By Julia Difiori
Copy Editor
From campus construction to office hours, a myriad of changes are propelling Costa toward its future as a school. But a staff effort to look back into Costa’s past has recently gone into effect.
A group of Costa staff members has recently begun work on a History of Costa project, sponsored by the MCHS Alumni Association, with the aim of sharing stories from Costa’s past generations through written content, video interviews and exclusive photographs that will likely be available in print and online.
“It’s an endless amount of connections and nostalgia and memories,” Currier said. “It’s really about fun stuff that you forget about over a long period of years that kind of gives you that warm feeling.”
The committee members are Hall of Fame inductee Gil Archuletta, Head of Independent Study Athletics Denise Anderson, economics teacher Chuck Currier, history teacher Bill Fauver, Hall of Fame inductee Kendra Gorlitsky, Hall of Fame inductee Gary Hartzell, graduate Richard Hessenius, English teacher Michael MacAvin, history teacher Steve Singiser, president of the alumni association Chris Warshaw and counselor Jennifer Wildenberg.
“Part of the concept, although the concept is evolving, is not only are we talking about what was going on at Mira Costa, but we’re also mentioning woven into it what was happening in California, in our area, in the world at the time, everything from restaurants to when was the 405 freeway completed,” Currier said. “All these things we, as the years go by, forget, such as once they tear something down and put something else up in its place, it’s very easy to forget what was ever there.”
Currier first became inspired when researching Costa’s past at the Manhattan Beach Historical Society to learn how and by whom Costa is paid for, when the subject was highly discussed in the early 2000s, according to Currier. Also influenced by his involvement with the Costa Hall of Fame inductions, Currier invited other staff members to revisit Costa’s early days and those leading up to the present.
“I always thought we ought to write a history of Mira Costa High School,” Currier said. “I think probably the start of the Hall of Fame, and getting to meet a lot of these people who were original graduates and so forth, started to make it much more real that these people that were original graduates and teachers – there aren’t many of them around anymore. The urgency suddenly seemed like the time’s now.”
The group will meet every one to two months to continue researching and expanding upon ideas for the ongoing project. Hessenius has already researched the first 30 years of Costa athletics, and the committee plans to explore such topics as student clubs, school organizations, graduates who have become Costa teachers and administrators and families with three generations of Costa students.
“We’re certainly not short of topics; there’s so much that goes on at a high school and so much neat stuff about the history of Mira Costa, we’re not short on things to pursue,” Currier said. “Although it’s enormous, there’s some topic that is of special interest to somebody. Although it’s a very large project, it’s really interest-driven.”
Cinematic Arts and Broadcast Journalism teacher Michael Hernandez interviewed this year’s Hall of Fame inductees the day after the ceremony with help from junior Omar Ahmed and senior Christina Goergen. The committee plans to incorporate these interviews into the historical project.
“It was kind of interesting because I go to the same school that they went to, and they kind of experienced the same things that I’m experiencing now,” Ahmed said. “It’s cool to hear them say those same things but in their perspective and see their challenges that they had at this school.”
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