Justin Thompson Assassination Attempt
Sender
Craig Olsen
Posted On
2009-06-26
Year
1993
Memoir
During my senior year (back before punctuation was outlawed), Canyon tried an experiment where the students were given several class-free days to work on these large scale, school-related projects. I was assigned to the mock presidential election between George Bush and Bill Clinton. This project was going to include debates, candidates meeting the people and talking about issues, we even filmed ads which ran in televisions that were set up in different classrooms for us.
Students in our group really got into it. Our candidates even had secret service agents (suits, sunglasses, the whole she-bang) to protect them. Students played the role of vice-presidential candidates. We even had students portraying their wives. I don't remember the name of the guy who stood in for George Bush, but I remember no one thought he even looked like the president (he had long hair) until someone put on those glasses, and suddenly it was uncanny.
On the day when all the students were presenting their projects (which was the date we held the mock debate on the outdoor stage), we had drawn a pretty big crowd, and Justin Thompson (class of 93 also) suddently came running toward the stage with a fake gun and screaming about George Bush. The "secret service" quickly took him down and carted him away.
I don't know why I sometimes harken back to this memory when I think about Canyon. Maybe it was because everyone kept talking and laughing about it when it happened, or maybe it was because Justin is a good friend of mine and that incident encapsulated the craziness of having a friend like that in your life.
It's those little moments that get you to think about High School and say "Man, it was miserable when I was there (y'know, homework, teachers, idiotic cliques, which never seem to change), but what I wouldn't give to revisit it all for just one day."
Not to get all "folksy" with my wisdom here -- I'd like to think I'm still a young man -- but I'm going to encourage my daughter to try to enjoy every minute of High School when she finally goes. There truly is no other experience like it.
Students in our group really got into it. Our candidates even had secret service agents (suits, sunglasses, the whole she-bang) to protect them. Students played the role of vice-presidential candidates. We even had students portraying their wives. I don't remember the name of the guy who stood in for George Bush, but I remember no one thought he even looked like the president (he had long hair) until someone put on those glasses, and suddenly it was uncanny.
On the day when all the students were presenting their projects (which was the date we held the mock debate on the outdoor stage), we had drawn a pretty big crowd, and Justin Thompson (class of 93 also) suddently came running toward the stage with a fake gun and screaming about George Bush. The "secret service" quickly took him down and carted him away.
I don't know why I sometimes harken back to this memory when I think about Canyon. Maybe it was because everyone kept talking and laughing about it when it happened, or maybe it was because Justin is a good friend of mine and that incident encapsulated the craziness of having a friend like that in your life.
It's those little moments that get you to think about High School and say "Man, it was miserable when I was there (y'know, homework, teachers, idiotic cliques, which never seem to change), but what I wouldn't give to revisit it all for just one day."
Not to get all "folksy" with my wisdom here -- I'd like to think I'm still a young man -- but I'm going to encourage my daughter to try to enjoy every minute of High School when she finally goes. There truly is no other experience like it.