BY JACOB MANTLE

Dear Mariemont High School,

You have been standing for now 49 years––49 years of students learning and teachers teaching. Some dwellers have spent their whole high school career here, others only a year. Confined between Cincinnati’s Public Library, residential houses, and Wooster Pike, you sit cozily where you are.

New and innovative at your inception. Now, unique and quaint, but outdated and growing smaller. You have endured great guttings and rampant renovations, yet you have stayed stable.

A change from 3812 Pocahontas Ave. to 1 Warrior Way, Mr. Miller’s leaky roofs, the incessant temperature change in classrooms, the natatorium flood, lunch room pipe bursts and 1 Warrior Way potholes. These cuts and scratches were band-aided as many times as possible, but something has to give.

You have been a part of history. A place of purposefully open walls and closed doors; the infamous 1981 teacher strike.

The heartbeat of our community. The crossroads of Terrace Park, Mariemont and Fairfax. Your students are vibrant and give life to the neighborhoods.

It will not be forgotten that you are home to an Olympian, U.S. Ambassador, MLB pitcher, on top of national merit finalists, state champions, and prominent community members. And of course, you have turned the scholars of today into leaders of tomorrow.

People move on without you. Sometimes a thank you is said, other times a scoff and a sarcastic “see you never” is given by your students.

We won’t miss the long walk down the corridors to Mrs. Thomas’ classroom. But, we will miss Mr. Vanags’ couches, Mr. Radloff’s physics closet, Mrs. Neumann’s podium covered in stickers, Mrs. Bell’s hanging pyramids, Mr. Colaw’s cosine curve and calculator mural done in 2008 by Macy and Marcy, Mr. Kuhn’s enormous lab space, Mrs. Baas’ DECA banner, Mrs. Hasselback and Scribner’s art room full of windows and art, Mrs. Broo’s greenhouse and the library’s coziness.

You have taught us perseverance and that better times are always ahead. And that band-aids only last so long.

Cheers to the near half-century you have served us. You have made the high school experience unforgettable for all of us. Thank you.

Sincerely,

A Senior