Posted in Arizona July 16, 2016 by

10 Things You Know Are True If You Went To A Small High School In Arizona

High school is a formative time in modern adolescence but there’s something a little special about having that experience in a small town. To me, a city kid, it seems like an idyllic setting right out of the movies. Both of my parents grew up in small town Arizona, so it’s fun to talk with them about their high school experiences and to discover how different it was from mine (my graduating high school class had between 800 and 900 students). How many of these experiences can you relate to?

1. Chances are everyone in your graduating class knew each other from kindergarten.
Navy Hale Keiki School/Flickr
2. Your high school graduation only lasted an hour.
Kent Kanouse/Flickr
3. Waiting at the bus stop didn’t always mean just walking to the end of the block. If you lived in rural Arizona, it meant trekking a mile (or so) to the bus stop to drive you miles to school.
Olivier Bacquet/Flickr
Depending on how far you lived from school, this also meant waiting in the rain, snow, at the early morning hours.
4. You made a special trip to the city (like Flagstaff) to buy school supplies and clothes.
Scott Beale/Flickr
5. Sports were a huge deal and making the team wasn’t too much of a hassle. I mean, did your team try outs require third and fourth cuts to whittle down all the contenders?
Ryan/Flickr
6. This also holds true for some of the larger cities, but Friday nights meant high school football night. You knew that you would encounter most of your classmates at the football stadium.
Midiman/Flickr
7. Homecoming was HUGE. It wasn’t just a game or a dance but there often was also a parade through town.
Devin Christopher Adams/Flickr
8. Formals were usually held in the school gym and attendees did a promenade or grand march to show off dates, dresses, and hairstyles. The dances also happened right after the big game and ended at 10 p.m.
Sea turtle/Flickr
9. Your idea of weekend entertainment meant hanging out at the local teen haunt, like a drive-in or hamburger shop when in town.
Michael Kilgore/Flickr
Or you might have snuck out to the lake, an abandoned pump house, or other spot to get away from the prying eyes of the adults. If you were in the latter category, hopefully you didn’t get caught by the police.
10. Or you went cruising down (or dragging) main street.
Cerixsson/Flickr
Your car probably didn’t look this cool, but it was still a lot of fun.

Want to indulge in some other small town experiences? Check out our article “10 Reasons Why Small Town Arizona Is Actually The Best Place To Grow Up.”

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