AGOURA HILLS : School Flashes Back 25 Years to Its Founding

Adolescent screeches pierced the air as “Jimi Hendrix” took the stage, headband flowing, spindly fingers squeezing tortured feedback from his electric guitar as he launched into a distorted “Star-Spangled Banner.”

The scene was part of a show at Lindero Canyon Middle School on Friday to celebrate its 25th anniversary. And it was “The Tonight Show” bandleader Kevin Eubanks’ re-enactment of Hendrix’s 1969 appearance at Woodstock that set the nostalgic tone.

The retro theme was in part the idea of students who say they have learned to appreciate the music and culture of the 1960s and 1970s, a legacy handed down by their parents.

“I like the style, and I like the peace,” said eighth-grader Marisa Currie, who, with her long, blond hair, blue eyes, freckled face and peasant blouse, looked like a poster child for the Woodstock Generation. “It was a time that you could do anything you want and not worry about crime and stuff.”

America was in an era of tumultuous change when the school opened 25 years ago, said sixth-grader Lauren Bridges, one of several students who spoke. It was an era, she said, in which Robert Kennedy was assassinated, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, the Vietnam War raged and student protests flared on campuses all over America.

But it was also, she said, an era in which “the youth culture gathered at Woodstock for a weekend of peace, love and understanding.” Lindero Canyon students of that time, she said, had no idea how significant their era would become.

It was also, some adult speakers reminisced, a simpler time for the school.

“The worst problem we had was children throwing rocks over onto neighbors’ property,” said Jerry Trout, the school’s second principal.

Lisa Avery, a former student who is now a physical education teacher at the school, confessed to a teen-age crush on Trout. “He was cute,” she said.

The show later flashed forward to the 1970s, with the appearance of the school’s principal, Ronald Kaiser. Dressed in a gaudy, white polyester suit, a la John Travolta, he danced a few numbers from the 1970s film “Saturday Night Fever.”

Disco gave way to the rap decade and to a funky rap number by Fluke Fluker, a physical education teacher, accompanied by office manager Isa Brente-Shekter, Avery and Caren Blumfield, another physical education teacher.

The students also have been looking to the future. This week, they began preparing a time capsule to be opened at the school in 2020. It contains, among other things, autographed photos of the “Home Improvement” cast, Jay Leno and members of the rock group Guns N’ Roses. The capsule also contains compact discs from Sheryl Crow and Boyz II Men, as well as videos from Tom Hanks and Jim Carrey.