 
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2106
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 2:44 pm: |    |
Strikes me that there were around 4,000....500 in each half semester class. I think that's pretty much in the ball park. Let me count the graduates in my Stag for the June '54 class....1, 2, 3.......
I come up with 649, tho I know my class was a bit larger than most.
Don't know a soul from the forties, Chuck. |
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 252
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 3:04 pm: | |
Ray...I was hoping to hear that DPS maintains an archive section; perhaps even a museum of sorts...it would be a nice place to gather information on Mackenzie and other schools.
Unfortunately, it appears that DPS has no such collection.
Speaking of the 1940s; I am reminded of the large bronze plaque at MHS honoring former students who died in-service during World War Two. |
Gazhekwe
Member
Username: Gazhekwe
Post Number: 807
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 3:24 pm: | |
I think there were 400 and some in my June graduating class, 1965. |
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 253
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 3:27 pm: | |
Thanks Gaz....did MHS have grades 9-12 during your years there? |
Birwood
Member
Username: Birwood
Post Number: 33
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 3:43 pm: | |
MHS Class of 1968, January 221, June 433, August 38, students graduate.
9936Sussex, please do a count in your year book and tell me if I'm wrong
I'm going to guess and say that our total student enrollment at MHS in June 1968 was 2400+ students
Although at one point I seem to remember the talk was around 3500 students and justifing the need for 1st thru 10th hour classes, 10th hour ran 3 to 3:45pm, to ease to class overcrowding problem |
9936sussex
Member
Username: 9936sussex
Post Number: 25
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 6:12 pm: | |
Birwood: I trust your numbers (lol). I sort of recall the total number of students being around 3000-3500 during the time I was there. I started in 10th grade (which would have been fall, 1965). But I do know that some of the kids in my class started there as 9th graders. |
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 254
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 7:05 pm: | |
During my years, '73 - '76, Mackenzie's population was right at 2600; my graduating class - January of '76 - totaled 99 students.
I have been told by a few individuals that MHS had over 5,000 students during the early 1950s; split-shifts and all. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2108
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 7:36 pm: | |
Yeah, we had split shifts. Grades 9 and 10 had hours like 4th hour to 10th hour, grade 11 and 12 had 1st hour to 6th or 7th. It worked. |
65memories
Member
Username: 65memories
Post Number: 473
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 7:50 pm: | |
Remember, class periods in those days in high schools were only 30-35 min. long, so it was easier to schedule split shifts. A lot of high schools, including Mumford, Redford, Ford and Cooley had split shifts. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2109
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 9:07 pm: | |
I think they were 40 minutes, except for English Lit, which was around 17 hours. |
Gazhekwe
Member
Username: Gazhekwe
Post Number: 808
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 9:14 pm: | |
When I was at Mack, no split shifts. Most senior classes were offered early, so seniors could get out by one or so and go to work or whatever. I was only there the one year, but there were ninth graders there then (65). |
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 256
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - 6:34 am: | |
Somewhat off-topic.....I remember, my second year at MHS, there was a teacher's strike - we didn't get out of school until something like July 10th. Not a good thing when you're working as a summer lifeguard.
Speaking of summer life guarding.....
How many of us enjoyed summer and/or evening swimming at Mackenzie? |
9936sussex
Member
Username: 9936sussex
Post Number: 29
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - 1:50 pm: | |
AAH summer swimming.....My dad had this thing about being busy....ALL THE TIME. So I took 3 summers of PE at Mack, so I'd "be busy". It turned out to be really fun....got my senior life-saving certification and played tennis. Carl Andrews was the instructor. I met my high school "best friend" in the girls locker room that first summer. I have very fond memories of Mackenzie's pool. |
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 260
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - 2:47 pm: | |
9936sussex....I coach the divers at my current place of employment; I tell them stories of Mackenzie's pool & board. Hard to believe that we dove with that low ceiling and relatively shallow depth. |
9936sussex
Member
Username: 9936sussex
Post Number: 32
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - 6:55 pm: | |
Am I imagining...but was it possible for a tall male to bounce off the board and touche the ceiling? I just have these vague memories of the guys trying to do that? Was the pool 9 or 12 feet deep? Do you remember that steel wall that split up the pool? |
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 262
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 6:22 am: | |
9936sussex.....Oh yes - the swinging and sliding doors; never shall boy meet girl.
