After 50 years, Ferndale High School shows no signs of slowing down

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

FERNDALE — Stewart Dilly will never forget the day he entered Ferndale High School for the first time.

“It was like walking into the future when we stepped through those doors,” said the now-67-year-old Southfield resident. “This was something that was brand-new, something that was all ours. We were all very proud.”

It was November 1958, and Dilly and the rest of the former student body of Lincoln High School were eager to build a new home and a new tradition at 881 Pinecrest. The move was a team effort from the get-go, with teachers and students loading furniture and supplies from Lincoln into their cars and driving them over to the new state-of-the-art building.

The experience had an indelible impact on Dilly, who — along with 401 other students — received his diploma the next spring as part of the first group to graduate from FHS, the Class of 1959. Dilly returned to the school in 1963 and he taught history for 12 years before becoming principal at the Taft Education Center, a position he held until his retirement eight years ago.

“(FHS) was a very important place to me as a student and as a teacher,” he said. “It’s still one of the nicest schools I’ve ever been to.”

Welcome home
On Oct. 10, Dilly will be one of many FHS alumni returning to his alma mater to pay tribute to the school’s 50th anniversary via a homecoming celebration and all-district parade.

Following the parade, there will be children’s games at the FHS midway, alumni speeches, food and the homecoming football game for the undefeated Ferndale Eagles. The halftime show will feature music by the state champion FHS marching band, and the FHS school store and football boosters will be selling alumni gear and keepsakes in honor of the 50th anniversary.

Like Dilly, Alice Jorgenson of Ferndale was part of that big move from Lincoln to FHS five decades ago — but as a member of the teaching staff. “I remember how proud and happy everyone was to be there,” she said.

When she retired in 1995, Jorgenson, 81, had spent 47 years in the district educating young minds about American history, government and journalism. Asked about her long tenure as a teacher there, she remarked simply, “I enjoyed being in the land of the young.”

FHS Principal Herb Ivory was part of the enormous graduating class of 549 in 1965. As a student, teacher and principal at the school for more than 40 years, Ivory reflected on all that has changed during his time there.

“I think it has improved overall — we have improved our facilities a great deal,” he said, pointing out the additions of Ferndale Middle School, and the new football field, gymnasium and media center.

He also noted that the racial diversity of the school has greatly increased over the years to include students from a melting pot of different backgrounds.

“The demographics have definitely changed,” said Ivory, whose sons, Girard and Brandon, also graduated from the school. “When I was here (as a student) it was a much larger school, with 2,700 students, and 90 percent of them were white. Now we have about 1,100 students, and it’s about 50-50, black and white.”

That’s why, he continued, “to me, Ferndale High School represents the real world. We have all kinds of kids here. There are 44 different nationalities in our school.”

But he was also quick to point out a number of things that have held strong throughout the past half-century. “We still receive a great amount of support from our parents and students,” he said. “It’s still a really solid educational institution.”

Strike up the band
Assistant Principal Roger Smith was a member of the Class of ’74, later returning to the school as a band, orchestra and choir teacher before being named to his current position.

“I’m very proud to have gone here; we have awesome kids and awesome parents,” said Smith, whose two sons, Gordon and Gregory — last year’s valedictorian — are also FHS grads. “There’s a certain atmosphere here where people really care about each other. … It’s also very interesting to be old enough to be teaching kids who are second- or third-generation students here.”

Smith recalled a number of memorable moments at the school, from scary — FHS being reduced to half days due to racial tensions in 1970, three years after the Detroit riots — to proud — winning the first of four marching band state championships as the FHS band director in 2004 — to hilarious — a student during his senior year streaking across the outdoor courtyard at lunchtime wearing nothing but a gorilla mask.

With the 50th anniversary celebration fast approaching, Smith was most excited about seeing some of the longtime alumni returning to the school for the first time in years — or even decades.

“Every homecoming is neat, but this one is going to be extra special,” he said. “People will be impressed by the appearance of the place, the beautiful landscaping, the beautiful lighting and all the other incredible changes that have been made. And the building still looks great.”

Dilly and Jorgenson, who can still remember FHS in the days of its infancy, couldn’t agree more.

“The school has really kept up with the times,” Dilly noted. “The building has weathered very well and has been well taken care of.”

Added Jorgenson, “For a 50-year-old building, it still looks great. It’s still a very lovely school.”

For Ivory, the real strength of Ferndale High School lies not in its architecture, but rather, in the quality of the students who walk in and out of its doors, hallways and classrooms each year.

“These kids are not afraid of independent thought — they will let you know how they feel,” he said. “They’re not afraid to take on a challenge. … That’s why I’ve stayed here for 40 years. I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.”

On Oct. 10, the FHS 50th anniversary parade will begin at 6 p.m. in the parking lot of Buffalo Wild Wings, 280 W. Nine Mile Road, before making its way down West Nine Mile to Pinecrest, and then to the high school at 881 Pinecrest. There, a brief ceremony will be held followed by kickoff of the football game, Ferndale vs. Lahser, at 7 p.m.

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jselweski@candgnews.com or at (586) 218-5004.