An R-FH Retro reprise …

Well, all are back to school at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH), too. Back to school experiences on the brain, we look back to the new experience of high school for freshmen.

With back-to-school thoughts and new beginnings come hopes of a good teacher or two and memories of the ones who we thought were the coolest and, yes, the worst and scariest to a newbie RFHer. There were also those administrators who weren’t just a Charlie Brown teacher voice cawing rules over the ol’ daydreaming student’s non-thought process. Some, or a couple in particular, are remembered as a real education innovators.

So, in honor of the good ones and a cool RFH teacher/administrator combo, the Retro Pic of the (George) Day gives a look back at a candid shot of a popular RFH science teacher and a well-received assistant superintendent who worked with the iconic man in charge back in the 1970s, RFH Superintendent Dr. Kinney.

They are none other than Mr. James Parker and Assistant Superintendent Donald Trotter.

As this RFH grad recalls, pretty much everyone thought Mr. Parker was cool. The reality is that he probably wasn’t much older than the students back then. He typically stopped to chat with students in the hallways, was always calm and level-headed and, well, cool.

And he was always carrying a briefcase. A lot of the male teachers back then did that. But he always seemed to swing his around while he was chatting. That, too, was cool, a casual sort of cool, to us.

Here he is wearing his usual not-so-preppie, but cool, polyester shirt and sweater vest. Is that a Huckapoo shirt, the collar of which he forgot to untuck from under that sweater vest? Hmmm.

And then there was the amenable administration under the reign of Dr. Kinney — a soft spoken, sweet intellect who had some great, groundbreaking administrative ways. Think mod schedule, RFH folks.

Remember the “mod” system and “frees,” the senior and junior lounges? I wonder if they were on a “free” when George Day snapped this photo. What are they watching?

What do you remember about the days of Kinney? Who was your favorite teacher?

Thanks again, George Day, for this priceless RFH look back!