A Blast from the Past: DCHS Then & Now

 by Ella Kuhn '24

Our story begins back in the 1960s, at Delone Catholic High School. Margaret Knox, my grandma, was entering her freshman year at Delone Catholic High School. Margaret came from a family of six siblings where she lived in the neighborhood behind Annunciation church.  In 1961, Dave Knox, my pappy, entered his freshman year at Delone Catholic. Dave also came from a family of six siblings, and they lived in the town of Gettysburg, Pa. 

Present-day David and Margaret Knox wear Delone sweaters
Photo courtesy of Ella Kuhn

During this time, it only cost fifty dollars to attend Delone.  Dave would arrive at school by getting a ride from one of his buddies or by taking one of the four buses that ran from Gettysburg to Delone. On the other hand, Margaret would walk to school because she lived in McSherrystown and you were expected to walk or get a ride because there was no bus available. 

Since then cars have become the main way of transportation and busing has become more accessible. That being said, the student parking lot at Delone was still overflowing due to Delone being roughly three times larger in the sixties than now and the parking lot didn’t extend past the school building.  Along with the parking lot being smaller, the school building was also smaller with no new addition of classrooms, gym or lobby. 

Despite the fact that the students in the 60s also had to wear uniforms, it looked quite different. The ladies were expected to wear a plaid skirt, white blouse, and vest and the gentlemen were expected to wear dress pants, coat, and tie all year round. Students at Delone Catholic now are given several different options of uniform colors and styles. 

The school day also looked different for the students. Since there was such a large number of students during this time, they were not permitted to walk on the left side of the hallway or else they would get in trouble by the corridor patrol. The corridor patrol consisted of students who would stand in the hallway to make sure you walked only on the right side, went up or down on the correct staircases, and didn’t mess around between classes. 

Not only did they have the corridor patrol in the hallways, but at certain months of the year, the students were not permitted to talk between classes in respect to the month of Mary, the Pope's prayer intentions, etc.  

Margaret Knox '64

Another significant difference between present-day Delone and the past is there was no internet which means paper, textbooks, and pencils were the only way for students to gain information. This is a major contrast to now because most student textbooks are online and a large percentage of school work is done via a Chromebook supplied by the school. 

Along with learning, students in the sixties at Delone were taught primarily by religious sisters. In contrast, there is not a single religious sister who works at Delone Catholic in 2023.

At lunch time there were roughly four hundred kids at each of the three lunches. The boys would sit on one side and the girls would sit on the other. Once you were done eating, the girls would dance to the music played and the boys would play cards or go down to the football fence to smoke. This is one of the most shocking differences because although there are still three lunches, music and dancing does not occur, and smoking would get you suspended.

The school spirit and sports during the sixties were a big hit. The boys were offered the options to play baseball, football, and basketball whereas the girls weren’t given sports options but were invited to be a cheerleader, part of the band, or be in the glee club (chorus). As a female student, if you were a cheerleader you had to play an instrument so that by the time the spring concert rolled around the group of participants was outstandingly large. The band had roughly a hundred-twenty-five people and, during the games, the band stretched from the goalpost to the football benches. 

David Knox '65

At Delone Catholic today, there are more sports available for both genders, you don’t have to play an instrument if you’re a cheerleader, and the band isn’t as popular of a choice now that there are more sports options for everyone.

For any sport or concert event, they were all held in the old gym which only held about seven hundred people. You also had to purchase an activities ticket at the beginning of the year that cost $18.75 if you wanted to attend any event; if you didn’t have the ticket you couldn’t go. 

Last but not least, in the sixties there were many different school dances such as the Christmas dance, the Sadie Hawkins Dance, where the ladies had to ask the gentlemen, and a junior and senior prom. “All these dances were held in the cafeteria, they decorated it so nicely, you would have never known it was the cafeteria,” said Margaret Knox.

When Margaret and Dave went to the school dances you had to attend with date. During the dances back then the couples would do the jitterbug, the stroll, and slow dance. 

In all, “Attending Delone back in the sixties was so pure and simple, I wouldn’t have changed a thing,” said Dave Knox. Innumerable differences make Delone unique back then versus nowadays. The school building has been modernized, transportation has evolved, class sizes and student attendees have lessened, the cost of attending has increased, religious sisters aren’t the primary source of teachers, and sports options have become more inclusive.  No matter what the school day looks like for the students or the physical building looks like, Delone Catholic still holds the same motto, “Be Doers of the Word.”