.

All tours and venues will be accessible.

Monday afternoon will be spent at a student assembly at Washington High School followed by a banquet that evening at the DoubleTree.

For more information, contact Steve Sovern by email at stevesovern@gmail.com or by phone at 319-560-9772.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com