The Cupertino Courier
News
Fremont High alumni put on display
By Erin Hussey
When Sue Larson started working as the assistant to the principal at Fremont High School, she read about a photograph project at Wilcox High School that sparked her interest.
"Walt Disney could have been talking about Sue Larson when he said, 'The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing,' " says Fremont principal Peggy Raun-Linde.
Larson's idea: collect and display a senior class photo from each year in the school's 80-year history, starting with the first graduating class of 1927.
"The only talk that really happened was Sue saying, 'we are going to do this,' " says Raun-Linde. "By the 'we', it was Sue Larson. I get to talk about it and look like I had something to do with it, but I had nothing to do with it, other than listening to the wonderful stories and seeing the end product."
When Larson started the project, she had 11 photos. Today there are 80, soon to be 81, hanging in the front office at the school.
"I was looking for an opportunity to honor the folks that had come before us," says Larson. "But you have to be patient with something like this because it doesn't happen overnight."
On March 6, the school officially opened the photograph exhibit to the public. Close to 100 alumni, staff, teachers, students and community members came to celebrate the occasion.
"It's nice to see all the people pointing up to their pictures," says Fremont senior Leo Janisse. "It gives you a real sense of community."
In addition to notable Fremont High alums such as actress Teri Hatcher, Nobel Prize co-winner Andrew Fire and five-time Olympian Francie Larrieu pictured with their classmates on the walls, Sunnyvale legends Charlie Olson and Faustino "Tino" and Manuela Rodriguez, a.k.a. "Mr. and Mrs. Fremont," were present.
"I was here when they had servicemen out in the back," Manuela Rodriguez remembers. "I knew a lot of girls here that married some of the lieutenants."
Rodriguez, on the other hand, married Tino, the class "character," and started a family in Sunnyvale. They both remained closely connected with the school.
Tino Rodriguez served as the president of the Fremont High School Alumni Association (FHSAA) and, in 1966, started a scholarship fund for selected graduating seniors.
"I think people just have a lot of pride in this school," says Susan Kerrigan Rynearson, FHSAA secretary.
Alumnae Amy Gibson, who currently teaches English at Fremont, says this strong school pride, while hard to explain, not only existed when she was a student but lives in her students today.
"I think this school has always been a little bit misunderstood by the people who aren't involved in it," she says. "It's the black sheep in the district, but it's not a dangerous place, it's not an unsafe place, everyone gets along, and I think that helps build a sense of camaraderie that stays with you. People are proud to say they went to Fremont."
Capturing this passionate sense of community that links the class of 1927 and beyond is exactly why Larson was so dedicated to completing the project.
"It was a two-pronged hope," she says. "One was to honor the people that came before us and the other was to help all of us here, students and staff alike, to recognize that legacy."
Even future Fremont High School students seemed to understand the legacy.
"I talked to this little girl that was about 8 or 9 and she was looking up at the photos, pointing out a number of people she knew," says Larson. "But she also said she was excited about being in a photo herself one day."
As for keeping the photographs up to date with each new graduating class?
"That's the easy part," says Larson.
The Fremont High School senior class photo exhibit is free and open to the public during school hours. The photos can also be viewed online at http://www.fhs.fuhsd.org/FHS_History/panoramic.html. For more information call 408.522.2200.
