Old, old, old school

Jo Bailey remembers her school days having ice cream with friends at The Cupie on San Fernando Road.

The 1925 graduate of Burbank High School will ride in the Centennial Parade in honor of the school’s 100th anniversary celebration Saturday, part of the four-day lineup of events commemorating the school’s history.

Bailey, who turned 100 on Dec. 13, is reported to be the oldest living graduate.

“I loved school,” she said Monday at her home in Burbank. “I liked the teachers. I wasn’t an outstanding student, but I did all right.”

She remembers wearing simple blouses and skirts to the knee during regular classes, and for gym class, they wore black bloomers, she said.

Her favorite teacher was Esther Weinstock.

“She was always nice to me,” Bailey said.

“I liked her.”

During exercise classes, Weinstock would have the girls march around while she called out one, two, one, two, Bailey said.

“I thought that was funny,” she said.

Bailey, who is working on her wave for Saturday’s parade, wasn’t too keen about such an honor in the beginning.

“At first, I was nervous, but I’ll try to do the best I can,” she said.

Bailey will be riding in a car driven by Herb Vincent from the Class of 1946.

Joining them are Bailey’s daughter Carolyn “Bailey” Grogan, a 1963 graduate of Burbank High School, and granddaughter Tracey Grogan-Collazos, a 1993 graduate of the school.

Grogan remembers that when she went to school they didn’t wear pants, except on special days. They wore blouses and skirts and dresses at or below the knee, she said.

A few years later, the fashion changed to shorter skirts, and the girls dean started measuring them. Some girls were sent home to change, she said.

Grogan was involved in the Girls Athletic Assn., an after-school sports program in which she played tennis, softball and a little basketball.

“We didn’t play against other schools, we played against our classmates,” she said.

Grogan was involved in organizing props for the drama department.

For “The Music Man,” a real horse was used to pull the Wells Fargo wagon.

“A vet came up and gave it a tranquilizer,” Grogan said.

“I took it around the block to circulate the tranquilizer through the horse’s system and the police came. I almost got a ticket and arrested, and the horse was almost impounded.”

A teacher came to Grogan’s rescue and, she said, the horse played his part well.

Grogan now teaches English at Burbank High School.

Grogan’s daughter, Tracey Grogan-Collazos, is a French teacher.

Coincidentally, she received the Weinstock Award her senior year — named after her grandmother’s favorite teacher.

Grogan-Collazos was on the swim team and was in several musicals, including the lead, Maria, in “The Sound of Music,” she said.

She was also in Z Club, the younger version of Zonta Club, and French Club.

Grogan-Collazos is proud that her grandmother is being honored during the anniversary activities.

“She seems to be confounded by the attention,” she said.

“I’m very happy she’s being recognized because she has been an important member of the community for many years and has fond memories of Burbank High School.”