WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL TWO RIVERS WI CLASS OF 1989

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

STEPHANIE GARDNER

Stephanie sat in front of me. We got along ok. We weren't friends or anything. But she seemed pleasant enough.

Stephanie was friends with Mindy Moore. Mindy sat behind me. So I suggested that the two of us switch seats. By doing so, I would be up by Jeff Bodwin and Shawn Rappley - two people I regularly conversed with in there. So it was a win-win situation for both of us.

So the two of us approached Mr. Heuer with the idea. His answer? No. No real explanation was given. He simply said no. Why was he such a jerk? Who knows. But I wasn't going to stand for it. So the very next day, when I got into class, I sat in Stephanie's seat. Stephanie was a bit shocked. But she quietly sat in my seat, and hoped for the best. When Heuer started class, he clearly noticed the switch. But he said nothing. Interesting. So the switch was complete, and remained so for the rest of the year.

As a side note to that story, Lee Jacquart (who sat next to me, on my right) also tried to switch seats with someone else. This was a few days after Stephanie and I had switched. When Heuer saw him, he blew up and said, "Lee, get in your own damn seat!" Lee replied, "Well Burt and Stephanie switched." To which Mr. Heuer responded, "Yes, but they asked!"

So we asked, were turned down, did it anyway, and got away with it? My only guess is that Heuer somehow forgot that he had told us no. I guess a lot crossed him mind in 24 hours.

I can recall walking home after taking my final exams in the first semester of my freshman year. About a block behind me, Stephanie and Craig Rysticken were walking together. I think they were heading towards her house. If memory serves, she lived a few blocks from school. The streets were really slippery that day, as it had snowed.

After freshman year, Stephanie and I didn't have much contact with each other. We each took very different paths. Stephanie was on the volleyball team I think. Or was it softball? Maybe it was both. Or maybe it was tennis. I don't know. But she was involved with sports. Tennis was probably the one.

After high school, I think Stephanie went to UW Madison. I think she met a boyfriend there - a guy named Ed. I believe the two of them are together to this day. I think they have one child together. Over the years, I believe Stephanie has lived in St. Louis and Baltimore. But today, it appears she resides in Pennsylvania, where she's an assiatant biology professor at Dickinson College. If the two of them are in fact married, it looks like Stephanie has chosen to keep her maiden name.

UPDATE - 1/29/07 - It looks like Stephanie now lives in West Lafayette, Indiana. I think her husband is an assistant professor of Bio Science and Bio Engineering at Purdue.

UPDATE - 7/27/07 - Ask and you shall receive. Stephanie sent me a nice E-mail this morning, along with a couple of pictures. She also mentioned that prior to college, she'd only lived in Two Rivers for five years. So it look like she arrived there in 8th grade. You can see the pictures of her and her children below. Thanks Steph!



4 Comments:

At Mon Jul 02, 10:06:00 AM PDT, Blogger steph said...

i'm always amazed at how easy it is to find people. yes, i'm in west lafayette. i've spent the last year home with kiddo #2 (max 1yr) and kiddo #1 (avery 4.5 yrs). i'll start teaching physiology at purdue in the fall.

good memory, mark, on the grinnell and tennis. i don't recognize the other post at the moment (sorry, chronic sleep deprivation has robbed me of my memory).

hello to all who visit the blog!

 
At Mon Jul 09, 09:28:00 AM PDT, Blogger pkcooks said...

Hi Steph! Good to see you on the blog! So you are in Indiana now? Do you ever visit Wisconsin much? I watched alot of Wimbledon last week....brought back some high school tennis memories. Be well! Phuong

 
At Wed Jul 18, 09:43:00 AM PDT, Blogger steph said...

Okay, after looking through the blog more I know who mimikatemom is and I remember seeing Erin in St. Louis. We made the long trek up to TR from there for Thanksgiving one year (93 or 94) with her boyfriend at the time.
It has been fun to look through the entries and to remember everyone. I remember seeing you, Burt, in the video store at least once.

If anyone is interested, here are things about me since TR:
-graduated with BA in Biology from Grinnell in 1993
-worked in St. Louis as lab tech for 2 years
-went to grad school at UW madison and got PhD in 2000 in spite of the fact that I...
-played a lot of ultimate frisbee AND...
-drank a lot of great beer AND...
-met and married Ed Bartlett
-moved to Baltimore
-more ultimate frisbee
****hiked the grand canyon rim-to-rim in one day!!*** I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS!!! AWESOME!
-had kiddo #1 in 2002
-taught bio at Dickinson College for two years
-ran first half marathon in 2004
-had kiddo #2 in 2006
-moved to W. Lafayette Indiana (of all places in the country!) in July of 2006
-randomly ran into Angie Owens at a birthday party for kids down the street
-love my kids but fantasize about free time!
-ran second half marathon in may
-will resume college teaching this fall

That's about it, I guess.
I get up to TR now and then to visit my folks now that we are back in the midwest. I'm a slacker about getting in touch with people while I'm there though I talked with Brenda Gordon's mom when I brought Max in for an ear infection visit to the clinic a month ago.

Life is good even through the haze of sleep deprivation that come with having little kids. Angie and Brett just added another boy to their family last month and they all seem well.

I was fascinated by the Richard Wheeler entries. I think I got to know him at the end of junior year and during senior year. He and I liked to quote Monty Python in Mrs. Schwantes class since there was nothing of merit going on there aside from that. Anyway, he always made me wonder what else was going on in his head, and at the time, I'm not sure I could have handled it!

I was just thinking about you, Phuong, the last time I was in TR as I drove past where her Aunt and Uncle had their shop. Good to hear what you're up to. I keep meaning to get back to tennis, but haven't yet.

Congrats on the new baby, Cindy! Love the name (my Maxwell just turned 1).

 
At Wed Jul 18, 10:16:00 AM PDT, Blogger TWORIVERSWALRUS said...

Hey Stephanie, shoot me an E-mail. My E-mail address is in my profile - which you can find by clicking on my name. And if you want to send me a recent pic, that'd be cool too.

 

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