Manual was founded in 1892 and 133 years later, it’s still thriving. The school’s history and traditions are still very much prevalent, rooted in many day-to-day activities and events throughout the year. So what better way to learn more about the origins of Manual’s most treasured history than through the yearbooks, which act as time capsules that highlight some of the forgotten history. While I didn’t go through every yearbook from all the years past, I went through eight, with the earliest dating back to 1993 and the latest being 2019. I found quite a lot of interesting facts and hopefully, you find them interesting too.
1993-1994 Yearbook – Read Between the Lines
Pg. 16
The “senior/junior cafeteria” was part of a “$3.5 million renovation plan that began in 1993 and came to a close at the end of the first semester” of the same year. Other additions as part of the renovation included a “new library and three new classrooms and science labs.”
Pg. 22
The fire department was called due to an “accidental false alarm” at senior prom. The dance was held at the Hyatt regency hotel where “[s]eniors chose from chicken, beef or vegetable plates prepared by the Hyatt Regency Hotel.”
Pg. 36
MST senior Matt Morris traveled to California to compete in the seventh annual Jeopardy! Teen Tournament in early January of 1994, where he amassed $29,601 over the course of four shows. A GSA alumn, Morris’ popularity surged after his return to Manual and to Louisville. He even appeared on MTV’s Jon Stewart Show.
Pg. 114
Colonel Sanders paid a visit to the student section at one of Manual’s football games against Seneca.
1996-1997 Yearbook – Worth Looking Into
Pg. 90
The freshman class of 2000 won the spirit stick at the Male-Manual pep rally. The class adopted the slogan “‘Ramming into the 21st century,’” and even created t-shirts with the catchphrase.
Pg. 118
“Computer opportunities to the max” reads one headline. The school opened six new computer labs that were accessible to students in all magnets.
Pg. 182
Kathy Rodosky, Rema Sabie, Laura Sterns, Katherine Menendez, Leslie Smith and Stephanie Cherry were the first, original members of the girl’s varsity soccer team when it was created back in 1993. As such, their senior night was bittersweet and momentous.
Pg. 209
Freshman Matt Burgess competed in Teen Jeopardy!, finishing as a semifinalist in 1997. “A low wager cost him the game, but he became a semifinalist anyway because of the amount of money he had accumulated.” Burgess was the third Manual student to have competed in Teen Jeopardy! following Matt Morris in 1994 and Anthony Chiu, who was also a semifinalist in 1996.
2000-2001 Yearbook – Full of Surprises
Pg. 4
Manual made the transition to a block schedule. “Teachers and students greeted the new schedule with mixed emotions.”
Pg. 50
President Bill Clinton made a pit stop at Manual to speak to the student body to campaign for Presidential Candidate Al Gore and Congressional Candidate Eleanor Jordan. The Young Democrats Club, which was founded by MST junior Rushi Sheth and the Young Republican Society, which was organized by MST senior Mark Scott earlier in the school year, took center stage as the number one man in America made a pit stop.
Pg. 161
The YPAS Choir, composed of 95 students, was invited to Washington, D.C. to sing “America the Beautiful” for the 2001 presidential inauguration by Senator Mitch McConnell. “The choir director, David Brown, Principal Beverly Keepers, and a number of parents and teachers flew on a complimentary UPS passenger charter to DC for a four-day working vacation.”
2001-2002 Yearbook – Facing the Unexpected
Pg. 84
The 2001-2002 season marked “the first time the field hockey players had a chance to play on their own field.” Originally, their home field was University of Louisville, but games were moved to Louisville Soccer Park, while they practiced on Manual’s softball field. “After three- fourths of the season had been completed, the team took possession of their new field behind YPAS.”
Pg. 126
Sophomores were very upset over the fact that they were not allowed to park their cars in the lot when seniors and juniors could. However, certain circumstances prevented that: “34% of sophomores will have neither their permit nor their license at the end of the school year, 50% will have their permit by the end of the school year, and 16% will have their license at the end of the school year.”
Pg. 188
For the first time in fifteen years, by a word of mouth gathering, Manual drew in 22 wrestlers to make up a skilled team, as well as crowds of interested passerbyers.
Pg. 196
The 2002 Crimson Yearbook staff “chose the theme ‘Facing the unexpected’ after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The loss of life, the indefatigable responses of our country and community and the uncertainty of the future reminded the staff of the unexpected nature of our lives. The staff wanted to capture as well the unexpected nature of high school and the challenges, accomplishments, and transformations that are all a part of growing through these four years.”
2006-2007 Yearbook – faces of reality
Pg. 10-11
The theme for the football homecoming dance was an ‘all white affair,’ where students were encouraged to “Do it like Diddy.” At the game during the crowning ceremony, “each couple rode on the back seat of a convertible while the crowd cheered them on.”
Pg. 16
Science teacher Larry Frederiksen played the bagpipes as the casket for Male’s bulldog was escorted into Center Hall for the funeral. Senior Jerquil Campbell read: “The book of Manual, chapter 17, states that the bulldog had no place on this earth. The bulldog is wretched! But the ram is righteous and sits at the right hand of God.”
Pg. 77
Manual’s cheerleading team “once again proved their talent during the national championship in Dallas, Texas. Some people said winning four consecutive years was out of reach, but the cheerleaders proved them wrong.”
