The doors at the new Bothell High opened to students this past fall. Curious to see what the place looked like, I attended the Nov. 1 open house.

I was unaware of any formal protocol for the day’s event, so wandered alone through the halls of the main building, heading first for the library of many books and computers. I was particularly impressed with the open feeling of the room and the bright light coming in from the well-placed windows. A bookcase of “new books” met the students as they entered the room, for their easy browsing.

On the second floor of this spit-polished building, I randomly peered into the classrooms, stopping at a history class.

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” read the quote from George Santayana.

Another plaque read, “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” — a quote from John Powell.

Fascinated with the well-chosen quotes, I wondered if the teenagers were equally enthralled.

Most of all, as I greeted English teacher Joe Baillargeon, I found many quotes on his classroom’s walls. The following quote reminded me of my Friday manuscript critique class.

“I find that most people know what a story is until they sit down to write one.” This gem was written by American writer Flannery O’Connor.

Oh, how true! And, that’s why I don’t even attempt to write fiction.

Then there was the quote from British writer, W. Somerset Maugham, that I could truly relate to.

“There are three rules for writing … Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

The beige-and-brown-colored floors bordered with blue lockers came alive with the enthusiastic discussions with ASB reps and cheer-squad members. We talked about everything from Bothell football to academic courses.

I just had to tell the cheerleaders what our uniforms of the late 1950s in New York City looked like.

“Our basketball uniforms were burgundy corduroy, hemmed just above the knee, with the white letters CURTIS written down the front. We wore white corduroy skirts with burgundy sweaters during football season,” I said.

I think I also told them of our cheer squad of 1959 winning the New York City cheer championship because we did cartwheels in unison.

Not that this was fascinating information, but since I had a captive audience (this was the girls’ job this day, listening to oldies like me!), I thought I’d compare the “then and now” — you know, a bit of history!

Well, I did the entire open house backwards and finally wound up in the cafeteria where students from the culinary classes had prepared a lavish feast for all attendees. Alumni and guests filled the room, searching through old yearbooks and sharing memories.

Just then, Principal Bob Stewart welcomed everyone to the new Bothell High and announced:

“Tours will last about a half hour.”

Yikes! There were tours?

At this time, I had to move on with my day, but happy I’d seen present-day history in the making, reminiscing about our daughters graduating from the “old” Bothell High, and reliving my days as a high-school student on the other coast.

Suzanne G. Beyer is a Bothell resident.