When I first started working as a secretary at FRHS it was still remembered as “The Country Club”. The camaraderie of the staff was unequaled. The staff consisted of old-time secretaries and teachers. Most antiquated was the equipment needed to reproduce tests and correspondence. We had a mimeograph machine, a ditto machine, a typewriter, carbon paper and a cord switchboard that had trunk lines you had to plug into jacks.

The year was 1975. I had just started working at FRHS and was assigned to the dreaded switchboard. I was told that if any bomb scares came in I was to immediately notify the assistant principal. Then if deemed necessary, the school had to be evacuated and searched. It always turned out that these were false alarms and some student was just playing a prank to interrupt the school day. (You have to realize these were different times.) One day I received one of these calls and at that point was annoyed by how often they were coming in. I decided to engage this boy on the line in conversation and asked him why he was doing this.

He said he wanted his demands met. I then asked what they were and he said he wanted the Puerto Rican national anthem played every day in school. My reply was that I was not familiar with it, could he hum a few bars. The next sound I heard was silence.

It was an innocent time and through the years much changed. Copying machines, fax machines, computers all replaced the monster machines that produced purple fingers. One policeman on duty was replaced by a full staff of security guards with metal detectors. I worked as a secretary through five principals and one thing always remained a constant. The secretaries, and there were about nine, depending on the school budget, always were the people that ran the school. I witnessed many things, but confidentiality prevents me from revealing the most interesting stories.

The secretaries at FRHS formed the backbone of the school and witnessed the changing times. We have all moved on now and we will take our secrets and memories along with us.

Carole Marcus