2009-2010 Yearbook – Manifesto
Pg. 16
After students at Male discovered evidence of pranks committed against them, they looked towards retaliation against Manual students, who they assumed had acted against them. Then-Principal Larry Wooldridge came “to the conclusion that it was not a Manual student” after an investigation was held. However, Male still retaliated. On the Tuesday night of Red/White Week, “Male students spray-painted purple and gold messages on tables and benches in the courtyard, the softball concession stand, the football equipment trailer and the track around the practice football field, and one of the concrete walls at Manual Stadium.” As a result, “many students believed that Male took the rivalry too far in their revenge.”
Foldout page for Red/White Week
The fall of 2009 marked the first year since the junior girls’ powderpuff team beat the senior girls’ powderpuff in the annual Powder Puff game since 1997, which happened to mark the year then-junior class sponsor Laura Spiegelhalter graduated from Manual.
Pg. 16
The Male-Manual rivalry game returned to Manual Stadium after it had been held at then-Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, with the game being held at Male the year before.
Pg. 28-29
During a global outbreak of the virus known as the swine flu, “JCPS took strong measures in order to protect their students.” A vaccine drive was held at Manual on December 18, 2009, where many students received the shot.
Pg. 49
A freak rainstorm broke out on August 4, only a couple days before the start of school. The after effects were severe: freshman orientation was halted, and “several inches of water had puddled on the floor of the New Gym, and underneath the base of the floor a pool began to form.” Because of the damage to the gym, “it became obvious that teams would be displaced, practice schedules would be changed, home schedules would be canceled and weight-lifting would cease.”
Pg. 109
Manual RedEye officially launched on January 28 of 2010, featuring eight main pages: academics/clubs, features, gallery, lifestyles, news, opinion, sports and videos.
Pg. 148-149
Ram Yakkanti (12), John Zhou (12), Aleksandr Zeltser (12) and Asif Rahman (11) were first denied the opportunity to create a Ping Pong Club by SBDM in 2008 when the committee cited that they didn’t have a sponsor or the facility to accommodate students. However, they didn’t give up and the next school year found a sponsor in Mr. Eric Purvis (Math). Support and enthusiasm for the club soared, soon surpassing over 40 members. Yet, the four founding members wanted to get the whole school involved so they decided to share it with everybody during Red/White Week, where they held a competition during the annual carnival. The winner of the competition would then go on to play Principal Larry Wooldridge at Friday’s pep rally.
2015-2016 Yearbook – The Pursuit of Happiness
Pg. 50
Founders of Manual’s Ultimate Frisbee Club, Emma Kuntz (11) and Emma Dryden (12), first started throwing a frisbee after cross country practice the year before its start. Mr. Jordan Elliot (Social Studies) helped sponsor the club and with the two Emma’s and a frisbee, the club was born and grew to host a multitude of students.
Pg. 103
Ms. Shannon Kederis’ (Social Studies) Holocaust class took a day trip to the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The visit was extra special as students got to meet a Holocaust survivor in Nesse Godin. Students [also] viewed the shoes of the victims, walked inside [the] cattle cars that held the prisoners, and learned more about the propaganda of the time.”
Pg. 108-109
Manual’s J+C program was changed for the better. The Crimson Record newspaper was renamed to On the Record, which would “branch out from traditional feature stories to long-form in-depth journalism with a new target of the whole city” with the help of adviser, Liz Palmer (J&C). Ms. Margaret Mattingly (J&C) then took over as the adviser for the Crimson Yearbook as Ms. Palmer looked to advise the staff on On the Record. A then-recent transfer teacher, Mattingly told Crimson Yearbook reporters that she “didn’t expect to be the adviser or sponsor so soon since it’s such an amazing program, so [she] was elated when Ms. Palmer asked if [she] was interested to be one.” J+C also introduced Mr. Kris Ablanap (J&C) to their teaching staff, commonly known as Mr. A to all students. He had previously heard from a student that changes would be coming to the department, and originally heard of an opening there. Next thing you know, “[he] was interviewed and given the job” in July prior to the start of the year.
Pg. 127
YPAS’ Shrek the Musical opened from Nov. 20 to Dec. 5, but according to Katherine Kaeglin (10), “It was the only thing anyone could talk about when the school year started.” It was a team effort for four of YPAS’ departments, including the band and orchestra, who “worked together with the actors in a sitzprobe, a type of performance where the actors and musicians come together and sing through the show with live music.”
2018-2019 Yearbook – Red Giant
Pg. 96-97
The graduating seniors of the class of 2020 were the first to complete the Digital Backpack, which was previously known as the JCPS Backpack, and now known as the Journey to Success. As an encouragement, “every student with at least one artifact in their backpack by winter break would receive a free t-shirt.” However, a lot of the seniors were none too happy about it: “I don’t see a point to it. I think it’s not really going to help anything, but just stresses people out,” Joseph Rogers (12) said. “It’s an interesting experience, and it wasn’t too difficult, although I didn’t see it as completely necessary,” Van Anh Le (12) said. On top of the less than heightened enthusiasm, the backpack defenses were delayed due to teacher sick outs due to then-Governor Matt Bevin’s legislation regarding public schools and teachers.
Pg. 106-107
After over a month into the start of the school year, Manual’s SBDM selected Mr. Darryl Farmer to become the next principal. The decision was between Farmer and Dr. Keith Look. At one point, the decision was close and a debate was held with the two candidates answering student-prompted questions with Mr. Aaron Morris (Math) as the moderator.
Pg. 122-123
What originally started out as a way to “bring together the MST program and how to lift morale,” a team of MST seniors and teachers to try Dragon Boat racing. The team ultimately won at the Louisville Dragon Boat Festival on Sept. 8.
