Highest Hopes Members Of The Class Of 2000 Tell Us Their Fondest Wishes And Dreams For The Coming Year

Ask ninth-graders in south and west Spokane to write a brief essay about their hopes for 1997 and the replies range from promoting world peace to patching potholes.

The students - part of a notable milestone, in that they graduate in the year 2000 - wrote about school, athletics, drugs and crime.

Many focused on their neighborhoods and communities, on getting to know their neighbors better and working together to make their school, neighborhood, town or city better places.

We thank them for sharing their thoughts and we thank the schools - Ferris, Lewis and Clark, Cheney, Medical Lake and Liberty - for helping with this project.

Bryan Frampton Liberty

In 1997, first, for myself, I hope keep up my grades and to do well in the sports that I participate in at Liberty High School.

Also, I hope to get a job during the summer so that I will have enough money for the gas, insurance and maintenance of my car, which I will be able to drive in October when I turn 16.

Second, for my school, I kind of hope the bond issue will be passed so we will have a bigger gymnasium, more classrooms, and better facilities. My reasons for not wanting the bond issue to pass would be due to the fact that my family will be taxed extra for our land, although we don’t have nearly as much property as many of the farmers in our area have.

Last, for my community, I hope for the town of Latah to fix, or totally redo all of the toys at the park for the little kids in town.

Also, I would like for them to fix the basketball court in the school, so that we would be able to play basketball during the winter months. Another thing I would like to see in my community is the addition of a new baseball field.

Courtney Knox Ferris

I believe that New Year’s is a very important holiday. There’s a chance to start over with new hopes and ambitions, new goals and resolutions.

As far as my hopes and goals for the community are concerned, we need to come together as one city and community and work with each other to achieve a common goal.

The way that Spokane worked together during Ice Storm was remarkable. Everyone was helpful and understanding.

It always takes a crisis like an ice storm to realize that we need to be courteous when driving on the streets. Also, to help each other out and to understand that not everyone has the resources, wealth, or facilities that a lot of people have.

If we can learn to work together and achieve these goals, then we will be better off in the future.

The infrastructure of Spokane needs great improvement in order to upgrade the quality of life.

First of all, the road systems need to be improved. The county road system is in such bad condition that our air quality has been lowered because of it. The countless number of potholes on city streets are hazardous to our cars and safety.

Secondly, being better prepared for natural disasters will be a benefit to everyone. Better neighborhood planning for such disasters as Ice Storm ‘96 and Fire Storm ‘91 will help to prevent the extent of the disasters.

The coming of the new year is a time to set new goals and plan ahead for the year to come. Truly a very momentous year is coming, and we need to act on it.

Brad Ashby Ferris

If I were to say my new year’s wish was to grow, it would be selfish.

Instead I am resolving to stay off drugs and do my best to convince my friends to not take drugs. And I wish that in this community teen-agers will start to realize the dangers that go along with drugs.

I know I would not be able to set the goals that I have for myself, let alone reach those goals, if I were addicted to a drug. Even one as simple as caffeine, it would be one more thing to worry about. No one can do what they want if they are spending all their time and money on something that will just mess up their mind and body.

This is why I wish there was better education about drugs. If more people realized the dangers and stupidity of taking drugs, fewer people would ruin their lives when they are young. This is why I have made a resolution to stay away from drugs and wish there was a better way to educate kids to keep them from being addicted and sucked into a pit that is near impossible to get out of.

Mark Stockbridge Cheney

I’d like to see our community doing something. This is a nice, quiet city, It has been for a long time. But gradually this city is becoming a less and less desirable place to live in.

Could it be because of the enormous potholes? The craters in some of our roads are indeed unusually large. And yes, the city has been filling them in and doing a good job of it.

But the thing is, that when the snowplows go over the street, they try so hard to remove the ice that they inadvertently remove some of the pavement as well. I would like to see the potholes filled in and kept that way somehow.

A movie theater would be nice, too. Sure, people here can go to see a movie now, but they have to go to Spokane to see it. Which is why having a movie theater here in Cheney would be a convenience. Not only that, but it would give the people in our city something to do. And people are always complaining that there’s nothing to do.

They need to get involved in some city activities, like a book group or something - things people can do besides their jobs.

