By Yuchen Yang
Pioneer students may have recently noticed a row of brand new, glimmering plaques illuminated in the hallway by the flagpole entrance, and fresh purple paint on the wall above the doors of Schreiber Auditorium. These new additions are parts of the Pioneer High School Hall of Honor, a project that has already been 10 years in the making.
The Hall of Honor was first started by former Pioneer Athletic Director and Assistant Principal Lorin Cartwright. “I started in 1997 — the athletic hall of fame,” said Mrs. Cartwright. “I said: ‘Who’s gonna honor the high quality individuals that are out there that were not athletes, and they have brought so much attention to the school based on their accolade?’ So, I conceived that idea [of the Hall of Honor] then.”
The project was then, in part, a secret. It was only known among the administrators and Pioneer English teacher Betsy VanderZee’s yearbook class. It was her yearbook class that worked on the plaques. “My kids typed the captions up,” said Mrs. VanderZee, “and made the background for the plaques after we finished the yearbook.”
But soon after, the project got stalled. “Some of them [the plaques] got finished — maybe half of them got finished, and then others didn’t get finished, but because it was close to the end of the school year, the class was not able to update those,” said Cartwright, “and when I retired, the project got waylaid.”
For years, the project was not heard of. The spot designated for the honourees, a former gymnastics room, was turned into the cafeteria annex as we know today. The plaques for the honourees laid untouched for 10 years.
In Cartwright’s mind, however, the dream of a Hall of Honour never died. She always wanted a wall to serve as an inspiration for Pioneer students. “[I want it to] show other people, students very specifically, [that] you, coming out of Pioneer High School, can aspire to be whatever you want to be,” said Cartwright. “I want people to be inspired to be the next person on that wall.” It is not only a motivator for the students and a monument to the students who came before. It is also “a testimony to the quality of education that comes out of Pioneer High School,” says Cartwright. “When you go to school at Pioneer High School, the teachers and the staff there will give you the skill set you need to be very successful in life.”
To build this monument for the inspiration of students and honor of the teachers at Pioneer, Cartwright put in a large amount of work to reconnect the alumni network.
During her years as the athletic director, Cartwright used bimonthly alumni newsletters to get nominations for the Wall of Fame, and contacted all of the candidates she could. “My heart is at Pioneer High School. I worked there for 32 years, so I want Pioneer to continue to be bigger and better than it ever has been,” said Cartwright. So, four years after retirement, she picked up the project again.
One of the alumni on the wall anonymously donated $10,000 to fund the project. Cartwright hired a graphic artist to finish the plaques, and after Principal Lowder had given the permission that was not granted to the project due to frequent turnovers of previous administrations, the Hall of Honor was finally constructed. Now on the wall of A-Hall, students can see the civil engineer James Baird, who was in charge of the construction of the Flatiron Building, magician Franz Harary, who designed grand illusions for Michael Jackson, and so many other famous alumni who Pioneer students may not have known went to their school.
“I never thought I would see them [the plaques] up on the wall,” said Mrs. VanderZee, who is delighted to hear that this once lost project is carried out. “It was really nice and neat to see the project being done.”
Now, Cartwright has her eyes on even more projects she is doing for Pioneer. “I also want to clean up the trophy cases, to make them look shiny again!” said Cartwright.
The Hall of Honor was first started by former Pioneer Athletic Director and Assistant Principal Lorin Cartwright. “I started in 1997 — the athletic hall of fame,” said Mrs. Cartwright. “I said: ‘Who’s gonna honor the high quality individuals that are out there that were not athletes, and they have brought so much attention to the school based on their accolade?’ So, I conceived that idea [of the Hall of Honor] then.”
The project was then, in part, a secret. It was only known among the administrators and Pioneer English teacher Betsy VanderZee’s yearbook class. It was her yearbook class that worked on the plaques. “My kids typed the captions up,” said Mrs. VanderZee, “and made the background for the plaques after we finished the yearbook.”
But soon after, the project got stalled. “Some of them [the plaques] got finished — maybe half of them got finished, and then others didn’t get finished, but because it was close to the end of the school year, the class was not able to update those,” said Cartwright, “and when I retired, the project got waylaid.”
For years, the project was not heard of. The spot designated for the honourees, a former gymnastics room, was turned into the cafeteria annex as we know today. The plaques for the honourees laid untouched for 10 years.
In Cartwright’s mind, however, the dream of a Hall of Honour never died. She always wanted a wall to serve as an inspiration for Pioneer students. “[I want it to] show other people, students very specifically, [that] you, coming out of Pioneer High School, can aspire to be whatever you want to be,” said Cartwright. “I want people to be inspired to be the next person on that wall.” It is not only a motivator for the students and a monument to the students who came before. It is also “a testimony to the quality of education that comes out of Pioneer High School,” says Cartwright. “When you go to school at Pioneer High School, the teachers and the staff there will give you the skill set you need to be very successful in life.”
To build this monument for the inspiration of students and honor of the teachers at Pioneer, Cartwright put in a large amount of work to reconnect the alumni network.
During her years as the athletic director, Cartwright used bimonthly alumni newsletters to get nominations for the Wall of Fame, and contacted all of the candidates she could. “My heart is at Pioneer High School. I worked there for 32 years, so I want Pioneer to continue to be bigger and better than it ever has been,” said Cartwright. So, four years after retirement, she picked up the project again.
One of the alumni on the wall anonymously donated $10,000 to fund the project. Cartwright hired a graphic artist to finish the plaques, and after Principal Lowder had given the permission that was not granted to the project due to frequent turnovers of previous administrations, the Hall of Honor was finally constructed. Now on the wall of A-Hall, students can see the civil engineer James Baird, who was in charge of the construction of the Flatiron Building, magician Franz Harary, who designed grand illusions for Michael Jackson, and so many other famous alumni who Pioneer students may not have known went to their school.
“I never thought I would see them [the plaques] up on the wall,” said Mrs. VanderZee, who is delighted to hear that this once lost project is carried out. “It was really nice and neat to see the project being done.”
Now, Cartwright has her eyes on even more projects she is doing for Pioneer. “I also want to clean up the trophy cases, to make them look shiny again!” said Cartwright.