Spring of 1957

Bolton High School

    I was in the 10th grade at Bolton High School in Alexandria, Louisiana.  The school colors were blue and white. I also was awarded first place in Earth Science at the BHS local fair and at the Region 4 Science Fair held at Northwest Louisiana State College.

   The following year I was at Little Rock Central High School. I am now 16 and worked from October till the science fair in March of 1958. At the LRCHS local fair I placed only third. However, I was allowed to advance the state fair and was placed first in Chemistry for Arkansas, but was the runnerup for the trip to the Nationals.

My dream was to go to the National Science Fair and win a college scholarship. My goal for 1959 was to win 1st Place at the Arkansas State Science Fair in physics and represent Arkansas at the Nationals like the boys of the motion picture "October Sky" who represented West Virginia in 1958 and won the Nationals. They went on to become NASA scientists.

But there was no high school in Little Rock in 1958-59, no senior year, and no chance for the Greand Prize. Instead I was one 3668 students with no school and in January 1959 I was in college and my teenage dreams shattered. However, the 'Lost Year' changed my life and read on about me below.