{"id":12174,"date":"2024-04-29T16:36:08","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T20:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=12174"},"modified":"2024-04-29T16:36:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T20:36:08","slug":"princess-anne-high-school-celebrates-seven-decades-of-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/princess-anne-high-school-celebrates-seven-decades-of-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"Princess Anne High School Celebrates Seven Decades of Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Tom and Ann Ackiss met while students at PA. They returned to the school for the April 20 “Cavalier Carnival: Celebrating 70 Years as Cavaliers!”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a>The year was 1954.<\/p>\n

Tom Ackiss walked through the doors of Princess Anne High School as an eighth grader the following year.<\/p>\n

Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, and a young man named Elvis Presley had released his first single record.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Princess Anne opened, students came from areas including Creeds, Oceana and Kempsville,\u201d Ackiss said. \u201cThe school brought all of us together.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 500 visited the day-long \u201cCavalier Carnival: Celebrating 70 Years as Cavaliers!\u201d on April 20 at the oldest secondary school in Virginia Beach. They took tours, looked at memorabilia, attended presentations and chatted with each other.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Organizer Kelly Boyd, a 1996 graduate and current English teacher, called it a day filled with \u201cfeelings of warm camaraderie and new friendships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ackiss said his school bus ride from the Creeds area took 45 minutes, and sometimes the driver was a student. He ran track and was very involved in school activities, including the Key Club. His wife, Ann, was a cheerleader.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe track coach was married to the cheerleader sponsor,\u201d Ann Ackiss said with a smile. The rest is history.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrincess Anne set us on the road to success,\u201d Tom Ackiss said. He became an architect and worked in ship repair. Ann Ackiss is a retired elementary school teacher. She recalled selling chocolate bars for 50 cents to raise money for the junior class to put on the senior prom.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
More than 500 attended the 70th anniversary celebration at Princess Anne High School on April 20.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. Ron Dictado looked at a collage filled with pictures from the 1980s. \u201cThat\u2019s me,\u201d he said, pointing to a photo of a group mud wrestling in the school gym. \u201cIt was an ad for West Side Story,\u201d he recalled. Then, he spied a picture of him lying on the stage as part of a play. \u201cI had two lines, and then was shot dead,\u201d he said with a laugh. Dictado said he has great memories of being a part of the school\u2019s theatrical productions.<\/p>\n

Doris Riedel worked at Princess Anne from 1957 to 1996 as a physical education teacher and athletic director, plus was also the field hockey coach. The 88-year-old said the school was basically on farmland in the early days.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in the middle of nowhere,\u201d she said. \u201cCows would come out when the stadium lights were on.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does she miss the most?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people,\u201d Riedel said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sandy Filer, left, was PA’s homecoming queen in 1972. She reunited with her former cheerleading coach Doris Riedel at the school’s 70th anniversary celebration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sandy Filer, 1972 homecoming queen, was thrilled to see Reidel, her former cheerleading coach. \u201cShe was like my mom,\u201d Filer said. \u201cShe took care of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cathy Walters credited Riedel with saving the homecoming crown. Walters said she was the last to wear the heavy crown in 1970. It was passed along from one homecoming queen to the next. Somehow it got thrown away, but Riedel retrieved it from the trash. That special crown was on display at the event.<\/p>\n

Ervin Cox spotted a newspaper article posted outside the school\u2019s band room highlighting a 1985 band trip to New York City to march in the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade. \u201cI was there,\u201d he said. Cox, who played saxophone, said the trip was unforgettable. \u201cThe crowd loved us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Makaila Matteson, a junior whose father, Burt Matteson, is an alumnus, currently plays vibraphone in the band. She listened in awe.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were so lucky,\u201d Makaila said. Both recited the band\u2019s name, \u201cThe Fabulous Marching Cavaliers!\u201d<\/p>\n

WHRO news director Mechelle Hankerson, a Princess Anne graduate, interviewed several alumni and students in the auditorium about special memories.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
From left, KC Harrison, Alya Bedawi, and Mathias Chambers chatted with WHRO news director Mechelle Hankerson about special memories at PA during the school’s
70th anniversary celebration on April 20.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Retired veterinarian Samuel Tate said he and classmates carried out the tradition of secretly painting a \u201c60\u201d on the gymnasium\u2019s roof to promote their graduation year. The culprits were called to the assistant principal\u2019s office the next day and told to find a way to cover up the number. So, they climbed back up, and spread a mixture of tar and gasoline over the graffiti. Rain soon washed away their efforts, and the \u201c60\u201d remained a while longer.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most challenging time was in 1995.<\/p>\n

A fire destroyed about a third of the building days before the school year began. Teacher Jennifer Pisapia, who still teaches at the school, said the early morning phone call telling her not to report for work that morning was shocking. In about a week, most students were re-located to a nearby vacant shopping mall.<\/p>\n

Figuring out how to make the best of the situation \u201creally brought us all together,\u201d Pisapia said.<\/p>\n

Everyone returned to the building in early 1997.<\/p>\n

KC Harrison graduated in 1997, and her teen Mathias Chambers is a junior.<\/p>\n

Mathias said being part of the band has been such a positive experience.<\/p>\n

Having Mathias at Princess Anne is a \u201cfull circle experience for me,\u201d Harrison said. She applauded the teachers\u2019 dedication and willingness to mentor students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis school has so much history,\u201d she said. \u201cPrincess Anne is the thread that connects so many people in this community in ways that are so unique and so special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ervin Cox played in the PA band during the 1980s, and Makaila Matteson is currently in the band. They chatted at the school’s 70th anniversary celebration on April 20.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Seniors Sam Dibelardino and Jaeden Pacumio gave tours of Princess Anne High School during the school’s seven-decade celebration on April 20.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The year was 1954. Tom Ackiss walked through the doors of Princess Anne High School as an eighth grader the following year. Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, and a young […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":12179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12174"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12191,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12174\/revisions\/12191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}