That must have been a very strange setting back when the boys swam nude; I believe that came to an end in '66 or '67. That goes way, way beyond weird....don't even understand the rationale.
With regard to diving boards....on the girl's end was a shorter aluminum board; the boy's end had a longer fibreglass board. It was possible to touch the ceiling, even with the cut-away raised ceiling directly over the board. Some talented individuals could tuck after their takeoff, hold the position, and then push off the ceiling with their feet.
Of course, that was not a legal dive. |
Johns
Member
Username: Johns
Post Number: 2
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 11:20 am: | |
Still naked swim at Cody in 1969. Can anyone imagine that happening nowadays, especially the "inspections" boys had to undergo? I also seem to recall that the towels were merely recycled through a dryer and not actually washed. As for "good, clean, competition" between Cody and Mackenzie, that might have been accurate as far as the athletes went, but there was large brawl post-game between Mackenzie and Cody students during a Mackenzie home football game, and I remember hearing that the coaches told the players to put their helmets on in the team bus because of the rocks that were pelleting it. |
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 263
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 2:04 pm: | |
Johns....Oh Lord Yes - I know what you mean; during my junior year at MHS, the "fans" quite nearly turned Central's bus on its side.
What year did you graduate from Cody? |
Birwood
Member
Username: Birwood
Post Number: 35
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 8:00 pm: | |
Did anybody ever go on that web-site classmates.com and have any luck making contact with old friends
I tried once and found out it was a pay site not free as advertised so I never logged on but they keep hitting me with spam & popups |
Gazhekwe
Member
Username: Gazhekwe
Post Number: 822
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 8:11 pm: | |
I have been contacted by a couple of classmates from Mackenzie via Classmates.com, none from the other two high schools I attended. We did use it to set up a Dial reunion about three ago. |
9936sussex
Member
Username: 9936sussex
Post Number: 33
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Friday, October 19, 2007 - 12:01 am: | |
I have gone on Classmates.com, but I didn't want to pay for it. There was a time when you could write in the forum for free, and then the fee structure was changed. I never wrote, just "lurked". |
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 266
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Friday, October 19, 2007 - 6:31 am: | |
Back in 2000-2001, with no strings attached, Classmates.com was an awesome place for Mackenzie, Cooley, Cody, Redford - DPS alumni.
The site was a lot like this one except it was ALL MACKENZIE and other schools; sans the inane & incessant "who is Kwame sleeping with....what building is going condo?"
There were dozens of good people and scores of good conversations - all the time. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2136
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 10:26 pm: | |
Went by the old place on my trip back. Looks kind of forlorn.
|
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 283
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 6:44 am: | |
Ray1936...Sure is nice to see that someone is maintaining the grounds. Did you get a chance to see the new running track? |
9936sussex
Member
Username: 9936sussex
Post Number: 36
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 8:35 am: | |
It actually looks pretty good to me. I'm amazed! |
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 285
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 9:16 am: | |
9936sussex....To honor the legacy of David Mackenzie, and to make use of such a fine looking building, DPS should reopen the former Mackenzie HS as a junior college - with a limited number of athletic teams.
That will bring a few people to Detroit and keep others from splitting the scene. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2137
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 12:44 pm: | |
Didn't get a chance to explore it much, just a quick drive-by. The grounds looked beautiful. The buildings across the street looked like hell, though. Only the old Dairy Queen looked maintained.
I was going to try to bam on the doors to see if any caretaker might let me in, but had a dozen places to go to at the time and passed on that chance.
Also went by the old Monnier School, Ward and Schoolcraft. Also closed.
|
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 288
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 2:08 pm: | |
Ray1936...Wow, I did not know that Monnier had been decommissioned; my nephew went there in the late 70s-early 80s.
It was always a good place to play cinder lot football. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2140
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 6:19 pm: | |
It was, and had a great ice skating rink set up in the winter in the "old days". |
Birwood
Member
Username: Birwood
Post Number: 44
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, November 11, 2007 - 1:25 pm: | |
Fridays Detroit Free Press posted a notice on the passing of one of our MHS educators.
Mr Mario Defelice MHS-Social Studies Dept.
I never had him for a class but as a study hall monitor a couple of semisters.....pretty laid back guy. |