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By CECE TODD; Times Leader Staff Writer
Monday, October 18, 1993 Page: 1A QUICK WORDS: CLASS OF 2000
WILKES-BARRE — Dating, cheerleading and football, hanging out at the mall.
Students in the Class of 2000 are growing up.
Their favorite subject is an anti-drug program. They worry about employment
prospects and global warming.
In their Reeboks, cool clothes, earrings and styled hair, these
11-year-olds are the upperclassmen at Heights Elementary.
And yet, just a year away from enrolling at GAR Memorial Junior-Senior High
School, the sixth-graders giggle on the monkey bars and run on the playground.
They idolize mom and dad.
“I look up to my whole family,” says Colleen Gill, a freckle-faced
cheerleader who plans to be a doctor, nurse or lawyer. She tosses her auburn
hair. “I haven’t decided which yet.”
As kindergarteners in 1988, Colleen and her 21 classmates were chosen by
The Times Leader to represent the Class of 2000. They were a shy, wide-eyed
group whose career goals included becoming a judge, Army member, ballerina and
witch.
Today, only 11 students from the original class are sixth-graders at
Heights Elementary. They are a candid, often poised group of adolescents who
plan to become professional athletes, lawyers, nurses and marine biologists.
That is, if they last into adulthood.
“We might not even be around then,” Samantha Sharpe says.
Bernitta Johnson adds, “In 2000, it will be a lot hotter because of the
hole in the ozone layer. It’s going to be hard to find a job because we’ll
have all these robots working.”
She rests her chin in her hand and thinks for a moment. “In science class
last year, they said half the people in America might not be able to find
jobs.”
But Bernitta isn’t too concerned. After all, she plans to be a lawyer or
work in a beauty shop, and “robots can’t work in beauty shops.”
While Bernitta loves science, Samantha’s favorite class is Quest, a program
that encourages youth to be drug-free.
Quest, Samantha says, “makes you feel better about yourself. You talk about
your feelings and you talk about drugs. You learn to respect people.”
Anthony Harris also calls Quest his favorite subject because it’s fun, and
not at all like boring social studies. Anthony plans to attend Florida State
University and eventually land a spot on the Boston Celtics.
Some day, he might get married. But have children? “No way,” he says.
“Sometimes, they’re bad. Sometimes, they act up. Sometimes, they’re crazy.”
But not this group of kids.
Clean-cut Albert Williams obeys the rules, does his homework and looks up
to his father. “My dad is my role model,” Albert says. “He’s nice and he joins
me in basketball, baseball and football.”
Sports are a big part of his life now, but one day Albert says he will be a
marine biologist. “I like the sea and I like studying about different
animals.” In the year 2000, he adds, “We may discover more animals.”
Like several of his classmates, Albert has moved into another phase of
growing up — dating.
So has Colleen. “On Saturdays, I go to the mall with my friends and our
boyfriends,” she says.
Fellow cheerleader Samantha is in a long-term relationship. “We’ve been
dating since fifth grade,” she says of her boyfriend as she giggles and ducks
her head.
Amanda Iorio and her steady guy of three months take walks or go to the
movies.
Among her classmates, Amanda is the serious one. Her father is a cook, but
her mother is looking for work. By the time Amanda is an adult, she knows,
“It’s going to be hard to get a job. There’s going to be a lot of people out
there who will want jobs.”
In the meantime, she has concerns common among youth. She and her mother
may move to Plymouth, which means Amanda would be leaving the neighborhood
friends she has known her entire life.
“I’m a little worried about moving,” she says, a sullen expression on her
face.
Despite their sometimes serious, sometimes grown-up manner, students in
this Class of 2000 still look at the world with wonder and imagination.
“In 2000, they’ll have cars that fly,” Matthew Di Liberto says with a grin.
“And I’m gonna fly one.”
A dreamy-eyed Colleen thoughtfully tilts her head. “There’s going to be a
lot of different houses in all different colors,” she says, “more colors than
you can even imagine.”