I like this city, but I want to keep liking it. And I think there are many ways that we can make this city a nice place to live.

Esther D. Green Cheney

This coming year I hope that we as good citizens and good neighbors do a better job of looking out for one another, especially as far as crime goes, because if we can’t depend on and trust one another citywide, then we as a nation are truly threatened.

In 1997 I hope that those whom we’ve elected to represent us won’t forget why we elected them. May they remember that they work for us and not the other way around.

May Clinton make this last term count, working together with Congress and the bipartisan committees to make a difference.

I hope this new year will be full of skyrocketing enterprises and new small businesses to make our nation’s economy grow and create jobs.

May this new year also be full of well-observed treaties between warring countries and agreements between the United States and those at peace so that worldwide relationships can grow.

May my brothers and I get through this year in school and be wiser, if not smarter.

May all of our families be healthy and prosperous through the coming year. Finally, in the words of Charles Dickens’ Tiny Tim, “God bless us every one!”

Nick Tanner Lewis and Clark

A resolution by definition is a “resolve” or a “determination.”

My main resolution for 1997 is to be kinder to others. This may sound dumb, but if I am more respectful of others, my friends will think I’m cooler if they are being respected - just like some teachers are in giving grades. That’s my main resolution for myself.

My community, or neighborhood, has been as if we never knew each other. I resolve to do something once in a while to acquaint myself with my neighbors.

I could take their garbage cans to the street or rake their leaves without pay, but some kind of service to get closer to them.

I might not have many “determinations” for our school, but I do have one. I resolve for more students to have school spirit.

Students feel that if they dress up differently they’ll ruin their reputation. I say we forget about each other’s reputations for a few hours once in a while and have fun.

These are my resolutions. What are yours?

Heather Moltke Lewis and Clark

Reflecting on the past year, I see unfulfilled dreams scattered across each day. As a teen-ager, I find my world filled with these dreams.

I long for so much. My life is saturated with yearnings.

I hunger for a better life and I hunger for a better self. I can never seem to measure up; the standards are just too high. I’m never quite what I want to be. My world is never quite what I want it to be.

The grade I didn’t make, the sports event I blew and that extra pound I gained all kindle an angry flame inside of me. The heat consumes my life.

On New Year’s, I blow out my fire. I forget all that is, and think only of what might be.

I think of picking up the garbage. I think of other people doing the same. I think of bringing an old lady flowers, and I think of volunteering. I think of charities and giving and love.

I think of supporting a cause, and I think of movements and change. I begin to hope. I pray and dream. Then I see the shattered moments from each day of my past.

My fire flickers and begins to burn again.

Joe Gaines Medical Lake

What I would like to see happen in the year 1997 is a really strong attempt by everyone all over the world to stop the fighting and stop the wars.

We all need to find some way to come together, or if not, then just agree enough to keep everyone happy. People don’t need to live in a world where they need to worry if their friends and relatives are safe from the guns, fighting and wars, or if their friends and relatives are even still living.

I would also like to see a dramatic increase in recycling, and reducing the waste of food and other products that could be used in poor countries.

We need to try really, really hard to make the world, little by little, a better place for everyone, rich or poor, to live. I just really want to see a stronger attempt by everyone to try to stop the violence, end the hunger, and make this world just a little nicer and safer place to live in, if that is possible. I hope so!

Scott Spillman Medical Lake

I would like to see many things in 1997. The most major one is a decrease in the number of drug users. This addiction is killing a major part of our society.

There are too many people who don’t know what drugs can do to them. Even if people say the number of drug users is decreasing rapidly, they have no idea about the number of people starting. The government needs to create a program that makes parents aware of how many of their children are starting to use drugs.

If you think about it, drugs are everywhere in society. Drugs are also associated with popular music, movies and even clothing and memorabilia. Whether the parents are aware of it or not, a good percentage of kids and teenagers has tried some form of drugs.

Drugs are also very readily accessible to them.

The government needs to educate the parents about this sort of thing to an extent that goes past regular news on television. They need to educate the society on how bad the problem really is.

There should definitely be a law passed that punishes people who deal drugs to children and teen-agers to a greater extent than what they get punished for doing it now. The drug community needs to be dealt with.

I feel there is great potential in the government and society to make a major improvement on this serious problem.