Hammond High School Hammond High was the premiere center of learning, knowledge and culture... according to my fellow classmates, my advisor, and my track coach. We did have an outstanding faculty and an excellent class of students. One never knows whether you have a good educational experience or a poor educational experience until you graduate, get out in the world, enroll in college, and compare notes with your college classmates. As I recall, when I graduated, Indiana had 17 National Merit Scholarship Finalists. Seven of the seventeen were from Hammond High School. Since then many of our classmates have gone on to become college professors, administrators, business people, lawyers, doctors and scientists. Others have used their education to find leadership opportunities throughout the Calumet Region in industry, manufacturing, service and health care. But it all started at Hammond High School... I was fortunate enough to sing in Miss Waterbury's music program, become editor of the school paper under the direction of Mr. A.T. Bolt; perform on stage under the direction of Olga Cunningham; and of course, become one of "Whitey's" boys and run on the track team. Our track coach was John "Whitey" Wonzowitz who retired, changed his name to John Wonzo, and moved to Florida. I've often wondered how many other faculty members changed their identity and left town after our graduation. In the Spring of 1959, I ran the anchor leg of Hammond High's Mile Relay team and at one point during the season, we posted the fastest mile relay time in the state of Indiana. It was a great school, great classmates and a great education!